Catarina Fonseca

Linking GMES Space Component to the development of land policies in Outermost Regions - the Azores (Portugal) case-study

Abstract The aim of this study is to assess the potential effectiveness of GMES Space Component Sentinel Missions for land-based environmental policy support in the Azores Autonomous Region (Portugal). Sixteen different types of legal and spatial instruments are currently being applied in this region. Most of them require detailed and accurate Land-use/Land-cover cartography in order to deliver reliable outputs at municipal, island and archipelagic scales. Sentinel-2 Mission products can fulfill these requirements in a cost-effective way. A Spatial Data Infrastructure-based Regional GMES framework is proposed in order to process, assess, validate and integrate this GMES data into the decision support system of Azorean regional land policies.

Elemental characterization of plants and soils in Panasqueira tungsten mining region

PurposeMining activities represent a current source of pollution due to the large release of trace elements from mineral particles into the soil, atmosphere, and ecosystems. In active or abandoned metal-mining areas, direct discharge from mining deposits is one of the most common processes of contamination.Materials and methodsIn this work, we calculated the elemental concentrations of plants, edible for cattle, which might contain high values of toxic elements, such as As, Cu, Zn, and W, originated from mining exploitation, especially wolframite. Several species of plants originating from the same contaminated place, close to the mine, were the subject of our study in order to compare the uptake of harmful elements, from the contaminated soils, in the different plants. We have used the energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence technique to perform the analysis and quantification of the elements present in the collected samples. The quantification was based on the fundamental parameters method for plants and on the WinAxil compare mode using a standard reference material, for soils. Calibration against a series of standard samples has been carried out.Results and discussionA comparison between contaminated and control samples, within the same species, was performed. The contamination of the two mining wash sites is assessed by comparing the elemental concentration of several plants in these places. Elemental content in soils was investigated, and a comparison between elemental levels in plants was performed.ConclusionsHigh concentrations of tungsten were found near the new wash site. Arsenic was found throughout the area in concentrations many times higher than those recommended by the World Health Organization.

Coastal and marine protected areas as key elements for tourism in small islands

ABSTRACT Fonseca, C., Pereira da Silva, C., Calado, H., Moniz, F., Bragagnolo, C., Gil, A., Phillips, M., Pereira, M., Moreira, M., 2014. Coastal and marine protected areas as key elements for tourism in small islands. In: Green, A.N. and Cooper, J.A.G. (eds.), Proceedings 13th International Coastal Symposium (Durban, South Africa), Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 70, pp. 461–466, ISSN 0749-0208. The Azores Archipelago (Portugal) is composed of 9 small islands located in the North Atlantic. To overcome the common challenges of this type of territory (e.g. isolation, closed systems, limited physical space and natural resources, endemism, small economies, small populations) and taking advantage of the natural and cultural heritage, the Regional Government of the Azores has based its Tourism Strategy on the high value of nature, landscape, flag species and outdoor experiences with a strong environmental friendly label. Pico Island offers the perfect scenario to enjoy such nature-based tourism activities, welcoming around 15,000 tourists per year, equivalent to the number of residents on the island. The islands natural and cultural heritage is outstanding and Pico Island Natural Park represents 35% of the territory, including several coastal and marine areas. Tourists awareness about Pico protected areas, their activities and preferences can be extremely important to the management of the Island Natural Park. Integrated in the research project SMARTPARKS, a survey was conducted with 134 tourists, revealing the importance assigned to Pico protected areas and coastal zone. Among coastal and maritime activities, bathing and whale watching are the most frequent activities (57% and 44% of respondents, respectively) and 20% of respondents think whale watching should be promoted. This exploratory study gathered important information for decision-making agencies with respect to solving problems and possible solutions through tourism, namely the application of a fee system to help manage and conserve protected areas.

Assessing the efficiency of protected areas to represent biodiversity: a small island case study

Protected areas (PAs) have been selected using either subjective or objective criteria applied to an extremely limited subset of biodiversity. Improved availability of species distribution data, better statistical tools to predict species distributions and algorithms to optimize spatial conservation planning allow many impediments to be overcome, particularly on small islands. This study analyses whether 219 species are adequately protected by PAs on Pico Island (the Azores, Portugal), and if they are as efficient as possible, maximizing species protection while minimizing costs. We performed distribution modelling of species’ potential distributions, proposed individual conservation targets (considering the context of each species in the archipelago and their current conservation status) to determine the efficiency of current PAs in meeting such targets and identify alternative or complementary areas relevant for conservation. Results showed that current PAs do not cover all taxa, leaving out important areas for conservation. We demonstrate that by using optimization algorithms it is possible to include most species groups in spatial conservation planning in the Azores with the current resources. With increasing availability of data and methods, this approach could be readily extended to other islands and regions with high endemism levels.

