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- Modelling past, present and future Ecosystem Services supply in a protected floodplain under land use and climate changesPublication . Gaglio, M.; Aschonitis, V.; Pieretti, L.; Santos, Luis; Gissi, E.; Castaldelli, G.; Fano, E.A.The understanding of protection initiatives’ effects on the delivery of Ecosystem Services (ESs) is of paramount importance to attain sustainable management in Protected Areas (PAs). Protected floodplains provide important ESs to local populations such as water flow regulation and climate regulation through carbon storage. This study investigates the effects of biodiversity protection initiatives (i.e. declaration of Protected Areas – PAs) and the related spatio-temporal land use/land cover (LULC) changes on ecosystem services (ESs) in the Nature Reserve of Paul do Boquilobo – NRPB (Central Portugal). Special focus was made on climate mitigation (i.e. carbon storage and sequestration) and water-related (flood mitigation, water regulation and supply) ESs. The analysis was performed using InVEST model. Three dates of past LULC conditions were considered in the analysis (1967, 1990 and 2015). Moreover, two future alternative LULC scenarios for 2050 were designed (a “Business”- BUS and a “Naturalization”- NAT scenario). The BUS scenario considers a LULC distribution towards high productive agricultural systems, considering only a restricted central core of natural areas, while the NAT scenario considers full coverage of natural areas. The two future extreme LULC scenarios were analyzed considering both no climate change and climate change effects on water-related services based on the pessimistic rcp8.5 climatic scenario. The results showed that PA declaration of NRPB after 1980 increased carbon storage-sequestration and flood mitigation (higher water storage, lower recharge and runoff). The analysis of future LULC scenarios demonstrated that the complete renaturing in combination with climate change (reduction of precipitation, increase of temperature) may lead to severe reduction of recharge and runoff. These results indicate that conflicts may appear between specific water regulation services by the application of PA initiatives in places where groundwater resources are limited or minimum ecological flows in surface waters are difficult to be preserved.
- Communicating Science in the Natural Park of Serras D Aire and Candeeiros, First Steps in Science Communication in the HIGHLANDS.3 ProjectPublication . Silva, Julio; Santos, Luis; Lopes, VascoO turismo de natureza é uma das indústrias que mais cresceu no mundo desde o início do século. Este crescimento é raramente acompanhado pelos sistemas de gestão de áreas naturais que lutam contra o número crescente de turistas, falta de infraestruturas, informação e organização. Uma das soluções adotadas por muitas áreas naturais é a adoção de classificações adicionais, tais como reservas de biosfera, Ramsar, Natura 2000, entre muitas outras. Esta abordagem estratégica comprometeu a maior parte das estruturas de gestão aos esforços burocráticos, tornando difícil o processo de adaptação. As várias classificações, embora facilmente compreendidas, ficam aquém dos objetivos pretendidos, apresentando metodologias tradicionais, promoção ineficaz, baixo envolvimento local e estratégias de educação convencionais. O conhecimento académico e o profissionalismo audiovisual podem produzir materiais promocionais e de vídeo documental para uma vasta gama de públicos, fornecendo ferramentas de comunicação, educacionais e de desenvolvimento. A comunicação científica é uma poderosa ferramenta de gestão de áreas classificadas, a participação na gestão por entidades regionais, beneficia o envolvimento de municípios, instituições de ensino superior, organizações não governamentais e stakeholders, intervindo no desenvolvimento territorial sustentável, com responsabilidades na promoção, sensibilização e comunicação. Este estudo apresentará um vídeo introdutório exemplificador da estratégia de comunicação do Parque Natural das Serras D'Aire e Candeeiros, adaptável a outras áreas protegidas como estratégia de turismo. Conclui-se que a comunicação em áreas naturais classificadas deve ser regida pelo mesmo rigor e qualidade exigidos em ciência sem perder o interesse necessário pela sua comunicação efetiva e eficiente, para se obter turismo de qualidade.
