Absorption coefficient of particulate matter on the south-west coast of Europe: a contribution to the validation of the MERIS-Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer sensor

Dissolved oxygen (DO) is one of the most important environmental variables of water quality, especially for marine life. Consequently, oxygen is one of the Chemical Quality Elements required for the implementation of European Union Water Framework Directive. This study uses the example of the Ria Formosa, a meso-tidal lagoon on the south coast of Portugal to demonstrate how monitoring of water quality for coastal waters must be well designed to identify symptoms of episodic hypoxia. New data from the western end of the Ria Formosa were compared to values in a database of historical data and in the published literature to identify long-term trends. The dissolved oxygen concentration values in the database and in the literature were generally higher than those found in this study, where episodic hypoxia was observed during the summer. Analysis of the database showed that the discrepancy was probably related with the time and the sites where the samples had been collected, rather than a long-term trend. The most problematic situations were within the inner lagoon near the city of Faro, where episodic hypoxia (<2 mg dm3 DO) occurred regularly in the early morning. These results emphasise the need for a balanced sampling strategy for oxygen monitoring which includes all periods of the day and night, as well as a representative range of sites throughout the lagoon. Such a strategy would provide adequate data to apply management measures to reduce the risk of more persistent hypoxia that would impact on the ecological, important natural resource. economic and leisure uses of this important natural resource.

Design and implementation of a real-time data acquisition system for the identification of dynamic temperature models in a hydroponic greenhouse

This text describes a real data acquisition and identification system implemented in a soilless greenhouse located at the University of Algarve (south of Portugal). Using the Real Time Workshop, Simulink, Matlab and the C programming language a system was developed to perform real-time data acquisition from a set of sensors.

Real-time data acquisition system for the Identification of dynamic temperature models in a hydroponic greenhouse

A real-time data acquisition and identification system implemented in a soil-less greenhouse located in the south of Portugal is described. The system performs real-time data acquisition from a set of sensors connected to a data logger.

Real-time parameter estimation of dynamic temperature and humidity models for greenhouse adaptive climate control

A real-time parameter estimator for the climate discrete-time dynamic models of a greenhouse located at the North of Portugal are presented. The experiments showed that the second order models identified for the air temperature and humidity achieve a close agreement between simulated and experimantal data.

Aquifer recharge in Moura region (South Portugal)

Dissertação de mest., Recursos Hídricos, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Univ. do Algarve, 2011

Beach quality assessment and management in the Sotavento (Eastern) Algarve, Portugal

The purpose of this study on beach quality assessment and management was to evaluate the quality of five beaches in the Algarve Sotavento region of Portugal and to identify beach users’ preferences and priorities regarding their visit to a beach. The Algarve is one of the country’s most internationally known regions and it is generally perceived as a major tourist destination. Because of the increasing level of tourists, there is a specific need to address beach quality, as overcrowding can result in excessive litter, reduce water quality and consequently reduce the socio-economic value of the area. The main methodology for the evaluation of the beach quality in this pilot project was the Bathing Area Registration and Evaluation framework (BARE), which recognizes five beach types (rural, remote, resort, urban and village) through five main priority issues of concern to beach users (water quality, scenery, litter, safety, facilities) and evaluates the beach quality, ranging from one (low) to five (high) stars. After overall bathing area classification, Quarteira-Vilamoura, Ilha do Farol, Ilha Deserta and Ilha da Armona received three-star rating and Quinta do Lago site obtained a one-star rating. The quantitative research data on beach users’ preferences and priorities was obtained through administration of 50 questionnaires per beach and showed that beach users at all sites expressed the need for improved cleanliness, safety and facilities on the beach. The BARE framework, together with the questionnaire surveys, allowed the identification of management priorities required to improve the quality of individual beaches and therefore increase income from tourism.

Exploring an uncommon host-parasite interaction to unveil the uniqueness of Perkinsus sp as a model organism

We report the exploration of some unique metabolic pathways in Perkinsus olseni a marine protist parasite, responsible to significant mortalities in mollusks, especially in bivalves all around the world. In Algarve, south of Portugal carpet shell clam Ruditapes decussatus mortalities can reach up to 70%, causing social and economic losses. The objective of studying those unique pathways, is finding new therapeutic strategies capable of controlling/eliminating P. olseni proliferation in clams. In that sense metabolic pathways, were explored, and drugs affecting these cycles were tested for activity. The first step involved the identification of the genes behind those pathways, the reconstitution of the main steps, and molecular characterization of those genes and later on, the identification of possible targets within the genes studied. Metabolic cycles were screened due to the fact of not being present in host or differ in a critical way, such as the following pathways: shikimate, MEP-­‐ isoprenoids, Leloir cycle for chitin production, purine biosynthesis (unique among protists), the de novo synthesis of folates (absent in metazoa) and some unique genes like, the alternative oxidase (a branch of respiratory chain) and the hypoxia sensor HPH. All those pathways were covered and possible chemical inhibition using therapeutic drugs was tested with positive results. The relation between the common host Ruditapes decussatus and P. olseni was also explored in a dimension not possible some years ago. With the accessibility to second generation sequencers and microarray analysis platforms, genes involved in host defense or parasite virulence and resistance to the host were deciphered, allowing aiming to new targets (mechanisms and pathways), offering new possibilities for the control of Perkinsus in close environments. The thousands of genes, generated by this work, sequenced and analyzed from this commercial valuable clam and for Perkinsus olseni will be an important and value tool for the scientific community, allowing a better understanding of host-­‐parasite interactions, promoting the usage of P. olseni as an emerging model for alveolata parasites.

