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![Mata Nacional do Choupal [Choupal National Park]:](https://www.cm-coimbra.pt/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Mata-Nacional-do-Choupal_1276x616_acf_cropped.jpg)
Year after year, the river waters raised and transported a huge amount of sediments that were deposited along the low Mondego, gradually altering the river bed of the Mondego. When the opening works for the “new” river bed were initiated in 1791, plantations were made along the river banks, with the aim of fixing and protecting the bordering agricultural fields. One of the first sites to be planted with several forest species gave rise to the forest called Choupal, due to the cottonwood, a specie of fast growth that prevailed over the other species, dominating the landscape for a long period.
The forest would also play an important role in breaking the flood waters of the Mondego River, through the various channels that cross the forest. Its physiognomy has changed over time, essentially due to the different growth and development rhythms of the various forest species, and the species ability to adapt to the local ecological changes. Currently, the plant species we can find here are: the cottonwood, plane trees, the black walnut, and the cedar of the marshes.