Turismo como motor de desenvolvimento local: o caso do Vale do Tua

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia do Ambiente, perfil Engenharia Gestão e Sistemas AmbientaisO turismo de natureza e cultural tem-se revelado uma actividade económica relevante em regiões deprimidas, como é o caso do interior de Portugal. No presente trabalho, procurámos conhecer e avaliar o potencial turístico do Vale do Tua, através de entrevistas a presidentes de câmaras, de inquéritos a presidentes de juntas de freguesia e a agentes turísticos, e da recolha documental. Verificámos que o turismo no Vale do Tua emprega 1,2% da população e gera 2,1 M€/ano de receitas (dados de 2008). Observámos que o principal entrave a esta aposta deriva de perspectivas diferentes dos diversos agentes políticos entre si e dos agentes turísticos regionais. Constatámos ainda a existência de conflitos relativamente a outros tipos de desenvolvimento, que incidem na construção do aproveitamento hidroeléctrico com a subsequente destruição da linha férrea do Tua. Em termos de empregabilidade verificámos que o projecto turístico cria 11 vezes mais empregos, por milhão de euros investidos do que o projecto de construção da barragem. Concluímos que o turismo de natureza e cultural, pelas suas características endógenas excepcionais, tem potencialidades para apoiar as dinâmicas de desenvolvimento locais. Contudo, este não deve ser encarado como panaceia que tudo pode solucionar sem o devido planeamento, investimento e compromisso

Impacts of Advanced Travel Information Systems on Travel Behaviour: Smartmoov’ case study

Which are the effects of multimodal real-time information on travel behaviour? Significant amounts of money have been invested to implement such systems in urban environments, but until now only few assessments have been done to verify if they contribute to a modal shift and to more sustainable mobility. This research aims at thoroughly assessing the effectiveness of multimodal real-time travel information systems, pointing out the limitations before their use and recording the changes induced on the travel behaviour. Two questionnaires were designed and executed before and after a five-month period of testing a multimodal real-time travel information application for Smartphones (Smartmoov’) implemented in 2013 in Lyon. Descriptive analysis, parametric and non-parametric tests, factor analysis and binary logistic regression were used as statistical approaches to analyse the collected data and evaluate the effectiveness of Smartmoov’. Before the test, participants declared an interest on Smartmoov’ and a positive attitude towards its use: almost everyone was able to use technological tools and was familiar with the concept of Smartmoov’. At the onset of the test, travellers’ evaluation towards the travel planner was slightly positive, but this decreased over time, while the use of the different modes remained stable after the test, albeit a small increase of the car for the most frequent trip was observed. Consistency on the most used mode, on behavioural patterns and attitudes show that mobility is strongly related to habits and, thus, to the frequency of the past behaviour

Impacts of Advanced Travel Information Systems on Travel Behaviour: Smartmoov' case study

Which are the effects of multimodal real-time information on travel behaviour? Significant amounts of money have been invested to implement such systems in urban environments, but until now only few assessments have been done to verify if they contribute to a modal shift and to more sustainable mobility. This research aims at thoroughly assessing the effectiveness of multimodal real-time travel information systems, pointing out the limitations before their use and recording the changes induced on the travel behaviour. Two questionnaires were designed and executed before and after a five-month period of testing a multimodal real-time travel information application for Smartphones (Smartmoov') implemented in 2013 in Lyon. Descriptive analysis, parametric and non-parametric tests, factor analysis and binary logistic regression were used as statistical approaches to analyse the collected data and evaluate the effectiveness of Smartmoov'. Before the test, participants declared an interest on Smartmoov' and a positive attitude towards its use: almost everyone was able to use technological tools and was familiar with the concept of Smartmoov'. At the onset of the test, travellers' evaluation towards the travel planner was slightly positive, but this decreased over time, while the use of the different modes remained stable after the test, albeit a small increase of the car for the most frequent trip was observed. Consistency on the most used mode, on behavioural patterns and attitudes show that mobility is strongly related to habits and, thus, to the frequency of the past behaviou

NEOTROPICAL ALIEN MAMMALS: a data set of occurrence and abundance of alien mammals in the Neotropics

Biological invasion is one of the main threats to native biodiversity. For a species to become invasive, it must be voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into a nonnative habitat. Mammals were among first taxa to be introduced worldwide for game, meat, and labor, yet the number of species introduced in the Neotropics remains unknown. In this data set, we make available occurrence and abundance data on mammal species that (1) transposed a geographical barrier and (2) were voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into the Neotropics. Our data set is composed of 73,738 historical and current georeferenced records on alien mammal species of which around 96% correspond to occurrence data on 77 species belonging to eight orders and 26 families. Data cover 26 continental countries in the Neotropics, ranging from Mexico and its frontier regions (southern Florida and coastal-central Florida in the southeast United States) to Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay, and the 13 countries of Caribbean islands. Our data set also includes neotropical species (e.g., Callithrix sp., Myocastor coypus, Nasua nasua) considered alien in particular areas of Neotropics. The most numerous species in terms of records are from Bos sp. (n = 37,782), Sus scrofa (n = 6,730), and Canis familiaris (n = 10,084); 17 species were represented by only one record (e.g., Syncerus caffer, Cervus timorensis, Cervus unicolor, Canis latrans). Primates have the highest number of species in the data set (n = 20 species), partly because of uncertainties regarding taxonomic identification of the genera Callithrix, which includes the species Callithrix aurita, Callithrix flaviceps, Callithrix geoffroyi, Callithrix jacchus, Callithrix kuhlii, Callithrix penicillata, and their hybrids. This unique data set will be a valuable source of information on invasion risk assessments, biodiversity redistribution and conservation-related research. There are no copyright restrictions. Please cite this data paper when using the data in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us on how they are using the data