EDP Foz-Tua: Pyrenean Desman (Galemys pyrenaicus) - Ecological Monitoring Program (2011-17)

Study Extent

The data were collected in the rivers Douro and Tua sub-basins, in the municipalities of Carrazeda de Ansiães, Vila Flor, Alijó, Murça and Mirandela, Bragança, São João da Pesqueira e Tabuaço.

Sampling

Sampling was designed to cover the course of the lower river Tua and its main tributaries from the mouth up to the northern limit of the Foz-Tua dam, and the downstream part of the four Douro tributaries, up to 5 km. Up to 30 sampling transects were setup in the Tua sub-basin and one more was located in each of the four Douro tributaries. Each transect up to 500 m was performed along the margins, looking for signs of presence (mostly scats) in suitable places (prominent stones and vegetation in the margins of the water line). The transect was interrupted when the presence of the Pyrenean desman was detected, and the time and distance recorded. Each plot was visited twice in spring (May-June) and autumn (October-November) in dry or light rain periods to minimize the chance of leaching of the fecal material. The scats potentially attributed to the species were stored and taken to the laboratory for molecular identification.

Quality Control

All identifications were performed by qualified technicians

Method steps

1. To be completed

The taxonomic coverage of this dataset spans 1 phylum, 1 class, 1 order, 1 family, 1 genus and 1 species.

1. Mammalia
   rank: class
2. Eulipotyphla
   rank: order
3. Talpidae
   rank: family

The data were collected in selected sampling points in the rivers Tua and Douro sub-basins (Northeast Portugal), including the whole course of river Tua and its main tributaries, and the downstream stretches of rivers Pinhão, Távora and Torto and Linhares stream, in the Douro sub-basin, in the municipalities of Carrazeda de Ansiães, Vila Flor, Alijó, Murça, Mirandela, Tabuaço and S. João da Pesqueira.