Repositório da Universidade dos Açores
Repositório Institucional da Universidade dos Açores
Entradas recentes
Species inventory and morphological measurements of spiders (Arachnida, Araneae) and ants (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Formicidae) collected in northern Ghana
Publication . Yrjölä, Veikko; Crespo, Luís Carlos; Saussure, Stephanie; Asamoah, Francis; Soukainen, Arttu; Badii, Benjamin; Sihvonen, Pasi; Cardoso, Pedro; Prebus, Matthew
ABSTRACT: Agricultural expansion, a leading driver of biodiversity loss, has widespread effects on ecosystem services, particularly in tropical regions. In West Africa, the impact of intensified agriculture on local biodiversity – especially predator and decomposer species like spiders and ants – is understudied. This study aims to provide a checklist of terrestrial spiders and ants associated with savannahs and mango orchards in northern Ghana thus creating a baseline for further ecological studies on the community composition of these groups.
Quantifying the unrecorded loss of avian phylogenetic diversity
Publication . Faurby, Søren; Matthews, Thomas; Triantis, K.; Sayol, F.; Heisen, Julia; Araújo, Miguel
ABSTRACT: Humans have drastically reduced avian diversity, with the majority of extinctions occurring on islands. Previous studies have quantified various aspects of this decline, including both taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity loss due to recorded extinctions. Other studies have estimated that unrecorded island bird extinctions – those that left no known fossil evidence – may represent hundreds of additional losses. However, these analyses have only focused on species diversity. In this paper, we bridge these two research efforts by estimating the phylogenetic diversity lost due to unrecorded island bird extinctions. Our findings suggest that the loss of phylogenetic diversity may be substantially smaller than expected, given the number of extinctions. Our results suggest that while unrecorded extinctions probably represented around 60% of all species extinctions, the majority of the phylogenetic diversity loss was likely caused by the recorded extinctions. The reason for this is that while extant island endemics are on average slightly more phylogenetically distinct than expected by chance, a disproportionate number of unrecorded extinctions are predicted to have been from islands in the eastern Pacific. Extant birds from this region generally have lower phylogenetic distinctiveness than other birds and the extinct species therefore likely did as well.
A comprehensive trait dataset for Terrestrial Arthropods of the Azores: insights for conservation, island ecology and species invasion
Publication . Oyarzabal da Silva, Guilherme; Rigal, François; Cardoso, Pedro; Amorim do Rosário, Isabel; Costa, Ricardo; Lhoumeau, Sébastien Georges André; Wallon, Sophie; Macías-Hernández, Nuria; Terzopoulou, Sofia; Triantis, Kostas; Borges, P.A.V.; Silva, Daniel
ABSTRACT: Species functional traits provide critical insights into how organisms interact with and respond to their environment. Key characteristics, such as body size, dispersal ability and trophic specialisation influence species' survival, reproduction and adaptability. Island ecosystems, particularly oceanic archipelagos like the Azores, serve as ideal natural laboratories for studying these traits due to their unique biogeographic history and high endemism. Arthropods, as dominant colonisers and ecosystem engineers, exhibit rapid adaptation and trait diversification in these isolated settings. However, island arthropods face escalating threats from habitat loss, climate change and invasive species, which disrupt ecological functions and increase extinction risks. Under the scope of BALA (Biodiversity of Arthropods from the Laurisilva of Azores) project (1999-2021) and SLAM (Long Term Ecological Study of the Impacts of Climate Change in the natural forest of Azores) project (2012-2025), we obtained a comprehensive and standardised dataset of arthropods functional traits currently known to occur in the Azores Archipelago.
New spatial records of vascular plants in the Azores Archipelago: the PRIBES project and the Azorean Biodiversity Portal (ABP) initiatives - I. São Jorge Island (Azores)
Publication . Petrone, Andrea; Borges, P.A.V.; Pereira, Fernando; Pires Bento da Silva Elias, Rui Miguel; Mergen, Patricia
ABSTRACT: The Azores Archipelago is known for its important natural heritage, yet its ecosystems face a “green tsunami” in the form of numerous exotic and invasive species. This influx has wrought serious biodiversity loss and degradation of ecosystem services, representing one of the greatest threats to conservation across the islands. Originating from accelerated global trade and travel, these invasions impact human activities, public health and economic sectors alike. The PRIBES project intends to contribute to "The Regional Strategy for the Management of Terrestrial and Freshwater Exotic and Invasive Species in the Azores" (PRIBES-LIFE-IP- Estratégia regional para o controlo e prevenção de espécies exóticas invasoras - no âmbito do projeto LIFE IP AZORES NATURA, LIFE17 IPE/PT/000010). Recently, a plan was delivered to the Azorean government that proposes as key strategy: an unified Azores Invasive Species Task Force, a central coordination unit and island‐level focal points defined clear leadership roles for agencies and stakeholders (Axis 1), while stringent pre‐export controls, quarantine measures and risk analyses blocked new arrivals (Axis 2); parallel early‐detection teams and citizen‐science networks screened ports, airports and nurseries and triggered rapid eradication protocols (Axis 3), guided by a tiered framework of eradication, containment, control and mitigation chosen on feasibility and cost–benefit grounds (Axis 4). Simultaneously, national and international partnerships with IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) ISSG (Invasive Species Specialist Group), CABI (Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux International) and other island regions fostered data exchange (Axis 5), targeted scientific research investigated invasion pathways and management efficacy (Axis 6) and a central observatory consolidated occurrence records and risk assessments (Axis 7). Meanwhile, outreach campaigns, industry training and school programmes rallied public awareness (Axis 8). The AZORES BIOPORTAL (ABP) is a regional e-infrastructure dedicated to the mobilisation, curation and dissemination of biodiversity data from the Azores. It provides centralised data repository for researchers, policy-makers and educators; validated species checklists, including endemic, native and introduced species; integration with national and international biodiversity networks, including PORBIOTA, GBIF and LifeWatch ERIC; and tools for data visualisation and access, supporting conservation, ecological research and environmental management. ABP follows the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and supports open science. Mapping the occurrence of both native (endemic and non endemic) and exotic species is of key importance for the PRIBES project and the ABP intiative.
A equação de Schrödinger faz 100 anos (e continua a desafiar a nossa intuição — até os gatos)
Publication . Vasconcelos, Cristina; Meirelles, Gabriela; Coordenação e edição de Armindo Rodrigues (FCT-UAc)
Quando Erwin Schrödinger (1887–1961) publicou, em 1926, a equação que hoje tem o seu nome, a Física atravessava um momento de profunda transformação. Os fenómenos observados à escala atómica desafiavam as leis da mecânica clássica e exigiam uma nova descrição da Natureza. A equação de Schrödinger surgiu como resposta a esse desafio e tornou-se, desde então, um dos pilares da mecânica quântica, com impacto direto na tecnologia moderna. A importância deste contributo seria reconhecida poucos anos mais tarde com a atribuição do Prémio Nobel da Física, em 1933.