- Bridging Culture, Tourism, and Literature: The Short Videos of Saramago's Small Memories of AzinhagaPublication . Silva, Julio; Santos, Luis; Silva, Manuela; Cordeiro, João; Carmo, Ana do; Romana, Maria Barras; Caetano Domingos, Susana IsabelA arte, conforme definida por Leo Tolstoi (2013), é a atividade pela qual uma pessoa, tendo experimentado uma emoção, transmite-a intencionalmente a outros. A forte ligação entre o enquadramento geográfico e experiências do autor, despoleta a imaginação do leitor e a vontade de viver na primeira pessoa as experiências. Algumas obras literárias e autores que estimularam os leitores a viajar, por exemplo Stratford-upon-Avon, de William Shakespeare, contribuem para o desenvolvimento local. Outros artistas e formas de arte também exercem o mesmo efeito, César Manrique em Lanzarote com pinturas, esculturas e arquitetura, ou o livro de John Ronald Reuel Tolkien através do filme Senhor dos Anéis promovendo a Nova Zelândia. Turismo cinematográfico ou turismo induzido por filmes é definido como qualquer viagem motivada por cenário com o objetivo de visitação. Nem todos os turistas cinematográficos são motivados da mesma forma, alguns são motivados por cenário, circunscrito e específico, enquanto generalistas visitam regiões ou países (Gürkaya, 2010). O estudo atual visa desenvolver 8 curtas-metragens da obra literária As Pequenas Memórias (2006) do Prémio Nobel José Saramago, onde o autor descreve o seu local de nascimento e experiências da juventude. Este trabalho mais do que a expressão de arte audiovisual visa promover o turismo cultural através uma de ampla estratégia integrada de turismo regional. O potencial deste turismo para o desenvolvimento ainda não atingiu a maturidade. Todos os tipos de turismo são efémeros, assim como os filmes, pelo que qualquer estratégia desenhada que contempla tais soluções necessita de uma reinvenção regular a fim de garantir a sua sustentabilidade.
- Study of the requirements of an autonomous system for surface water quality monitoringPublication . Barros, F.M.; Granchinho, Pedro; Ferreira, Carlos; Neves, Pedro; Magalhães, Hugo; Santos, Luis; Lopes, Brígida; Marques, João; Pinho, Henrique J. O.; Mourato, S.; Martins, A.In recent years, there has been increasing awareness of the preservation, protection and sustainable use of natural resources. Water resources, being one of the most important natural resources, face major threats due to contamination by pollutants of various types and origins. Maintaining the quality of water resources requires more robust, reliable and more frequent monitoring than traditional techniques of data collection based on sporadic, discontinuous and manual processes. The management of large geographical areas, the insufficient spatiotemporal discretization of the values of samples collected by traditional processes and the unpredictability of natural phenomena, require a new approach to data collection procedures. This article, which is the result of ongoing research, defines the technical requirements and technologies used in a continuous and regular monitoring of surface water quality in freshwater systems, whose data acquisition system helps to identify the sources of pollution and the contaminants flow along the waterways. The design of a versatile real-time water quality monitoring system, which, due to its environmental constraints should be based on renewable energies and wireless transfer of energy, will contribute to improve the management and effective protection of water resources.
- Water resources and human behaviour: an integrated landscape management perspective.Publication . Oosterbeek, Luiz; Scheunemann, Inguelore; Santos, LuisA two sides balance can be drawn from the last 20 years of active intents to change local, regional and global policies concerning water and global environment issues. On one hand, as a consequence of the “sustainable development” model, there is an increasing awareness of the issues in stake, and environment became a core part of any public policy. International conferences and the investment in scientific research in these areas are an expression of this. Yet, concerns are growing in face of the increasing stress imposed on freshwater resources, climate change and the difficulties to achieve international consensus on specific strategies. This was the focus of discussion in the international conference on climate change organised in Nagoya in December 2010, by ICSS, ICSU and ICPHS. A revision of the conceptual approach to sustainable development, moving beyond a strictly socio-economic understanding of human behaviour and incorporating, as basic strategies, the dimensions of culture, didactics of dilemma and governance, is currently being applied in some scenarios, hopefully with a better result. The paper discusses water resources in the context of climate change from this integrated perspective.
