Leitura, literatura e desenvolvimento da competência textual

A investigação sobre aprendizagem de leitura e escrita indica que nas práticas educativas cujo centro são livros há lugar a numerosas oportunidades para que as crianças aprendam sobre a língua e os textos. Na perspetiva do estudo do desenvolvimento da linguagem e da eficácia das práticas de ensino baseadas na leitura de textos literários há evidências da relação entre o trabalho à volta dos livros e da leitura e o desenvolvimento da linguagem e da competência discursiva, nomeadamente a produção de textos coerentes e coesos. Apresenta-se trabalho de investigação realizado no pré-escolar e no 1.º ciclo, em que a abordagem de texto orientado para a produção visa a aprendizagem de língua e a aprendizagem do texto, em particular.Abstract The research shows that on the learning of reading and writing the classroom work that relies heavily on books gives the students numerous opportunities to learn about the language and the texts. From the perspective of research on language development and effectiveness of the teaching practices, it is clear that using books on classroom enhances children speaking and writing skills. The work-in-progress presented in this article has been carried out in kindergarten and primary school, and describes the cases in which reading of texts is intended to improve language and text knowledge

Traditional ploughing is critical to the conservation of threatened plants in Mediterranean olive groves

Arable plant diversity has been dramatically declining due to agriculture intensification, with several arable species currently included in national Red Lists. This is particularly relevant in the case of plant communities of the traditional Mediterranean agricultural systems. Despite the current knowledge about the factors affecting this diversity, it is not clear how these communities, which have likely evolved under the pressure of ploughing for millennia, depend on this regular soil disturbance. This is an important issue nowadays, because current management practices focused on the conservation of the ground vegetation cover, to protect soil and other biological groups, often exclude ploughing. In this paper, we test the hypothesis that traditional ploughing is favourable to more specialist arable plants, predictably more dependent on the regular soil disturbance. We address this issue in a Mediterranean agricultural system, the traditional olive groves of Southern Portugal, which is characterized by the annual ploughing of soil. A total of 90 plots containing 1350 sampling quadrats were sampled, and all plant species identified. We categorized plants in four target groups of conservation interest, and then used a joint species distribution model to model their occurrence in relation to three management practices: ploughing, cultivation and low-intensity grazing, using abandoned olive groves as reference level. Results suggest that ploughing is a key factor for the maintenance of arable plant diversity. Ploughing had a positive effect on the occurrence of rare arable plants, archaeophytes and on several Red listed species. In order to conserve these high value plant communities and endangered plant species, we recommend incentivizing ploughing using reduced tillage techniques (e.g. chisel ploughing) on these traditional Mediterranean agricultural systems.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Small rocky outcrops: natural features to promote biodiversity in oak wood‐pastures

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Antecedentes dos comportamentos de cidadania organizacional - um estudo empírico com os docentes do Politécnico do Porto

