Análises biogeográficas exploratórias

Este capítulo analisa os padrões gerais de riqueza específica observada, os padrões na recolha de registos (distribuição espacial do esforço de amostragem), e as zonas onde visivelmente ainda falta informação, para lhes dar prioridade na recolha de dados com vista à segunda edição (revista e aumentada) deste Atlas

Structuring amazonian bat assemblages : importance of horizontal and vertical dimensions of habitat

Tese de doutoramento, Biologia (Ecologia), Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, 2016Environmental heterogeneity is one of the factors that underpins the species richness of an area. However, this important relationship has only been poorly documented in tropical regions or in low human impact areas due to the scant data. The overall objective of this thesis is to contribute to the understanding of how the spatial components of environmental heterogeneity, both horizontal and vertical, contribute to the high number of ecological niches that explain the high biodiversity of Amazonian rainforests. More specifically, this thesis attempts to unveil the relevance of different types of forests, river bank vegetation and forest vertical component to the ecological structure of the megadiverse bat fauna of Amazonia. First, in Chapter 2 we focused on the horizontal component of environmental heterogeneity. In this paper we studied forest inundation and river banks as determinants of the spatial variation in the availability of fruits for bats in lowland Amazonia. We sampled the bat assemblage composition, fruit availability, and bat diet in terra firme upland forest and in two types of flooded forest - várzea and igapó. We grouped the bat species in two functional groups, the understorey and the canopy feeding guilds. We found that the várzea forests had abundant fruit resources for the canopy bats, while terra firme provided more fruits for the understorey bats. Additionally, river bank vegetation provided more fruit availability for bats, particularly for the canopy feeding guild on the edges of the várzea forests and for the understory feeding guild on the edges of the terra firme forests. In conclusion, both the forest type and the river bank vegetation influence the availability of fruits, although differently for the canopy and understory guilds. The resulting differences in fruit abundance may explain variations in bat assemblages of the different forest types. River banks play a particularly important role in providing food for bats of both guilds. By increasing the niche space, the mosaic of forests may play an important role in supporting such a diverse bat assemblage. The assessment of the contribution of the vertical component of environmental heterogeneity to the structuring of the Amazonian bat assemblage is presented in Chapter 3. Here, we studied the vertical space use of aerial insectivorous bats. Using automatic ultrasound recording stations placed in the canopy, subcanopy and understorey we tested if bat activity and species diversity are vertically stratified, both in the forest interior and near the edges of water bodies. These patterns were tested separately for 21 individual species, and for two functional groups - open space and edge space bats. Our results show that insectivorous bat activity increased by roughly seven fold, and species diversity doubled, from the understorey to the canopy. Both edge space and open space bats were more active in the upper strata, but this tendency was much more accentuated in the latter. Myotis riparius was the only species with greater activity near the understorey. These broad patterns were altered at the edges of water bodies, where vertical stratification was much less marked. The observed patterns are parsimoniously explained by constraints imposed by vegetation clutter that change across strata, which affect bat species differently. Only bats better adapted to closed spaces are usually capable of foraging within the understorey, whereas the majority of species can exploit the free spaces immediately below the canopy; open space bats seem to concentrate their activity above the canopy. Our results underline the need to preserve pristine stratified rainforests. Moreover, the concentration of insectivorous bats at the upper strata of rainforests underlines the need to include canopy level sampling in ecological studies. The study of the pitfalls and optimization of survey methods is one of the important tasks of scientists. In Chapter 4 we addressed this concern and investigated the impact of mist net avoidance in bats and birds. We quantified the day-to-day decline in captures of Amazonian birds and bats with mist nets set at the same location for four consecutive days. We also evaluated how net avoidance influences the efficiency of surveys under different logistic scenarios by subsetting data. Our results demonstrated that net avoidance caused substantial declines in bird and bat captures, although more accentuated in the latter. Most of the decline occurred between the first and second days of netting: 28 % in birds and 47% in bats. Captures of commoner species were more affected and the numbers of species detected also declined. Moving nets daily to minimize the avoidance effect increased captures by 30% in birds and 70% in bats. However, moving the location of nets may cause a reduction in netting time and captures, and we further investigated the implications of that logistic constraint. When moving the nets caused the loss of one netting day it was no longer advantageous to move the nets frequently. In bird surveys that could even decrease the number of individuals captured and species detected

Does Warm-Up Have a Beneficial Effect on 100-m Freestyle?

