Inventory of Arthropods of Azorean Urban Gardens

The data we present are part of the long-term project SLAM (Long Term Ecological Study of the Impacts of Climate Change in the natural forest of Azores) aiming to assess the impact of biodiversity erosion drivers on Azorean native biota, using long-term ecological data. Additionally to SLAM traps, nocturnal Active Aerial Searching and nocturnal Foliage Beating methods were used to sample, between 2017 and 2018, the arthropod biodiversity on two historical urban gardens of Azores, the “Jardim Botânico” of Faial Island, and “Jardim Duque da Terceira” of Terceira Island. This publication includes new data and updates the knowledge about the arthropod diversity and taxonomy of Arteaga et al. 2020, and contributes to the study of the urban gardens role to conservation of native biota.FUNDING: FEDER in 85% and by Azorean Public funds by 15% through Operational Program Azores 2020, under the project Green Garden Azores (ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000070), the project AZORESBIOPORTAL (ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000072) and also the project Portal da Biodiversidade dos Açores (2022-2023) - PO Azores Project - M1.1.A/INFRAEST CIENT/001/2022.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sampling of Azores seabirds with camera-traps - Year 2019

The Azores holds the largest population of Cory´s shearwater Calonectris borealis (Cory, 1881) in the world. One of the major threats of this species in the Azores is the predation by invasive mammals, which were introduced from European colonization of the islands. The present publication provides a data set from a camera-trapping survey performed in colonies of Cory’s shearwater. The sampling was conducted between 8 April and 23 October of 2019, covering the entire breeding season, in three colonies of the Terceira Island (Azores). A total of 32 nests were sampled using motion-triggered cameras. This publication aims to provide information about the ecological patterns of the Cory Shearwater, and to identify potential nest predators. This publication includes a total of 6972 records across 15 species (9 species of birds, 5 of mammals and 1 of reptiles), which 5414 records are of Cory’s shearwater, 478 of potential mammal predators and 1080 of another vertebrate species. Information about biology of the species is also provided, as species circadian behaviour and habitat description.LLL was supported by a grant from the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCT (SFRH/BD/115022/2016). It is now supported by by the project FCT-UIDB/00329/2020-2024 (Thematic Line 1 – integrated ecological assessment of environmental change on biodiversity) and also FCT-UIDP/00329/2020-2023.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

New records of rove-beetles (Insecta, Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) for Azores Islands (Portugal)

The data we present consist of an updated checklist of the Azorean Staphylinidae (Insecta, Coleoptera), by compiling new identified records of three recent published studies about Azorean arthropods. In general, the records were obtained from different standardised sampling campaigns and from non-standardised observations. The presented records were collected between July 1999 and September 2020, in five islands of the Azores Archipelago: Flores, Graciosa, Terceira, São Miguel and Santa Maria. The samples include records collected in several habitat types, such as native, mixed and exotic forests, pasturelands and agricultural areas (maize fields, orchards, citrus areas and vineyards). This inventory represents the most updated checklist and knowledge about Staphylinidae in Azores and new information includes one new exotic rove-beetle for the Azores (Thecturota tenuissima Casey, 1893) and seven new islands records.his work was funded by eight projects: (1) Direccao Regional dos Recursos Florestais (Azorean Government/project 17.01-080203), (2) FCT-project PTDC/BIA-BEC/100182/2008 MACRISK - "Predicting extinctions on islands: a multi-scale assessment", (3) DRCT project M112/F/014/2007; (4) FCT-NETBIOME -ISLANDBIODIV; (5) AZORESBIOPORTAL - PORBIOTA (ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000072) and (6) AGRO-ECOSERVICES (ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000073), both supported by FEDER and Azorean Public funds through the Operational Program Azores 2020; and (7) PRIBES (LIFE17 IPE/PT/000010) (2019-2020) and (8) LIFE-BETTLES (LIFE18 NAT/PT/000864) (2020-2024), both supported by Direccao Regional do Ambiente. Open access was funded by the project AGRO-ECOSERVICES (ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000073), supported by FEDER and Azorean Public funds through the Operational Program Azores 2020.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A survey of exotic arthropods in disturbed Azorean forest habitats using SLAM traps

