Island Biogeography in the Anthropocene and Quaternary

The realization that human activities have a major influence on ecosystems from local to global scales has given rise to the concept of the Anthropocene. However, although the influence of human activities on biodiversity is clearly significant, it remains unclear to what extent the rate and magnitude of biodiversity changes differ from pre-human dynamics. Islands are ideal model systems for understanding the relative contribution of environmental and societal variables to biodiversity change because the onset of human activities on islands can generally be clearly defined. The aim of this PhD thesis is to place human-environment interactions on islands in the context of environmental fluctuations over the Quaternary. The thesis consists of two parts. First, I quantify how island area and isolation have changed over the Quaternary as a result of climate-driven sea-level fluctuations, and analyse how these dynamics have shaped modern biodiversity patterns. Secondly, I study how human activities in the past and present have shaped island ecosystems and landscapes, and compare their rate and magnitude to pre-human dynamics. Overall, the findings of my thesis indicate that modern biodiversity patterns show legacies of past human activities but are also imprinted by environmental dynamics in deep-time. Furthermore, the rate of change following human settlement on islands can largely exceed Quaternary background rates. Therefore, my findings are in line with studies that indicate that human activities have become a major driver in shaping biodiversity across scales. Nonetheless, my comparison of islands worldwide also highlights the diverse ways in which abiotic, biotic, and anthropogenic variables have interacted across individual islands. Therefore, future studies should acknowledge that global biodiversity change can manifest differently across localities. Finally, I emphasize the importance of strengthening interdisciplinary approaches in island biogeography to enhance our understanding of biodiversity changes in the Anthropocene, and how they relate to deeptime dynamics.A constatação de que as atividades humanas exercem uma grande influência sobre os ecossistemas, da escala local à global, originou o conceito do Antropoceno. No entanto, apesar da influência das atividades humanas ser claramente significativa, ainda não está claro até que ponto a taxa e magnitude de alterações na biodiversidade diferem da dinâmica pré-humana. As ilhas constituem sistemas modelo ideais para compreender a contribuição relativa de variáveis ambientais e sociais, porque o início das atividades humanas é em geral conhecido. O objetivo desta tese de doutoramento é enquadrar as interações homem-ambiente nas ilhas no contexto das flutuações ambientais no Quaternário. A tese consiste em duas partes. Primeiro, quantifico como a área da ilha e o isolamento mudaram no Quaternário devido às flutuações do nível do mar provocadas pelo clima e analiso como essas dinâmicas moldaram os padrões modernos de biodiversidade. Em segundo lugar, estudo como as atividades humanas passadas e presentes moldaram os ecossistemas e paisagens das ilhas e comparo a sua taxa e magnitude com a dinâmica pré-humana. As conclusões de minha tese indicam que os padrões modernos de biodiversidade mostram legados de atividades humanas passadas, mas também são afectados pela dinâmica ambiental em escalas temporais longinquas. Além disso, a taxa de alterações após o povoamento humano nas ilhas pode exceder largamente taxas quaternárias antecedentes. Os meus resultados concordam com estudos mostrando que as atividades humanas têm sido um fator importante na modelação da biodiversidade ao longo do tempo. Mas a minha comparação global de ilhas também destaca diversas maneiras pelas quais variáveis abióticas, bióticas e antropogénicas interagiram entre ilhas. Estudos futuros devem reconhecer que a mudança global da biodiversidade pode manifestarse de formas diferente entre localidades. Por fim, destaco a importância de aumentar abordagens interdisciplinares na biogeografia insular para melhor compreender as mudanças da biodiversidade no Antropoceno

Rural tourism associated with agriculture as an economic alternative for the farmers

This paper aims at presenting a possible approach to identify the best sites for rural tourism and also to analyze the synergies between agriculture and cultural heritage in Azores, in order to be incorporated in the full range of management concerns into private and public decision‑making. The following territorial aptitudes for alternative were used to simulate this exercise: urban, touristic, horticulture, agricultural, cattle and forestry. Soil potential was defined in a number of classes from I to VII. The best hypothetical sites for rural tourism were defined using Geographical Information Systems (GIS)

Applying an integrated landscape characterization and evaluation tool to small islands (Pico, Azores, Portugal)

