As Aves do Jardim Gulbenkian

Decidimos disponibilizar ao leitor uma obra que fosse mais do que um simples auxiliar de visita para fins ornitológicos. O livro cumpre esse propósito, mas não se esgota nesse destino: procurámos sinalizar, ainda que brevemente, outras dimensões, como o valor das aves em termos biológicos, culturais e sociais, alguns traços da sua história natural, bem como elementos que permitam uma caracterização sinecológica. E não descurámos a importância da ecologia urbana e o papel que o estudo das aves das cidades pode desempenhar para melhor compreendermos o funcionamento daquele ecossistema. O universo de leitores que ambicionamos é vasto. Tão vasto quanto o dos visitantes e frequentadores da Fundação Gulbenkian, e em particular do seu Jardim. Ousámos transmitir uma leitura do cortejo avifaunístico que permita também ilustrar a dinâmica sazonal do lugar, para que em qualquer período do ano o leitor possa aqui encontrar a utilidade que pretende

Ambiente, Biodiversidade e Políticas Públicas: da tragédia dos bens comuns aos serviços à sociedade

Em Portugal, os assuntos relacionados com o ambiente (lato sensu) ainda não despertam uma consciência e uma prática cívica compatíveis com a sua importância para o bem-estar humano. Todavia, as políticas ambientais deveriam deter um caráter transversal capaz de marcar o ritmo das restantes políticas (económicas, sociais, educativas e culturais). A razão é simples: como somos a espécie dominante no território, é a qualidade ambiental dos espaços que vivenciamos e dos quais dependemos que assegura o nosso bem-estar e o das futuras gerações. Ou não

Aromatic Plants in Eurasian Blue Tit Nests: The ‘Nest

The ‘Nest Protection Hypothesis’ suggests that some birds add aromatic plants to their nests to repel or kill ectoparasites. This behavior has been described for several species, including the Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus). We studied the reproductive performance, based on 26 nests (in nest boxes), of this species in mixed forested areas of Quercus spp. and Pinus pinea in the Parque Florestal de Monsanto, the largest park of Lisbon, Portugal. The frequency of aromatic plants in nests was compared with frequency of these plants in the study area. The three most frequent aromatic plants (Dittrichia viscosa, Lavandula dentata, Calamintha baetica) in nests were used more than expected from their availability in the study area. We could not reject the null hypothesis that nest survival rate is independent of the presence of aromatic plants in the nest

Linking plant composition and arthropod abundance to establish little bustard breeding requirements in pastureland dominated landscapes

Most research on steppe bird habitat selection has been focused on the effects of management regimes or vegetation structure. However, much less is known on how plant composition is related with steppe bird occurrence. We investigated microhabitat of little bustard territorial males and females during the nesting and chick-rearing season in areas with dominance of pastureland focusing on plant composition. We searched for relationships between preferred vegetation and arthropod abundance in order to identify the contribution of different vegetation typologies in providing essential trophic resources for the species. Surveys of little bustards were made using car and foot transects. Plant composition was obtained within a 50 × 50 cm square at four sampling replicates and arthropod availability was sampled using a sweep net. Statistical procedures were conducted in three steps: (1) analysis of variance was used to identify at univariate level the plant composition and arthropod variables that were significantly related with both male and female occurrence sites; (2) principal components analysis was performed using the variables with significant results at univariate level; (3) model averaging on generalized linear and mixed models was applied to evaluate the selection probability of each principal component. The species occurs in sites with high floristic richness and high abundance of Fabaceae species, although plant composition differs from male to female sites. These variables were found to be crucial to provide higher abundances of arthropods, notably of Acrididea, Formicidae and some groups of Coleoptera which are decisive for the selection of displaying or female breeding sites

The importance of grazing regime in the provision of breeding habitat for grassland birds: The case of the endangered little bustard (Tetrax tetrax)

In Mediterranean dry grasslands, grazing by domestic animals is an important agricultural activity on dry grasslands. Several bird species occur in these grazed habitats and are now experiencing a near continuous decline. We investigated the impact of livestock grazing on the threatened little bustard (Tetrax tetrax L.). The study was conducted at the NATURA 2000 Site/Important Bird Area of Cabrela, Portugal. Our main goals were to investigate responses of little bustard territorial males and breeding females to different livestock management practices, namely pasture types, stocking rates and sward structure. Bird distribution was surveyed using car and foot surveys. Data on grazing was supplied by land managers every 10 days from February to June through field interviews. Generalised additive models and model averaging were used to compute predictive models. Results indicate that higher probabilities of occurrence were found in long-term pastures and under light-moderate grazing conditions (stocking rates around 0.4 LU/ha). Conversely, lower probabilities of occurrence were found in ungrazed or heavy grazed fields. Males occurred mostly in large fields, but this variable seemed to be less important for females. On the other hand, green plant cover and the vegetation height were good predictors for the occurrence of females but not for males. Females used mostly pastures with vegetation height around 20–25 cm. Our results suggest that grazing management plans that aim to conserve little bustard populations should consider (1) the maintenance of the larger long-term pastures and (2) the use of light-moderate stocking rates (0.2–0.6 LU/ha)