Objetivo - O objetivo deste estudo é analisar e medir os possíveis antecedentes e determinantes dos comportamentos de cidadania organizacional (CCO) dos docentes do Politécnico do Porto. Metodologia - Foi realizado um estudo empírico, com uma amostra de docentes do ensino superior, onde foi utilizada uma pesquisa descritiva, de natureza quantitativa e confirmatória, tendo presente um modelo teórico, suportado pela revisão da literatura sobre o tema, passível de permitir estudar relações entre variáveis latentes. Os dados foram recolhidos por questionário online, o qual possibilitou obter uma amostra de 302 respostas válidas. As hipóteses foram testadas através de um modelo confirmatório de equações estruturais. Resultados - Os níveis de associação entre as variáveis estudadas foram confirmados, assim como, a maioria das hipóteses propostas. Foram obtidas diferentes capacidades preditivas das variáveis independentes e interessantes níveis correlacionais entre aquelas. Foi assegurada a validade convergente e discriminante das escalas de medida e uma boa qualidade psicométrica. Limitações/implicações – Os resultados obtidos precisam ser analisados com todo o cuidado, face ao uso de uma amostra de conveniência. A inexistência de trabalhos homólogos, em Portugal, no setor em análise, originou algumas limitações na discussão de resultados. Quanto às implicações teóricas destacamos a relevância e influência de certas variáveis organizacionais nos CCO dos docentes do P.Porto. As implicações práticas do estudo permitem indicar algumas sugestões e recomendações de gestão organizacional educativa para os docentes do P.Porto, inclusive, para os gestores. Originalidade/valor - Este estudo permitiu conhecer que tipo de aspetos organizacionais, em ambiente educativo superior, poderão desencadear CCO dos docentes do P.Porto. Por outro lado, à data, este estudo propôs analisar um (novo) modelo de relações entre variáveis antecedentes e consequentes no âmbito organizacional educativo superior.Purpose - The purpose of this study is to analyze and measure the possible antecedents and determinants of organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) from the teachers of the Polytechnic Institute of Porto. Methodology - We carried out an empirical study, with a sample of higher education teachers, where a descriptive research was used, of quantitative and confirmatory nature, having in mind a theoretical model, supported by the literature review on the subject, able to study relations between latent variables. The data was collected through an online survey, which allowed to obtain a valid sample of 302 answers. The hypotheses were tested using a confirmatory structural equation model. Findings - The levels of association between the studied variables were confirmed, as well as, most of the proposed hypotheses. Different predictive capacities were obtained from the independent variables and interesting correlational levels between them. The convergent and discriminant validity of the measurement scales and a good psychometric quality were ensured. Limitations/implications - The obtained results need to be analyzed with great care, in view of the use of a convenience sample. The lack of homologous work, in Portugal, in the sector under analysis, has led to some limitations in the discussion of results. Regarding the theoretical implications, we highlight the relevance and influence of certain organizational variables in the OCB of the teachers of P.Porto. The practical implications of the study allow us to indicate some suggestions and recommendations of educational organizational management to the teachers of P. Porto, including the managers. Originality/value - This study allowed us to know what kind of organizational aspects, in a higher educational environment, could trigger OCB of the teachers of P.Porto. On the other hand, to date, this study proposed to analyze a (new) model of relations between antecedent and consequent variables in the higher educational organizational context

Local topographic and edaphic factors largely predict shrub encroachment in Mediterranean drylands

Shrub encroachment influences several ecosystem services in drylands worldwide. Yet, commonly used strategies to reduce encroachment show a low medium-term success, calling for a better understanding of its causes. Previous works identified multiple drivers responsible for this phenomenon, including anthropogenic and environmental causes. However, the relative effect of climate, topography and edaphic factors on shrub encroachment is not fully understood nor has been properly quantified in Mediterranean Basin drylands. Also, understanding how these drivers lead to changes in plant communities' functional traits associated to shrub encroachment is crucial, considering traits influence ecosystem processes and associated ecosystem services. Here, we studied the understory of a Mediterranean dryland ecosystem composed of savanna-like Holm-oak woodlands, along a regional climatic gradient. We specifically assessed (i) how climatic, topographic and edaphic factors influence understory relative shrub cover (RSC) and (ii) their direct and indirect effects (via RSC) on plant functional traits. We studied the mean and diversity of 12 functional traits related to plant regeneration, establishment, and dispersal, at the community-level. We found that, under similar low-intensity land use, topographic and edaphic factors, namely slope variations and soil C:N ratio, were the most important predictors of shrub encroachment, determining communities' functional characteristics. Climate, namely summer precipitation, had a much lesser influence. Our model explained 52% of the variation in relative shrub cover. Climate had a stronger effect on a set of functional traits weakly involved in shrub encroachment, related to flowering and dispersal strategies. We show that shrub encroachment is largely predicted by topo-edaphic factors in Mediterranean drylands subject to conventional low-intensity land use. Hence, management strategies to reduce encroachment need to take these drivers into account for efficient forecasting and higher cost-effectiveness. Our results suggest that climate change might not greatly impact shrub encroachment in the Mediterranean Basin, but may affect functional structure and reduce functional diversity of plant communities, thus affecting ecosystem functioning.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Green spaces are not all the same for the provision of air purification and climate regulationservices: the case of urban parks

