What we found lurking in our abandoned quarry
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 มิ.ย. 2024
- We have been working to restore an abandoned quarry in the Northeast of Portugal. As part of that work we have undertaken some eDNA tests and the results are fascinating.
Project playlist • Rewilding a Quarry
🌲 If you think this project is worth supporting then be sure to check out the Mossy Earth Membership: mossy.earth
🙌 Subscribe to Mossy Earth: th-cam.com/users/MossyEarth?...
START REWILDING OUR PLANET TODAY
===============================
With us, you will restore nature and fight climate change every month
🌲 Plant native trees to capture carbon
🐺 Rewild habitats to support biodiversity
🦫 Support underfunded species and ecosystems
Learn more and become a member here: mossy.earth
💪 OUR PARTNERS IN THIS VIDEO
===============================
Rewilding Portugal: rewilding-portugal.com/
⏱️TIMESTAMPS⏱️
0:00 Intro
0:30 eDNA
1:43 Our results
5:00 Project Implications
🔎 ABOUT THIS PROJECT
===============================
Paul de Toirões is an important area for landscape connectivity in northwest Portugal where nature is recovering from years of mining. The 300-hectare property boasts one of the largest water surface areas in the Greater Côa Valley, consisting of lagoons, canals, and ponds. Its diverse range of environments are connected by seasonal flooding which supports a variety of wildlife and vegetation. In an area managed by our partners, Rewilding Portugal, this project presents an excellent opportunity to expand its habitats and establish a stronghold for wilderness in the region. Starting with our first intervention, we aim to enlarge and diversify the habitats through earthworks.
Read more here: mossy.earth/projects/rewildin...
If you think this rewilding project is worth supporting then be sure to check out www.mossy.earth/ to learn more and become a member. It is what makes all of this possible! - Cheers, Duarte
I know removing invasives might be expensive, so why don't you introduce some native species in the ponds least affected?
Are you guys thinking about opening this(and other areas) to the public after the project is done? With a wooden walkway or something like that to get more money/funds and awareness?
I have walked in a few wooden walkways in Portugal and usually(at least the ones i know) they lack the concern about the proper preservation of the native animals/plants/land scapes
Amo os vossos projectos, espero ver mais trabalhos, força!
kill all the invasive species and introduce large amounts of native species so any young remaining of the invasives won't be able to compete, also you should introduce native European river crabs, and river nayades that filter the water, contact the local associations and get local species to introduce
I know the people of Project Kamp would really appreciate your help
Another great video, thanks! By the way have you heard of the Miyawaki forest? It seems to be a way to plant a forest way faster and more affectively than normal. Maybe you can give it a try?
Fisherman with wildlife management degree in progress and a LOT of field observation here!
Definitely do a net and creel survey before breaking ground.
And you may want to build extra barriers around already invaded waters in case there's an especially large rain event.
Also watch out for seeps between lake that are very close together. Some burrowing mammals and turtles will connect very close waterways. You'd be amazed how many fish fry will squeeeze through a teeny trickle to colonize new areas. Here in the southeast USA I watched unwanted crappie make their way through 3 earth berms with absolutely no obvious way into the next pond. Largemouth seem to have the same abilities.
From a wildlife management perspective. How do one deal with invasives in a more permanent manner?
Several lakes in my area have become "free fishing" lakes for some species just to try to keep the numbers of invasives down, and it seems to hardly make a difference at all when they rely on hobbyists like that.
@@MrAntice in a lake its easy drain the lake to a walkable level ... get a massive net and coral all the fish into a corner .... sort fish by species throw good fish back over the net... box up and move unwanted fish or leave them on the bank too die .... very simple .. but also depends on depth and size , your not doing the great lakes with this method but if you can get a net as wide and deep as the lake ..... its very easy
@@MrAntice to be honest, the only actual permanent approach is to take as much breeding stock and individuals in general of what you want in the lake out and house them separately in huge tanks and/or stock ponds, drain the lake down to a level where you won't have runoff coming out of it, and then poison it. It's awful, but it's true. If you do this, try to snatch up any other critters like amphibians beforehand.
Fishermen simply cannot put enough predation on an invasive to change much, and the seine technique never gets every individual, so they bounce back surprisingly quickly.
