Untitled

Funder

Organizational Unit

Publications

Tanaidaceans (Crustacea: Peracarida: Apseudidae) from southern Portugal with description of the new species Apseudopsis formosus, report of five first records and a biogeographic overview: unexpected expansion or understudied hotspot?

Publication . Carvalho, Andre N.; Pereira, Fabio; Piló, David; Gaspar, Miguel; Esquete, Patricia

This study describes Apseudopsis formosus sp. nov., a new apseudomorph tanaidacean species from the Ria Formosa lagoon (southern Portugal). Species description was based on 223 individuals (22 juveniles, 60 males and 141 females), comprising diverse developmental stages (juveniles II, males I and II, preparatory, copulatory and intermediate females). The total length of the studied population ranged from 2.2 to 3.0 mm in juveniles, 2.5 to 4.8 mm in males and 2.9 to 4.9 mm in females. Overall, Apseudopsis formosus sp. nov. differs from congeneric tanaidaceans from the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea by the presence of combined different morphological characters such as short pointed rostrum, posterolateral pointed corners on pereonites 2-6, hyposphenium only on pereonite 6, antennular outer flagellum 7- to 10-segmented, inner flagellum 3-segmented and five spines on propodus of pereopod 1, and sexual dimorphism evidenced by a pronounced mid-dorsal triangular wing-shaped protuberance on male merus cheliped, unique in Apseudopsis genus. At each studied developmental stage, some individuals presented abnormalities in spination, having only four spines in one of the propodus of pereopod 1. Additionally, five first records of Apseudopsis from the Algarve coast (A. adami, A. bacescui, A. elisae, A. mediterraneus and A. uncidigitatus) are reported for Portuguese waters. A biogeographic overview of the genus Apseudopsis is presented through the compilation and mapping of all worldwide reported occurrences. Passive dispersion can explain the most recent species distribution, yet not disregarding that the study area is taxonomically understudied. This study contributes to improve the current knowledge on tanaidacean taxonomy and updates the geographical distribution range of the Apseudopsis-complex.

2019-11Journal article

Restricted

Participatory assessment of management measures for octopus vulgaris pot and trap fishery from southern Portugal

Publication . Sonderblohm, Carlos; Guimarães, Maria H.; Pita, Cristina; Oliveira, M.R.; Pereira, João; Gonçalves, Jorge Manuel Santos; Erzini, Karim

Co-management has shown promising results for the sustainable use of fishery resources. The common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) pot and trap fishery in the Algarve (Portugal) holds the potential for implementation of a co-management system. To explore this potential, seven participatory workshops took place between 2014-2015, bringing together 60 participants from 10 fishing associations and 16 fisheries management and research institutions. The exercise resulted in promising outcomes with regards to the possible implementation of a co-management system for the fishery. In the present work an overview of the outcomes of the participatory workshops is given and compared with initiatives worldwide. Among the management actions identified, some have direct impacts on the octopus' life cycle, while all target the same overall objective: to regulate fishing effort. In the informal setting of the workshops, a formal request was developed: the establishment of an annual closed season in the Algarve. This request was taken into consideration by the responsible management institution.

2017-01Journal article

Restricted

Antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of the essential oils from Thymbra capitata and Thymus Species grown in Portugal

Publication . Miguel, Maria; Gago, Custódia; Antunes, Maria Dulce; Megias, Cristina; Cortes-Giraldo, Isabel; Vioque, Javier; Sofia Lima, A.; Cristina Figueiredo, A.

The antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of the essential oils from Thymbra capitata and Thymus species grown in Portugal were evaluated. Thymbra and Thymus essential oils were grouped into two clusters: Cluster I in which carvacrol, thymol, p-cymene, alpha-terpineol, and gamma-terpinene dominated and Cluster II in which thymol and carvacrol were absent and the main constituent was linalool. The ability for scavenging ABTS(center dot+) and peroxyl free radicals as well as for preventing the growth of THP-1 leukemia cells was better in essential oils with the highest contents of thymol and carvacrol. These results show the importance of these two terpene-phenolic compounds as antioxidants and cytotoxic agents against THP-1 cells.