Key factors for nature value in Montados

Montados are parkland forested areas of anthropogenic origin dominated by cork oak (Quercus suber) and/or holm oak (Q. rotundifolia). They are derived from natural Mediterranean forests, where the use of woodland products (timber, charcoal and cork) is combine with cereal crops and livestock grazing in the understory (Blondel and Aronson 1999). These use resulted in a singular “savanna” like land cover pattern particularly important for the biodiversity associated with farming and forestry systems (Canteiro et al. 2011; Godinho and Rabaça 2011; Simões et al. 2012). As result of the mosaic created by this dynamic heterogeneous landscape which forms a wooded matrix with open areas, scattered woodlands and undisturbed patches of Mediterranean forest and scrublands, montados support a high biological diversity (Díaz et al. 1997, 2003; Blondel and Aronson 1999; Tellería 2001; Tellería et al. 2003; Harrop 2007). According to Tellería (2001) bird richness increases in woodlands southwards along the Iberian gradient, with montados and dehesas showing the higher scores. This pattern is related with the increase presence of edge and open area bird which appears to compensate the lost of forest birds. Due to this diversity of species, birds can have an important role in the valuation of montados as HNV. In the last decades the scientific community has given particular attention to the different roles that birds may play in montados: management options and the breeding bird communities (Camprondon and Brotons 2006; Godinho and Rabaça 2011, Leal at al. 2012; Pereira et al. 2012a; Pulido and Díaz 1992), the influence of cork extraction on birds (Godinho and Rabaça 2011; Leal et al. 2011), relevance of habitat diversity in agroforestry matrices (Leal et al. 2011; Pereira et al. 2012b)

Between and within-year effects of haying on grassland bird

In recent years, haying has extended to Iberian Mediterranean dry grasslands potentially threatening grassland birds. We evaluate the between and within-year effects of haying on grassland birds in Alentejo region, Portugal. Our main goals were: (1) to investigate variations on bird abundance and species richness in the fields hayed, with respect to past haying events occurred in a field and its surroundings and (2) to investigate the shifts in bird abundance, species richness and spatial dynamics resulting from haying a field and its surrounding area in a given year. We conducted grassland bird censuses during the breeding season through point counts from 2012 to 2015. The relationship between bird abundance/richness and past haying events was investigated using Generalized Linear Models whereas within-year effects of haying were analysed using Generalized Additive Models. Bird abundance in a field was positively related with the surface hayed in the vicinity of that field in the previous year. However, contrasting yearly effects were found for non passerines. Also, some species prefer fields with less haying events or surface hayed, whereas others occur mostly in fields frequently managed for haying. Haying a field leads, in the short term, to its abandonment by birds, and thus to a decrease in bird abundance and, for some species, to spatial concentration in surrounding fields offering suitable habitat. We conclude that within-year effects of haying have higher impact on grassland birds than between-year effects. Maintaining haying at low levels by rotating haying yearly through the different fields in each farm and using partial haying may be an adequate way to ensure an effective management of grassland bird populations.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologi

The Portuguese Montado as a High Nature Farming System: an Interdisciplinary Methodology Linking Grazing Management to Biodiversity Value

The Portuguese montado, an agro-silvo pastoral system derived from the Mediterranean forest ecosystems, is broadly considered a High Nature Value Farming System (HNV). These semi-natural systems significantly depend on the agricultural management. Consequently, its natural value and environmental qualities are closely related to the different farming practices adopted by land managers. Within these, grazing has a particular relevance since extensive livestock production is currently one of the most important economic activities associated with these systems, presenting a pronounced variability, both in terms of intensity and variety of animal species and breeds. In the region of Alentejo, Southern Portugal, there are several types of montado in different natural conditions (soils, climate, and topography) and managed, currently and over time, in very distinct ways. The high variability underlying these systems, both in biophysical and management contexts, can result in an impact of completely different levels on the sustainability of the system and consequently, on its natural values. Using birds as models for assessing the levels of biodiversity and starting from the research question: How to differentiate between a montado with and without HNV? In this paper we intend to present an innovative interdisciplinary methodology built up to assess the relationship between grazing management and biodiversity values, in a case study - a specific type of montado. Considering the complexity and fuzziness of these Mediterranean systems, defining a grazing management compatible with the existence of a high biodiversity value, poses a great challenge which requires the integration of different scientific perspectives and cross disciplines. However, the greatest difficulty in implementing this new approach probably lies in adopting the methodologies arising from these distinct fields of knowledge in a coherent manner

Sylvia melanocephala Sardinian Warbler

The EBBA2 project was carried out by the EBCC network of partner organisations from 48 countries. In total, around 120,000 fieldworkers contributed data to the atlas, the great majority of them on a voluntary basis. As such this project constitutes one of the biggest citizen science projects on biodiversity ever. Data collection and analysis followed a rigorous scientific protocol, led by a team of researchers from ornithological institutes with many years of experience in atlas work. The huge fieldwork effort resulted in unprecedented geographical coverage for a biodiversity atlas in Europe, including all areas up to the Ural Mountains and the Caspian Sea that were not well covered for EBBA1. These data were mainly collected for the period lasting from 2013 to 2017.Main sponsor: MAVA - Fondation pour la Natur

Birds as bio-indicators and as tools to evaluate restoration measures

Within the RIPIDURABLE Project*, birds were used to characterize ecosystems*, to monitor environmental changes and to assess results of restoration measures. Bird surveys were carried out at different space and time scales using standardised point count methods on 8 watercourses in Portugal and France. Several aspects of riparian breeding bird community variation were assessed: along a decreasing gradient of vegetation complexity, along and upstream-downstream gradient, with different surrounding landscapes, with time, with management status, with time and management status, before and after river rehabilitation. Birds appear to be new and reliable indicators for assessing restoration of riparian ecosystems, complementary to those traditionally used