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Browsing GBA - Parte ou Capítulo de um Livro / Part of Book or Chapter of Book by Subject "Azores"
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- Bugs and Society II : Testing Two Communication Strategies for Public Engagement in the AzoresPublication . Amorim, Isabel R.; Arroz, Ana Margarida Moura; Marcos, Rita S.; Borges, Paulo A. V.; Gabriel, RosalinaTwo initiatives to raise biodiversity awareness towards Azorean endemic species, an outdoor exhibition Açorianos há milhões de anos (Azoreans for millions of years) and a web contest to name insects Chama-lhe Nomes! (Pick a Name!), are presented in this chapter. Both communicational strategies targeted non-traditional audiences, relied on the Portuguese and Azorean cultural identity and on anthropic verisimilitude of situations involving insects. The context, principles, assumptions and multidisciplinary approach involved in the development of the public awareness activities were presented in detail in chapter “Bugs and Society I: Raising Awareness About Endemic Biodiversity”. Apart from having symbolically occupied the urban public domain, the outdoor exhibition triggered positive reactions in more than three-quarters of the observers, prompting them to seek more information about the insects, to want to see them alive, to photograph them, etc. On the other hand, the web contest attributed common names to 12 endemic species of insects and motivated over one hundred people to carefully consider their photos and descriptions, engaging in sheer naturalistic pleasure. Less favourable were the post-observation recognition indicators of urban exposure, since only less than one-third of the interviewees correctly identified the insect’ group represented on the banner or could place the origin of the animal. Nevertheless, the means assigned to the evaluation of the intervention were not enough to undertake a full assessment of the impacts produced in the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of viewers and users. Still, the resonance in the media was considerable, in terms of the number of news stories and the diversity of vehicles and audiences reached at regional (outdoor exhibition) and national levels (web contest). Communication devices like the ones presented are expected to raise biodiversity awareness and empower people regarding its preservation in the Azores. Moreover, the critical analysis of these initiatives is expected to provide guidelines that maximise the transferability of communication strategies to other social settings.
- Fichas de espécies - Amphibia/ ReptiliaPublication . Lamelas-López, LucasABSTRACT: Amphibians belong to the Amphibia class.They are characterized by having anaquatic larval stage, and a semi-terrestrialadult phase. They have a thin and wet skin,equipped with glands with multiplefunctions, for example, protect the animalby expelling toxic secretions or regulatecorporal temperature. Many species have acryptic coloration that helps to camouflagethem in the natural environment (e.g.,green frog). However, other species havecolorful and intense colorations in order tokeep away their potential predators(aposematism). Amphibians are speciesclosely linked to aquatic environments,although they can occupy a great variety ofbodies of water.
- Fichas de Espécies - ArthropodaPublication . Borges, Paulo A. V.; Vieira, Virgilio; Wallon, Sophie; Cardoso, Pedro; Picanço, Ana; Lamelas-López, Lucas; Amorim do Rosário, Isabel; Serrano, Artur; Nunes, Lina; Duarte, Sónia; Soares, António O.; Stüben, Peter E.; Borges, IsabelABSTRACT: Arthropods, and especially certain groupsof insects, due to their enormous specificrichness, abundance and fidelity tocertain habitats, among other factors, area fundamental tool in studies of ecologicalbio-indicators and biodiversity.
- Fichas de espécies - MoluscasPublication . Frias Martins, A. M.ABSTRACT: The terrestrial molluscs of the Azoreswere first dealt with in dept by the Frenchnaturalist Arthur Morelet (1860) wholisted 66 species, of which 32 wereendemic. Backhuys (1975), in a detailedreview of the land and freshwatermolluscs of the Açores, listed 97 speciesof which 35 were considered endemic.Since Backhuys’ work, extensive collectingand intensive research on malacology wascarried out at the Department of Biologyof the University of the Açores, resultingin the establishment of a “referencecollection” (DBUAç-MT). On the basis ofthe material therein contained, Martins(2011) updated the former listings of landmolluscs and, for the purpose of giving amore realistic account of the richness ofthe Açorean malacofauna and supportedby extensive preliminary anatomicalresearch (Martins, 2005), included aseries of putative, to-be-described taxa.The 2011 list was updated in a field guidefold-out (Martins, 2019), illustrating the122 described species known to live in thearchipelago, 53 of which being endemic.