The best way to manage invasive species is to stop introducing them to places. A hard ban on the exotic animal trade and severe restrictions on the aquarium trade are needed.
@@nil981 sure, but I was talking about containing already established populations as well as possible.
I like to see new projects, but I also love to see how the projects that are already being worked on develop. Keep up the good work!
Its a hard balance to strike... We have more projects now than ability to make videos. Maybe we should use community posts to help communicate this more. - Cheers, Duarte
@@MossyEarth That's a good problem to have.
@@MossyEarth sounds like your team could use some new members soon!
@Jay Williams This honestly sounds like my dream job. God I love this channel.
@@MossyEarthI think that these videos definitely help get more people invested (myself included) and help inform as well. They are a great tool for the bigger picture. It would be good if some expansion of the video content capacity could be made but I understand that needs to be balanced as well as any cost approved.
I discovered your channel this week, and have been binging all the videos so far. It's great to see all the impact your work is making. Greetings and love from India!
Thank you my friend! Glad you enjoy our videos :) - Cheers, Duarte
Rewilding gives hope for biodiversity and climate control
@abhi Do you also like water conservation? Because you are doing some really cool water conservation stuff in India.
I did the same when I found it
Just found it yesterday myself & now fully binging the channel. So happy this work is happening, spreading & being shown ♥️♥️
This might be the best TH-cam channel I’ve ever seen!
Thank you TS! - Cheers, Duarte
Indeed 🤩
That’s what I’m saying!
As someone based in the USA, it's interesting to see some of the native species here that have been introduced to europe and are invasive. Here, we often speak about invasive plants and animals from asia & Europe.
Everything is native somewhere :) Sometimes it really surprises me when a certain project area we have is dealing with an invasive we want to help in another place. - Cheers, Duarte
I was just about to make this same comment!
Idk what it is about Japan, but a lot of Japanese plants are really damaging here in Illinois
Yeeah, new video! Let's go 😊
Ah cheers Patrik! 😁
Would it be possible to eradicate at least some of the invasives? And are you planning on it if so? Keep up the great work!
There might be ways but it could be more expensive than it's worth. We are currently chatting with Rewilding Portugal about this and will certainly give you an update in a future video. - Cheers, Duarte
Everything is possible if you are willing to pay for it. Just for reference the NY DEC (New York State Department of Environmental Conservation) spends $400 million on its "environmental protection" budget line, and in 2019 gave out almost $1.2 million in grants across 16 different "rapid response and control" projects (eradication/control not information campaigns) with an average of 73,000 per project and a max of 100,000 per project.
These numbers are mainly just to give a ballpark of how expensive it is to actively remove invasive species. Mossy Earth would need to do their own case specific analysis to know the real cost, and its entirely possible that they may have a better cost/benefit ratio on a different project making it a more worthwhile investment for them. Not to mention the time investment / opportunity costs involved.
I suspect that the carp in the 1 pond/lake will atleast be a feasible project to eradicate.
@@MossyEarth You could ask anglers to catch and kill invasive species. A lot of fishermen I know will often do this, either they will bring it back to eat or humanely put the fish down. It may not be effective, but it may give some native species enough breathing room to get a foothold in some of the lakes.
@@verro9153 It is generally ineffective to have sport fisherman try to control an invasive species much less eliminate them. Trying to keep the four species of Asian carp out of the Great Lakes involves not fishermen but a stretch of the connection between the Mississippi basin and the Great Lakes being lethally electrified.
Hello! I am a biology student in America and I happen to really like aquatic bugs. you probably already know this but the Eurycercus Lamellatus is probably known as seed shrimp. The Acanthoscyclops americanus is called cyclops shrimp and I believe it is considered invasive in Europe.
Awesome to see the breakdown of what's living in the area. Great job, team!
Glad you enjoyed it Talenin! - Cheers, Duarte
Interesting to see the results, and important to have this evidence based foundation to our projects
Exactly! A results based approach is key for success :) - Cheers, Duarte
becoming a member has been one of my favourite choises this year, super excited about all your projects! I wonder if you guys ever take on volunteers? This summer ill be spending 4 months on a through hike, but after that id love to do something meaningful with my life, and projects like these make me so excited!
