Researching pesticide-effects in Portugal
Video showing the University of Coimbra team installing pitfall traps for ground dwelling arthropods.
In the Portuguese part of Case Study 5, the team from University of Coimbra started the 2026 field campaigns in vineyards in Barraida, Portugal, in March.
What is happening?
Photos: We are assessing the effects of landscape complexity + PPP (pesticide) application on non-target arthropods (NTAs). To achieve this, the team will perform 3 main campaigns for collecting NTAs on 20 predefined landscape buffers using suction apparatus and pitfall traps. The campaign first was in April, when farmers start to spray, the next one is in June (when they start to apply insecticides) and the 3rd in early September before grape picking.
Video: We are also assessing the effects of spay series on soil micro-arthropod communities – since March, there have been monthly campaigns to collect soil cores and place small pitfall traps for small micro-arthropods. These campaigns will last until winter.
