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

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

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

Climate change impacts on water resources and reservoir management: uncertainty and adaptation for a mountain catchment in Northeast Portugal

Reservoirs often play an important role in mitigating water supply problems. However, the implications of climate change are not always considered in reservoir planning and management. This study aimed to address this challenge in the Alto Sabor watershed, northeast Portugal. The study analysed whether or not the shortage of water supply can be effectively addressed through the construction of a new reservoir (two-reservoir system) by considering future climate projections. The hydrological model Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was calibrated and validated against daily-observed discharge and reservoir volume, with a good agreement between model predictions and observations. Outputs from four General Circulation Models (GCM) for two scenarios (RCP 4.5 and 8.5) were statistically downscaled and bias-corrected with ground observations. A general increase in temperature is expected in the future while the change in precipitation is more uncertain as per the differences among climatic models. In general, annual precipitation would slightly decrease while seasonal changes would be more significant, with more precipitation in winter and much less in spring and summer. SWAT simulations suggest that the existence of two-reservoir will better solve the water supply problems under current climate conditions compared to a single-reservoir system. However in the future, the reliability of this solution will decrease, especially due to the variability of projections from the different climatic models. The solution to water supply problems in this region, adopted taking only present-day climate into account, will likely be inefficient for water supply management under future climate conditions.This work was funded by FEDER funds through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness Factors - COMPETE and by National Funds through FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology under the project PTDC/AAG-MAA/4539/2012 / FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027863 (IND_CHANGE). J.P. Nunes was financially supported by FCT (Portuguese Science Foundation), and the European Social Fund through post-doctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/87571/2012). A.T. Monteiro is supported by FEDER funds through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness Factors - COMPETE and by National Funds through FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology under the UID/BIA/50027/2013 and POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006821. The authors would like to thank the Municipality of Bragança for the datasets on water inflows.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Fine-tuning the BFOLDS fire regime module to support the assessment of fire-related functions and services in a changing Mediterranean mountain landscape

Fire simulation models are useful to advance fire research and improve landscape management. However, a better understanding of these tools is crucial to increase their reliability and expansion into research fields where their application remains limited (e.g., ecosystem services). We evaluated several components of the BFOLDS Fire Regime Module and then tested its ability to simulate fire regime attributes in a Mediterranean mountainous landscape. Based on model outputs, we assessed the landscape fire regulation capacity over time and its implications for supporting the climate regulation ecosystem service. We found that input data quality and the adjustment of fuel and fire behaviour parameters are crucial to accurately emulating key fire regime attributes. Besides, the high predictive capacity shown by BFOLDS-FRM allows to reliably inform the planning and sustainable management of fire-prone mountainous areas of the Mediterranean. Moreover, we identified and discussed modelling limitations and made recommendations to improve future model applications.A. Sil received support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through Ph.D. Grant SFRH/BD/132838/2017, funded by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, and by the European Social Fund - Operational Program Human Capital within the 2014–2020 EU Strategic Framework. P.M. Fernandes contributed in the framework of the UIDB/04033/2020 project, funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Approaches and methods for ecosystem services assessment in the North of Portugal: from supply modeling to land management optimization

In the last decades, ecosystems services (ES) in the North of Portugal have been assessed typically for sets of ES addressed individually based on indicators (e.g., LULC) but also through mechanistic and non-mechanistic modeling (e.g., hydrological modeling, InVEST). Economic evaluation has been applied based mostly on the combination of ES supply in biophysical units with market prices or value attributed by other techniques (e.g., avoided cost, unit value transfer). Such studies, and the approaches and methods involved, have been helpful in demonstrating the magnitude and dynamics of the supply of a series of ES in the region, both in biophysical and monetary units, and to inform regional planning and management of natural resources, such as forests. These studies have been changing the perception of stakeholders regarding forest systems and their management. Despite the importance of ES research conducted so far, there is an ongoing effort to further develop ES assessment in the region, conceptually and methodologically, namely by overcoming some of the intrinsic constraints of the approaches and methods used. Improvements intend to better integrate different ecosystem functions and services, to eliminate double counting, and to address the interactions between supply and demand of ES at several scales. The incorporation of capabilities of land-use and management optimization based on the supply and value of ES is also currently a research goal in the region. Recent developments have been based on operational research tools developed for the forest sector in the region of Bragan ça addressing ecosystem services from heuristics, multi-criteria and linear programming perspectives, expecting to solve complex spatially explicit management alternatives problems based on ES. In this presentation we will introduce these tools and their adjustment and applications in the assessment of ES in the region.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Perceptions of Public Officers Towards the Effects of Climate Change on Ecosystem Services: A Case-Study From Northern Portugal

