Browsing by Author "Pais, Miguel P."
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- Ichthyofauna of the Selvagens Islands. Do small coastal areas show high species richness in the northeastern Atlantic?Publication . Almada, Frederico; Abecasis, D.; Villegas-Ríos, David; Henriques, Sofia; Pais, Miguel P.; Batista, Marisa; Horta e Costa, Barbara; Martins, Joana; Tojeira, Inês; Rodrigues, Nuno Vasco; Araújo, Ricardo; Souto, Miguel; Alonso, Hany; Falcón, Jesús M.; Henriques, Filipe; Catry, Paulo; Cabral, Henrique; Biscoito, Manuel; Almada, Vítor C.The Selvagens Islands are located in the northeastern Atlantic between the Canary Islands and Madeira Island. As a result of their small size, remote location and harsh sea conditions only a few studies have been conducted to describe their marine species diversity. We were able to identify 29 new coastal fish species, an increase of 33% in the ichthyofauna described for these islands (n = 88). There is a prevalence of species with tropical affinities and only 2.3% (n = 2) are endemic to Macaronesia. Considered a stepping-stone colonization vector from the nearest continental shore, as proposed by other authors for this region, the Selvagens Islands host 34.1% of the ichthyofauna described for the much larger Canary Islands (nspecies = 258, submerged area nSelvagensIs. = 2.3%) and 47.3% of the ichthyofauna described for the more distantly located Madeira Island (nspecies = 186, submerged area nSelvagensIs. = 17.9%). Interestingly, 6.8% (n = 6) of the species failed to bridge the gap between the Selvagens Islands and Madeira Island. Data collected so far showed no trend toward an increasing number of species with high dispersal capability. The Selvagens Islands are an example of a high coastal species diversity occurring even in very small areas of the northeastern Atlantic Ocean.
- Setting performance indicators for coastal marine protected areas: an expert-based methodologyPublication . Cardoso-Andrade, Mariana; Queiroga, Henrique; Rangel, Mafalda; Sousa, Inês; Belackova, Adela; Bentes, Luis; Oliveira, Frederico; Monteiro, Pedro; Sales Henriques, Nuno; Afonso, Carlos; Silva, Ana F.; Quintella, Bernardo R.; Costa, José L.; Pais, Miguel P.; Henriques, Sofia; Batista, Marisa I.; Franco, Gustavo; Gonçalves, Emanuel J.; Henriques, Miguel; Leonardo, Teresa; Coelho, Paula; Comas-González, Robert; Fernández, Laura P.; Quiles-Pons, Carla; Costa, André; Espírito-Santo, Cristina; Castro, João J.; Arenas, Francisco; Ramos, Sandra; Ferreira, Vasco; Gonçalves, Jorge Manuel Santos; Horta E Costa, BarbaraMarine Protected Areas (MPAs) require effective indicators to assess their performance, in compliance with the goals of relevant national and international commitments. Achieving and prioritizing shortlists of multidisciplinary indicators demands a significant effort from specialists to depict the multiple conservation and socioeconomic interests, and the large complexity of natural systems. The present paper describes a structured expert-based methodology (process and outputs) to co-define a list of multidisciplinary MPA performance indicators. This work was promoted by the management authority of coastal MPAs in mainland Portugal to gather a consensual and feasible list of indicators that would guide the design of a future national monitoring program. Hence, Portuguese coastal MPAs served as a case study to develop such a process between 2019 and 2020. In the end, participants (1) agreed on a shortlist of prioritized indicators (i.e., environmental, governance, and socioeconomic indicators) and (2) defined minimum monitoring frequencies for the indicators in this list, compatible with the potential replicability of the associated survey methods. The present approach recommends that management plans incorporate monitoring procedures and survey methods, with a validated list of indicators and associated monitoring periodicity, agreed among researchers, MPA managers and governance experts. The proposed methodology, and the lessons learned from it, can support future processes aiming to define and prioritize MPA performance indicators.