Mapping multi-species habitat use for marine conservation planning

Tese de Doutoramento, Ciências do Mar (Biologia Marinha)

Planeamento espacial marinho das áreas marinhas protegidas: o caso de estudo da ára protegida de gestão de recursos: Caloura - ilhéu de Vila Franca do Campo

Tese de Doutoramento, Ciências do Mar (Ecologia Marinha), 26 de Novembro de 2013, Universidade dos Açores.

Perspectives and progress of ecology and conservation science in the Azores: the possible contribution of Artificial Intelligence

EPIA 2013 - XVI Portuguese Conference on Artificial Intelligence Angra do Heroísmo, Azores, Portugal, 9 – 12 September.

Diversidade de briófitos e alterações climáticas nos Açores: olhar para o futuro para delinear o presente

Jornadas "Ciência nos Açores – que futuro? Tema Ciências Naturais e Ambiente", Ponta Delgada, 7-8 de Junho de 2013.

Conservation of limpet populations: a heavily exploited resource in Azores, NE-Atlantic

10th International Temperate Reefs Symposium, The University of Western Australia, 12-17 de janeiro.

Spatial segregation of calving and nursing Risso's dolphins (Grampus griseus), and its conservation implications

"Conhecer o Mar dos Açores III - Fórum científico de apoio à decisão". Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Regional João José da Graça, Horta, Faial, Açores, 19-20 de setembro de 2013.

Biology, ecology and conservation of mobulid rays in the Azores

Dissertação de Mestrado, Estudos Integrados dos Oceanos, 12 de Dezembro de 2013, Universidade dos Açores.

Towards systematic conservation planning in the Azores

Several field methodologies, analytical measures and theoretical patterns have been explored for conservation planning for arthropods in native forests of the Azores archipelago. Here, the outcomes are assembled to make recommendations on practical strategies to assess arthropod diversity and to select and manage protected native forests in the Azores. Suggestions are made on how to apply similar plans for conservation of other plant and animal groups in these forests. Potential threats to the Azorean native forest are described and measures to minimize them are proposed. Future studies are also suggested that would improve the present knowledge of arthropod diversity and distribution in Azorean native forests and could assist in the identification of suitable conservation strategies.

Assessing the conservation status of the strict endemic Desertas wolf spider, Hogna ingens (Araneae, Lycosidae)

The Desertas Islands (Madeira, Portugal) are the sole home of one of the largest and rarest wolf spiderspecies, Hogna ingens (Blackwall 1857) (Araneae, Lycosidae). Despite its size, it inhabits a single valleyin the North of the Deserta Grande Island, Vale da Castanheira, currently invaded by the herb Phalarisaquatica. This invasive species competes with the native flora and was subject to several eradicationexperiments, namely through fire and chemicals. The objectives of this work were to: (1) estimate thecurrent distribution and abundance of H. ingens and respective trends; (2) evaluate the impact of theinvasive plant and eradication methods on the spider population; (3) suggest future measures for therecovery of the species; and (4) evaluate its conservation status according to the IUCN criteria. The current distribution of H. ingens covers 23 ha, a recent reduction from its original 83 ha, correspond-ing to the entire Vale da Castanheira. A total of 4447 and 4086 adults and 71,832 and 24,635 juvenileswere estimated to live in the valley during 2011 and 2012, respectively. We found a significant negativeimpact of P. aquatica cover on the presence and abundance of H. ingens and that chemical treatmentspecifically directed towards the invasive plant species may be the only way to effectively recover thespider's habitat. We suggest (1) regular monitoring; (2) extend chemical treatments; (3) ex-situ conserva-tion with future reintroduction of adults. Based on the current area of occupancy (AOO) of H. ingens and itsrecent decline in both AOO and number of individuals, it was recently classified as Critically Endangeredby IUCN and we suggest its urgent inclusion in the Habitats Directive species lists.

Long-term modifications of coastal defences enhance marine biodiversity

Realization that hard coastal infrastructures support lower biodiversity than natural habitats has prompted a wealth of research seeking to identify design enhancements offering ecological benefits. Some studies showed that artificial structures could be modified to increase levels of diversity. Most studies, however, only considered the short-term ecological effects of such modifications, even though reliance on results from short-term studies may lead to serious misjudgements in conservation. In this study, a sevenyear experiment examined how the addition of small pits to otherwise featureless seawalls may enhance the stocks of a highly-exploited limpet. Modified areas of the seawall supported enhanced stocks of limpets seven years after the addition of pits. Modified areas of the seawall also supported a community that differed in the abundance of littorinids, barnacles andmacroalgae compared to the controls. Responses to different treatments (numbers and size of pits) were speciesspecific and, while some species responded directly to differences among treatments, others might have responded indirectly via changes in the distribution of competing species. This type of habitat enhancement can have positive long-lasting effects on the ecology of urban seascapes.Understanding of species interactions could be used to develop a rule-based approach to enhance biodiversity.

Cold-water coral communities in the Azores : diversity, habitat and conservation

Tese de Doutoramento, Ciências do Mar (especialidade em Ecologia Marinha), 11 de Setembro de 2015, Universidade dos Açores.