ASV was supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (Spain) through the 2018 Juan de la Cierva-Formación program (contract reference FJC2018-038131-I) and the FCT—Foundation for Science and Technology through Stimulus of Scientific Employment, Individual support (reference 2020.01175.CEECIND). JRV was supported as a post-doc researcher at ICETA CIBIO/InBIO by the national funds through FCT—Foundation for Science and Technology, DL57/2016/ICETA/EEC2018/13. CC-S was supported by the “Contrato-Programa” UIDP/04050/2020 funded by national funds through the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia I.P.We thank Cristiana Manuela Barros and Manuela Alves for their help on the organization of the workshops.All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.How institutional stakeholders perceive the supply and demand of ecosystem services (ES) under distinct contexts determines which planning actions are deemed priority or not. Public officers play a crucial role in social-ecological management and decision-making processes, but there is a paucity of research exploring their perceptions on ES supply and demand under a changing climate. We address this gap through an exploratory study that analyses the views of public officers on the potential impacts of climate-change related drivers on multiple ES in a major administrative region from Portugal (EU NUTS 3). We combined qualitative spatial data from participatory maps and semi-quantitative answers from questionnaire-based surveys with 22 officers from public institutions contributing to territorial planning. Contrary to other similar studies, public officers shared a common view on the importance of ES. This view aligns with scientific projections on how a changing climate is expected to influence ES in the region over the next decade. In agreement with other observations in Mediterranean regions, the most perceivably valued ES concerned tangible socio-economic benefits (e.g., periurban agriculture and wine production). Surprisingly, despite the region's potential for cultural ES, and considering the impacts that climate change may hold on them, recreation and tourism did not seem to be embedded in the officers' views. We explore the implications of our findings for territorial planning and social-ecological adaptation, considering that the way stakeholders manage the territory in response to climate change depends on the extent to which they are aware and expect to experience climatic consequences in the future.Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades (Spain) FJC2018-038131IPortuguese Foundation for Science and Technology 2020.01175.CEECIND- DL57/2016/ICETA/EEC2018/13Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia I.P. UIDP/04050/202

Farmland abandonment decreases the fire regulation capacity and the fire protection ecosystem service in mountain landscapes

This study explored and applied the concepts of Fire Regulation Capacity (FRC) and Fire Protection Ecosystem Service (FPES) in the assessment of the effects of landscape change in a mountain fire-prone landscape in Portugal. We adopted a modeling and simulation approach using BFOLDS-FRM with landscape data for years 1990 and 2006 (observed) and with three landscape scenarios for 2020. Proxy indicators for FRC (burned area and fire intensity) and for economic damage by fire (loss of provisioning ES) were used to establish trends in the supply and value of FPES. We found decreased FRC to restrain simulated fires burning over 100 ha from 1990 on and to regulate Very High and Extreme fire intensity levels, particularly under our 2020 scenario of Forest expansion. FPES is also expected to decrease, as indicated by higher fire-related damages, particularly if fuel hazard increases in the landscape. However, there were differences among scenarios, suggesting potential tradeoffs between FPES and the supply of provisioning ES. Planning and management in this and similar areas experiencing farmland abandonment must consider fire trends and patterns, since landscape change is a major driver affecting FRC and FPES, which may further be decreased by future climatic conditions.Â. Sil received support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through Ph.D Grant SFRH/BD/132838/2017. This research was partially funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness Factors–COMPETE and by Portuguese national funds through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the projects PTDC/AAG-MAA/4539/2012/FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER- 027863 (IND_CHANGE) and UID/AGR/04033/2019. We thank two anonymous reviewers and the editor for extremely valuable comments and suggestions on the manuscript.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Serviços dos ecossistemas hidrológicos: o caso de estudo da bacia do Rio Vez