I'm studying Geoecology right now and this was sooo interesting! This is exactly the kind of work i want to do in the future!
Nice one! Good luck with your degree and future work :) - Cheers, Duarte
It is vids/projects like this that return some of my faith in humanity, that we are "More". The sentence speaks for itself. I humbly thank you for the work but more importantly the joy you find in that work. It's all about what motivates us. This, is GOOD. 🤗
Incredible timing with this video, as I literally just handed in my lab report for the eDNA analysis/Microsatellite analysis of a project for my Molecular Tools for Ecology and Evolution class!
Thank you for the wonderful rundown and for getting into detail with this series regarding the quarry, another absolutely fascinating project that you're handling wonderfully! I would love to one day work with you and I just might try to contact you for an internship sometime soon haha. You are doing an amazing job!
We are looking to create opportunities for students in the near future, maybe even this year. So keep an eye out! - Cheers, Duarte
@@MossyEarth definitely will do so, since I might look for a second internship this coming universary year b4 I go into my master's. Much love, keep doing your wonderful work!
Well we migtht above all be looking for master thesis type opportunities ;)
fancy seeing you here mario ahahaha
@@franzroth2830 FRANZ WTF??? Me??? It's literally my field, wtf are u doing here?? This is awesome hahaha
I liked the methodology explanation, the superstar frog meme, the species graphics used in the drone shots. Really great effort here! If you keep this up you'll be the most influential biology TH-cam channel in no-time!
You were focussing on invasives a lot. What kind of native fishes did you find?
None unfortunately, we might reintroduce them if it ever makes sense. However, an extermination of the invasives would be required which could be a big undertaking. - Cheers, Duarte
@@MossyEarth you have to find a way to get rid of the invasive species, get local govt and communities involved up and downstream if possible. otherwise you may be creating an environment where these invasive species will thrive.
@@MossyEarth Extermination of the Invasives sounds like a scifi film. x
I thought tench were native to all of Europe?
Gonna be an idiot and randomly point out I saw Opilliones on the list which is literally just the huntsman spider, the ones with really round bodies and really long, thin legs. If you dig through the list a bit more I'm sure you'll find more of these really inverts all over! The water striders you showed, common as they may be, are still very interesting too!
Opiliones are daddy long legs, not huntsman spiders. They are actually not spiders, but close relative of them.
I freaking love how much mossy earth contributes to nature and the voice overs
as an american, it’s very often i hear about invasives from europe and asia. it was a weird feeling to hear our native species are invasives over there too! especially with the largemouth bass. i’m really not surprised crayfish are bad though! some real buggers
Ok, i gotta say you guys are the most underappreciatedchannels ive ever seen. You guys deserve a shout out.
Depending on whether or not you want to remove the invasive fish (humanely or otherwise) with this new information, it may be worth trying "electric fishing".
It's a method used by some here in the States to curb invasive fish species without wreaking havoc on already damaged ecosystems. Essentially, a device is used to release a low-voltage shock into the water over a certain area, temporarily stunning all the nearby fish. This enables them to be more easily and efficiently scooped up in nets so that native species can be sorted out and returned back to the ecosystem certainly surprised, but no worse for wear. The invasive species are then kept and . . . well, that really depends on the people performing the operation.
They may be kept in captivity, eaten, or returned to their original habitat, but the point is that they are removed from the ecosystem without further damaging it in a quick and timely manner. Given the size of the quarry and its self-contained nature, you could potentially remove a large portion of these invasive fish, allowing you have more options when it comes to connecting ponds up and - ideally - releasing native species into the now invasive-free environment.
I am, of course, nothing more than a mere subscriber. I have no professional or official knowledge/experience in biology, wildlife management, etc. Nor will I pretend that you have the ethics as I do. I just think, from what I know, this may be a viable, doable, and beneficial option that might upset the smallest number of parties. Regardless, I love and admire your work and I can't wait to see what this quarry may turn into in the future!
Super interesting video! Great setup for your future work
Neat but i am curious wouldn't the carp spread during a storm/flood scenario? Are there any ideas how to combat them or is it "just" an attempt to stop them spreading further?
