Development of an integrative approach for the characterization of ecological risk on marine transition ecosystems: the Sado Estuary as a case study

Estuaries and other transitional waters are complex ecosystems critically important as nursery and shelter areas for organisms. Also, humans depend on estuaries for multiple socio-economical activities such as urbanism, tourism, heavy industry, (taking advantage of shipping), fisheries and aquaculture, the development of which led to strong historical pressures, with emphasis on pollution. The degradation of estuarine environmental quality implies ecologic, economic and social prejudice, hence the importance of evaluating environmental quality through the identification of stressors and impacts. The Sado Estuary (SW Portugal) holds the characteristics of industrialized estuaries, which results in multiple adverse impacts. Still, it has recently been considered moderately contaminated. In fact, many studies were conducted in the past few years, albeit scattered due to the absence of true biomonitoring programmes. As such, there is a need to integrate the information, in order to obtain a holistic perspective of the area able to assist management and decision-making. As such, a geographical information system (GIS) was created based on sediment contamination and biomarker data collected from a decade-long time-series of publications. Four impacted and a reference areas were identified, characterized by distinct sediment contamination patterns related to different hot spots and diffuse sources of toxicants. The potential risk of sediment-bound toxicants was determined by contrasting the levels of pollutants with available sediment quality guidelines, followed by their integration through the Sediment Quality guideline Quotient (SQG-Q). The SQG-Q estimates per toxicant or class was then subjected to georreferencing and statistical analyses between the five distinct areas and seasons. Biomarker responses were integrated through the Biomarkers Consistency Indice and georreferenced as well through GIS. Overall, in spite of the multiple biological traits surveyed, the biomarker data (from several organisms) are accordant with sediment contamination. The most impacted areas were the shipyard area and adjacent industrial belt, followed by urban and agricultural grounds. It is evident that the estuary, although globally moderately impacted, is very heterogeneous and affected by a cocktail of contaminants, especially metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. Although elements (like copper, zinc and even arsenic) may originate from the geology of the hydrographic basin of the Sado River, the majority of the remaining contaminants results from human activities. The present work revealed that the estuary should be divided into distinct biogeographic units, in order to implement effective measures to safeguard environmental quality.

Genomic and environmental factors influence Wolbachia-Drosophila symbiosis

Intracellular, vertically transmitted bacteria form complex and intimate relationships with their hosts. Wolbachia, maternally transmitted α- proteobacteria, live within the cells of numerous arthropod species. Wolbachia are famous master manipulators of insect reproduction: to favour their own spread they can induce male killing, parthenogenesis or cytoplasmic incompatibility. Wolbachia can also protect various insects from pathogens, which makes them a promising tool for the control of vector-borne diseases. Mosquitoes with Wolbachia have already been released in the wild to eliminate dengue. Yet, how Wolbachia manipulate their hosts remains largely unknown.(...)

Relationship between national culture, democracy and environmental performance: A panel data analysis

This paper demonstrates the significance of culture in examining the relationshipbetween democratic capital and environmental performance.The aim is to examine the relationship among scores on the Environmental Performance Index and the two dimensions of cross cultural variation suggested by Ronald Inglehart and Christian Welzel. Significantional interrelationships among democracy, cultural and environmental sustaintability measures could be found, following the regression results. Firstly, higher levels of democratic capital stock are associated with better environmental performance. Secondly importance to distinguish between cultural groups could be confirmed.

The effect of social and environmental sustainability on firm resilience

Double degree

Environmental sustainability adoption

Double degree

The Environmental History of Cetaceans in Portugal: Ten Centuries of Whale and Dolphin Records

The history between cetaceans and humans is documented throughout time not only in reports, descriptions, and tales but also in legal documents, laws and regulations, and tithes. This wealth of information comes from the easy spotting and identification of individuals due to their large size, surface breathing, and conspicuous above water behaviour. This work is based on historical sources and accounts accounting for cetacean presence for the period between the 12th and 17th centuries, as well as scientific articles, newspapers, illustrations, maps, non-published scientific reports, and other grey literature from the 18th century onwards. Information on whale use in Portugal's mainland has been found since as early as the 12th century and has continued to be created throughout time. No certainty can be given for medieval and earlier events, but both scavenging of stranded whales or use of captured ones may have happened. There is an increasing number of accounts of sighted, stranded, used, or captured cetaceans throughout centuries which is clearly associated with a growing effort towards the study of these animals. Scientific Latin species denominations only started to be registered from the 18th century onwards, as a consequence of the evolution of natural sciences in Portugal and increasing interest from zoologists. After the 19th century, a larger number of observations were recorded, and from the 20th century to the present day, regular scientific records have been collected. Research on the environmental history of cetaceans in Portugal shows a several-centuries-old exploitation of whales and dolphins, as resources mainly for human consumption, followed in later centuries by descriptions of natural history documenting strandings and at sea encounters. Most cetaceans species currently thought to be present in Portuguese mainland waters were at some point historically recorded.

Electrokinetic treatment of environmental matrices. Contaminants removal and phosphorus recovery

There is a need to develop viable techniques for removal and recovery organic and inorganic compounds from environmental matrices, due to their ecotoxicity, regulatory obligations or potential supplies as secondary materials. In this dissertation, electro –removal and –recovery techniques were applied to five different contaminated environmental matrices aiming phosphorus (P) recovery and/or contaminants removal. In a first phase, the electrokinetic process (EK) was carried out in soils for (i) metalloids and (ii) organic contaminants (OCs) removal. In the case of As and Sb mine contaminated soil, the EK process was additionally coupled with phytotechnologies. In a second phase, the electrodialytic process (ED) was applied to wastes aiming P recovery and simultaneous removal of (iii) toxins from membrane concentrate, (iv) heavy metals from sewage sludge ash (SSA), and (v) OCs from sewage sludge (SS). EK enhanced phytoremediation showed to be viable for the remediation of soils contaminated with metalloids, as although remediation was low, it combines advantages of both technologies while allowing site management. EK also proved to be an effective remediation technology for the removal and degradation of emerging OCs from two types of soil. Aiming P recovery and contaminants removal, different ED cell set-ups were tested. For the membrane concentrates, the best P recovery was achieved in a three compartment (3c) cell, but the highest toxin removal was obtained in a two compartment (2c) cell, placing the matrix in the cathode end. In the case of SSA the best approach for simultaneous P recovery and heavy metals removal was to use a 2c-cell placing the matrix in the anode end. However, for simultaneous P recovery and OCs removal, SS should be placed in the cathode end, in a 2c-cell. Overall, the data support that the selection of the cell design should be done case-by-case.