Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2023"
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- Why do Bulwer’s Petrels Bulweria bulwerii change nest?Publication . Bried, JoëlOwning a nest is a prerequisite for breeding in Procellariiform seabirds, which can leave their single egg and/or chick unattended for long periods and show high nest fidelity. However, the determinants of nest fidelity vary among species. Amongst them, Bulwer’s Petrel Bulweria bulwerii lays the biggest egg relative to body size within the Family Procellariidae. Therefore, individuals should choose their nests carefully and change essentially if they can improve their reproductive performances. This study conducted on Vila islet, Azores, aimed to determine why Bulwer’s Petrels actually change nest. Nest fidelity exceeded 85%. Nest changes were most likely to occur after a breeding failure or a non-breeding year, but they did not allow improving breeding success and they often resulted in missed breeding years. On average, the new nests were not of higher quality than the old ones, except for the individuals whose first breeding attempt in the new nest was successful. In addition, the quality of the new nest was unrelated to the number of skipped years and to the distance moved. Almost half of changes occurred towards neighbouring nests. They were associated with a lower probability to skip years. Therefore, Bulwer’s Petrels might prioritize proximity over nest quality to reduce the costs of nest changes. communities.
- Small, silent and (in)significant: childhood as a minoritarian experience of educationPublication . Costa Carvalho, MagdaIt is possible to question and deconstruct the roots of some educational conceptions of childhood through approaches that find different ways of thinking about children, childhood, and even to experience education. Philosophy has contributed to some of these approaches by deconstructing and reconstructing the Western dominant ideas of rationality and its uses in education. In this chapter, I will approach these critical movements through disruptive provocations grounded in three concepts: small, silent, and (in)signi fi cant. These concepts are commonly associated with descriptive and normative images of childhood: what it is and is expected of children. By retaking these concepts, I will problematize the impact of Western rationality on the ways education has been thought and practiced.
- Assessing the Impact of Insect Decline in Islands: Exploring the Diversity and Community Patterns of Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Arthropods in the Azores Native Forest over 10 YearsPublication . Lhoumeau, Sébastien; Borges, Paulo A. V.The ongoing decline of insect populations highlight the need for long-term ecological monitoring. As part of the “SLAM—Long Term Ecological Study of the Impacts of Climate Change on the Natural Forests of Azores” project, we investigated changes in arthropod diversity and community structure over a ten-year period (2012–2022) in the native forest of the island of Terceira (Azores). Focused on two arthropod assemblages (indigenous and non-indigenous species) monitored with SLAM traps, we asked if there was a distinguishable pattern in the diversity and structure of the studied arthropod subsets in a pristine island native forest. Species richness remained relatively constant. Endemic arthropods dominated and remained stable over time, indicating the forest’s ecological stability. In contrast, the assemblage of native non-endemic arthropods underwent changes, including increased hyperdominance and decreased biomass. The introduced arthropod assemblage showed more erratic dynamics driven by species turnover. Results suggested that temporal variation in each subset may be due to different ecological processes and that niche filtering may limit the establishment and spread of introduced arthropods. This research contributes to our understanding of the temporal dynamics of arthropods in native island forests and highlights the need for ongoing conservation efforts to protect these fragile ecosystems.
- How Many Azores Bullfinches (Pyrrhula murina) Are There in the World? Case Study of a Threatened SpeciesPublication . Costa, Tarso; Gil, Artur José Freire; Timóteo, Sérgio; Ceia, Ricardo S.; Coelho, Ruben; De La Cruz Martín, AzucenaThe Azores bullfinch (Pyrrhula murina Godman, 1866) is a rare Passeriformes endemic from the eastern part of São Miguel Island, Azores, Portugal. This bird was almost considered extinct in the first half of the 20th century, but due to recent conservation measures, it has experienced a recovery since the beginning of the 2000s. Despite the attention given to this bird, the size of its population is still controversial, and the most recent studies present significant divergences on this behalf. The purpose of the present study is to present data from the long-term monitoring and results of the third single-morning survey of the Azores bullfinch to update information about the population size and range of this species. In addition, we performed a literature review to highlight the limitations and advantages of the different approaches for monitoring this species. The Azores Bullfinch records during the single-morning survey indicated a reduction in the extent of occurrence and area of occupancy of this species in comparison with the previous studies, despite the increase in bird detection. However, we suggest that the distribution range of this species needs further analysis concerning its area to exclude non suitable habitats from this analysis. In this study, we conclude that the most likely size of the Azores bullfinch population is 500 to 800 couples, with a slow population growth tendency and an area of distribution of 136.5 km2.
- A global analysis of avian island diversity–area relationships in the AnthropocenePublication . Matthews, Thomas J.; Wayman, Joseph P.; Whittaker, Robert J.; Cardoso, Pedro; Hume, Julian P.; Sayol, Ferran; Proios, Konstantinos; Martin, Thomas E.; Baiser, Benjamin; Borges, Paulo A. V.; Kubota, Yasuhiro; dos Anjos, Luiz; Tobias, Joseph; Soares, Filipa C.; Si, Xingfeng; Ding, Ping; Mendenhall, Chase D.; Sin, Yong Chee Keita; Rheindt, Frank E.; Triantis, Kostas; Guilhaumon, François; Watson, David M.; Brotons, Lluís; Battisti, Corrado; Chu, Osanna; Rigal, FrançoisResearch on island species–area relationships (ISAR) has expanded to incorporate functional (IFDAR) and phylogenetic (IPDAR) diversity. However, relative to the ISAR, we know little about IFDARs and IPDARs, and lack synthetic global analyses of variation in form of these three categories of island diversity–area relationship (IDAR). Here, we undertake the first comparative evaluation of IDARs at the global scale using 51 avian archipelagic data sets representing true and habitat islands. Using null models, we explore how richness-corrected functional and phylogenetic diversity scale with island area. We also provide the largest global assessment of the impacts of species introductions and extinctions on the IDAR. Results show that increasing richness with area is the primary driver of the (non-richness corrected) IPDAR and IFDAR for many data sets. However, for several archipelagos, richness-corrected functional and phylogenetic diversity changes linearly with island area, suggesting that the dominant community assembly processes shift along the island area gradient. We also find that archipelagos with the steepest ISARs exhibit the biggest differences in slope between IDARs, indicating increased functional and phylogenetic redundancy on larger islands in these archipelagos. In several cases introduced species seem to have ‘re-calibrated’ the IDARs such that they resemble the historic period prior to recent extinctions.