Beach carrying capacity and protected areas: management issues in Arrábida Natural Park, Portugal

ABSTRACT Pereira da Silva, C.; Nogueira Mendes, R..; Moutinho, G.; Mota, V. and Fonseca, C., 2016. Beach carrying capacity and protected areas: management issues in Arrábida Natural Park, Portugal. In: Vila-Concejo, A.; Bruce, E.; Kennedy, D.M., and McCarroll, R.J. (eds.), Proceedings of the 14th International Coastal Symposium (Sydney, Australia). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue, No. 75, pp. 680–684. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Arrábida Natural Park (Portugal) comprises beaches with high natural and scenic values under huge demand during peak season. Understanding patterns of beach use and the perceptions of users is essential for carrying capacity management. This paper discusses the use intensity and dynamic in two beaches, using data from onsite counting, time-lapse photos and a traffic counter. Users perceptions regarding general aspects of the beaches and perceived crowding obtained through questionnaires are also presented. The number of users recorded in this study never reached the carrying capacity established and most users feel comfortable with the number of people on the beach. However, parking and traffic were identified as factors of concern: users are not discouraged by the limited parking spaces, often exceeding the formal capacity by parking on the roadside. This type of problem needs to be addressed not only in the context of beach management but also the protected area management.

Ecosystem functions at the island scale: a contribution to the design of ecological structure

ABSTRACT The concept of ecological structure (ESt), as implemented through spatial planning, has been recently used to protect ecosystem functions (EFs) and services and their contribution to human well-being. This study intends to provide an exploratory analysis to operationalize the inclusion of EFs in the design of ESt in territories lacking detailed individual studies on EFs. The objective is to advance this concept in small island ecosystems and use Pico Island (Portugal) as case study. The proposed methodology identifies EFs contributing to the objectives of ESt. It uses (i) geographic data available from studies on individual EFs and (ii) definition of territorial units (TUs), based on biophysical features, used as cartographic units to assign and map remaining EFs. A total of 15 EFs were selected among three main categories: natural regulation (10), support (3) and cultural (2) functions. Geographic data are available for carbon storage and groundwater recharge. To assign the remaining EFs, a total of 86 TUs were defined. The performed analysis suggested that the use of EFs, along with multi-criteria decision-making techniques, could successfully contribute to define ESt and integrate it into spatial planning on Pico Island and other small islands systems. EDITED BY Christina von Haaren

Assessing the efficiency of protected areas to represent biodiversity: a small island case study – CORRIGENDUM

Marta Vergílio would like to thank the Azorean Regional Fund for Science and Technology and the Pro-Emprego for funding the PhD Project M3.1.2/F/007/2011. The authors would like to thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), for funding the project PTDC/AAC-AMB/098786/2008. This work was also funded by FEDER funds through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness Factors COMPETE and by National Funds through FCT Foundation for Science and Technology under the project No. FCOMP-01-0124FEDER-037300 (Ref. FCT PEstC / BIA / UI0609 / 2013), UID/BIA/50027/2013, and POCI-01-0145-FEDER00682. Data on species distributions was gathered based on the European Union projects INTERREGIII B “ATLÂNTICO” (2004–2006) and BIONATURA (2006– 2008), and, more recently, ATLANTISMAR “Mapping coastal and marine biodiversity of the Azores” (Ref: M2.1.2/I/027/2011). The climatic modeling work of EBA was developed in the framework of the project “EstraMAR” (MAC/3/C177), which was supported by the European Union through the MAC Transnational Program of Cooperation – Madeira-Azores-Canaries.

Reflexões sobre o contributo dos instrumentos de gestão para a resiliência de áreas protegidas em Portugal

A Rede Nacional de Areas Protegidas ocupa cerca de 8,5% do territorio continental. O planeamento e gestao destas areas revela-se essencial para a sustentabilidade do territorio. No entanto, os sistemas a gerir sao complexos e dinâmicos, sujeitos a influencia de multiplos fatores, endogenos e exogenos, que induzem mudancas imprevisiveis e nao acauteladas. Neste contexto de incerteza, e evidente que a gestao das areas protegidas deve incorporar mecanismos capazes de lidar com a instabilidade que afeta estes ecossistemas. Este artigo analisa a gestao das areas protegidas a luz da teoria da resiliencia e reflete sobre o papel dos instrumentos atualmente disponiveis, em particular dos planos de ordenamento. Tambem e discutida a necessidade de planos flexiveis e resilientes, capazes de manter a sua funcao e aderencia a realidade territorial. http://dx.doi.org/10.17127/got/2013.3.004 Data de submissao: 2013-03-30 Data de aprovacao: 2013-06-11 Data de publicacao: 2013-06-30