Access to ecosystems

Research vessel "Darwin I" for sample collection mainly within the Mondego estuary (Centre Portugal) and in nearby estuaries. The research vessel is 4.7m long, is equipped with a 20hp outboard engine, and can carry up to 4 researchers and dedicated equipment for sampling water, benthic invertebrates, phytoplankton, zooplankton, fish, and perform scientific diving. It is currently only able to navigate in inshore waters.

Various equipment for benthic and pelagic sampling in marine and estuarine areas: fish, zooplankton, ichthyoplankton, fitoplankton, benthic invertebrates, plants and macroalgae, which include a working boat (4.7m, 20Hp outboard engine), beam trawl for obtaining fish samples, bongo nets for obtaining zooplankton samples, fine mesh nets for obtaining phytoplankton samples, van veen grabs, ponar grabs and sediment corers for obtaining benthic invertebrate samples in intertidal and subtidal areas, and van dorn water samplers. Additional field equipment includes multi-parameter probes (salinity, DO, pH, temperature) for in-situ measurements.