O Homem precisa dos ecossistemas para usufruir de serviços relacionados com a água, tais como: quantidade e qualidade da água, e controle da erosão do solo. A produção de serviços de ecossistema hidrológicos é influenciada não só pelas alterações climáticas, mas também pela mudança na ocupação do solo. É pois importante conhecer os impactos hidrológicos destes stressores ambientais para uma melhor gestão adaptativa às mudanças globais. Os efeitos separados e combinados da alteração da ocupação e uso solo e das condições climáticas futuras na prestação de serviços hidrológicos foram avaliados na bacia do rio Vez, Noroeste de Portugal. O modelo eco-hidrológico SWAT (Ferramenta de Avaliação de Água e Solo) foi calibrado em relação ao caudal, sedimentos, nitratos e evapotranspiração, com uma boa concordância entre as previsões do modelo e os dados observados. Foram aplicados quatro cenários de ocupação do solo em condições climáticas atuais (eucalipto/pinheiro; carvalho; agricultura/vinha e vegetação rasteira) para ver as consequências para a sazonalidade do caudal, a qualidade da água em termos de nitratos e a erosão do solo. Posteriormente, foram aplicados cenários climáticos para os períodos 2021-40 e 2041-60 usando o cenário RCP 4.5, e comparados o período de controle 1971-2000. Por fim, os efeitos combinados de condições climáticas futuras foram avaliados sob os cenários de ocupação do solo. Os resultados para o uso solo revelaram que a opção por um determinado cenário não comprometeria a prestação global de serviços hidrológicos. Embora as alterações climáticas tenham apenas um efeito modesto na redução do caudal anual (-7%), o efeito sobre os caudais de verão foi mais acentuado (entre -15% e -38%). Os efeitos combinados das alterações climáticas e uso do solo podem melhorar ou degradar a provisão de serviços hidrológicos. O declínio do caudal anual devido às mudanças climáticas poderá ser agravado num cenário de floresta de eucalipto/pinheiro, com especial ênfase na redução de caudais no verão (entre -34% e -49%). Por outro lado, os picos de caudal e a erosão do solo poderão ser atenuados. Num cenário de aumento da área de vinha a redução do caudal anual é menos afetada, mas as concentrações de sedimentos e nitratos no rio serão agravadas. Os resultados, salientam a necessidade de se considerar os impactos tanto do clima como da ocupação do solo na gestão de bacias hidrográficas. A modelação permite simular cenários que são úteis para os decisores tomarem opções informadas para a gestão e ordenamento do territóri

Mountain farmland protection and fire-smart management jointly reduce fire hazard and enhance biodiversity and carbon sequestration

The environmental and socio-economic impacts of wildfires are foreseen to increase across southern Europe over the next decades regardless of increasing resources allocated for fire suppression. This study aims to identify fire-smart management strategies that promote wildfire hazard reduction, climate regulation ecosystem service and biodiversity conservation. Here we simulate fire-landscape dynamics, carbon sequestration and species distribution (116 vertebrates) in the Transboundary Biosphere Reserve Gerês-Xurés (NW Iberia). We envisage 11 scenarios resulting from different management strategies following four storylines: Business-as-usual (BAU), expansion of High Nature Value farmlands (HNVf), Fire-Smart forest management, and HNVf plus Fire-Smart. Fire-landscape simulations reveal an increase of up to 25% of annual burned area. HNVf areas may counterbalance this increasing fire impact, especially when combined with fire-smart strategies (reductions of up to 50% between 2031 and 2050). The Fire-Smart and BAU scenarios attain the highest estimates for total carbon sequestered. A decrease in habitat suitability (around 18%) since 1990 is predicted for species of conservation concern under the BAU scenario, while HNVf would support the best outcomes in terms of conservation. Our study highlights the benefits of integrating fire hazard control, ecosystem service supply and biodiversity conservation to inform better decision-making in mountain landscapes of Southern Europe.This research work was funded by national funds through the FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., under the FirESmart project (PCIF/MOG/0083/2017) and the project INMODES (CGL2017- 89999-C2-2-R) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. A.R. was funded by the Xunta de Galicia (postdoctoral fellowship ED481B2016/084-0) and IACOBUS program (INTERREG VA España – Portugal, POCTEP 2014-2020). J.D. and A.R. thanks the support of Xunta de Galicia ED431B 2018/36. Â. Sil received support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through Ph.D. Grant SFRH/BD/132838/2017, funded by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, and by the European Social Fund - Operational Program Human Capital within the 2014- 2020 EU Strategic Framework. FM-F has a contract from FCT (ref. DL57/2016/CP1440/CT0010). We thank to Adrián Lamosa Torres, Xosé Pardavila and Alberto Gil for their help during fieldwork in Xurés and Rafael Vázquez for providing additional data for amphibians and reptiles.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio