Repositório RCAAP

1. Conservation efforts in South Africa play out across multi-use landscapes where formal protected areas coexist with private wildlife business (ecotourism and/or hunting) in a human-dominated matrix. Despite the persistence of highly diverse carnivore guilds, management idiosyncrasies are often orientated towards charismatic large predators and assemblage-level patterns remain largely unexplored. 2. We conducted an extensive camera-trap survey in a natural quasi-experimental setting in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We sampled across a protection gradient characterized by a provincial protected area (highest and formal protection status), a private ecotourism reserve, game ranches and traditional communal areas (lowest protected status). We evaluated assemblage-level and species-specific responses of free-ranging carnivores to the varying management contexts and associated environmental gradients. 3. Despite similar assemblage composition between management contexts, sitescale carnivore richness and occupancy rates were greater in the formal protected area than adjacent private reserve and game ranches. Carnivore occupancy was more similar between these private wildlife areas, although putative problem species were more common in the private reserve, and contrasted with depauperate assemblages in least protected communal lands. Variation in carnivore occupancy probabilities was largely driven by land use contexts, that is, the level and nature of protection, relative to underlying fine-scale landscape attributes (e.g. distance to conservation fences) or apex predator populations. 4. Synthesis and applications. Our findings provide convincing empirical support for the added value of multi-tenure conservation estates augmenting and connecting South Africa's protected areas. However, our emphasis on free-ranging carnivores exemplifies the importance of maintaining areas under long-term formal protection and the risks with viewing lucrative wildlife business as a conservation panacea. We suggest that unmanaged carnivore species be the formal components of carnivore reintroduction and recovery programmes to better gauge the complementary conservation role of South Africa's private land.

The aim of this study was the mycorrhizae inoculation effect on production and mineral nutrition of snap bean variety under low phosphorus intake. The experiment was a randomized block design with four treatments: a non-mycorrhizal control, two mycorrhizal strains: Piriformospora indica (Piri), Glomus intraradice (Glomus), and their combined inoculation Piri + Glomus; using ten replicates per treatment. A comparative trial of different treatments on plant growth, yield parameters, mineral absorption and mycorrhizae colonization frequency was conducted in the greenhouse under controlled conditions using autoclaved soil-sand-vermiculite substrate. The inoculation with Piri and co-inoculation with Piri + Glomus significantly increased aerial dry biomass (p ≤ 0.01) and highly increased root dry biomass (p ≤ 0.001). Mycorrhizal snap bean plants showed a significantly higher number of pods, pods dry weight, dry weight of seeds per plant, and percentage of mycorrhizal colonization than non-mycorrhizal plants. Mycorrhizae inoculation increased significantly nitrogen and phosphorus uptake that the inoculation with Piri increased N uptake in roots by 187% and P uptake by 200% compared to the non-inoculated plants. For cations leave incorporation, Piri significantly enhanced Ca2+ by 100%, Mg2+ by 110% and NH4+ by 175% relative to the non-mycorrhizal plants. While mycorrhizal inoculation doesn’t have a significant effect on K+ nutrition. In conclusion, snap bean Contender variety seedling inoculated with Piri proved to be most effective by improving plant growth, mineral nutrition and yield production under low phosphorus uptake.

