Boquilobo Bog Nature Reserve is a

marshland In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in general ...

and

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

located near

Golegã Golegã () is a town and municipality in Santarém District, Portugal. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 5,913,including the parish Pombalinho, that changed from the municipality of Santarém to Golegã in 2013 in an area of 84.32 ...

, central

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. It is a

UNESCO biosphere reserve Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an intergovernmental scientific program, launched in 1971 by UNESCO, that aims to establish a scientific basis for the 'improvement of relationships' between people and their environments. MAB engages w ...

since 1981 and a

Ramsar wetland The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It i ...

since 1996. Due to its inland position, the wetland is dependent on the

Tagus basin The Tagus Basin is the drainage basin of the Tagus, Tagus River, which flows through the west of the Iberian Peninsula and empties into Lisbon. It covers an area of 78,467 km2, which is distributed 66% (55,645 km2) on Spanish territory and 34% on ...

, along with one of its tributaries, the

Almonda Almonda is a Portuguese village of around 300 inhabitants in the civil parish of Zibreira, within the municipality of Torres Novas and the Santarém District. The village was named after the river Almonda, whose source is located nearby. Almond ...

. As expected, the nature reserve is dominated by plant species associated with humid environments such as the lakeshore bulrush, the southern cattail or

Juncus ''Juncus'' is a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants, commonly known as rushes. It is the largest genus in the family Juncaceae, containing around 300 species. Description Rushes of the genus ''Juncus'' are herbaceous plants that superfici ...

. In the arboreal layer, in temporarily flooded areas, willow groves dominate, especially

white willow ''Salix alba'', the white willow, is a species of willow native to Europe and western and Central Asia.Meikle, R. D. (1984). ''Willows and Poplars of Great Britain and Ireland''. BSBI Handbook No. 4. .Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain an ...

, which form small islands of vegetation and even dense

thicket A thicket is a very dense stand of trees or tall shrubs, often dominated by only one or a few species, to the exclusion of all others. They may be formed by species that shed large numbers of highly viable seeds that are able to germinate in th ...

s. Among the fish, the

European eel The European eel (''Anguilla anguilla'') is a species of eel. Their life history was a mystery for thousands of years, and mating in the wild has not yet been observed. The five stages of their development were originally thought to be differe ...

and two Portuguese endemisms stand out: ''

Achondrostoma oligolepis ''Achondrostoma oligolepis'', the ruivaco, is a species of freshwater Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish belonging to the Family (biology), family Leuciscidae, which includes the daces. Eurasian minnows and related fishes. This species is Endemism, ...

'' and the

Iberian nase The Iberian nase (''Pseudochondrostoma polylepis'') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae, which includes the daces, Eurasian minnows and related species. This species is endemic to the Iberian Peninsula i ...

. Among the amphibians, there are four Iberian endemisms and 27 species of mammals are counted. Due to its status, the occurrence of the

European pond turtle The European pond turtle (''Emys orbicularis''), also called Common name, commonly the European pond terrapin and the European pond tortoise, is a species of long-living freshwater turtle in the Family (biology), family Emydidae. The species is E ...

should also be mentioned. The high ornithological value is attested by the presence of about 221 species of birds, especially

heron Herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 75 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genus ''Botaurus'' are referred to as bi ...

s, such as the

western cattle egret The western cattle egret (''Ardea ibis'') is a species of heron (family (biology), family heron, Ardeidae) found in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate zones. Formerly, most taxonomic authorities lumped this species and the eastern cattle ...

, the

little egret The little egret (''Egretta garzetta'') is a species of small heron in the family Ardeidae. It is a white bird with a slender black beak, long black legs and, in the western race, yellow feet. As an aquatic bird, it feeds in shallow water and on ...

, the

black-crowned night heron The black-crowned night heron (''Nycticorax nycticorax'') r black-capped night heron commonly shortened to just night heron in Eurasia, is a medium-sized heron found throughout a large part of the world, including parts of Europe, Asia, and Nort ...

, the

grey heron The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia, and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more norther ...

, the

purple heron The purple heron (''Ardea purpurea'') is a wide-ranging heron species. It breeds in Africa, central and southern Europe, and southern and eastern Palearctic. The Western Palearctic populations migrate between breeding and wintering habitats whe ...

and the

squacco heron The squacco heron (''Ardeola ralloides'') is a small heron, long, of which the body is , with wingspan. It is of Old World origins, breeding in southern Europe and the Greater Middle East. Behaviour The squacco heron is a migrant, wintering ...

. The

Eurasian spoonbill The Eurasian spoonbill (''Platalea leucorodia''), or common spoonbill, is a wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae, native to Europe, Africa and Asia. The species is partially migratory with the more northerly breeding popu ...

has one of its few nesting sites in Portugal. It has a large wintering duck population, namely

northern pintail The pintail or northern pintail (''Anas acuta'') is a duck species with wide geographic Range (biology), distribution that breeds in the northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and North America. It is bird migration, migratory an ...

and

common pochard The common pochard (; ''Aythya ferina''), known simply as pochard in the United Kingdom, is a medium-sized diving duck in the family Anatidae. It is widespread across the Palearctic. It breeds primarily in the steppe regions of Scandinavia and Si ...

. The symbol of the park is the white heron. The reserve is home to the largest number of white herons in the Iberian peninsula, and they are found there from February/March until the summer.

References

External links

Reserva Natural do Paul do Boquilobo
- Biosphere reserves of Portugal Nature reserves in Portugal Ramsar sites in Portugal Geography of Santarém District Tourist attractions in Santarém District Natura 2000 in Portugal Golegã {{Europe-protected-area-stub