O ensino da ecologia da paisagem em Portugal

Neste trabalho descreve-se a dinâmica da oferta do ensino da ecologia da paisagem desde o seu início em Portugal, no final dos anos 1980, até ao presente. Faz-se um apanhado das unidades curriculares atualmente em funcionamento no ensino superior, por ciclo de estudos e por instituição, e descrevem-se as tendências observadas nas últimas duas décadas no ensino desta disciplina. Em Portugal são lecionadas presentemente 17 unidades curriculares especificamente dedicadas à ecologia da paisagem, distribuídas por cursos de 1º e 2º ciclo e mestrados integrados, em 12 instituições. Depois de um período inicial marcado pelo rápido surgimento de unidades curriculares, observou-se o seu abandono, particularmente no âmbito da adequação dos cursos ao modelo de Bolonha. Recentemente, surgiram novas unidades, principalmente ao nível de programas de doutoramento (3º ciclo), que permitem compensar o anterior desaparecimento de unidades e manter uma considerável oferta de ensino em ecologia da paisagem no país

Ecologia da paisagem e suas aplicações profissionais em Portugal: os casos da gestão florestal e da conservação da biodiversidade

Neste trabalho avalia-se a aplicação da ecologia da paisagem à prática profissional em duas áreas distintas: a gestão florestal e a conservação da natureza e da biodiversidade. A partir de uma hipótese, de acordo com a qual a elevada aplicabilidade da ecologia da paisagem a determinadas áreas e a vasta experiência formativa nesta disciplina em Portugal deveria ser traduzida por um elevado número de aplicações práticas nos âmbitos da conservação da biodiversidade e a gestão florestal, avaliamos um conjunto de indicadores de utilização da estrutura teórica, dos conceitos e dos métodos desta disciplina a partir da análise de um conjunto de documentos concebidos a diferentes níveis organizacionais. Os resultados indicam que a presença da ecologia da paisagem nestas duas áreas profissionais é muito ténue, sendo muito poucos os casos onde é clara a influência da disciplina na conceção e desenvolvimento de políticas, planos e projetos. As explicações para esta situação podem envolver simultaneamente insuficiência de transferência de conhecimento da ecologia da paisagem para o mundo profissional e uma não sincronização entre a formação académica e a aplicação

Landscape ecology in meeting challenges in land management: the case of Portugal

The practice of planning and management at the landscape scale has increased over the year and in some fields, such as forestry, hydrology, or biodiversity conservation, the landscape approach is already a requirement. Management at this scale is a challenging task due to the complexity of the socio-economicecological systems under consideration but mostly due to the level of uncertainty of current and future drivers of change and their effects. Theoretical foundations and methods to support management of landscapes can be found within landscape ecology, an emerging science field in the 1990’s and 2000’s but now fully established despite the diversity of perspectives. In Portugal, landscape ecology has also emerged in the 1990’s but applications in real world cases are infrequent. The goal of this work was to analyse the role of the science of landscape ecology in meeting or contributing to meet challenges in landscape management in Portugal. We analysed approaches and methods used to address the sustainable management of landscapes as well as particular case studies in forestry, fire hazard reduction, biodiversity conservation and regional planning where landscape ecology based knowledge or methods have been applied. Considering the insufficiency of applications in Portugal revealed by this work, we additionally present principles, guidelines and measures to be used in land management in general and within in the fields described above based upon the foundations and the practice in the field of landscape ecology, particularly in Portugal

Non-nosocomial healthcare-associated infective endocarditis in Taiwan: an underrecognized disease with poor outcome

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Non-nosocomial healthcare-associated infective endocarditis (NNHCA-IE) is a new category of IE of increasing importance. This study described the clinical and microbiological characteristics and outcome of NNHCA-IE in Taiwan.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A retrospective study was conducted of all patients with IE admitted to the Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital in Kaohsiung, Taiwan over a five-year period from July 2004 to July 2009. The clinical and microbiological features of NNHCA-IE were compared to those of community-acquired and nosocomial IE. Predictors for in-hospital death were determined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Two-hundred episodes of confirmed IE occurred during the study period. These included 148 (74%) community-acquired, 30 (15%) non-nosocomial healthcare-associated, and 22 (11%) nosocomial healthcare-associated IE. <it>Staphylococcus aureus </it>was the most frequent pathogen. Patients with NNHCA-IE compared to community-acquired IE, were older (median age, 67 vs. 44, years, <it>p </it>< 0.001), had more MRSA (43.3% vs. 9.5%, <it>p </it>< 0.001), more comorbidity conditions (median Charlson comorbidity index [interquartile range], 4[2-6] vs. 0[0-1], <it>p </it>< 0.001), a higher in-hospital mortality (50.0% vs. 17.6%, <it>p </it>< 0.001) and were less frequently recognized by clinicians on admission (16.7% vs. 47.7%, <it>p </it>= 0.002). The overall in-hospital mortality rate for all patients with IE was 25%. Shock was the strongest risk factor for in-hospital death (odds ratio 7.8, 95% confidence interval 2.4-25.2, <it>p </it>< 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>NNHCA-IE is underrecognized and carries a high mortality rate. Early recognition is crucial to provide optimal management and improve outcome.</p

One Hundred Priority Questions for the Development of Sustainable Food Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa is facing an expected doubling of human population and tripling of food demand over the next quarter century, posing a range of severe environmental, political, and socio-economic challenges. In some cases, key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are in direct conflict, raising difficult policy and funding decisions, particularly in relation to trade-offs between food production, social inequality, and ecosystem health. In this study, we used a horizon-scanning approach to identify 100 practical or research-focused questions that, if answered, would have the greatest positive impact on addressing these trade-offs and ensuring future productivity and resilience of food-production systems across sub-Saharan Africa. Through direct canvassing of opinions, we obtained 1339 questions from 331 experts based in 55 countries. We then used online voting and participatory workshops to produce a final list of 100 questions divided into 12 thematic sections spanning topics from gender inequality to technological adoption and climate change. Using data on the background of respondents, we show that perspectives and priorities can vary, but they are largely consistent across different professional and geographical contexts. We hope these questions provide a template for establishing new research directions and prioritising funding decisions in sub-Saharan Africa

One hundred priority questions for the development of sustainable food systems in sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa is facing an expected doubling of human population and tripling of food demand over the next quarter century, posing a range of severe environmental, political, and socio-economic challenges. In some cases, key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are in direct conflict, raising difficult policy and funding decisions, particularly in relation to trade-offs between food production, social inequality, and ecosystem health. In this study, we used a horizon-scanning approach to identify 100 practical or research-focused questions that, if answered, would have the greatest positive impact on addressing these trade-offs and ensuring future productivity and resilience of food-production systems across sub-Saharan Africa. Through direct canvassing of opinions, we obtained 1339 questions from 331 experts based in 55 countries. We then used online voting and participatory workshops to produce a final list of 100 questions divided into 12 thematic sections spanning topics from gender inequality to technological adoption and climate change. Using data on the background of respondents, we show that perspectives and priorities can vary, but they are largely consistent across different professional and geographical contexts. We hope these questions provide a template for establishing new research directions and prioritising funding decisions in sub-Saharan Africa