Good question and good point about the storms. This is more of an attempt than a focus of the project. There are some ideas to eradicate them under debate and then reintroduce native fish but it might cost a lot more than it is worth. - cheers, Duarte
@@MossyEarth couldn't you over fish them? Using wildlife and even invite local anglers to help out?
I always enjoy and learn from watching your great videos! Would love to franchise your efforts here in North America...
We are looking to start some US based projects soon. Currently looking for leads in Colorado where I have some friends. - Cheers, Duarte
Set up a few perches 5+ meters off the surface to film kingfishers, bamboo works well to hang out from the bank a bit for little cost
Thanks for the tip Dan! I need more of these as I am an absolute newbie of a wildlife photographer. - Cheers, Duarte
This is amazing, what a great job! I hope to be a member soon! Keep on going!🌲🌲
Thank you Nicolas! We appreciate the support and the kinds words :) - Cheers, Duarte
Love seeing the updates on projects over time!
Today's video was completely for Biologist, love you guys ❤❤❤
The landscape is allways so beautifull and stuning
An interesting assortment of species! Picking up on the other invasive fish shows how worthwhile these tests are.
I love getting to learn about the steps taken in these projects. I hope it inspires more folks to work on habitat improvement!
I live in an area with a multitude of natural springs in the Piedmont area of the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia, USA. We are extremely fortunate in that our area is relatively ecodiverse, and even our neighbors who are farms generally try to work with the land, not force the land. I know that even the tiny streams near me have several species of fish, invertebrates, avians, reptiles, etc. It would be really cool to get EDNA evaluation on the local inhabitants and find out what else is living nearby!
"Mystery Toad" would be a great superhero name
I would love to see a video on how to deal with invasive species as a whole & also which techniques that you will use to remove these species form this habitat. Great work as always, look forward to the next video.
Well done on this edit Tom Hikin 💪. Very cool visualisations :)
I didn't know that type of stuff was accessible to the public, that's fucking awesome
Its pretty cool eh :) It is like your ancestry dna stuff but for your local lake! - Cheers, Duarte
thanks for another great vid! I was wondering if you had any advice for helping nature out in backgardens beyond the usual stuff (I'm already doing the native wildflowers, leaving wild areas, a pond and a bug hotel thing, but you guys are the experts and I was wondering if there's any tricks I'm missing)
We are launching a course that will touch on a variety of ways to rewild your local area. Should be out in a month or two :) - Cheers, Duarte
Consider doing some of this high throughput ITS sequencing to catalog the growth in biodiversity of the fungi in the water and soil as this ecosystem develops.
Thanks so much for making these videos. They are such high quality and I love that you are really making a difference. You've inspired me to reach out to my local conservation authority to try and get some projects started here. Keep up the great work!
Can't wait for the next update!
I look forward to seeing all the wonderful project updates and Beginnings. Incredible source of “Hope-amine” and an amazing example of smart project planning and execution.
Thank You Mossy Earth!!
It's like a live-action Terra Nil! Keep up the good work, folks.
For those wondering, the carp was introduced in north america intentionally, at least in the us, as a means of controlling algal blooms around industry. They escaped and are now everywhere. I'd imagine the same is true for the other locations too.
yeah, you find carp everywhere across germany. Weirdly enough we still have lakes used solely for carp breeding - for example our village's fishermen's club mostly cultivates carp even though it's not popular to eat
To cover the bigger sandy aeras lupines and peas could work - of course native species to use. More nitrogen in the ground means other plants like trees grow faster which mean more carbondioxide with be caught.
How does one join your team? Im from South Africa and rejuvenation of nature is a passion of mine. I would love to learn how one does this and replicate it back here in Africa, mainly because the only really "conservation" efforts are in the Savannah biomes of South Africa, whereas I feel we need to conserve and protect the Fynbos aswell as the Garden route, and mayhaps the Eastern cape. Google it if youre reading this, its beautiful here and needs to stay that way. Youre doing an amazing job for nature itself and I applaud you for this!
2:55 omg i love these graphs/infographics,
its so beautiful and simple wow, haha
A chart after my heart 💚
We have holidays coming up!
