Contribuição para o planeamento de emergência no concelho da Praia da Vitória: caso de estudo na freguesia da Agualva (Terceira, Açores)

Dissertação de Mestrado, Vulcanologia e Riscos Geológicos, 25 de Novembro de 2013, Universidade dos Açores.

Functional biogeography of oceanic islands and the scaling of functional diversity in the Azores

Analyses of species-diversity patterns of remote islands have been crucial to the development of biogeographic theory, yet little is known about corresponding patterns in functional traits on islands and how, for example, they may be affected by the introduction of exotic species. We collated trait data for spiders and beetles and used a functional diversity index (FRic) to test for nonrandomness in the contribution of endemic, other native (also combined as indigenous), and exotic species to functional-trait space across the nine islands of the Azores. In general, for both taxa and for each distributional category, functional diversity increases with species richness, which, in turn scales with island area. Null simulations support the hypothesis that each distributional group contributes to functional diversity in proportion to their species richness. Exotic spiders have added novel trait space to a greater degree than have exotic beetles, likely indicating greater impact of the reduction of immigration filters and/or differential historical losses of indigenous species. Analyses of species occurring in native-forest remnants provide limited indications of the operation of habitat filtering of exotics for three islands, but only for beetles. Although the general linear (not saturating) pattern of trait-space increase with richness of exotics suggests an ongoing process of functional enrichment and accommodation, further work is urgently needed to determine how estimates of extinction debt of indigenous species should be adjusted in the light of these findings.

Patterns, mathematics and culture : the search for symmetry in Azorean sidewalks and traditional crafts

In the hustle and bustle of daily life, how often do we stop to pay attention to the tiny details around us, some of them right beneath our feet? Such is the case of interesting decorative patterns that can be found in squares and sidewalks beautified by the traditional Portuguese pavement. Its most common colors are the black and the white of the basalt and the limestone used; the result is a large variety and richness in patterns. No doubt, it is worth devoting some of our time enjoying the lovely Portuguese pavement, a true worldwide attraction. The interesting patterns found on the Azorean handicrafts are as fascinating and substantial from the cultural point of view. Patterns existing in the sidewalks and crafts can be studied from the mathematical point of view, thus allowing a thorough and rigorous cataloguing of such heritage. The mathematical classification is based on the concept of symmetry, a unifying principle of geometry. Symmetry is a unique tool for helping us relate things that at first glance may appear to have no common ground at all. By interlacing different fields of endeavor, the mathematical approach to sidewalks and crafts is particularly interesting, and an excellent source of inspiration for the development of highly motivated recreational activities. This text is an invitation to visit the nine islands of the Azores and to identify a wide range of patterns, namely rosettes and friezes, by getting to know different arts and crafts and sidewalks.

The Bergsonian intuition of duration : the time of science is space

According to Bergson, the philosophical tradition had been unanimous in declaring the question of time essential. However, it had neglected its correct framing which, for the author, lies in the metaphysical approach of an immediate and inner experience of concrete duration. In the current paper, we shall present Henri Bergson's concept of time, particularly the author's critique to the scope scientific discourse has of this concept. Simultaneously, we shall explore the central role of time in the Bergsonian thought, metaphorically understood as the very stuff of reality. We shall not, therefore, explore Bergson's ideas on Physics, but some of the metaphysical consequences that he withdraws from certain physics' concepts or theories.