Pera marsh (9577)
Portugal, Europe
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2002
National site name: Lagoa dos Salgados
Central coordinates: Latitude: 37.1000, Longitude: -8.3333
System: marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 2 to 16
Area of KBA (km2): 1.4807
KBA classification: Regional
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: Fenny humid zone formed by a main water area in the confluence of two rivers, and a large marshy zone extended to North-West. The lagoon is isolated from ocean by a continuous sandy barrier, that only opens when high precipitations or human intervention. Western and Northern surrounding areas are mainly agricultural, beeing constituted by crop-lands, traditional dryer orchards (figs, almonds and olive trees), and small vineyards. At the East, lagoon is limited by a golf course that holds artificial lakes with marshy vegetation. And at the South we find the robust sand-dune string that extends 4 kilometres to the West. The prominent vegetation is holphyte, formed by extensive patches of rush and reeds beds.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that was identified using previously established criteria and thresholds for the identification of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) and for which available data indicate that it does not meet global KBA criteria and thresholds set out in the Global Standard.
Additional biodiversity: Lagoa dos Salgados is one of the only fenny humid zones of Algave's windward. At this moment, near 150 species have been here registered, like Porphyrio porphyrio and Himantopus himantopus. About P. porphyrio, 86 individuals have been here reported out of breeding season. This site holds a valuable heronry represented by seven species, three of them are nesting (Ardea purpurea, Ixobrychus minutus and Egretta garzetta), two are migratory (Ardeola ralloides and Nycticorax nycticorax) and two are typically wintering (garça cinzenta and Bubulcus ibis). This is the only national site with nesting records of Aythya nyroca. During migratory season, this area is very important for ciconeiforms like Platalea leucordia, several waders and for passerines too, especially for swallows that feed here in thousands.
Habitats
Land use: agriculture | fisheries/aquaculture | tourism/recreation | urban/industrial/transport
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Marine Coastal/Supratidal | 50 | |
| Artificial - Terrestrial | 25 | |
| Marine Intertidal | 25 |
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Though beeing protected by the Management Plan of Orla Costeira de Burgau-Vilamoura and by Ecologic Natural Reserve, the lagoon is threatened by urbanistic and turistic projects. It also suffers eutrophication process, accented by sewage-farm emptying and flowage from agriculture and from the golf course. This recreation structure, situated at lagoon's inundation area, reduces its retention capacity increasing the frequence of floods and bar opening. Tourism provokes deep system disturbance, mainly durin summer. There are projects from the Reginonal Direction of Planning of algarve (DRAOT) and the University of Algarve to improve lagoon's enviromental heritage.
| Threat level 1 | Threat level 2 | Threat level 3 | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pollution | Domestic & urban waste water | Type Unknown/Unrecorded | Ongoing |
| Human intrusions & disturbance | Recreational activities | Ongoing | |
| Residential & commercial development | Tourism & recreation areas | Only in the future |
Additional information
References: Kelsh (1987), Bolton (1988), Ministro (2001), Ministro & Fernandes (2002)