- Tourism in nature reserves and peripheral rural areas: Issues and strategiesPublication . Santos, Luis; Anastácio, Rita Ferreira; Monteiro, PaulinoThe delicate balance between human occupation and conservation policy is a concurrent conflict of historical, economic and cultural nature. Societal reasoning is a clear-cut understanding that the implementation of conservation policy brings loss, while this is a comfortable situation for conservationists, it brings serious consequences to communities. In such places the decreasing investment along with the loss of the main economic local activities, eventually causes demographic decline, which, in turn, results in aging of the population, culminating in a critical situation with no innovation and poor exchange between socio-economic actors. In a context of worldwide tourism sector expansion and development, tourism sustainability performance of such regions or countries becomes an important goal of strategic planning to ensure an appropriate balance between present and future opportunities. Bearing in mind that peripheral areas have usually been characterized by a low level of autonomy in planning capability, with poor access to and from markets, not included in travel itineraries except from a small portion of independent tourists. The current paper analyses two different case studies, the first in the small fishing village of the Cape Verde´s Archipelago, Santo Antão Island where the peripheral community of Monte Trigo was surveyed to understand the impact of the solar electricity facility implementation, along with their views on development. Being Tourism one of the most cited options, it is important to evaluate the risks and different types of tourism. The second case study involves the Natural Park of Serras D’aire and Candeeiros (PNSAC), using Census data and Geographical Information Systems analyzed the impact of conservation legislation on the demographic evolution of communities inside the Park. Results brought to evidence the abandonment of traditional economic activities, thus promoting a different trend of demographic development in peripherical Park regions. Despite the geographical distance and Ecological differences between Coastal Islands and mountainous continental interior, both case studies share and represent both weak and strong tourism sustainability paradigms. Moreover, the core sustainability performance of the studied regions is comparable, which can serve as a starting point that stimulates public and private debate, thus promoting improvement actions to achieve tourism sustainability.
- Environmental Factors Affecting the Efficiency of Water Reservoir Restoration Using Microbiological BiotechnologyPublication . Mazur, Robert; Jakubiak, Mateusz; Santos, LuisAquatic ecosystems are often subject to degradation due to various environmental stressors. The accumulation of an organic sediment layer causes shallowing, algal blooms, and hypertrophy in water reservoirs. The processes of overgrowth and shallowing lead to a reduction in the ecosystem services provided by the reservoir as well as potentially causing the disappearance of the water body. To address these challenges and restore the ecological balance of water reservoirs, effective and sustainable revitalisation methods are essential. In recent years, biotechnological approaches, particularly utilizing microbiological interventions, have emerged as promising strategies for water reservoir revitalization. Microorganisms, with their remarkable ability to degrade pollutants and enhance nutrient cycling, offer great potential in remediating environmental issues in a natural and eco-friendly manner. This article presents the results of a study of 33 Polish reservoirs subjected to reclamation with microbial biopreparations from 2014 to 2023. The results of changes in bottom sediment reduction, water transparency, dissolved oxygen concentration, and water turbidity are presented. Reduction in morphological changes in the fraction of soft organic sediments, an improvement in the oxygen profile of the bottom and surface water layers, and an increase in water transparency were observed after reclamation with the use of biopreparations.
