Variação altitudinal dos cantos da Laverca (Alauda arvensis)

Mestrtado em Biologia AplicadaOs gradientes ecológicos constituem uma oportunidade para se estudar o contributo das pressões selectivas na variação de sinais reprodutivos dos seres vivos. Como objectivo, este trabalho estuda a influência de aspectos físicos e ecológicos nas características temporais e de frequência dos cantos produzidos pela Laverca (Alauda arvensis), ao longo dum gradiente altitudinal que se estabelece na serra da Estrela. Foram mapeados os territórios dosmachos de Laverca, através do Método-dos-Mapas, em três locais de amostragem coincidentes aos limites inferior, intermédio e superior da distribuição altitudinal das Lavercas durante o período reprodutor (entre os 1000 e os 1993 metros de altitude). Depois de devidamente individualizados, foi efectuada a gravação acústica espontânea de pelo menos 30 minutos de gravação de cada um de 8 machos de cada estação. Depois de analisadas as características temporais e de frequência dos cantos, foi estudado o efeito dos gradientes altitudinais abióticos, incluindo a altitude, e dos habitats, para além da perturbação e potenciais competidores. Os resultados revelaram independência das características dos cantos em função da altitude e dos gradientes altitudinais, incluindo o ruído ambiente associado à velocidade do vento. Apenas o número de vizinhos a cantar simultaneamente parece influenciar positivamente as componentes temporais, principalmente o número e o intervalo entre sílabas. O facto de não se terem descortinado diferenças significativas nas características dos cantos dos machos dos diferentes patamares, poderá indicar que todos pertencem à mesma subpopulação, adaptada através da selecção natural a prosperar nas condições ambientais específicas do global da área de estudo. Nesta linha, a população em estudo apresenta frequências expressivamente mais baixas do que o descrito para a espécie. Por outro lado pode-se concluir que os gradientes ambientais que se estabelecem ao longo da altitude na área de estudo, não representam pressões selectivas intraespecíficas suficientemente fortes, que pudessem influenciar a selecção sexual das fêmeas de forma a permitir separar grupos dentro da população. Este facto poderá explicar a homogeneização das características dos cantos das Lavercas, independentemente do patamar altitudinal em que nidificam. Neste sentido, os resultados deste trabalho poderão indiciar que a altitude das montanhas de pequena e média dimensão da Península Ibérica não é suficientemente elevada para que se estabeleçam, na actualidade, barreiras selectivas, que levem ao aumento da variabilidade intraespecífica dentro das suas populações, especulativamente associado às diferenças ambientais, delas características.The ecological gradients provide an opportunity to study the contribution of selective pressures on reproductive variation of signs of living things. As an objective, we have studied the influence of physic and ecologic aspects in the temporal and frequency characteristics of the songs produced by the skylark (Alauda arvensis), along an elevational gradient that is established in the serra da Estrela. We mapped the territories of male skylark, through the method-ofmaps in three sampling sites matching the lower bounds, intermediate and upper altitudinal distribution of skylark during the reproductive period (between 1000 and 1993 meters of elevation) . After appropriate individualized, we made a spontaneously acoustic recording at least 30 minutes from each of eight males from each station. After analyzing the temporal characteristics and frequency of the corners, we studied the effect of abiotic elevational gradients, including elevation. Other parameters analyzed were the habitats, disturbance and potential competitors. The results show independence of the characteristics of the songs with altitude and elevational gradients, including ambient noise associated with wind speed. Only the number of neighbors to sing at the same time seems to positively influence the temporal components, especially the number and the interval between syllables. The fact that we have not found significant differences in the characteristics of singing males in different levels, may indicate that all belong to the same subpopulation, adapted by natural selection to thrive in the global environmental conditions of the study area. In this vein, the study population has significantly lower frequencies than that described for the species. On the other hand it can be concluded that the environmental gradients that are established along the altitude in the study area do not represent a selective intraspecific pressures strong enough that could influence sexual selection in females to enable separate groups within the population. This may explain the homogeneity of the characteristics of the songs of the skylark, regardless of altitudinal level in nesting. In this sense, the present results may indicate that the altitude of the mountains of small and medium-sized Iberian Peninsula is not high enough to establish that, at present, selective barriers, leading to increased intraspecific variability within populations, possibly associated with environmental differences, these characteristics

MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL : A data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in P ortugal

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with 26% of all species being includedin the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associatedwith habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mam-mals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion formarine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems func-tionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is cru-cial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS INPORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublishedgeoreferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mam-mals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira thatincludes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occur-ring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live obser-vations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%),bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent lessthan 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrowsjsoil moundsjtunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animaljhairjskullsjjaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8),observation in shelters, (9) photo trappingjvideo, (10) predators dietjpelletsjpine cones/nuts, (11) scatjtrackjditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalizationjecholocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and100 m (76%). Rodentia (n=31,573) has the highest number of records followedby Chiroptera (n=18,857), Carnivora (n=18,594), Lagomorpha (n=17,496),Cetartiodactyla (n=11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n=7008). The data setincludes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened(e.g.,Oryctolagus cuniculus[n=12,159],Monachus monachus[n=1,512],andLynx pardinus[n=197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate thepublication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contrib-ute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting onthe development of more accurate and tailored conservation managementstrategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite thisdata paper when the data are used in publications.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mammals in Portugal: a data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in Portugal

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with ~26% of all species being included in the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associated with habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mammals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion for marine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems functionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is crucial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublished georeferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mammals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira that includes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occurring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live observations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%), bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent less than 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrows | soil mounds | tunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animal | hair | skulls | jaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8), observation in shelters, (9) photo trapping | video, (10) predators diet | pellets | pine cones/nuts, (11) scat | track | ditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalization | echolocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and 100 m (76%). Rodentia (n =31,573) has the highest number of records followed by Chiroptera (n = 18,857), Carnivora (n = 18,594), Lagomorpha (n = 17,496), Cetartiodactyla (n = 11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n = 7008). The data set includes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened (e.g., Oryctolagus cuniculus [n = 12,159], Monachus monachus [n = 1,512], and Lynx pardinus [n = 197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate the publication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contribute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting on the development of more accurate and tailored conservation management strategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications

Hidden in our pockets: building of a DNA barcode library unveils the first record of Myotis alcathoe for Portugal

The advent and boom of DNA barcoding technologies have provided a powerful tool for the fields of ecology and systematics. Here, we present the InBIO Barcoding Initiative Database: Portuguese Bats (Chiroptera) dataset containing DNA sequences of 63 specimens representing the 25 bat species currently known for continental Portugal. For that, we sequenced tissues samples obtained in a vast array of projects spanning the last two decades.We added four new Barcoding Index Numbers (BINs) to existing Chiroptera barcodes on BOLD, two belonging to Myotis escalerai, one to Plecotus auritus and the other to Rhinolophus hipposideros. Surprisingly, one of the samples initially identified in the field as Myotis mystacinus turned out to be Myotis alcathoe, which represents the first record of this species for Portugal. The presence of Nyctalus noctula in Portugal was also genetically confirmed for the first time. This case study shows the power and value of DNA barcoding initiatives to unravel new data that may be hidden on biological collections