Browsing by Author "Brito, A."
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- Establishment of a coastal fish in the Azores: recent colonisation or sudden expansion of an ancient relict population?Publication . Stefanni, S.; Castilho, Rita; Sala-Bozano, M.; Robalo, J. I.; Francisco, S. M.; Santos, R. S.; Marques, N.; Brito, A.; Almada, V. C.; Mariani, S.The processes and timescales associated with ocean-wide changes in the distribution of marine species have intrigued biologists since Darwin's earliest insights into biogeography. The Azores, a mid-Atlantic volcanic archipelago located >1000 km off the European continental shelf, offers ideal opportunities to investigate phylogeographic colonisation scenarios. The benthopelagic sparid fish known as the common two-banded seabream (Diplodus vulgaris) is now relatively common along the coastline of the Azores archipelago, but was virtually absent before the 1990s. We employed a multiple genetic marker approach to test whether the successful establishment of the Azorean population derives from a recent colonisation from western continental/island populations or from the demographic explosion of an ancient relict population. Results from nuclear and mtDNA sequences show that all Atlantic and Mediterranean populations belong to the same phylogroup, though microsatellite data indicate significant genetic divergence between the Azorean sample and all other locations, as well as among Macaronesian, western Iberian and Mediterranean regions. The results from Approximate Bayesian Computation indicate that D. vulgaris has likely inhabited the Azores for similar to 40 (95% confidence interval (CI): 5.5-83.6) to 52 (95% CI: 6.32-89.0) generations, corresponding to roughly 80-150 years, suggesting near-contemporary colonisation, followed by a more recent demographic expansion that could have been facilitated by changing climate conditions. Moreover, the lack of previous records of this species over the past century, together with the absence of lineage separation and the presence of relatively few private alleles, do not exclude the possibility of an even more recent colonisation event.
- Validation of standard and alternative satellite ocean-color chlorophyll products off Western IberiaPublication . Sá, Carolina; D'Alimonte, Davide; Brito, A.; Kajiyama, T.; Mendes, C. R.; Vitorino, J.; Oliveira, P. B.; da Silva, J. C. B.; Brotas, V.Chlorophyll a concentration (Chl) product validation off theWestern Iberian coast is here undertaken by directly comparing remote sensing data with in situ surface reference values. Both standard and recently developed alternative algorithms are considered for match-up data analysis. The investigated standard products are those produced by the MERIS (algal 1 and algal 2) and MODIS (OC3M) algorithms. The alternative data products include those generatedwithin the CoastColour Project and Ocean Color Climate Change Initiative (OC-CCI) funded by ESA, as well as a neural net model trained with field measurements collected in the Atlantic off Portugal (MLPATLP). Statistical analyses showed that satellite Chl estimates tend to be larger than in situ reference values. The study also revealed that a non-uniform Chl distribution in the water column can be a concurring factor to the documented overestimation tendency when considering larger optical depth match-up stations. Among standard remote sensing products, MODIS OC3M and MERIS algal 2 yield the best agreement with in situ data. The performance of MLPATLP highlights the capability of regional solutions to further improve Chl retrieval by accounting for environmental specificities. Results also demonstrate the relevance of oceanographic regions such as the Nazaré area to evaluate how complex hydrodynamic conditions can influence the quality of Chl products.