- Upper Morgado Shelter, Still a Peripheral Funeral Context, or Perhaps Not? (Tomar, Central Portugal)Publication . Cruz, Ana; de Senna-Martinez, João Carlos; Santos, Luis; Relvado, Cláudia; Ribeiro, Cheila; Fernandes, Teresa; Curto, AnaThe Upper Morgado shelter is a karst cavity located in the Nabão river valley whose material culture is in many aspects associated to the dolmen world. This shelter was used and reused in a long diachrony (since Neolithic times until the Early Bronze Age). Exchange and /or Interchange is confirmed through the occurrence of some metal artefacts that observed a complete set of relationships with items found travelling through the Portuguese Estremadura and Alentejo, across borders to Almeria and as far France. The upper Morgado shelter fi ts the purpose of a long-term study where the thesis that the funerary features themselves travelled across borders as ideological exchange. Recent research found several ritual actions regarding the systematic burial of individuals of both sexes and of all ages. Since the primary burial, in an unstructured pit, that with time transforms itself into a Chalcolithic ossuary; further complemented with vestigial nuclei of human bones from the Neolithic. Those ossuaries were posteriorly displaced and containerised in a circular rock structure, with small rock niche-ossuary structures containing a limited number of unstructured bones. All this material culture behaviour results in the complex nature of this site.
- MDIR Monthly Ignition Risk Maps, an Integrated Open-Source Strategy for Wildfire PreventionPublication . Santos, Luis; Vasco Lopes; Baptista, CecíliaCountries unaccustomed to wildfires are currently experiencing wildfire as a new climate-change reality. Understanding how fire ignition and propagation are correlated with temperature, orography, humidity, wind, and the mixture and age of individual plants must be considered when designing prevention strategies. While wildfire prevention focuses on fire ignition avoidance, firefighting success depends on early ignition detection, meaning that, in either case, ignition plays a major role. The current case study considered three Portuguese municipalities that annually observe frequent fire ignitions (Tomar, Ourém, and Ferreira do Zêzere) as the testing ground for the Modernized Dynamic Ignition Risk (MDIR) strategy, thus evaluating the efficiency of MDIR and the efficacy of the variables used. This methodology uses geographic information systems technology sustained by open-source satellite imagery, along with the Habitat Risk Assessment model from the InVEST software package, as drivers for the MDIR application. The MDIR approach grants frequent update capabilities and fully open-sourced high ignition risk area identification, producing monthly ignition risk maps. The advantage of using this method is the ease of adaptation to any current monitoring strategy, awarding further efficiency and efficacy in reducing ignitions. The approach delivered adequate results in estimating ignitions for the three Portuguese municipalities, achieving, for several months, prediction accuracy percentages of over 70%. For the studied area, MDIR clearly identifies areas of high ignition risk and delivers an average of 62% success in predicting ignitions, thus showing potential for analyzing the impact of policy implementation and monitoring through the strategy design.
- Deterioration of the “Quinta Nova Torres Vedras” wall tile panel – an analytical approachPublication . Triães, Ricardo; Santos, Luis; Coroado, João; Rocha, FernandoWall tile panels were commonly used in recreational open outdoors spaces in 18th Century noble houses I Portugal. The nature of their location and the lack of maintenance of such spaces, which lost their purpose during the 20th century, contributed to their natural deterioration. In order to preserve one such panel and facilitate the conservation treatment, it was removed from its location and transported to the facilities of the Polytechnic Institute of Tomar, Portugal. The interest in studying this particular panel was prompted by the advanced stages of deterioration observed in some tiles, where natural succession of biological colonisation and weathering were registered as some of the main deterioration causes. Furthermore, the advanced deterioration stages indicate that removal was a necessary action, as natural weathering would lead to its destruction. The study involved a thorough analysis of the environmental characteristics of the wall placement, the wall materials themselves, the mortar, the ceramic body and the glaze. The methodologies used involved microscopic and laboratory testing to evaluate the extent of lichen colonisation and its influence in the loss of glaze and posterior deterioration of the ceramic body. Results indicate that natural and environmental characteristics, combined with substrate typology and micro-organisms, contribute to accelerate the deterioration process, though appropriate techniques of preventive conservation can be used in specific panels or broader situations. This study will enable the development of innovative methodological and technical approach to the conservation problem here portrayed.