The growing human population concentrated in urban areas lead to the increase of road traffic and artificial areas, consequently enhancing air pollution and urban heat island effects, among others. These environmental changes affect citizen's health, causing a high number of premature deaths, with considerable social and economic costs. Nature-based solutions are essential to ameliorate those impacts in urban areas. While the mere presence of urban green spaces is pointed as an overarching solution, the relative importance of specific vegetation structure, composition and management to improve the ecosystem services of air purification and climate regulation are overlooked. This avoids the establishment of optimized planning and management procedures for urban green spaces with high spatial resolution and detail. Our aim was to understand the relative contribution of vegetation structure, composition and management for the provision of ecosystem services of air purification and climate regulation in urban green spaces, in particular the case of urban parks. This work was done in a large urban park with different types of vegetation surrounded by urban areas. As indicators of microclimatic effects and of air pollution levels we selected different metrics: lichen diversity and pollutants accumulation in lichens. Among lichen diversity, functional traits related to nutrient and water requirements were used as surrogates of the capacity of vegetation to filter air pollution and to regulate climate, and provide air purification and climate regulation ecosystem services, respectively. This was also obtained with very high spatial resolution which allows detailed spatial planning for optimization of ecosystem services. We found that vegetation type characterized by a more complex structure (trees, shrubs and herbaceous layers) and by the absence of management (pruning, irrigation and fertilization) had a higher capacity to provide the ecosystems services of air purification and climate regulation. By contrast, lawns, which have a less complex structure and are highly managed, were associated to a lower capacity to provide these services. Tree plantations showed an intermediate effect between the other two types of vegetation. Thus, vegetation structure, composition and management are important to optimize green spaces capacity to purify air and regulate climate. Taking this into account green spaces can be managed at high spatial resolutions to optimize these ecosystem services in urban areas and contribute to improve human well-beinginfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Gender dimorphism in Corema album across its biogeographical area and implications under a scenario of extreme drought events

In dioecious species, traits may have evolved because of significantly different resource demands associated with male versus female sexual reproduction. It is generally assumed that females have higher reproductive costs, thereafter in long-lived species, males often exceed females in vigour and suffer lower physiological limitations under stress. However, large-scale studies of gender dimorphism and the link between survival and physiological responses and compensation mechanisms are still lacking. In this study, we compared canopy performance, photochemical efficiency, leaf water potential, Δ13C, leaf nitrogen content and δ15N in both genders of the dioecious species Corema album (Ericaceae) across all the species’ biogeographical distribution. This area corresponds to a wide climatic gradient, from temperate and humid to Mediterranean, across the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula. Our results evidenced that the species responds to the bioclimatic gradient, and most variables were significantly correlated with annual rainfall and bioclimatic indices, although gender dimorphism was only manifested in Δ13C and in leaf water potential at the peak of the drought season. Female plants have significantly higher values of Δ13C, which could be attributed to lower water use efficiency; however, male plants presented more negative leaf water potentials than females, especially in the populations with the warmest and most arid climate. We concluded that C. album populations adjust to the climatic gradient at different hierarchical scales, from physiological instantaneous to time-integrated traits, with gender dimorphism only occurring in sub-optimal environments The absence of morphological differences between genders and the maintenance of a less negative water potential in females in the dry period in southern more arid populations, suggests the existence of compensatory mechanisms at underground level.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) UID/BIA/00329/201

