Phytosociology applied to wildlife management - a study on the potentiality for the reintroduction of cervids in the Montemuro-Freita-Arada mountain range

Doutoramento em Engenharia Florestal e dos Recursos Naturais - Instituto Superior de AgronomiaThe aim of the present thesis was to assess the use of phytosociology in wildlife management. In Section II, as a case study, I investigated red deer (Cervus elaphus hispanicus) and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) free ranging populations occurring in the Natural Park of Montesinho, northeast Portugal, using faecal-pellet counts to assess deer use of semi-natural meadows (lameiros) and forest communities. Phytosociological classification contributed to explain red deer spring selective use of meadows at finer scales and performed better than other clustering criteria for classifying vegetation patches. At the landscape level, composition of the neighbouring vegetation mosaic, topography, and meadow’s characteristics, as management status and dominant phytosociology, produced the best models for deer seasonal use of meadows. The forest use analysis revealed red and roe deer preference for oak forests over pine plantations, and habitat use overlapping between red and roe deer all year round. In Section III, I extrapolated the information gathered in Section II on deer use to build, for the Montemuro-Freita-Arada massif, a predictive map for roe deer use of meadows, showing a generally low use, with exception of isolated meadows closer to oak forest patche

Fraxino Angustifoliae-Ulmetum Glabrae: an original endemic and extremely localized forest from mainland Portugal

The natural occurrence of Ulmus glabra in mainland Portugal has been recently recognized. These punctuated occurrences are peripheral and scattered from the main distribution area in the centre and north of Europe. U. glabra colonizes soils of heavy textures, relatively rich in bases, cool and frequently rocky on steep slopes (e.g. ravines, shadowy canyons), under supra to orotemperate, humid to hyperhumid bioclimates. This combination of ecological factors is rather unusual inmainland Portugal, however during an inventory excursion in the north of Portugal (Serra do Montemuro), in a small canyon ofBalsemão riverwe detected a mesophilous/temporihygrophilous forest dominated by U. glabra and Fraxinus angustifolia. This forest is extremely localized occurring on Ordovician silty schists, under upper mesotemperate to supratemperate hyperhumid bioclimate. It probably corresponds to an interglacial refugium for the species. We ran an edaphoclimatic model within a geographical information system, in order to highlight other possible areas of occurrence for this forests and guide future efforts in finding it in mainland Portugal

Arrelvados vivazes da bacia hidrográfica do rio Paiva (Portugal)

Apresenta-se um estudo dos arrelvados naturais vivazes da bacia hidrográfica do rio Paiva, em particular das classes: 1) Festucetea indigestae; 2) Stipo giganteae-Agrostietea castellanae; 3) Molinio-Arrhenatheretea e 4) Nardetea. Com base em inventários realizados desde 2004, bem como em trabalhos publicados onde se estudou o território em causa, reconhecem-se oito associações e uma comunidade enquadráveis nas referidas classes, respectivamente: 1) Polytricho-Agrostietum truncatulae, Diantho langeani-Festucetum summilusitanae ass. nova; 2) Arrhenathero bulbosi-Armerietum beiranae ass. nova, com. de Armeria beirana e Arrhenatherum sardoum; 3) Peucedano lancifolii-Juncetum acutiflori, Agrostio castellanae-Arrhenatheretum bulbosi, Anthemido nobilis-Cynosuretum cristati; 4) Centaureo lusitanae-Pseudarrhenatheretum longifolii ass. nova, Genisto anglicae-Nardetum strictae. Apresenta-se ainda uma associação vegetal casmofítica original, enquadrável na classe Phagnalo-Rumicetea indurati, encontrada no decorrer do presente trabalho, que aqui se descreve dado o seu valor para a conservação da natureza, dominada pelo endemismo do centro de Portugal continental Anarrhinum longipedicellatum (Anarrhinetum longipedicellati ass. nova). Destaca-se o caso particular do arrelvado Arrhenathero bulbosi-Armerietum beiranae, hoje com grande expressão no território em estudo, ocupando parte considerável das áreas graníticas meso a supratemperadas, húmidas a hiper-húmidas, das serras do Montemuro, Leomil e Lapa. A expansão deste arrelvado está indiscutivelmente ligada quer ao abandono da agricultura e do pastoreio – que levaram a uma redução considerável das áreas cultivadas, bem como das comunidades de Molinio-Arrhenatheretea e de Nardetea – quer à elevada frequência de incêndios, dado que se trata de uma comunidade subserial dos carvalhais de Holco mollis- Quercetum pyrenaicae e, pontualmente, de Rusco aculeati-Quercetum roboris quercetosum roborisinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Habitat use at fine spatial scale: how does patch clustering criteria explain the use of meadows by red deer ?

