The project aims to quantify the ecosystem services provided by irrigated croplands to ecological focus areas (EFA) such as field margins, hedges, trees, fallow land, landscape features, biotopes, buffer strips, and afforested areas, and the habitat configurations serving the maximum capacity of services. The project will also simulate water and habitat delivery of biodiversity services for different climate change scenarios and agriculture storylines in the future. Economic costs and agro-policy environmental trade-offs will be analyzed, and an EFA calculator produced at the farm level.

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The project develops over two case-studies, collects information in situ and remotely, and the results will receive the input and testing from the farmers during the project lifespan.

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Led by: Instituto Superior de Agronomia

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Partners: Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Agrotejo - União agrícola do norte do Vale do Tejo, Associação de regantes e beneficiários do vale do Sorraia

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Funded by: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

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Researchers: Renato Rosa, João Pato

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To find out more about the project, click here.