Each landscape is determined and can be characterised by two types of environmental factors: stable biophysical characteristics and manageable land use patterns. The consideration of both these characterisation domains allows the definition of a homogeneous system of reference (the stable characteristics) with which every possible land use pattern can be compared through the use of common evaluation algorithms. The Integrated Landscape Assessment (ILA) concept builds a framework for data retrieval and evaluation processing that maximizes the following advantages: through the use of a stable reference system, it allows the comparative simulation of different land use scenarios, as well as the permanent availability of the same reference system, independently from the intensity of land use changes throughout the years. It also allows the use of different evaluation algorithms according to different evaluation contexts or paradigms, without having to repeat or adapt the characterisation process. The present paper illustrates the basic concepts on which ILA is based and developed as well as its application to ecological planning and systematic conservation planning in the Pico Island (Azores Archipelago)

Characterization of the genetic structure of the azorean population

Tese de doutoramento em Bioquímica (Genética Molecular), apresentada à Universidade de Lisboa através da Faculdade de Ciências, 200

Multimetal smithing : An urban craft in rural settings?

Multimetal smithing should be defined as the use of more than one metal and/or different metalworking techniques within thesame crafts-milieu. This complex metalworking has long been linked to centrality, central places and urbanity in Scandinavia.It has been extensively argued that fine casting and smithing, as well as manufacture utilizing precious metals was exclusivelyundertaken within early urban settings or the “central places” pre-dating these. Furthermore, the presence of complex metalcraftsmanship has been used as a driving indicator of the political, social and economic superiority of certain sites, therebyenhancing their identity as “centralities”.Recent research has come to challenge the universality of this link between urbanity, centrality and complex metalworkingas sites in rural settings with evidence of multimetal smithing are being identified. This shows that the relationship between thecraft and centrality (urbanity) must be nuanced and that perhaps multimetal craftsmanship should be reconsidered as an urbanindicator.The thesis project “From Crucible and onto Anvil” started in 2015 and focuses on sites housing remains of multimetalcraftsmanship dating primarily from 500-1000 AD. Within the project a comprehensive survey of sites will be used to evaluate thepresence of multimetal craftsmanship in the landscape. Sites in selected target areas will also be subject to intra-site analysisfocusing on workshop organisation, production output, metalworking techniques and chronological variances.A key aim in the project is to elucidate the conceptual aspects of complex metalworking. The term multimetality is used toanalytically frame all the societal and economic aspects of multimetal craftsmanship. Through this inclusive perspective both thecraftsmanship and the metalworkers behind it are positioned within the overall socioeconomic framework. The metalworkers,their skills and competences as well as the products of their labour are viewed as dynamic actors in the landscape and on thearenas of political economy of the Late Iron Age.The survey has already revealed interesting aspects concerning multimetal smithing and urbanity. Although the multimetalsites do cluster against areas of early urban development there are also other patterns emerging. Multimetal craftsmanship – both as practice and concept – was well represented in both rural peripheral settings and urban crafts-milieus. This means that therole of multimetality as part of an “urban conceptual package” is crucial to investigate. Such an approach will have the dual endsof properly understanding the craft and its societal implications, but also further the knowledge of the phenomenon of urbanityas a whole. Was multimetal smithing part of an “urban package” that spread into the rural landscape? Did the multimetality differbetween urban and rural crafts-milieus? How does early urbanity relate to the chronology of multimetal craftsmanship?This paper aims to counter these questions using examples from the survey of multimetal sites conducted within the thesisproject. A comparison between selected sites will be presented. The purpose of this is to evaluate the role of multimetality withinthe “urban package” and discuss the role of complex metalworking in the establishment of urban arenas of interaction in LateIron Age Scandinavia

Intelligence, Creativity and Fantasy

UID/HIS/04666/2019 This is the 2nd volume of PHI series, published by CRC Press, the 4th published by CRC Press and the 5th volume of PHI proceedings.The texts presented in Proportion Harmonies and Identities (PHI) - INTELLIGENCE, CREATIVITY AND FANTASY were compiled with the intent to establish a multidisciplinary platform for the presentation, interaction and dissemination of research. The aim is also to foster the awareness and discussion on the topics of Harmony and Proportion with a focus on different visions relevant to Architecture, Arts and Humanities, Design, Engineering, Social and Natural Sciences, and their importance and benefits for the sense of both individual and community identity. The idea of modernity has been a significant motor for development since the Western Early Modern Age. Its theoretical and practical foundations have become the working tools of scientists, philosophers, and artists, who seek strategies and policies to accelerate the development process in different contexts.authorsversionpublishe