2015Journal article

Open Access

Environmental representativity in marine protected area networks over large and partly unexplored seascapes

Publication . Stratoudakis, Yorgos; Hilário, Ana; Ribeiro, Cláudia; Abecasis, David; Gonçalves, Emanuel J.; Andrade, Francisco; Carreira, Gilberto P.; Gonçalves, Jorge Manuel Santos; Freitas, Luis; Pinheiro, Luis Menezes; Batista, Marisa I.; Henriques, Miguel; Oliveira, Paulo B.; Oliveira, Paulo; Afonso, Pedro; Arriegas, Pedro Ivo; Henriques, Sofia

Converting assemblages of marine protected areas (MPAs) into functional MPA networks requires political will, multidisciplinary information, coordinated action and time. We developed a new framework to assist planning environmental representativity in a network across the marine space of Portugal, responding to a political commitment to protect 14% of its area by 2020. An aggregate conservation value was estimated for each of the 27 habitats identified, from intertidal waters to the deep sea. This value was based on expert-judgment scoring for environmental properties and features relevant for conservation, chosen to reflect the strategic objectives of the network, thus providing an objective link between conservation commitments and habitat representativity in space. Additionally, habitats' vulnerability to existing anthropogenic pressures and sensitivity to climate change were also scored. The area coverage of each habitat in Portugal and within existing MPAs (regionally and nationally) was assigned to a scale of five orders of magnitude (from < 0.01% to >10%) to assess rarity and existing representation. Aggregate conservation value per habitat was negatively correlated with area coverage, positively correlated with vulnerability and was not correlated with sensitivity. The proposed framework offers a multi-dimensional support tool for MPA network development, in particular regarding the prioritization of new habitats to protect, when the goal is to achieve specific targets while ensuring representativity across large areas and complex habitat mosaics. It requires less information and computation effort in comparison to more quantitative approaches, while still providing an objective instrument to scrutinize progress on the implementation of politically set conservation targets.

2019Journal article

Open Access

Multitaxon activity profiling reveals differential microbial response to reduced seawater pH and oil pollution

Publication . Coelho, Francisco J. R. C.; Cleary, Daniel F. R.; Costa, Rodrigo; Ferreira, Marina; Polonia, Ana R. M.; Silva, Artur M. S.; Simoes, Mario M. Q.; Oliveira, Vanessa; Gomes, Newton C. M.

There is growing concern that predicted changes to global ocean chemistry will interact with anthropogenic pollution to significantly alter marine microbial composition and function. However, knowledge of the compounding effects of climate change stressors and anthropogenic pollution is limited. Here, we used 16S and 18S rRNA (cDNA)-based activity profiling to investigate the differential responses of selected microbial taxa to ocean acidification and oil hydrocarbon contamination under controlled laboratory conditions. Our results revealed that a lower relative abundance of sulphate-reducing bacteria (Desulfosarcina/Desulfococcus clade) due to an adverse effect of seawater acidification and oil hydrocarbon contamination (reduced pH-oil treatment) may be coupled to changes in sediment archaeal communities. In particular, we observed a pronounced compositional shift and marked reduction in the prevalence of otherwise abundant operational taxonomic units (OTUs) belonging to the archaeal Marine Benthic Group B and Marine Hydrothermal Vent Group (MHVG) in the reduced pH-oil treatment. Conversely, the abundance of several putative hydrocarbonoclastic fungal OTUs was higher in the reduced pH-oil treatment. Sediment hydrocarbon profiling, furthermore, revealed higher concentrations of several alkanes in the reduced pH-oil treatment, corroborating the functional implications of the structural changes to microbial community composition. Collectively, our results advance the understanding of the response of a complex microbial community to the interaction between reduced pH and anthropogenic pollution. In future acidified marine environments, oil hydrocarbon contamination may alter the typical mixotrophic and k-/r-strategist composition of surface sediment microbiomes towards a more heterotrophic state with lower doubling rates, thereby impairing the ability of the ecosystem to recover from acute oil contamination events.

2016-09Journal article

Restricted