Large mammalian herbivores are keystone species in different ecosystems. To mediate the effects of large mammalian herbivores on ecosystems, it is crucial to understand their habitat selection pattern. At finer scales, herbivore patch selection depends strongly on plant community traits and therefore its understanding is constrained by patch definition criteria. Our aim was to assess which criteria for patch definition best explained use of meadows by wild, free-ranging, red deer (Cervus elaphus) in a study area in Northeast Portugal. We used two clustering criteria types based on floristic composition and gross forage classes, respectively. For the floristic criteria, phytosociological approach was used to classify plant communities, and its objectivity evaluated with a mathematical clustering of the floristic relevés. Cover of dominant plant species was tested as a proxy for the phytosociological method. For the gross forage classes, the graminoids/forbs ratio and the percentage cover of legumes were used. For assessing deer relative use of meadows we used faecal accumulation rates. Patches clustered according to floristic classification better explained selection of patches by deer. Plant community classifications based on phytosociology, or proxies of this, used for characterizing meadow patches resulted useful to understand herbivore selection pattern at fine scales and thus potentially suitable to assist wildlife management decisions

Floristic distinctiveness of the low and mid-altitude peat-rich heathlands of the western Iberian Peninsula and northwestern Morocco

Peat-rich heathlands, characterized and dominated by Ericaceae and Genisteae, are the southernmost outliers of the class Calluno-Ulicetea in the Mediterranean region. They occur in small and isolated patches along the Atlantic façade of the SW Europe on acidic soils with peat formation and on hydromorphic podzols. Such sites could have acted as refugia for hygrophilous plant during dry climatic phases in earth history. Recent phylogeographic studies of the Genista anglica-ancistrocarpa complex showed a clear separation of a clade, distributed in Western Europe and the Northern Iberian Mountains (Genista anglica), and a clade of SW-Iberian and NW-Moroccan distribution (G. ancistrocarpa) indicating long-term isolation (possibly since the end of the Tertiary) upcoming form intricate paleogeographic and paleoclimatic patterns. In order to access if such long-term patterns are nowadays traceable at the community level, we analysed all the available data of the Genistion micrantho-anglicae from the Iberian Peninsula and NW Morocco. The agglomerative hierarchical clustering shows a clear separation of two clusters: A) Ulici lusitanici-Genistion ancistrocarpae all. nov. hoc loco (typus: Cirsio welwitschii-Ericetum ciliaris) and B) Genistion micrantho-anglicae. This floristic differentiation is congruent with ecological and phytogeographical patterns: The first alliance is distributed along coastal areas and usually at lower altitudes within thermo- and mesomediterranean bioclimatic belts, while the associations of the latter occur at higher altitudes and in the interior and northern parts of the Iberian Peninsula, under temperate macrobioclimate. Both alliances have their own character taxa (some of them geographical vicariants) and are furthermore differentiated by transgressive species, which add further biogeographic information coming from the surrounding vegetation matrix. Finally we underline the conservation value of heathy peatlands as a refugium for the southernmost populations of Atlantic plant species in the Mediterranean region.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Lessons from human umbilical cord: gender differences in stem cells from Wharton's jelly

Objective: To study the molecular features of mesenchymal stem cells from Wharton Jelly (WJ-MSCs) of umbilical cord to predict their differentiation capacity. Design: Comparison of gene expression from mesenchymal stem cells of male and female umbilical cord Setting: University hospital Patient (s): umbilical cords (n = 12, 6 males and 6 females) retrieved from spontaneous full-term vaginal delivery of healthy women Intervention: we analyzed the expression of the stemness related genes C-MYC, OCT4, SOX2 and NANOG and of the epigenetic modulating gene DNA-methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1). Mean outcome measure: WJ-MSCs were isolated by standard procedures and immunophenotypically characterized. Gene expression analysis of stemness related genes and the epigenetic modulating gene DNMT1 were performed by real-time PCR Results: expression of the OCT4 and DNMT1 genes was significantly higher in WJ- MSCs isolated from male subjects, as compared to MSCs isolated from female-derived WJ. The resulting higher expression of OCT4 and DNMT1 in WJ-MSCs from males as compared with female WJ-MSCs for the first time identifies a specific relationship between stemness genes, an epigenetic modulator, and gender differences. Conclusion: our findings disclose novel biomedical implications in WJ-MSCs related to the sex of the donor, thus providing additional cues to exploit their regenerative potential in allogenic transplantation

Epigenetics, Stem Cells, and Autophagy: Exploring a Path Involving miRNA

MiRNAs, a small family of non-coding RNA, are now emerging as regulators of stem cell pluripotency, differentiation, and autophagy, thus controlling stem cell behavior. Stem cells are undifferentiated elements capable to acquire specific phenotype under different kind of stimuli, being a main tool for regenerative medicine. Within this context, we have previously shown that stem cells isolated from Wharton jelly multipotent stem cells (WJ-MSCs) exhibit gender differences in the expression of the stemness related gene OCT4 and the epigenetic modulator gene DNA-Methyltransferase (DNMT1). Here, we further analyze this gender difference, evaluating adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation potential, autophagic process, and expression of miR-145, miR-148a, and miR-185 in WJ-MSCs derived from males and females. These miRNAs were selected since they are involved in OCT4 and DNMT1 gene expression, and in stem cell differentiation. Our results indicate a difference in the regulatory circuit involving miR-148a/DNMT1/OCT4 autophagy in male WJ-MSCs as compared to female cells. Moreover, no difference was detected in the expression of the two-differentiation regulating miRNA (miR-145 and miR-185). Taken together, our results highlight a different behavior of WJ-MSCs from males and females, disclosing the chance to better understand cellular processes as autophagy and stemness, usable for future clinical applications