To investigate the effect of warm-up on 100-m swimming performance. Twenty competitive swimmers (with a training frequency of 8.0 ± 1.0 sessions/wk) performed 2 maximal 100-m freestyle trials on separate days, with and without prior warm-up, in a counterbalanced and randomized design. The warm-up distance totaled 1000 m and replicated the swimmers' usual precompetition warm-up strategy. Performance (time), physiological (capillary blood lactate concentrations), psychophysiological (perceived exertion), and biomechanical variables (distance per stroke, stroke frequency, and stroke index) were assessed on both trials. Performance in the 100-m was fastest in the warm-up condition (67.15 ± 5.60 vs 68.10 ± 5.14 s; P = .01), although 3 swimmers swam faster without warm-up. Critical to this was the 1st 50-m lap (32.10 ± 2.59 vs 32.78 ± 2.33 s; P < .01), where the swimmers presented higher distance per stroke (2.06 ± 0.19 vs. 1.98 ± 0.16 m; P = .04) and swimming efficiency compared with the no-warm-up condition (stroke index 3.46 ± 0.53 vs 3.14 ± 0.44 m2 · c1 · s1; P < .01). Notwithstanding this better stroke-kinematic pattern, blood lactate concentrations and perceived exertion were similar between trials. These results suggest that swimmers' usual warm-up routines lead to faster 100-m freestyle swimming performance, a factor that appears to be related to better swimming efficiency in the 1st lap of the race. This study highlights the importance of performing swimming drills (for higher distance per stroke) before a maximal 100-m freestyle effort in similar groups of swimmers.UBI/FCSH/Santander/2010info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Determinants of gingival recessions in Portuguese adults

Objectives: The objective of this study consisted in determining the prevalence of gingival recession and potential risk factors associated in a sample of patients that had a dental appointment in the University Clinic of the Portuguese Catholic University in Viseu, Portugal. Methods: We conducted an epidemiological observational cross-sectional study where a sample of 101 patients was assessed. The participants were subjected to a questionnaire and an intra-oral clinical examination was made in order to assess gingival recessions. Results: The prevalence of recession was 85.1%. The presence of habits and a high plaque index are associated with the onset of recessions and its severity. The aesthetic condition was influenced only in 14.0% of the cases and just 17.4% of the patients with gingival recession had tooth hipersensibility. There is a stronger association between the development of recessions and using a brushing technique based mostly on horizontal movements and brushes with harder bristles. Conclusion: Although further studies need to be applied in a more representative sample, we conclude that the majority of the analyzed sample has already suitable oral health behaviors, however, some need to be modified as the understanding of the need to change certain habits to prevent development of recessions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Grasping with the eyes: The role of elongation in visual recognition of manipulable objects

Processing within the dorsal visual stream subserves object-directed action, whereas visual object recognition is mediated by the ventral visual stream. Recent findings suggest that the computations performed by the dorsal stream can nevertheless influence object recognition. Little is known, however, about the type of dorsal stream information that is available to assist in object recognition. Here, we present a series of experiments that explored different psychophysical manipulations known to bias the processing of a stimulus toward the dorsal visual stream in order to isolate its contribution to object recognition. We show that elongated-shaped stimuli, regardless of their semantic category and familiarity, when processed by the dorsal stream, elicit visuomotor grasp-related information that affects how we categorize manipulable objects. Elongated stimuli may reduce ambiguity during grasp preparation by providing a coarse cue to hand shaping and orientation that is sufficient to support action planning. We propose that this dorsal-stream-based analysis of elongation along a principal axis is the basis for how the dorsal visual object processing stream can affect categorization of manipulable objects

Optimizing sampling design to deal with mist-net avoidance in Amazonian birds and bats

Mist netting is a widely used technique to sample bird and bat assemblages. However, captures often decline with time because animals learn and avoid the locations of nets. This avoidance or net shyness can substantially decrease sampling efficiency. We quantified the day-to-day decline in captures of Amazonian birds and bats with mist nets set at the same location for four consecutive days. We also evaluated how net avoidance influences the efficiency of surveys under different logistic scenarios using re-sampling techniques. Net avoidance caused substantial declines in bird and bat captures, although more accentuated in the latter. Most of the decline occurred between the first and second days of netting: 28% in birds and 47% in bats. Captures of commoner species were more affected. The numbers of species detected also declined. Moving nets daily to minimize the avoidance effect increased captures by 30% in birds and 70% in bats. However, moving the location of nets may cause a reduction in netting time and captures. When moving the nets caused the loss of one netting day it was no longer advantageous to move the nets frequently. In bird surveys that could even decrease the number of individuals captured and species detected. Net avoidance can greatly affect sampling efficiency but adjustments in survey design can minimize this. Whenever nets can be moved without losing netting time and the objective is to capture many individuals, they should be moved daily. If the main objective is to survey species present then nets should still be moved for bats, but not for birds. However, if relocating nets causes a significant loss of netting time, moving them to reduce effects of shyness will not improve sampling efficiency in either group. Overall, our findings can improve the design of mist netting sampling strategies in other tropical areas.We thank the Brazilian CNPq and Ministério do Meio Ambiente for research permits. João Valsecchi, Helder Queiróz, Miriam Marmontel, Pedro Santos, Jerry Tavares dos Santos, several field assistants, and the staff of the Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá provided invaluable help with planning, logistics and field work. We also thank L. Reino, C. Miranda and N. Castanheira for help during field work. We are grateful to the communities of ASDR for their hospitality. Monique MacKenzie kindly helped with the GEE analyses. Dr. Mark Brigham made valuable comments and suggestions that helped to improve an earlier version of the manuscript.publishe

