Life-history evolution and cooperative breeding in the sociable weaver

Includes bibliographical references.When compared to northern temperate counterparts, birds in the tropics and Southern Hemisphere regions, are characterised by low fecundity, long developmental periods and high Survival. This pattern has been attributed to hypotheses relating to food limitation, nest predation, and reduced seasonality leading to high adult survival. Still, to date few studies have investigated this issue. In particular, detailed studies from southern regions are scarce and as a result our understanding of this question remains weak. Another characteristic of 'southern' birds is a higher frequency of cooperatively-breeding species. It has previously been shown that cooperative breeding is most frequent amongst species with high survival and low fecundity. An explanation for this could be that long occupancy of territories by long-lived breeders leads to reduced opportunities of independent breeding by young birds. However, the biology of some species is such, that they do not experience shortage of breeding territories or other constraints, while still showing delayed dispersal and cooperative breeding. This study investigates what factors drive life-history evolution in a cooperatively breeding southern African passerine, the sociable weaver Philetairus socius. This species departs from the traditional cooperative breeding model in being a non-territorial colonial nester that inhabits an unpredictable semi-arid environment. Sociable weavers face no obvious constraints on independent reproduction, yet cooperative breeding is common. Therefore, I also aimed at determining what factors prompt delayed reproduction in this species, since this life history trait is the first step leading to cooperative breeding

Decision support platform for urban water infrastructures

Trabalho apresentado em 18.º Encontro de Engenharia Sanitária e Ambiental (ENASB) /18.º Simpósio Luso-Brasileiro de Engenharia Sanitária e Ambiental (SILUBESA), 10-12 outubro, Porto, PortugalO presente artigo aborda a problemática da integração/interligação dos dados existentes nas diferentes EGs e apresenta o projeto DECIdE - Plataforma de Apoio à Decisão em Infraestruturas Urbanas de Água. O projeto DECIdE tem como objetivo melhorar o conhecimento que as EGs municipais têm acerca das suas infraestruturas urbanas de água, propondo-se o desenvolvimento de uma plataforma informática que integre os dados provenientes dos diferentes sistemas de informação e a inclusão de algumas ferramentas para o apoio à tomada de decisão. O projeto desenrola-se em três atividades principais, nomeadamente, A1 – Caracterização dos sistemas de informação; A2 – Desenvolvimento da plataforma; e A3 – Desenvolvimento de relatórios. A primeira atividade envolve a caracterização e levantamento dos SI existentes entre as entidades parceiras do projeto. A segunda atividade consiste no desenvolvimento da plataforma que integrará os dados dos diferentes SI identificados na primeira atividade. Nesta atividade, algumas ferramentas de avaliação serão também implementadas, como o cálculo do balanço hídrico. Por fim, a terceira atividade consiste na preparação de documentação, como o guia do utilizador e as diretrizes de práticas recomendadas para a gestão eficiente da informação.This paper addresses the problem of integration/interconnection of the existing data in the different water utilities and presents the project DECIdE – Decision Support Platform for urban Water Infrastructures. The aim of the project is the development of an IT platform that integrates data from different information systems (IS) and that includes tools to support decision-making. The project will have three main activities: A1 – Characterization of IS; A2 – Platform development; A3 – Report elaboration. The first activity involves the characterization and survey of the existing IS of the water utilities project partners. The second activity consists of IT platform development, open-source, which will integrate data from the different IS identified in the first activity. In this activity, some assessment tools will be developed such as the calculation of water balance. Finally, the third activity consists of the preparation of reports such as user’s guide and best practices guidelines for efficient information management.N/

CCWI2017: F106 'Water and Energy Efficiency in Bulk Water Systems'

Water losses and energy efficiency in supply systems is an actual concern for utilities. While the methodologies for water losses and energy efficiency assessment have been developed, their application in bulk water supply systems is limited. This paper provides data on water losses levels and energy efficiency performance of three Portuguese bulk water supply systems that can be benchmarked with similar systems worldwide. In addition, it points out major uncertainties in water balances calculation in such systems and identifies constraints in applying the methodology. The usefulness of computing the energy balance for efficiency assessment in bulk supply systems is demonstrated