Can you tell us what the situation is about visiting the quarry please? Of course it would be just amazing to see it in real life but I am pretty sure that there will be necessary restrictions in place. but any information you have about visiting this or other sites would be really useful - Maybe talking about this would make a nice video???
Thanks again for all your great work
iain
Hi Iain, we've been thinking about how this could be done 🤔. We need to find a solution for all our projects. For many of them you can simply visit using the GPS we provide. This one is in private property managed by Rewilding Portugal and I'm not sure what the plan is atm. We will try to come up with a solution that fits our projects in general and present it to you in the coming months. - Cheers, Duarte
@@MossyEarth Super! Thanks a lot Duarte!
I thoroughly enjoyed this video. It took me back to my zoology class. You guys are doing good work.
One suggestion for the microscopic species: You can reach out to a channel like Journey Into The Microcosmos or the greater amateur microscopy community to help identify microorganisms, which may be able to tell you something about water quality, fish diet, any noxious algae or protists you may have drifting around in there, etc. This can be important, as some species can be toxic and/or out-compete those that are a healthier part of the food web.
Thank you for this update!
but could you put flip the order of videos in the playlist? as they are now they play in reverse chronological order when one clicks "play all"
If you can find some local fly fishers, you can probably get some help identifying helpful aquatic insects & maybe some help removing some of the invasive fish.
Great to see how you are planning to use all the data you collected! Seeing the first time the budget I was worried that you overspend on these tests.
The budget will include also the second set of tests later so I think it is worth the money. - Cheers, Duarte
very interesting! It's so cool to know how many different kinds of animals are living there that I would have never thought of!
Great video! It is fascinating to see all the different species (native and non-native) that have found their way into this unique landscape
I love finding a pair of Parus major. Always satisfying.
I love this information it is real progress to manage our lands more appropriately
Amazing work as always, plus the extremely transparent and easily understandable documentation, which i respect massively as well
I discovered your channel this week, This is some wonderful research that is well documented and presented. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it charles! - Cheers, Duarte
This is a wonderful job you're doing! I'm so glad I came across your channel!😊
Fascinating as well as encouraging.
I love y’all’s videos!! I wanna work on projects like these one day so it’s always a nice boost of inspiration when I watch. Greetings from Texas!
Amazing work as usual love seeing the evolution of this place :DDD
I love these updates
With the lakes being as (relatively) small as they are I wonder if if you could use a brief but intense campaign of electrofishing to eliminate the invasive fish altogether. Alternatively you could at least reduce the number of large bass in the system by simply letting local anglers know that they're there.
Really cool, I would love to help. I sadly do not live in Europe but am very interested in ecology. Any tips for where I could learn about a humid continental climate?
Many large universities have extension websites primarily meant for agriculture, hunting land management, and forestry, but they still have tons of good information about native ecosystems, species, and so on. For example, the University of Minnesota extension is where I got a ton of information about MN prairies during my ecological restoration college class, and they have an excellent page about creating a native wildflower rain garden for urban dwellers that I'm going to use when I get enough spread from my native garden to split and transplant.
@@Chaosrunepownage That's really awesome, tysm. I really appreciate it! Also that's really cool you have a native garden :) have a nice day!
Great stuff
Thank you for the fascinating insight of the sort of research undertaken on the project!
I just love how your projects are helping wildlife mossy earth will truly be the ones to save the world
I think someone said it on the last video about the quarry, but I am surprised it is doing so well. The unnatural bottom and how deep they tend to be makes it hard for them to be productive. That doesn't mean life can't thrive in them, it is more the diversity that is eye catching. I am a fisherman (mostly catch and release) and there are two state parks where I live that are old quarries turned into lakes. They are absolutely full of fish the problem is without the state stocking program the lakes would be absolutely full of 2 kinds of fish. I don't know if Europe has the same problem as NY where I live but if you have a deep cold lake (especially one deep enough that its turnover is irregular) Northern Pike will just take over the lake and it will just be them eating the bait fish and each other. They are just too hardy and good at surviving in it. That doesn't mean life isn't thriving, I have caught 3 40+ Lbs pike in one of these lakes, the most recent being 42 Lbs and our state record is 46. Okay enough of me bragging I guess my point is are you not worried about one type of fish adapting best to the flooded quarry and taking over and limiting the biodiversity? The depths of the quarry are probably too cold form them, but I know in the warmer parts of the US the Largemouth is prime to take over small lakes and ponds and you will just have bait being eaten by bass with bass being eaten by bigger bass.