The data we present consists in an inventory of exotic arthropods, potentially invasive, collected on exotic and mixed forests, as well disturbed native forest patches most of them not included in protected areas, on the Azores archipelago. The study was carried out between 2019 and 2020 in four islands: Corvo, Flores, Terceira and Santa Maria, where a total of 45 passive flight interception SLAM traps were deployed, during three to six consecutive months. This manuscript is the second contribution of the “SLAM Project - Long Term Ecological Study of the Impacts of Climate Change in the natural forest of Azores”. A total of 45 passive flight interception SLAM traps were deployed, during six consecutive months, collecting arthropods belonging to Arachnida, Diplopoda, Chilopoda and Insecta Classes. We collected a total of 21,175 specimens, belonging to 20 orders, 93 families and 249 species of arthropods. A total of 125 species are considered introduced, 89 native non-endemic and 35 endemic. We registered a total of 33 new records for one or more islands, of which five are new for Azores: Dieckmanniellus nitidulus (Gyllenhal, 1838), Gronops fasciatus Küster, 1851, Hadroplontus trimaculatus (Fabricius, 1775), Hypurus berandi (Perris, 1852) (all Coleoptera, Curculionidae) and Cardiocondyla mauritanica Forel, 1890 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). This publication remarks the importance of disturbed native forest patches and exotic vegetation areas as potential reservoirs of exotic potentially invasive arthropods and also accommodating some rare relict endemic arthropod species.FUNDING: Portuguese National Funds, through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, within the project UID/BIA/00329/2013-2023 Direcção Regional do Ambiente - PRIBES (LIFE17 IPE/PT/000010) (2019-2020). Direcção Regional do Ambiente – LIFE-BETTLES (LIFE18 NAT_PT_000864) (2020-2024) AZORESBIOPORTAL –PORBIOTA (ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000072) (2019-2022) The database management and Open Access was funded by the project “MACRISK-Trait-based prediction of extinction risk and invasiveness for Northern Macaronesian arthropods” Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia FCT - PTDC/BIA-CBI/0625/2021 (2022-2024).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

New records, detailed distribution and abundance of rove-beetles (Insecta, Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) collected between 1990 and 2015 in Azores (Portugal) with an updated checklist

Background: The dataset we present consists of an inventory compiling all records and knowledge about Staphylinidae (Insecta, Coleoptera) in the Azores and is part of a long-term monitoring performed between 1990 and 2015 in different habitat types of eight islands of the Azores Archipelago. Most samples come from the BALA project (Biodiversity of Arthropods from the Laurisilva of Azores) that sampled native forests in the Azores. Additional sampled habitats include exotic forests, intensive and semi-natural pasturelands, orchards, caves and lava flows. Most of the records (about 96.7%) were collected in standardised sampling campaigns, which included pitfall traps and beating transect protocols. Non-standardised records are based on hand-collecting and sifting, as well as cave, colour and malaise traps. New information: We provide a long-term inventory of Staphylinidae (Insecta, Coleoptera) collected in the course of several standardised sampling campaigns and recorded with non-standardised methods. We collected a total of 10744 specimens belonging to 69 identified species of Staphylinidae, which represents 51% of the species known from the Azores Archipelago. Four endemic species were sampled, representing 40% of the known Azorean endemic species. From this dataset, seven species are new for the Azores: Aleochara funebris Wollaston, 1864; Amischa forcipata Mulsant & Rey, 1873; Bledius unicornis (Germar, 1825); Carpelimus troglodytes (Erichson, 1840); Cypha seminulum (Erichson, 1839); Paraphloeostiba gayndahensis (MacLeay, 1871); Tachyporus caucasicus Kolenati, 1846. We also registered a total of 66 new island records for eight Azorean islands. This contribution continues a series of publications on the distribution and abundance of Azorean arthropods. We also provide an updated list of Azorean rove-beetles (Staphylinidae) that now includes 136 species, ten of them considered Azorean endemics.Species collecting was possible, based on the funding from the following projects: "Reservas Florestais dos Açores: Cartografia e Inventariação dos Artrópodes Endémicos dos Açores" (BALA) (Direccao Regional dos Recursos Florestais, project 17.01-080203) (1999-2003) ; "Agriculture, habitat fragmentation, indicator species and conservation of endemic fauna and flora in the Azores - the 2010 Target" (Direccao Regional da Ciência e Tecnologia, DRCT-Postdoc M112/F/014/2007) (2007-2009) ; "Predicting extinctions on islands: a multi-scale assessment" (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia-FCT-PTDC/BIA-BEC/100182/2008) (2010-2013) ; "Understanding biodiversity dynamics in tropical and subtropical islands as an aid to science based conservation action" (ISLANDBIODIV) (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, FCT/NETBIOME/0003) . The database management was funded by FEDER (85%) and by Azorean Public funds (15%) through Operational Programme Azores 2020, under the project AZORESBIOPORTAL -PORBIOTA (ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000072).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Inventory of Arthropod pests in Azorean orchards : the project CUARENTAGRI

