Coupling anchovy eggs and hydrodynamic model as an assessement tool for estuarine ecohydrological management

Nitrate and urban waste water directives have raised the need for a better understanding of coastal systems in European Union. The incorrect application of these directives can lead to important ecological or social penalties. In the paper this problem is addressed to Ria Formosa Coastal Lagoon. Ria Formosa hosts a Natural Park, important ports of the southern Portuguese coast and significant bivalve aquaculture activity. Four major urban waste water treatment plants discharging in the lagoon are considered in this study. Its treatment level must be selected, based on detailed information from a monitoring program and on a good knowledge of the processes determining the fate of the material discharged in the lagoon. In this paper the results of a monitoring program and simulations using a coupled hydrodynamic and water quality / ecological model, MOHID, are used to characterise the system and to understand the processes in Ria Formosa. It is shown that the water residence time in most of the lagoon is quite low, of the order of days, but it can be larger in the upper parts of the channels where land generated water is discharged. The main supply of nutrients to the lagoon comes from the open sea rather than from the urban discharges. For this reason the characteristics and behaviour of the general lagoon contrasts with the behaviour of the upper reaches of the channels where the influence of the waste water treatment plants are high. In this system the bottom mineralization was found to be an important mechanism, and the inclusion of that process in the model was essential to obtain good results.

Bycatch and discards of commercial trawl fisheries in the south coast of Portugal

Bycatch and discards are a cause of great concern in commercial world fisheries, with important ecological, economic and conservation implications. With the recent inclusion of a discards ban (‘landing obligation’), in the reform of the EU CFP, these issues have gained a tremendous attention from the economic, scientific, political and social point of view. Demersal trawl fisheries off the southern coast of Portugal capture an extraordinary diversity of species and generate considerable amounts of bycatch and discards. Bycatch includes commercially valuable target-species and bycatch species with low or no commercial value, but the great majority consists of unmarketable species, that are discarded. Bony fishes are dominant in bycatch and discards and the most discarded are of low or no commercial value. The reasons for discarding are fundamentally economic in nature (lack of commercial value) for bycatch species, and legal and administrative (legal minimum landing size) for commercially important species. The study of the reproductive biology of Galeus melastomus, discarded by crustacean trawls, suggests that a minimum landing size should be established for this species, and explains the importance of such a study in the assessment and management of fisheries. The discovery of a new species of the ray Neoraja iberica n. sp. contributes to the knowledge of the local marine biodiversity in Portuguese waters and of the global marine biodiversity. The three cases of abnormal hermaphroditism recorded in Etmopterus spinax, are the first cases known to date of hermaphroditism in this species. There is a need to find solutions to the problem of bycatch and discards of trawl fisheries in the Algarve coast. A combination of technical, regulatory and economic measures to minimize bycatch and reduce discards, before implementing a ‘landing obligation’, is thought to be the best approach to apply in the southern Portuguese multispecies trawl fisheries.

Trawling and creeling for nephrops: impacts on biodiversity and populations structure

Dissertação de mestrado, Aquacultura e Pescas, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade do Algarve, 2015

Development and standardization of a protocol for sperm cryopreservation of two important commercial oyster species

Dissertação de mestrado, Aquacultura e Pescas, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade do Algarve, 2015

Automatic identification of whole-part relations in Portuguese

Dissertação de Mestrado, Ciências da Linguagem, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais, Universidade do Algarve, 2014

Population structure of the black seabream Spondyliosoma cantharus along the south-west Portuguese coast inferred from otolith chemistry

The chemistry of black seabream Spondyliosoma cantharus otoliths from three main fishery grounds (Olhao, Sagres and Sesimbra) located along c. 400 km of the Portuguese south and west coasts was examined. Element:Ca ratios were determined in whole otoliths and otolith cores of young adult specimens of 23 years of age. Using the data from whole otoliths, it was possible to discriminate among S. cantharus from the three fishing grounds with an average accuracy of 91%. Differences among fishing grounds were significant for all element:Ca ratios, and otoliths from Sagres had significantly higher levels of all ratios compared to the other fishing grounds. In contrast, the chemical composition of the otolith core, representative of the larval stage, showed limited variation among the fishing grounds, with an average discrimination accuracy of only 44%, although the Mg:Ca ratio of the otolith cores was also significantly higher for the Sagres samples. The data suggest that larval stages experienced a homogenous environment consistent with an offshore oceanic spawning. Juveniles appeared to display local residency on the inshore fishing grounds, areas probably characterized by greater environmental heterogeneity. Spondyliosoma cantharus population structure is consistent with distinct local population units that share a spawning ground providing recruits to different coastal fishery areas.

EU water framework directive: will the nitrate load reduction from diffuse sources produce the same results in all estuaries?

The impact of urban waste-water and non-point nitrate discharges in estuarine and near-shore coastal waters are analyzed. The study is focused on the effects of applying the European directives 91/271/EEC and 91/676/EEC to these systems. 4 Portuguese estuaries and two coastal lagoons with different characteristics are studied. A modelling system is applied and calibrated in each system. Three nitrate load scenarios are examined. It is shown that the morphologic and hydrodynamic characteristics of the domain largely control the ecological processes in these systems. The primary production limitation factors are split into “biologic” and “hydrodynamic” components. The physical limitation due to hydrodynamic and residence time is the most important factor. The combined limitation of “biologic” factors (temperature, light and nutrients availability) control productivity only in the systems where physical limitation is not important.

Organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts in recent sediments from the Guadiana river estuary, South-East Portugal

Dissertação de Mestrado, Biologia Marinha, Faculdade de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente, Universidade do Algarve, 2007

Caracterização da ictiofauna de intertidal rochoso na costa sul de Portugal

Dissertação mest., Biologia Marinha, Universidade do Algarve, 2009

Molecular genetic analysis of a cattle population to reconstitute the extinct Algarvia breed

Background: Decisions to initiate conservation programmes need to account for extant variability, diversity loss and cultural and economic aspects. Molecular markers were used to investigate if putative Algarvia animals could be identified for use as progenitors in a breeding programme to recover this nearly extinct breed. Methods: 46 individuals phenotypically representative of Algarvia cattle were genotyped for 27 microsatellite loci and compared with 11 Portuguese autochthonous and three imported breeds. Genetic distances and factorial correspondence analyses (FCA) were performed to investigate the relationship among Algarvia and related breeds. Assignment tests were done to identify representative individuals of the breed. Y chromosome and mtDNA analyses were used to further characterize Algarvia animals. Gene- and allelic-based conservation analyses were used to determine breed contributions to overall genetic diversity. Results: Genetic distance and FCA results confirmed the close relationship between Algarvia and southern Portuguese breeds. Assignment tests without breed information classified 17 Algarvia animals in this cluster with a high probability (q > 0.95). With breed information, 30 cows and three bulls were identified (q > 0.95) that could be used to reconstitute the Algarvia breed. Molecular and morphological results were concordant. These animals showed intermediate levels of genetic diversity (MNA = 6.0 ± 1.6, Rt = 5.7 ± 1.4, Ho = 0.63 ± 0.19 and He = 0.69 ± 0.10) relative to other Portuguese breeds. Evidence of inbreeding was also detected (Fis = 0.083, P < 0.001). The four Algarvia bulls had Y-haplotypes H6Y2 and H11Y2, common in Portuguese cattle. The mtDNA composition showed prevalence of T3 matrilines and presence of the African-derived T1a haplogroup. This analysis confirmed the genetic proximity of Algarvia and Garvonesa breeds (Fst = 0.028, P > 0.05). Algarvia cattle provide an intermediate contribution (CB = 6.18, CW = -0.06 and D1 = 0.50) to the overall gene diversity of Portuguese cattle. Algarvia and seven other autochthonous breeds made no contribution to the overall allelic diversity. Conclusions: Molecular analyses complemented previous morphological findings to identify 33 animals that can be considered remnants of the Algarvia breed. Results of genetic diversity and conservation analyses provide objective information to establish a management program to reconstitute the Algarvia breed.

Potential of fisheries restocking off the Algarve coast using aquaculture produced marine fish

Tese de dout., Ciências do Mar, da Terra e do Ambiente (Ecologia Marinha), Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Univ. do Algarve, 2012

Development of an operational tool for oil spill forecast: application to oil exposed regions

Tese de doutoramento, Ciências do Mar, da Terra e do Ambiente (Modelação), Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade do Algarve, 2014

A indústria hoteleira do Algarve: uma análise de dados em painel da estrutura de capital

Dissertação de Mestrado, Finanças Empresariais, Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Algarve, 2015

Functions of code-switching in multilingual student community

Dissertação de Mestrado, Ciências da Linguagem, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais, Universidade do Algarve, 2013

Histórias com história dentro

Dissertação de Mestrado, Educação de 1.º e 2.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico, Escola Superior de Educação e Comunicação, Universidade do Algarve, 2016