On-line operation of an intelligent seismic detector

This study describes the on-line operation of a seismic detection system to act at the level of a seismic station providing similar role to that of a STA /LTA ratio-based detection algorithms. The intelligent detector is a Support Vector Machine (SVM), trained with data consisting of 2903 patterns extracted from records of the PVAQ station, one of the seismographic network's stations of the Institute of Meteorology of Portugal (IM). Records' spectral variations in time and characteristics were reflected in the SVM input patterns, as a set of values of power spectral density at selected frequencies. To ensure that all patterns of the sample data were within the range of variation of the training set, we used an algorithm to separate the universe of data by hyper-convex polyhedrons, determining in this manner a set of patterns that have a mandatory part of the training set. Additionally, an active learning strategy was conducted, by iteratively incorporating poorly classified cases in the training set. After having been trained, the proposed system was experimented in continuous operation for unseen (out of sample) data, and the SVM detector obtained 97.7% and 98.7% of sensitivity and selectivity, respectively. The same type of ANN presented 88.4 % and 99.4% of sensitivity and selectivity when applied to data of a different seismic station of IM. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Antimicrobial activity of essential oils isolated from Portuguese endemic species of Thymus

Aims: Thymus species are wild species mostly found in the arid lands of Portugal. Possible antimicrobial properties of Thymus essential oils have been investigated. The chemical composition of the essential oils and the antimicrobial activity of Thymus mastichina (L) L. subsp. mastichina , T. camphoratus and T. lotocephalus from different regions of Portugal were analysed. Methods and Results: Hydrodistillation was used to isolate the essential oils and the chemical analyses were performed by gas chromatography (GC) and GC coupled to mass spectrometry. The antimicrobial activity was tested by the disc agar diffusion technique against Candida albicans , Escherichia coli , Listeria monocytogenes , Proteus mirabilis , Salmonella spp. and Staphylococcus aureus . Pure linalool, 1,8-cineole and a mixture (1:1) of these compounds were included. Linalool, 1,8-cineole or linalool/1,8-cineole and linalool/1,8-cineole/linalyl acetate were the major components of the essential oils, depending on the species or sampling place. The essential oils isolated from the Thymus species studied demonstrated antimicrobial activity but the micro-organisms tested had significantly different sensitivities. Conclusions: The antimicrobial activity of essential oils may be related to more than one component. Significance and Impact of the Study: Portuguese endemic species of Thymus can be used for essential oil production for food spoilage control, cosmetics and pharmaceutical use. Further studies will be required to elucidate the cell targets of the essential oil components.

Recruitment patterns and processes of coastal fish species in a temperate rocky reef

Tese de Doutoramento, Ciências do Mar, da Terra e do Ambiente, Ramo: Ciências do Mar, Especialização em Ecologia Marinha, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade do Algarve, 2016

Developing self-guided scuba dive routes in the Algarve (Portugal) and analysing visitors' perceptions

Scuba diving allows for underwater visitation of cultural and natural resources. Underwater routes can be used as a tool for guided and supervised underwater visits. Two scuba diving routes were implemented in the Algarve (South of Portugal), the "B24" and "Poco" diving sites. The perceptions of scuba divers regarding several aspects of the routes and the existing support infrastructures were studied following a survey carried out through face-to-face interviews from 2008 to 2012. Divers profile and their perceptions were analysed using 246 valid questionnaires. Divers were mainly Portuguese, over 30 years old and with more than 12 years of formal education. Some of the support infrastructures did not achieve a "good" or "acceptable" grade. This should be carefully considered by diving operators and managers, because perceptions tend to circulate throughout the diving tourists. All features of interpretative slates were graded as highly satisfactory. Overall, diver satisfaction increased slightly after route implementation, with an average ranking of "good". These findings support the implementation of underwater routes as a way to promote diving activity, and to increase divers' environmental education and awareness. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Home range, residency and movements of Diplodus sargus and Diplodus vulgaris in a coastal lagoon: Connectivity between nursery and adult habitats