The data we present are part of the CUARENTAGRI project, which involves all archipelagos of the Macaronesia region (Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands, and Cabo Verde). The project aims to identify and evaluate the risk associated with the introduction of new arthropod pests and also to study the population evolution of those present and the arthropod pests responsible by damaging crops, as well as develop monitoring systems based on prediction and/or evolution of the crop pests, creating warnings and a phytosanitary prevention system. The presented data comprised three islands of the Azores archipelago (Terceira, São Jorge and São Miguel islands), where pheromones-baited traps were placed in several orchards types (banana, olives, orange, strawberry, chestnuts, pasture, potato and apples), during 3 consecutive years (2020, 2021 and 2022). This publication contributes to a better knowledge of the arthropods pests that can affect the Azorean crops, and will serve as a baseline for future monitoring actions, pest risk assessments, and impacts warning and prevention systems.FUNDING: This work was financed under the project CUARENTAGRI by Cooperation Programs INTERREG V A (Spain-Portugal) and MAC 2014-2020.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Wildlife inventory from camera-trapping surveys in the Azores (Pico and Terceira islands)

The present publication provides a dataset from five camera-trapping sampling campaigns on two islands of the Azorean archipelago (Pico and Terceira islands), between 2013-2018. This dataset was obtained as a by-product of campaigns designed for different purposes. The sampling campaigns were designed to: (i) study the ecology of introduced mammals; (ii) assess the impact of introduced mammals on native birds (Azores woodpigeon - Columba palumbus azorica and Cory's shearwater - Calonectris diomeda borealis), through nest predation; and (iii) obtain information about the impact of vertebrates on agricultural systems, particularly on Azorean traditional vineyards. A total of 258 sites and 47 nests were sampled using camera traps. These sampling campaigns provided a large data series that allowed the creation of a vertebrate wildlife inventory.FCT-SFRH/BD/115022/2016; Open access was funded by FEDER (85%) and by Azorean Public funds (15%), through the Operational Program Azores 2020 under the project AZORESBIOPORTAL – PORBIOTA (ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000072).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Estimation of total biomass in Aleppo pine forest stands applying parametric and nonparametric methods to low-density airborne laser scanning data

The account of total biomass can assist with the evaluation of climate regulation policies from local to global scales. This study estimates total biomass (TB), including tree and shrub biomass fractions, in Pinus halepensis Miller forest stands located in the Aragon Region (Spain) using Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) data and fieldwork. A comparison of five selection methods and five regression models was performed to relate the TB, estimated in 83 field plots through allometric equations, to several independent variables extracted from ALS point cloud. A height threshold was used to include returns above 0.2 m when calculating ALS variables. The sample was divided into training and test sets composed of 62 and 21 plots, respectively. The model with the lower root mean square error (15.14 tons/ha) after validation was the multiple linear regression model including three ALS variables: the 25th percentile of the return heights, the variance, and the percentage of first returns above the mean. This study confirms the usefulness of low-density ALS data to accurately estimate total biomass, and thus better assess the availability of biomass and carbon content in a Mediterranean Aleppo pine forest

A model to choose a management team for a tourism company

In Portugal, many tourism companies deal with a management problem regarding their low dimension and productivity. Therefore, an additional concern must be given to the management model, in order to increase their success. An innovating model is given for a situation in which a hotel aims to choose a management team according to a set of competences and skills to give the company the necessary ability to be competitive and to survive in a very competitive market. This paper aims at presenting, through game theory, a way to have the best choice that allows ordering the potential candidates that will constitute the co-leadership team. This requires a successful team with a renewed co-leadership model of co-leaders.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio