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- The winds and the waves that carved out today’s coastal landscape of Sines (Portugal)Publication . Fernandes, Jacinta; Bizarro, Joana; Loureiro, Nuno de Santos; Santos, CarlosThe Atlantic maritime winds and waves, as natural forces, shaped the physiography of Sines, a peculiar rocky cliff cape at the western Portuguese coast, as well as cultural processes have shaped its spatial arrangement since ancient times. Despite its small size, Sines port has always been an important maritime trade corner. In the 1970s, winds and waves of modernity reached the Sines coast with an imposing industrial-port complex. We present the history of Sines cape focusing on its landscape dynamics. The patch-corridor-matrix model allowed us to describe the mosaic transformation of such a unique landscape. Spatial information was gathered mostly from historical maps processed with digital tools. A time series of thematic maps (landscape mosaic pattern) was obtained, covering more than 120 years. Current results emphasize that this landscape underwent relevant transformations related to human activities since former times, although disturbance and fragmentation of the landscape were strongly intensified after the arrival of the post-modern wave of the industrial culture. The present study provides a contribution to the history of the Portuguese and Mediterranean coastal landscapes; and results could be used to support decision making in sustainable management of this territory.
- Long-term changes in cork oak and holm oak patches connectivity. The Algarve, Portugal, a Mediterranean landscape case studyPublication . Loureiro, Nuno de Santos; Fernandes, Maria JacintaStructural connectivity can be inferred by several landscape metrics that appear to be relevant for characterizing how landscapes constrain or favor the presence and movement of animal species at the level of the regional landscape. Trends of change can be estimated trough spatial time-series analysis. The use of historical maps increases the time span of analysis of the landscape dynamic, relative to the use of remote sensing-related information. Supported by GIS, in this study, a framework for the analyses of the long-term trends of change in the connectivity of the Algarve regional landscape was used to seize the possibility of expanding the span of the spatial time series by integrating an unpublished agricultural and forest map from the turn of the 19th to the 20th century with another historical map and two recent maps. The total area covered by cork and holm oak-related community patches and their connectivity increased over the 20th century and stabilized in the 21st century. A reflection on Portuguese contemporary land-cover policies is urged, to face the sustainable planning and management challenges concerning biodiversity.