Human-Made Environments. The Development of Landscapes as ResourceAssemblages

Landscapes bear traces of the use of resources over long periods. These reflect not only ways of using, shaping, organising, controlling and exchanging resources, but also knowledge, perceptions, motivations for actions and related social dynamics. Resources can be material as well as immaterial and constitute the basis for the development and decline of societies. They are usually not exploited in isolation, but as parts of complexes whose specific constellation in time and space can be best described as assemblages. This topic was the subject of the session ‘Human-Made Environments: The Development of Landscapes as Resource Assemblages’ held at the 24th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists (Barcelona, 5–8 September 2018) and forms the basis of this volume. The general purpose is a debate on new concepts of the interrelation of social dynamics and resource use and a discussion of case studies in which landscapes were shaped to facilitate the utilisation of resources. The identification of what has been considered to be a resource is discussed as well as the means through which the corresponding landscapes were transformed and the results of these transformations. This implies not only material, but also spiritual aspects linked to the exploitation of resources. Since ResourceAssemblages are products of historical evolution and mutual relations the mechanisms of these processes are of great significance. Supreme aspects comprise the detection of a conscious human formation of landscapes in order to suit the exploitation of resources, the connected social practices as well as socio-cultural dynamics linked to the use of resources

Foresight scenario building and multi-criteria appraisal to inform sustainable development in small islands

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This thesis is the result of applying a novel methodology which I labelled ‘participative foresight scenario mapping’. This methodology couples participatory methods for building holistic foresight scenarios for sustainable development in Flores Island (Azores, Portugal) with a multi-criteria appraisal method, Multi-criteria mapping (Stirling, 1997), to assess these scenarios alongside five sector based regional scenarios (Secretaria Regional do Ambiente e do Mar, 2006). The main research question was to reflect on how small isolated societies, which have a distant relation with strategic decision-making centres, can define their transitions to sustainability. Small islands represent interesting cases to reflect on sustainability, these small territories distant from main decision-making centres challenge decision-making and require a consideration of the issues of scale. Islands have also been seen as small, manageable models of the world, providing the opportunity to explore innovative solutions at a scale that allows inclusion of as many different factors as possible. Small islands’ populations are especially linked to their island and they develop, by the effects of isolation, a strong particular relation to the place, the role of identity is then crucial in fostering sustainable practices adapted to the island. A succession of individual scoping interviews with twenty four regional and local decision-makers and key informants and seven focus groups with a total of thirty local lay citizens gave me the opportunity to develop two differentiated multi-sector scenarios for Flores Island which were identified as Standard and Balanced development scenarios. The Balanced development scenario reflects a desire to develop an island that bases its economy on greater self-sufficiency for agricultural products, quality and certified products, and natural conservation and valorisation. The Standard development scenario is based on economic growth through tourism and primary sector intensification, and public investment in infrastructures; this scenario can be summarized as the continuation of the actual model of development. The appraisal of both holistic narratives allows in depth exploration of the complex issues related to sustainability, such as the preference between weak and strong sustainability, that otherwise would have been too difficult to assess by such a variety of research participants. Working with holistic scenarios raised the limits of the capacity to show proficiency in a wide variety of fields. The research demonstrated the feasibility of applying the multi-criteria mapping method to support the analysis of holistic non-technical scenarios. The combination of qualitative and quantitative data brought depth to the analysis and improved the understanding of the desired sustainable futures in islands. But the quantitative appraisal was overshadowed by strong uncertainties that made difficult the identification of a best scenario. Uncertainty was explained by the risks inherent to the scenarios, the limited expertise in all the criteria, the complexity of the holistic scenarios, the time horizon (20 years), doubts on the effective implementation of the chosen scenario, and the existence of potentially disrupting external factors. The process was also the opportunity to understand the role that social capital might play in the transition to the desired future for this island. It is shown in the thesis that a successful transition to sustainable development can only be reached if the objectives are understood and shared by the population.Brunel University Londo