Acoustic telemetry and standard tag-recapture were used to determine the home range and residency of juveniles and sub-adults of Diplodus sargus and Diplodus vulgaris in the Ria Formosa (Portugal) coastal lagoon. Maximum time between recaptures for the standard tag-recapture method was 128 days for D. sargus and 30 days for D. vulgaris. The majority of the fish were recaptured in the vicinity of the tagging location. Fish tagged with acoustic transmitters had a maximum period of time between first and last detections of 62 days for D. sargus and 260 days for D. vulgaris. Minimum convex polygons areas ranged between 148 024 m(2) and 525 930 m(2) for D. sargus and between 23 786 m(2) and 42134 m(2) for D. vulgaris. Both species presented a high residency index between first and last detections. Two D. sargus tagged with acoustic tags were recaptured by fishermen outside the coastal lagoon at distances of 12 km and 90 km from the tagging position, providing evidence that this species leaves the Ria Formosa during the winter time for the adjacent coastal waters. The results of this study reinforce the importance of Ria Formosa as a nursery for D. sargus and D. vulgaris in the south coast of Portugal. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Length-weight relationships of six syngnathid species from Ria Formosa, SW Iberian coast

In this study, the length-weight (LWR) parameters were estimated for six syngnathid species, including 2 seahorses and 4 pipefishes, from Ria Formosa, a temperate lagoon from the south coast of Portugal. A total of 5070 fishes were used to determine the LWR. The estimated b value ranged from 2.95 (Nerophis ophidion) to 3.36 (Syngnathus abaster). To the authors' best knowledge, LWR parameters were estimated for the first time for Nerophis ophidion and Syngnathus typhle for the Atlantic waters. Data here present are essential for management and conservation of these flagship species.

Quantifying recreational shore angling catch and harvest in southern Portugal (north-east Atlantic Ocean): implications for conservation and integrated fisheries management

Recreational shore fishing along 250 km of the south and south-west coast of Portugal was studied based on roving creel and aerial surveys. Surveys were conducted between August 2006 and July 2007, following a stratified random-sampling design and provided information on catch and effort, harvest and discards, angler demographics and fishing habits. Overall, 192 roving creel surveys, 24 aerial surveys and 1321 interviews were conducted. Based on the aerial surveys, a mean +/- s.e. total fishing effort of 705 236 +/- 32 765 angler h year(-1) was estimated, corresponding to 166 430 +/- 9792 fishing trips year(-1). Average time spent per fishing trip was 4.7 h. A total of 48 species, belonging to 22 families, were recorded in roving creel surveys. The most important species was Diplodus sargus, accounting for 44% of the total catches by number and 48% by mass. Estimated mean +/- s.e. total annual recreational shore fishing catch was 160.2 +/- 12.6 t year(-1) (788 049 +/- 54 079 fishes year(-1)), of which 147.4 +/- 11.9 t year(-1) (589 132 +/- 42 360 fishes year(-1)) was retained. Although overall shore-based recreational catches only corresponded to 0.8% of the commercial landings (only common species considered), D. sargus catches by recreational shore anglers were considerable, corresponding to 65% of the commercial landings. The implications of these results for integrated fisheries management and conservation are discussed, and future research proposed.

Species and size selectivity in a 'red' sea bream longline 'metier' in the Algarve (southern Portugal)

A longline 'metier' using small hooks for 'red' sea breams (Pagellus acarne and Pagellus erythrinus) in the Algarve (south of Portugal) was studied. Experimental longlining was carried out with three sizes of "Mustad" round bend, flatted, spade end Quality 2316 DT hooks (numbers 11, 13 and 15) and two types of bait: razor shell (Ensis siliqua) and mud shrimp (Upogebia pusilla). A total of 3 328 fish and at least 36 species were caught with 33 600 hooks fished in 28 longline sets. Five species of sea breams (Sparidae) accounted for 79% of the catch: Pagellus acarne, Pagellus erythrinus, Diplodus vulgaris, Spondyliosoma cantharus, and Boops boops. High catch rates of 20-30 fish per 100 hooks were made in a number of 1 200 hook longline sets, with total catch weights of 40 to more than 60 kg per set. In general, the smallest hook (number 15) had the highest catch rate. Bait type did not significantly affect the catch size distributions. Although more fish were caught with the razor shell bait, higher catch rates of 'red' sea breams were obtained with mud shrimp. Catch rates were also affected by the location of the fishing grounds and the time of the set, with the highest catch rates obtained when the longline was set within two hours before sunrise. A wide size range was caught for each species, with highly overlapped catch size frequency distributions for the three hook sizes used. Except for Spondyliosoma cantharus, few illegal-sized fish were caught, even with the smallest hook. The logistic model fitted by maximum likelihood was used to describe hook selectivity for Diplodus vulgaris, Pagellus acarne, Pagellus erythrinus, and Spondyliosoma cantharus. (C) Ifremer-Elsevier, Paris.