Project UBEST: Understanding the biogeochemical buffering capacity of estuaries relative to climate change and anthropogenic inputs - Final Report

Abstract

The final technical report of the project “UBEST – Understanding the biogeochemical buffering capacity of estuaries relative to climate change and anthropogenic inputs” (ref. PTDC/AAGMAA/ 6899/2014), funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), is presented. The project contributed to improve the knowledge on the biogeochemical dynamics in estuaries and coastal lagoons, in particular the Tagus estuary and the Ria Formosa. A detailed characterization of the current water quality and biogeochemical dynamics in these systems and further insights about their response to climate change and anthropogenic pressures are provided. The use of an integrated approach, combining field observations and numerical modelling, was fundamental as it allowed to effectively cover the relevant temporal (past-present-future) and spatial scales. An innovative coastal observatory was developed, the UBEST coastal observatory (http://portal-ubest.lnec.pt), which integrates all the main results of the project as layers of information with different levels of aggregation.