The Vale Telheiro cave, in Loulé (Faro), will become a place used by scientists to study the underground biodiversity responsible for purifying groundwater, the researcher responsible for the project told Lusa this Thursday.
“Caves are the places we can access, they are unique places to study biodiversity,” Ana Sofía Reboleira, professor at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon and leader of the Underground Ecology research group, told Lusa Evolution. Ecology Center. and Environmental Changes.
The biologist will coordinate the Barrocal-Cave (cave in English) project for three years, which received funding of 163,883 euros granted by the Belmiro de Azevedo Prize, Foundation for Science and Technology.
The main challenge will be the conservation of Vale Telheiro Cavelocated in the Barrocal area (subregion of the Algarve located between the mountains and the coast), recently recognized as a global “hotspot” of underground biodiversity.
The objective is to create useful information for the protection of the cave, as well as a framework for its future ecological evaluation, ensuring its sustainability. In addition, a proposal for a legal framework was presented for the protection of the most relevant habitats and species.
Ana Sofía Reboleira explained to Lusa that it will not be possible to make public visits to the cave because the atmosphere is deadly and has a very low concentration of oxygen, so only properly equipped people can travel to the place.
The technician added that the small animals and organisms present and intended to be studied are “vital” for biological processing, that is, for the “purification of the large reserves of fresh water that are available for immediate human consumption.”
The project will allow the creation of the First long-term ecological research in Western European caves.as well as evaluate the ecological restoration needs in the degraded areas of the cave and its influence surface.
The Barrocal-Cueva project officially opens on Friday, with the Lusóphone University and the University of the Algarve as partners and the support of the Loulé City Council, owner of the land where the cave is located, and the Algarve Living Sciences Center.
Source: Observadora