EDIT: the 42 pounder was caught last year, and they live a long time especially when the water is cold, and I put it back. Someone is in for a surprise if it has grown a lot since then.
Suggest you watch the two previous videos about the work on this quarry. The lakes are actually more like ponds, and not deep.
@@colleeneggertson2117 Maybe I misunderstood but to my knowledge a lot of the shallow lakes/ponds they made are temporary to fill the main deeper lake/old quarry. Also, while they need to be deep to have a thermocline and therefore be cold all year (below a certain depth), even something 20ft/7ish m can turnover and it is the shape of the lake that can make that irregular not just the depth. If it isn't the right shape the turnover will be inconsistent or not happen at all. Also, if I am wrong and none of it is deep my largemouth worry is even bigger. They thrive in warm shallow lakes and ponds and will eat anything. So, if you are right, I wonder what they have planned to stop them from taking over, as even for the bigger fish, Largemouth will just eat all the fry and out compete other species.
@@howitzer551 It would be good to know more. Maybe further updates will address the issue you've raised.
Commenting for the algorithm! Love all your work!
So cool!! Thanks for all your hard work!
Thank you so much for the in depth updates on this project!
Awesome video! Very informative and educational 👏🏻
Thanks as always for your great work!
Yes! Another quarry video- I can’t wait!
3:09 The European rabbit is not endangered. It is endemic to Europe and rampantly feral in Australia and various other places around the world and considered a pest. If for some reason there is a shortage in your area, then please come and take some from the UK. They are feral and everywhere.
Absolutely wonderful ❤️
Keep up the good work everyone 💪
Thanks for the update.
Thanks. That was interesting. Four invasive species of fish.
Great video I love your work. I wish one day I can work with you in this type of awesome projects. Congratulations for the fantastic work from Spain!
Thanks Romero! - Cheers, Duarte
Love ur transparency and work
Fantastic work!
The Crane Fly is also known as a Mosquito Catcher. They're the same insect. Mosquito Catchers are hilariously clumsy in flight and movement, always seemingly drunk beyond repair haha
Excellent update!
Beautiful work
That was so interesting. What a fantastic way of researching this area
Interesting that Louisiana crayfish, (although in Louisiana we refer to them as crawfish,) are there. In Louisiana we eat them. I like them more than shrimp. I find the meat in the tail is slightly sweet. We boil them along with potatoes and corn seasoned with a spicy mixture called crab boil. When you have that and locally brewed Abita Beer you are set. As an aside fossilized crawfish burrows have been found in Grand Staircase National Monument, Utah dating the the time of the dinosaurs. They are little different from the burrows made today. Since crawfish burrow down to the water table, when these ancient burrows are found, paleontologists can tell where the water table was in a given geological layer.
I really like your mothodology, caution and explanations. You really are a great team, doing a grea job
Parabéns pelo trabalho!
music to my ears
Glad you enjoyed it! - Cheers, Duarte
Really love the video's! Can't wait to see more!
Thank you! - Cheers, Duarte
Man I discovered this channel today and I really glad tht I found this channel. I really love the works ur team does to improve the quality of the land and to improve the ecosystem.. Really an inspiring work and video..❤️
Love ur works and willkeep on supporting your team!!!❤️👍
One question I have is regarding the quarry itself, i know old ore mines have issues of leachate when they fill with water , becoming acidic. Does this process not occur within this quarry?
Thanks for the video!
Been watching/loving your videos. Keep it up! :-)
Duarte, Yet another great vid! Really liked the biology lesson, and all your editing of the Birds from their area. Great Job as usual! Keep Up the great work!
i suggest you name the lakes properly. memorizable names really could help the viewer here. incredible work btw, would love to see more footage of the species living there
Great work guys, im looking forward to future updates from the project. Hopefully we're able to do something about the invasive species.
Hmm…
I guess I’d try throwing a crawfish lure for some of those largies!
Fascinating video.
Playing Terra Nil in real life ! I love it.