01 May Ecological field trips by Moroccan colleagues

Travel restrictions and health risks caused by the Corona virus prohibited long planned field work during the first lockdowns, especially for the SaliDraa members based in Germany. By the end of the summer, however, it was finally possible for the Moroccan colleagues from the University of Cadi Ayyad in Marrakesh to start with first field activities. While a small field trip was conducted in September 2020 to sample macroinvertebrates, a big field trip followed in October with the objective of collecting physico-chemical water parameters, water samples, macroinvertebrates, biofilm samples, and samples of microorganisms. These samples were partly brought to Germany for further analysis and lab experiments. Two further field trips followed in April and May 2021, where besides the above-mentioned objectives, there was also a focus on the study of the Draa fish population, mainly the Draa barbel and blue tilapia.