Modern viticulture in southern Europe: vulnerabilities and strategies for adaptation to water scarcity

Water is now considered the most important but vulnerable resource in the Mediterranean region. Nevertheless, irrigation expanded fast in the region (e.g. South Portugal and Spain) to mitigate environmental stress and to guarantee stable grape yield and quality. Sustainable wine production depends on sustainable water use in the wine’s supply chain, from the vine to the bottle. Better understanding of grapevine stress physiology (e.g. water relations, temperature regulation, water use efficiency), more robust crop monitoring/phenotyping and implementation of best water management practices will help to mitigate climate effects and will enable significant water savings in the vineyard and winery. In this paper, we focused on the major vulnerabilities and opportunities of South European Mediterranean viticulture (e.g. in Portugal and Spain) and present a multi-level strategy (from plant to the consumer) to overcome region’s weaknesses and support strategies for adaptation to water scarcity, promote sustainable water use and minimize the environmental impact of the sector.

The influence of forest management on bird communities of portuguese montados

The world distribution of cork oak Quercus suber and holm oak Q. rotundifolia is basically restricted to the western Mediterranean basin. These two evergreen oaks are the base of the Portuguese montado and the Spanish dehesa. This thesis aims to analyse how bird communities of the montado are influenced by management practices. We used different approaches to study this relationship, and to evaluate which features are responsible for species distribution in different typologies of montado. First, we reviewed the concept of montado in order to better understand the system and to set thresholds on what can be considered as montado. Afterwards, we studied the elements that promote higher species diversity and individual species, or group of species, that can act as indicators of High Nature Value for montados. Finally, we evaluated how the bird communities are structured, and the influence of the main management actions (e.g. cattle and cork exploitation) on those communities; Resumo: A distribuição mundial do sobreiro Quercus suber e da azinheira Quercus rotundifolia é praticamente restrita à bacia do Mediterrâneo. Estas duas espécies de carvalhos são a base dos montados em Portugal e das dehesas em Espanha. No âmbito desta tese analisamos como as comunidades de aves do montado são influenciadas pela gestão florestal. Para este efeito usámos diferentes abordagens e avaliámos quais as características do montado responsáveis pela distribuição das espécies ao longo das suas diferentes tipologias. Fizemos uma revisão do conceito de montado e proposemos uma definição para o sistema, englobando a sua multifuncionalidade. Estudámos os elementos singulares que promovem a diversidade de aves e que podem ser simultaneamente indicadores de áreas de Alto Valor Natural (HNV). Por fim, avaliámos qual a influência da gestão (p. ex. pastoreio e descortiçamento) na estruturação das comunidades de aves.

Plantas invasoras no sul de Portugal: uma abordagem biogeográfica

As espécies invasoras são uma das principais ameaças à biodiversidade causando impactes ecológicos, económicos e nos serviços dos ecossistemas. O conhecimento conjunto da dinâmica das séries de vegetação e da ecologia das plantas invasoras é uma ferramenta útil na recuperação ecológica de áreas invadidas e na prevenção de invasões. Este trabalho tem como objectivo principal averiguar a relação entre a distribuição das plantas invasoras e as comunidades vegetais terrestres do Sul de Portugal. Para tal, fez-se corresponder a distribuição de nove plantas invasoras selecionadas com as séries de vegetação e territórios biogeográficos, em 60 quadrículas com 1 Km2. A Província Lusitana-Andaluza Costeira revelou-se a mais invadida, com predomínio de Acacia dealbata, Acacia longifolia e Opuntia maxima no potencial climatófilo de sobreiral psamófilo; A. longifolia dominou no potencial edafoxerófilo de zimbral de Juniperus turbinata e A. dealbata e Arundo donax no potencial edafo-higrófilo de freixial. Com base nos resultados, estabeleceram-se áreas prioritárias para intervenção; INVASIVE PLANTS IN SOUTHERN PORTUGAL A BIOGEOGRAPHICAL APPROACH Abstract: Invasive species are one of the main threats to biodiversity worldwide and are responsible for negative impacts at ecological, economic and ecosystem services level. Complementarity between vegetation series dynamics and invasive plants ecology knowledge is essential to address ecological restoration and to prevent invasions. The main goal of this work is to investigate the relationship between invasive plants distribution and terrestrial plant communities of Southern Portugal. Fieldwork was conducted in 60 1 Km2 sampling plots and a correspondence was made between nine selected invasive plants and the vegetation series and the biogegraphic units The Andalusian-Lusitanian Coastal province was the most invaded biogeographic unit and revealed the dominance of Acacia dealbata, Acacia longifolia and Opuntia maxima in the cork oak psammophilous series; A. longifolia dominated in the maritime turbinate juniper edapho-xerophilous series and A. dealbata and Arundo donax in the ash edaphohygrophilous groves potential. Based on the results, priority areas for intervention were defined.