Generic biology laboratory, auditorium, classrooms, exhibition room, accommodation
The “Herdade da Ribeira Abaixo” (HRA) is the Field Station of the Faculty of Science of ULisboa (FCUL), under the scientific management of one of its R&D units – the Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c), located in the eastern slope of Serra de Grândola (Baixo Alentejo), 100km south of Lisbon.
HRA is a 220-ha estate included in one of the largest areas of cork-oak (Quercus suber) woodland (“montado de sobro”/ “dehesa” in Spanish), a unique and biodiversity-rich ecosystem of SW Iberia due to its economic, environmental, and social importance.
HRA provides a location and facilities for students and researchers, from FCUL or visiting, to undertake their research in ecology, evolution and environmental change. Focused on research and education it encompasses sustainable landscape management and biodiversity conservation, aiming to be a sustainable estate, a prime example of good practices in managing the Montado/Dehesa. A significant area (about 60% of the property) is devoted to biodiversity conservation, with minimal human intervention and strategies that encourage natural regeneration and preserve climax zones in riparian and cork oak areas. The field station has two buildings – one for the accommodation of researchers and students and another, “Ecoteca”, for teaching and research activities. The latter is a multi-functional space that includes laboratories, offices, an exhibition room, and a conference room.
HRA is one of the research and monitoring sites of the LTsER Montado socio-ecological platform that is a member of the International Long-Term Ecological Research network and also part of the Portuguese e-Infrastructure for Information and Research on Biodiversity (PORBIOTA), a distributed Research Infrastructure (RI) that manages the node LifeWatch Portugal of LifeWatch European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), an European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) Roadmap, and of the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Portugal network, providing access to data and scientific equipment in the areas of biodiversity and natural resources.