Soil biocrusts (communities of cyanobacteria, algae, mosses, lichens, and heterotrophs living at the soil surface) are fundamental components of dryland ecosystems worldwide. There is increasing concern over the potential for increasing nitrogen (N) inputs to affect biocrusts. This is of special concern in Mediterranean Basin drylands that face the threat of increased N inputs however, the effect on biocrusts remains poorly studied. We evaluated the potential effects of increased N inputs on biocrust structure and functioning in surrounding Mediterranean shrublands in the seventh year of a N-manipulation field experiment. We tracked the N-driven changes in biotope (changes in bare soil and in the non-legume and the legume occupation areas, and the percentage of radiation intercepted by plant canopies), evaluated biocrust functional traits (based on pigments) and measured biocrust functioning in terms of C and N cycling, soil fertility (macro and micronutrients) and biodiversity, and integrated these multiple soil functions simultaneously (i.e. soil multifunctionality) Biocrust pigment concentration was significantly influenced by both plant legacy and N input. Biocrust pigments revealed a clear functional shift from: i) biocrusts dominated by photosynthetically inactive cyanobacteria that fix N2 and are mostly committed to photoprotection at the expense of N-containing pigments under low N inputs; into ii) biocrusts more evenly composed of prokaryotes and eukaryotes, which are more photosynthetically active, but less committed to photoprotection and N2 fixation under exposure to increased N inputs. The N-driven functional and structural changes in biocrusts resulted in trade-offs in biocrust functioning and processes (only N2 fixation was affected) and an overall improvement in biocrust multifunctionality. By itself, biocrust pigment evenness accounted for ~50% of the observed variation in biocrust multifunctionality. The biocrust pigment functional approach we adopted to study the effects of increased N inputs from patchy developed anthropogenic landscapes provides novel and critical knowledge of biocrusts community and functioning, which may be used as a tool in biodiversity conservation strategies, ecosystem functions and ecological modelling.

Drought and salinity are the most serious environmental factors affecting crop productivity worldwide; hence, it is important to select and develop both salt- and drought-tolerant crops. The perennial smooth cordgrass Spartina alterniflora Loisel is unusual in that it is highly salt-tolerant and seems to prefer ammonium (NH4+) over nitrate (NO3−) as an inorganic N source. In this study, we determined whether Spartina's unique preference for NH4+ enhances performance under salt and drought stress. Greenhouse experiments were conducted to compare the interactive effects of N source, salinity, and low water availability on plant performance (growth and antioxidant metabolism). Drought significantly reduced growth and photosynthetic activity in S. alterniflora, more so with NH4+ than NO3−; in contrast, NH4+ enhanced growth under high salinity. The increased tolerance of S. alterniflora to salt stress in the presence of NH4+ was linked to a high level of antioxidant enzyme activity, combined with low MDA content, EL, and H2O2 production. In contrast, drought stress negated the growth advantages for S. alterniflora exposed to salt stress in the presence of NH4+. The susceptibility of S. alterniflora to drought was partly due to reduced antioxidant enzyme activities, thereby reducing the defense against the oxidative damages induced by osmotic stress. In conclusion, in contrast to salt stress, drought stress negates the beneficial effects of ammonium as an N source in the C4 plant Spartina alterniflora.

Questions: Despite the increasing scientific interest in distance decay of compositional similarity in ecology, the scale dependence of geographical versus environmental control on distance decay of biological communities has not been properly addressed so far. The present work highlights the relative importance of niche-based processes versus dispersal limitations on distance decay patterns of epilithic bryophyte assemblages at different spatial scales. Location: Serra de Sintra, central Portugal. Methods: We adopted a nested sampling design with 32 selected sampling sites in each of which two clusters, each with five rocks, were surveyed. Each cluster was characterized by a set of 15 macroscale variables, which were divided into environmental and anthropogenic. For each rock eight microscale variables were recorded. Partial Mantel tests were used to assess the relative importance of geographical and environmental distance on community dissimilarity for each grain size (site, cluster, rock). Quantile regressions were used to describe the decay patterns of community similarity with respect to geographical and environmental distances. Ordination analyses and variation partitioning techniques were applied to assess the pure and shared effects of measured variables on bryophyte community composition. Results: Environmental distance based upon macroscale predictors was significantly correlated to community similarity, while no significant correlation was found for ecological distance calculated for microscale predictors, except at the largest grain size. The decrease of community similarity with geographical and environmental distance was thus consistently strengthened with increasing sample grain. Compositional variation was best explained by anthropogenic variables. Conclusions: The relative importance of environmental versus geographical distance on compositional similarity in epilithic bryophyte communities varies with the spatial scale of the predictors and with the sample grain. The decrease of similarity with increasing distance is related to changes in habitat features, especially those driven by human disturbance, while it is weakly affected by variations in substrate features.

