Spiny lobster fishery on the southwest coast of Portugal: conciliating fisheries and conservation

Dissertação de mest., Aquacultura e Pescas (Pescas), Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Univ. do Algarve, 2011

The effect of conservation measures on the spatial and temporal variation of rocky fish assemblages in the Arrábida Marine Park

Marine protected areas (MPAs) have been widely proposed for conservation purposes and as a tool for fisheries management. The Arrábida Marine Park is the first MPA in continental Portugal having a management plan, fully implemented since 2009. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of protection measures on rocky reef fish assemblages and target invertebrates through before-after and control-effect (no-take vs. fished areas) underwater visual surveys and analysis of landings trends. Second, we used surveys before, during and after implementation of the management plan to understand fishers‟ preferences for fishing grounds and adaptation to the new rules, and evaluated the reserve effect through analysis of both ecological responses and fishing effort density. Third, we identified the main oceanographic drivers influencing the structure of reef fish assemblages and predicted the community structure for the last 50 years, in light of climatic change. Overall results suggest positive responses in biomass but not yet in numbers of some commercial species, with no effects on non-target species. The reserve effect is reinforced by the increase in landings of commercial species, despite increased fishing effort density in some areas, especially with octopus traps. Fishing grounds are mainly chosen based on the distribution of target species and associated habitats, but distance to port, weather conditions and safety also influence fishers‟ choices. Moreover, different fisheries respond differently to the protection measures, and within each fishery, individual fishers show distinct strategies, with some operating in a broader area whereas others keep preferred territories. Our results also show that wind stress and temperature are the main oceanographic drivers for rocky reef fish assemblages, with tropicalization of assemblages and polewards movements of species over the last 50 years consistent with temperature trends. We believe this study provides significant lessons for marine conservation and management of coastal systems.

Effects of climate and land management changes on conservation : of mediterranean cork oak woodlands and their bird communities

Tese de doutoramento (co-tutela), Biologia (Biologia da Conservação), Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, University of East Anglia, School of Environmental Sciences, 2014

Predicting the impacts of climate change on the distribution and conservation of endemic forest land snails of Madeira Island

Climate change is emerging as one of the major threats to natural communities of the world’s ecosystems; and biodiversity hotspots, such as Madeira Island, might face a challenging future in the conservation of endangered land snails’ species. With this thesis, progresses have been made in order to properly understand the impact of climate on these vulnerable taxa; and species distribution models coupled with GIS and climate change scenarios have become crucial to understand the relations between species distribution and environmental conditions, identifying threats and determining biodiversity vulnerability. With the use of MaxEnt, important changes in the species suitable areas were obtained. Laurel forest species, highly dependent on precipitation and relative humidity, may face major losses on their future suitable areas, leading to the possible extinction of several endangered species, such as Leiostyla heterodon. Despite the complexity of the biological systems, the intrinsic uncertainty of species distribution models and the lack of information about land snails’ functional traits, this analysis contributed to a pioneer study on the impacts of climate change on endemic species of Madeira Island. The future inclusion of predictions of the effect of climate change on species distribution as part of IUCN assessments could contribute to species prioritizing, promoting specific management actions and maximizing conservation investment.

Fungal communities in archives: assessment strategies and impact on paper conservation and human health

The main results presented in this PhD Dissertation have been published in interna-tional journals included in the Science Citation Index (SCI)

"Public on the outside, private on the inside": the organizational hybridization, sense of belonging and identity strategies of the employees of a public unemployment insurance fund in Switzerland

A number of studies show that New Public Management reforms have altered the current identity benchmarks of public officials, particularly by hybridizing values or management practices. However, existing studies have largely glossed over the sense of belonging of officials when their organization straddles the concerns of public service and private enterprise, so that the boundary between public and private sector is blurred. The purpose of this article is precisely to explore this sense of belonging in the context of organizational hybridization. It does so by drawing on the results of research conducted among the employees of a public unemployment insurance fund in Switzerland. On the one hand, the analysis shows how much their markers of belonging are hybrid, multiple and constructed in negative terms (with regard to the State), while indicating that the working practices of the employees point to an identity that is nevertheless closely bound with the public sector. On the other hand, the analysis shows that the organization plays strategically with its State status, by exploiting either its private or public identity in line with the needs related to its external image. The article concludes with a discussion of the results highlighting the strategic functionality of the hybrid identity of the actors.

An Act to authorise the stock held by private parties in the Welland Canal to be purchased on behalf of the Province [Welland Canal Stock Bill], 1841

The bill is a proposal by the government to purchase Welland Canal stock held in private hands. The bill was read for the first time on Wednesday 4 August, 1841, and received second reading on 10th August, 1841. One hundred and fifty copies were printed of the bill. This example was addressed to Samuel Street at the Falls of Niagara, by William Hamilton Merritt, September 1841.

Plan of part of the lands of the Six Nations Indians, January 26, 1833

A plan of part of the lands of the Six Nations Indians, dated January 26, 1833. A note on the plan reads “Part of the lands of the Six Nations Indians as surveyed by order of their Superintendent, John Brant, Esq. Dated at the Mohawk Village, the 29th day of April, 1831. Part of which was returned to the office of the Honourable, the Commissior of Crown Lands, on the 31st Oct. 1831, and now rendered more complete by a continuation of the survey under the same order in 1832, and by information obtained from private practice not connected with my official instructions all of which is most respectfully submitted to the inspection and for the information of His Majesty’s Government by Lewis Burwell, Surveyor”. The map shows the early loyalist land holdings in the Brantford area.

Notice from the Crown Lands Department of Ottawa that the lands on Long Point, Lake Erie would be offered at public auction on May 4, 1866

Notice from the Crown Lands Department of Ottawa that the lands on Long Point, Lake Erie would be offered at public auction on May 4, 1866. This is attached to a small newspaper clipping with the same information, dated April 20, 1866.

Estimate of amount of excavation done by A. Cook on the ditch for marsh lands drainage

Estimate of amount of excavation done by A. Cook on the ditch for marsh lands drainage, Aug. 29, 1855.

County of Welland estimate (copy) of work done on the main drain of the marsh lands by Andrew Mains

County of Welland estimate (copy) of work done on the main drain of the marsh lands by Andrew Mains, signed by S.D. Woodruff. Estimate no.6, Jan. and Feb., 1856.

County of Welland estimate of work done on the main drain of the marsh lands by Alexander Cook

County of Welland estimate of work done on the main drain of the marsh lands by Alexander Cook, signed by S.D. Woodruff. Estimate no.7, Jan. and Feb. and Mar., 1856.