connected by avenues of built-up occupation. The expansion of Várzea, owing to the construction of the Paradela Dam, resulted in the reduction of cultivatable lands, meadows and marshes. Some of the villages in the high lands are located near the arable lands. Terraces, built to make better use of these scarce lands, and traditional houses, with granite walls and thatch roofs, shape the landscape with an indelible, harmonious, human mark in some of the most isolated villages such as Pitões das Júnias and Ermida. Research Over the last 50 years, the Peneda-Gerês National Park has been one of the most important sites for ecological research in Portugal, but also for other natural and social sciences. A number of studies have been conducted from the Peneda Field Station in Castro Laboreiro run by Prof. Henrique M. Pereira. These studies have looked at patterns of species diversity at multiple scales and their response to the habitat composition of the landscape and multiple land-uses. They have also documented a new moth species for science in 2015, Isotrias penedana. Economy The primary economic sector dominates the activities of residents that live within the park's territory. Although agricultural activity remains difficult, it still out-paces secondary and tertiary activities which, apart from the Terras de Bouro and Ponte da Barca, have been insignificant. The inaccessibility and diminished exterior investment potential, has concentrated those activities in the region primarily in the exploration of forestry, the support of hydro-electrical generation and tourism. But this too is limited; tourism is concentrated generally in the vicinity of Caldas do Gerês, hydro-electrical transmission has not affected the local economy, and along with forestry, has not seen an appreciable re-investment or re-capitalization of wealth (with income generated transferred outside the local market). The primary sector, although the largest contributor, is subsistence at best: supported by an ageing (mostly female) population; individual parcels are small and over-subdivided; producers that support familial or local clients; a production that is primarily concentrated on personal consumption; poor commercial networks; and physical and social isolation, with limited educational supports. Between 60 and 70% of the production is supported by subsidies. Industrial activities in the civil parishes within the park are poorly diversified and support familial businesses. Civil construction, although one of the larger economic supporters, has little effect on local incomes, since a majority of the employed come from outside the region. Although there are a few