Aim: Historical climate variations, current climate and human impacts are known to influence current species richness, but their effects on phylogenetic and trait diversity have been seldom studied. We investigated the relationship of these three factors with the independent variations of species, phylogenetic and trait diversity of European mammals. Considering the position of the 0 ºC isotherm in the Last Glacial Maximum as a tipping point, we tested the following hypotheses: northern European assemblages host fewer species than southern European ones; northern areas harbour trait and phylogenetically clustered assemblages, while the more stable southern areas host random or overdispersed assemblages; and species richness correlates positively with human influence, while phylogenetic and trait diversity show clustered patterns in areas with stronger human influence. Location: Western Palaearctic. Time period: Current and Late Pleistocene effects on present-day diversity. Major taxa studied: Terrestrial mammals. Methods: We used a novel analytical approach based on distance matrices to separate the independent variations of species, phylogenetic and trait diversity, and assessed their relationships with current climate, climate stability and human influence through structural equation models. Results: The species-poor assemblages from northern Europe show higher phylogenetic and trait clustering than the more stable richer southern areas. However, no assemblage presented trait or phylogenetic overdispersion. Current climate is the primary driver of phylogenetic and trait diversity, while species richness is affected similarly by both current and past climates. Higher human influence correlates positively with species richness and trait diversity, both directly and by mediating indirect effects of present climate. Main conclusions: Current climate, climate stability and human influence affect the studied aspects of diversity, although the form and magnitude of their effects vary through space. Importantly, higher levels of human disturbances correlate with more species rich and trait diverse assemblages, an apparently counterintuitive result that deserves further study.

After decades of decline, Classical Philology is now thriving in the universities of Lisbon and Coimbra. However, with 40 new students, at most, every year, this is still a niche under graduation. How can we explain, then, that in February 2019 a new Latin grammar became a best seller in Portugal? How is it possible that two social media pages about Latin and Ancient Greek have reached more than 12 000 followers, during the lockdown period? Have the Classics finally become mainstream? These will be some of the questions we will try to answer in our paper, focusing mainly on outreach activities to adults.

The present dissertation focuses on the topic The public bench - significance and importance of these equipment in public space. To better understand and study the public bench is necessary to consider the evolution of the seat as part of the life of humans, to found the comfort and commodity. The seat is perhaps one of the most emblematic creations of man. So and through the history of seating furniture, we can relate this with the development of society. It was from nineteenth century with the process of industrialization and the changes in society that appeared the wide implementation of public bench, a kind of equipment that up to the date wasn´t very common. This shared equipment allowed a new abidance on the public space and a new experience in the city. Initially sought inspiration in domestic furniture and maintained the same designation attributed to any collective seat, but the bench lost prestige as interior furniture. However the public bench has become an essential piece of urban furniture that provides the rest and socialization place in the city

The Personal View by Bloem and colleagues1 on integrated and patient-centred management of Parkinson's disease proposes a health system organisation to address complex care in chronic neurological disorders, using Parkinson's disease as an example. The proposed hub-and-spoke model envisions the integration of health professionals based on a Parkinson's disease centre of excellence integrated with community hospitals. We share the values put forward as pillars for a framework change in the care of Parkinson's disease and other chronic neurological diseases but would like to offer additional insights for their wider dissemination and implementation.

Physical activity is an important health determinant for people’s quality of life and wellbeing. This study intends to (1) identify how the practice of physical activity fits into families’ daily lives; and (2) verify to what extent the practice of physical activity is influenced by the urban model, family composition, and family perceptions. A survey was applied to 410 families (corresponding to 1006 individuals) in Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA), Portugal, focusing on different physical activities—gym, swimming, walking/trekking/hiking, and cycling. Results are based on descriptive and bivariate data analysis and show the existence of asymmetries in the practice of physical activity in LMA. The urban context impacts the choice and frequency of physical activity practices. The typology of family and age proved to be more differentiating factors than income, being reinforced by daily lives (e.g., daily movements, transport modes, etc.). Positive self-perceptions of quality of life and health levels are also conducive to more active practices, contrary to negative perceptions of the neighborhood that are related to practices in peripheral destinations. Conclusions highlight the need for differentiated measures of physical activity promotion according to the territories and communities’ characteristics in a multilevel approach.