Ecosystem services: Urban parks under a magnifying glass

Urban areas’ population has grown during the last century and it is expected that over 60% of the world population will live in cities by 2050. Urban parks provide several ecosystem services that are valuable to the wellbeing of city-dwellers and they are also considered a nature-based solution to tackle multiple environmental problems in cities. However, the type and amount of ecosystem services provided will vary with each park vegetation type, even within same the park. Our main goal was to quantify the trade-offs in ecosystem services associated to different vegetation types, using a spatially detailed approach. Rather than relying solely on general vegetation typologies, we took a more ecologically oriented approach, by explicitly considering different units of vegetation structure and composition. This was demonstrated in a large park (44 ha) located in the city of Almada (Lisbon metropolitan area, Portugal), where six vegetation units were mapped in detail and six ecosystem services were evaluated: carbon sequestration, seed dispersal, erosion prevention, water purification, air purification and habitat quality. The results showed that, when looking at the park in detail, some ecosystem services varied greatly with vegetation type. Carbon sequestration was positively influenced by tree density, independently of species composition. Seed dispersal potential was higher in lawns, and mixed forest provided the highest amount of habitat quality. Air purification service was slightly higher in mixed forest, but was high in all vegetation types, probably due to low background pollution, and both water purification and erosion prevention were high in all vegetation types. Knowing the type, location, and amount of ecosystem services provided by each vegetation type can help to improve management options based on ecosystem services trade-offs and looking for win-win situations. The trade-offs are, for example, very clear for carbon: tree planting will boost carbon sequestration regardless of species, but may not be enough to increase habitat quality. Moreover, it may also negatively influence seed dispersal service. Informed practitioners can use this ecological knowledge to promote the role of urban parks as a nature-based solution to provide multiple ecosystem services, and ultimately improve the design and management of the green infrastructure. This will also improve the science of Ecosystem Services, acknowledging that the type of vegetation matters for the provision of ecosystem services and trade-offs analysis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Contrasting plant water-use responses to groundwater depth in coastal dune ecosystems

Groundwater lowering can produce dramatic changes in the physiological performance and survival of plant species. The impact of decreasing water availability due to climate change and anthropogenic groundwater extraction on coastal dune ecosystems has become of increasing concern, with uncertainties about how vegetation will respond in both the short and long terms. We aimed to evaluate the water-use responses of different plant functional types to increasing groundwater table depth and how this would affect their physiology in Mediterranean coastal dune systems differing in aridity. We modelled water-table depth, quantified the contribution of different soil layers to plant water through Bayesian isotope mixing models and used a combination of spectral and isotope data to characterize plant ecophysiology. We found that increasing depth to groundwater triggered water uptake adjustments towards deeper soil layers only in the dry season. These adjustments in water source use were made by conifer trees (Pinus pinea, P. pinaster) and hygrophytic shrubs (Erica scoparia, Salix repens) but not by the xerophytic shrub Corema album. Moreover, we observed a greater use of groundwater under semi-arid conditions. Accompanying the greater use of water from deep soil layers as a response to increasing groundwater depth, the semi-arid dimorphic-rooted conifer tree P. pinea and hygrophytic shrub E. scoparia declined their water content (WI), without implications on photosynthetic parameters, such as chlorophyll content (CHL), photochemical index (PRI) and δ13C. Unexpectedly, under semi-arid conditions, the shallow-rooted xerophytic shrub C. album, associated with an absence of water source use adjustments, showed a decline in WI, CHL and PRI with groundwater table lowering. We provide insight into how different species, belonging to different functional types, are acclimating to groundwater changes in a region experiencing climatic drought and a scarcity in groundwater due to anthropogenic exploitation. Greater depth to groundwater combined with limited precipitation can have a significant effect on plants’ water source use and ecophysiology in semi-arid coastal dune ecosystems. A plain language summary is available for this article.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) PTDC/AAC-CLI/118555/2010, UID/BIA/00329/201

Princípios Orientadores para o Desenvolvimento de Equipas Comunitárias de Saúde Mental da Infância e Adolescência (ECSM-IA)

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