High Level Swimming Performance and its Relation to Non-Specific Parameters: A Cross-Sectional Study on Maximum Handgrip Isometric Strength

The relationship between handgrip isometric strength and swimming performance was assessed in the four competitive swimming strokes in swimmers of different age groups and of both sexes. 78 national-level Portuguese swimmers (39 males, 39 females) were selected for this study. Grip strength, previously used as a marker of overall strength to predict future swimming performance, was measured using a hand dynamometer. The best competitive time at 100 and 200 m in all four swimming strokes were converted into 2010 FINA points. Non-parametric tests were used to evaluate differences between groups. Pearson product-moment correlations were computed to verify the association between variables. Handgrip maximum isometric strength was significantly correlated with swimming performance, particularly among female swimmers. Among female age group swimmers, the relationship between handgrip and 100-m freestyle was significant. Handgrip isometric strength seems to be related to swimming performance, especially to 100-m freestyle and in female swimmers. For all other distances and strokes, technique and training probably are more influential than semi-hereditary strength markers such as grip strength.UBI/FCSH/Santander/2010–2012info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

CAN INTRA-CYCLIC FORCE VARIATION BE A VALUABLE PARAMETER TO EVALUATE THE FORCES EXERTED BY SWIMMERS?

The purpose of this study was to examine the force pattern produced during the front crawl swimming cycle, plus to analyze possible relationships of intra-cyclic force variation (dF) with swimming performance. Thirty four competitive swimmers, representing various levels of competitive performance (17.2 ± 2.72 yrs; 1.76 ± 0.09 m; 67.4 ± 9.94 kg; personal best 100 m long course freestyle swimming: 58.39 ± 2.19 s), randomly performed the tethered and free swimming tests. The free swimming velocity was found to be negatively correlated with dF (r = -0.85; p < 0.001). Adding dF with maximum impulse per cycle into a multiple regression model, it was possible to explain 87.6% of the 50 m performance variation. This novel parameter (dF) showed to be a valuable variable to evaluate the swimmers ability to effectively apply force in the water

Development of weCope, a mobile app for illness self-management in schizophrenia

Objective: To describe the development of weCope, a Portuguese mobile app for people with schizophrenia. Methods: The development of weCope followed 4 stages: I-102 people with psychotic disorders completed an online questionnaire; II-a multidisciplinary focus group was conducted among five mental health professionals; III-we developed the app; IV-9 participants used weCope during 8 weeks to assess its efficiency. Results: weCope targets coping with voices, problem solving, goals setting and stress management, and results indicated that: weCope improved symptoms, sense of recovery and personal and social functioning; 59% of the participants were willing to download an application for illness self-management; professionals revealed some concerns about mHealth but enhanced the high importance to develop these apps; usability testing revealed that 89% considered weCope useful for illness self-management. However, the more years with mental illness, the less importance is given to a mobile application for this purpose. Discussion: weCope was developed through a comprehensive development process and may contribute to a subjective perception of the patient’s better well-being and health condition

Effect of vineyard characteristics on the functional diversity of insectivorous birds as indicator of potential biocontrol services

Insectivorous birds have a large potential to provide biocontrol services in vineyards, thus contributing to the sustainability of this agroecosystem. Bird communities are influenced by vineyard management practices and surrounding landscape, which may influence their role as ecosystem service providers. Functional diversity indices are indicators of bird community composition, and thus may reflect potential biocontrol services. We surveyed 31 vineyard plots in southern Portugal to assess vineyard characteristics (management intensity and landscape context) that may influence functional insectivorous birds in vineyards, using seven functional diversity indices as potential biocontrol indicators. We used eight characteristics of vineyard plots to define three vineyard types for our case-study: TREE – smaller vineyard plots surround by a more diverse landscape, with larger proportion of tree-habitats; AGRI – vineyard plots with medium size and greater cover by herbaceous vegetation, mostly surrounded by agricultural habitats (pastureland, crops); and VINE – vineyard plots of larger size and higher inter-row herbaceous vegetation, often surrounded by other vineyard plots. Five potential biocontrol indicators seemed to vary according to vineyard type. The richness of functional insectivorous birds, functional dispersion, functional richness, and Rao’s functional diversity were all higher in vineyard TREE type compared to both AGRI and VINE types. The functional divergence was higher in vineyard TREE type than in VINE type, but similar to AGRI type. Accordingly, TREE type vineyards hold bird communities with more diverse and widespread ecological functions. This implies that smaller vineyard plots, in more heterogeneous landscapes, with neighbouring woodlands seem to have a higher potential of biocontrol services provided by insectivorous birds as suggested by using functional diversity indices as indicators