Antimicrobial peptides are small molecules that display antimicrobial activity against a wide range of pathogens. In a previous work, by using model membranes we studied P6, a peptide that shows no antimicrobial activity, and P6.2, which exhibits antibacterial activity. In the present work we aimed to unravel the mode of action of these peptides by studying their interaction in vivo with Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. In this sense, to study the interactions with bacterial cells and their effect on the bacterial surface, zeta potential, spectroscopic, and microscopic methodologies were applied. P6.2 exhibits a higher affinity toward both bacterial envelopes. The ability of both peptides to disrupt afterwards the bacterial membrane was also studied. Both peptides were able to induce bacterial membrane damage, but higher concentrations of P6 were needed to obtain results comparable to those obtained for P6.2. Additionally, P6.2 exhibited faster damage kinetics. Altogether, these data allow postulating, in a physiologic model, that the lower affinity of P6 for bacterial envelope results in a minor final concentration of the peptide in the bacterial membrane unable to trigger the antimicrobial activity. Finally, the fact that the active P6.2 has the same MIC value for the Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria tested, but not the same profile in the permeabilization assays, reinforces the question of whether cell wall components act as electrostatic barriers preventing or minimizing membrane-active AMPs lethal action at the membrane level.

Even though this pandemic is far from over, we decided that now is a good time to draw an initial conclusion: How has one year of Covid-19 changed democracy? The idea behind this book is very simple. We have asked democracy researchers from a wide range of disciplines and countries what the implications are for democracy after one year with Covid-19. What challenges and opportunities does Covid-19 pose for democratic representation, participation, and decision-making? What weaknesses and strengths of individual countries have been exposed by the pandemic? To address a broad audience, this retrospective assembles 26 brief contributions, written in German, French, Italian, and English. The book focuses on three main areas and is accordingly divided into three parts: social implications, political implications, and country-specific reports. We hope to stimulate reflections and joint discussions!

Assessing carbon storage and sequestration is key for defining effective conservation actions to mitigate climate change. Forest species changes have direct impacts on carbon stocks and may lead to undesirable climate trade-offs. In this paper, we measure aboveground biomass (AGB) and the impact of forest changes on climate regulation through three land policy scenarios by 2030 in continental Portugal. We found that a High intervention scenario, supported by an important increase in "Other coniferous trees" class, will provide 29.5% more of carbon sequestration, whereas a Low intervention scenario, in which there is a moderate increase in all forest classes, will result in an increase of 5.7%. A business as usual (BAU) scenario, supported by an increase in eucalyptus forests and a decrease in autochthonous species, will decrease carbon sequestration (-2.7%), particularly Lisboa, Algarve and North regions. Economic valuation shows that the High intervention scenario will generate the highest economic outcome for climate regulation by 2030. This study provides a spatial-based methodology for monitoring carbon sequestration and new insights about the impact of policies for Green House Gas (GHG) mitigation, supporting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals achievement.

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A conceptual model based on the balance of energy in a system composed of a burning cigarette, ambient flow and a porous fuel bed is proposed to study the burning of a single cigarette and the process of fuel bed dehydration, pyrolysis and its eventual ignition or combustion extinction. Model predictions of time to ignition and of the probability of ignition as a function of fuel bed moisture content and ambient flow velocity are compared with results obtained in laboratory ignition tests of straw fuel beds for various ambient conditions. According to this study, the main parameters influencing the models developed are the fuel bed and tobacco moisture content, as well as the flow velocity.