- Bryophytes of Europe Traits (BET) dataset: a fundamental tool for ecological studiesPublication . Van Zuijlen, Kristel; Nobis, Michael P.; Hedenäs, Lars; Hodgetts, Nick; Calleja Alarcón, Juan A.; Albertos, Belén; Bernhardt‐Römermann, Markus; Gabriel, Rosalina; Garilleti, R.; Lara, Francisco; Preston, Christopher; Simmel, Josef; Urmi, Edi; Bisang, Irene; Bergamini, ArielBryophytes are a diverse group of organisms with unique properties, yet they are severely underrepresented in plant trait databases. Building on the recently published European Red List of bryophytes and previous trait compilations, we present the Bryophytes of Europe Traits (BET) data set, including biological traits such as those related to life history, growth habit, sexual and vegetative reproduction; ecological traits such as indicator values, substrate and habitat; and bioclimatic variables based on the species' European range. The data set includes values for 65 traits and 25 bio-climatic variables, containing more than 135,000 trait values with a completeness of 82.7% on average. The data set will enable future studies in bryophyte biology, ecology and conservation, and may help to answer fundamental questions in bryology.
- Los derechos humanos y la crisis de la democracia: totalitarismo, populismo, relaciones de poder y participación políticaPublication . Fontes, Paulo VitorinoO objetivo central deste estudo é equacionar os principais desafios dos Direitos Humanos diretamente ligados às debilidades das democracias contemporâneas, ao nível da participação política, perante a ameaça do totalitarismo e do populismo. Por meio de uma metodologia qualitativa de análise hermenêutica, retomamos o pensamento de Hannah Arendt sobre a centralidade e a fragilidade da política no seu estudo sobre o totalitarismo, com o contributo de Rainer Forst, capaz de revelar relações de poder prevalecentes, e de perceber até que ponto podemos identificar formas legítimas de exercício de poder. O verdadeiro valor da política será exercer a liberdade, a participação e a interação autêntica com os outros seres humanos, o que está dependente não só da medida de inclusão social de cada qual na sociedade, ameaçada pelas crescentes fragilidades e escaladas populistas de Direita, como dos traços de personalidade e capacidades de resiliência correlacionadas com diferentes graus de emancipação que vivência em cada fase da vida. O caminho proposto explora o papel da teoria do reconhecimento na formação dos sujeitos e, ao nível macro, esboça uma teoria da justiça transnacional, assente no direito à justificação, que visa criar estruturas de participação e legitimação que possam assumir e desempenhar as tarefas de abertura e crítica, culminando na justificação e adoção de normas vinculativas transnacionais e internacionais.
- Marine macroalgae for industrial extraction of valuable biofunctional compounds using biorefinery. Algal Metabolites: Biotechnological, Commercial and Industrial ApplicationsPublication . Nunes, Nuno; Barreto, Maria do Carmo; Carvalho, Miguel A. A. Pinheiro deAlgal secondary metabolites have several biotechnological, pharmaeceutical, industral, cosmetic, and other commercial applications. This new book highlights the recent advances in algal active metabolites, emphasizing their pharmaceutical, therapeutic, nutraceutical, and industral potential. It first provides an introduction to algal metabolites and discusses their applications. It then looks at microalgal- their pharmaeceutical, therapeutic, nutraceutical, and industrial applications. Providing a wealth of information, this book illustrates the diversity of these metabolites from indegeneous marine of freshwater sources, providing a gateway that can enable researchers and pharmaceutical companies to develop novel nontoxic, cost-effective, and highly efficient drugs.
- Guia Prático da Fauna Terrestre dos AçoresPublication . Gabriel, Rosalina; Borges, Paulo A.V.É um guia de campo de capa mole, que pretende dar uma visão geral dos moluscos terrestres, artrópodes e vertebrados dos Açores, dando maior destaque às espécies e sub-espécies endémicas.
- Two alien insect species are new records at the family-level to the Azores archipelago (Portugal)Publication . Boeiro, Mário; Leite, Abrão; Rego, Carla; Varga-Szilay, Zsófia; Borges, Paulo A.V.Species introductions are a major issue for biodiversity conservation and human well-being worldwide, but their impact can be particularly severe in oceanic island ecosystems. Here, we report the occurrence of two alien species on Terceira island, Rivellia syngenesiae (Fabricius, 1781) (Diptera: Platystomatidae) and Sceliphron caementarium (Drury, 1773) (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae), being the first reports of these insect families to the Azores archipelago. We provide the diagnosis of each species, information on their distribution and ecology, and discuss their potential impact on native biodiversity. Furthermore, we anticipate the spread of these species through the Azores islands, benefiting from the high increase in commerce and tourism, and stress the need to set a program for the early detection of alien species in the archipelago.