Caracterização das Comunidades Subtidais de Macroinvertebrados Bentónicos de Substrato Rochoso da Ilha de São Vicente, Cabo Verde

The Cape Verde Archipelago location and its biogeographical features are of special interest for Marine Ecology. However, there’s a lack of knowledge regarding the composition of the coastal ecosystems in this region, especially about benthic macroinvertebrates subtidal communities. Between August and October of 2007, eight locations around the island of São Vicente were sampled. Within each of those spots, fragments of substratum were collected and throughout the processing of the collected data, a total of 4032 individuals were counted, which belong to 81 different species. Shannon’s Entropy and Gini-Simpson’s diversity index were calculated, as the real number of species each one represented. By comparing the results, differences between sampling stations and between indices within the same sampling station were found. With the purpose of clustering the sampled locations according to the number of collected organisms by species, a dendrogram was elaborated and a principal component analysis was carried out. The considered sampling stations didn’t reveal significant differences according to the composition of their benthic macroinvertebrates subtidal communities in terms of great taxonomic groups or functional groups. It’s assumed that they differ only by minute traits.

Racial Stereotypes in Fictions of Slavery: Uncle Tom´s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe and O Escravo by José Evaristo D’ Almeida

Most stereotypes about Africans and their descendants started with colonialism in the fifteenth century. The encounter between Africans and Europeans facilitated the creation of myths and stereotypes about the colonized peoples, which were made effective through the naturalization of differences. The relationship between skin color and slavery developed to produce a racialized system of forced labor on which colonialism depended for its survival. Stereotypes functioned to legitimize colonial authority by building the notion that the colonizer ruled over the colonized because of an innate superiority. Therefore, stereotyping is an effective "discursive strategy" (Bhabha) based on fixity and repetition with the aim of controlling the other. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin and José Evaristo D’Almeida O Escravo both denounced the evils of slavery in the United States of America and Cape Verde respectively, claiming for the end of the institution. However, they are both ambivalent towards slaves and blacks, being unable to envisage social equality for the two races. Both authors construct their black characters as stereotypical others, but they depict the light-skin characters as superior both culturally and physically. The bi-racial characters are portrayed as the ones who possess beauty and intelligence as an inheritance from their European ancestry, while blacks are relegated to the margins. We need to consider, however, that slavery in Cape Verde had different characteristics from its counterpart in the United States of America. In Cape Verde the Africans outnumbered the Europeans and that circumstance favored miscegenation and the emergence of forms of mixed culture, which came to be seen as positive and natural. In the United States of America miscegenation was regarded as a taboo since early. And even after Emancipation, “the one-drop rule” made the offspring of an African descendant black, however 'white' he or she might be.

Governança das áreas marinhas protegidas da província biogeográfica da Macaronésia

As áreas marinhas protegidas (AMPs), enquanto instrumentos de conservação da natureza, contribuem para a conservação, preservação e gestão dos ecossistemas costeiros e marinhos a nível mundial. Na Província Biogeográfica da Macaronésia, as AMPs existentes desempenham este papel de forma preponderante, principalmente no que diz respeito às espécies com impacte económico local. A governança consiste nas interacções entre estruturas, processos e tradições, as quais determinam como são exercidas as responsabilidades, como as decisões são tomadas e como é que a opinião dos cidadãos e grupos de interesse (stakeholders) é integrada no processo de decisão. Assim, a governança das AMPs é um factor determinante para o seu sucesso. Foi estudada a governança das AMPs na Província Biogeográfica da Macaronésia (arquipélagos dos Açores, Madeira, Canárias e Cabo Verde), com a finalidade de verificar se o actual estado de estabelecimento e gestão de AMPs nos quatro arquipélagos é ou não favorável a uma governança conjunta do meio marinho nesta província biogeográfica, tendo em vista os objectivos de conservação da natureza à escala global. Foi desenvolvida uma metodologia própria baseada na análise do quadro legal nacional e internacional e das estruturas governativas das AMPs, e ainda em entrevistas no arquipélago com menor disponibilidade de informação (Cabo Verde). Conclui-se que os três países que fazem parte da área de estudo detêm os quadros legais (internacional, regional e nacional) e institucional considerados suficientes para a conservação dos ecossistemas costeiros e marinhos. Esta análise permitiu a definição de acções que poderão ser desenvolvidas pelos quatro arquipélagos, visando uma gestão conjunta integrada das AMPs na área de estudo. Apesar de existirem vários diplomas e regulamentos jurídicos a nível nacional/regional sobre a conservação marinha, há ainda um longo caminho a percorrer no que diz respeito aos planos de gestão destinados a promover uma abordagem integrada da conservação à escala biogeográfica