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Rett syndrome (RTT; OMIM#312750) is mainly caused by mutations in the X-linked MECP2 gene (methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 gene; OMIM*300005), which leads to impairments in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) signalling. The boost of BDNF mediated effects would be a significant breakthrough but it has been hampered by the difficulty to administer BDNF to the central nervous system. Adenosine, an endogenous neuromodulator, may accomplish that role since through A2AR it potentiates BDNF synaptic actions in healthy animals. We thus characterized several hallmarks of the adenosinergic and BDNF signalling in RTT and explored whether A2AR activation could boost BDNF actions. For this study, the RTT animal model, the Mecp2 knockout (Mecp2-/y) (B6.129P2 (C)-Mecp2tm1.1Bird/J) mouse was used. Whenever possible, parallel data was also obtained from post-mortem brain samples from one RTT patient. Ex vivo extracellular recordings of field excitatory post-synaptic potentials in CA1 hippocampal area were performed to evaluate synaptic transmission and long-term potentiation (LTP). RT-PCR was used to assess mRNA levels and Western Blot or radioligand binding assays were performed to evaluate protein levels. Changes in cortical and hippocampal adenosine content were assessed by liquid chromatography with diode array detection (LC/DAD). Hippocampal ex vivo experiments revealed that the facilitatory actions of BDNF upon LTP is absent in Mecp2-/y mice and that TrkB full-length (TrkB-FL) receptor levels are significantly decreased. Extracts of the hippocampus and cortex of Mecp2-/y mice revealed less adenosine amount as well as less A2AR protein levels when compared to WT littermates, which may partially explain the deficits in adenosinergic tonus in these animals. Remarkably, the lack of BDNF effect on hippocampal LTP in Mecp2-/y mice was overcome by selective activation of A2AR with CGS21680. Overall, in Mecp2-/y mice there is an impairment on adenosinergic system and BDNF signalling. These findings set the stage for adenosine-based pharmacological therapeutic strategies for RTT, highlighting A2AR as a therapeutic target in this devastating pathology.

L’objectif principal de cette thèse est d’étudier le développement de la structure syllabique par une enfant bilingue simultanée en portugais et français. L’analyse se centre sur les patrons d’autonomie ou d’interaction des différents constituants syllabiques, de manière à contribuer au débat sur (i) quels objets linguistiques sont sujets à interaction et (ii) quels facteurs déterminent la direction de l’interaction. Spécifiquement, le développement de plusieurs constituants syllabiques est évalué : le développement des attaques simples, des attaques branchantes, des codas médiales et des consonnes en position finale de mot. Pour chaque constituant, le développement attesté chez l’enfant bilingue est comparé à celui décrit pour les monolingues portugais et français. La base empirique de cette thèse est constituée d’un corpus de productions spontanées longitudinales d’une enfant exposée au portugais et au français dès la naissance, recueillies entre l’âge de 1 an et 3 ans 10 mois. Un des principaux résultats de cette thèse est que les interactions entre les deux langues maternelles de l’enfant sont confinées à certains domaines de la grammaire : alors que le niveau segmental ne registre pas d’interférences d’une langue sur l’autre, le niveau prosodique semble particulièrement sujet à des influences. Ainsi, le développement des consonnes en attaque simple et en position finale de mot est essentiellement autonome alors que le développement des attaques branchantes et des codas est particulièrement sujet à interaction. Un autre résultat pertinent de cette thèse est que les interactions ne peuvent être expliquées par une éventuelle langue dominante puisque celles-ci ont lieu sur la même période et sont attestées dans les deux sens. Le facteur qui semble le mieux rendre compte des patrons d’interaction attestés est l’ambigüité présente dans l’input.

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is the most common autoimmune blistering disease. High potency topical and/or systemic corticosteroids as well as immunosuppressants are the current mainstay of treatment. However, long-term steroid therapy and systemic immunosuppression may result in significant morbidity and mortality. Contribution of IgE to BP pathogenesis remains under investigation, but increasing evidence supports a pathogenic significance. Omalizumab is a recombinant humanized monoclonal anti-IgE antibody that has recently emerged as a novel promising treatment alternative for BP.