Paula Mendes

Folklore and traditional ecological knowledge of geckos in Southern Portugal: implications for conservation and science

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and folklore are repositories of large amounts of information about the natural world. Ideas, perceptions and empirical data held by human communities regarding local species are important sources which enable new scientific discoveries to be made, as well as offering the potential to solve a number of conservation problems. We documented the gecko-related folklore and TEK of the people of southern Portugal, with the particular aim of understanding the main ideas relating to gecko biology and ecology. Our results suggest that local knowledge of gecko ecology and biology is both accurate and relevant. As a result of information provided by local inhabitants, knowledge of the current geographic distribution of Hemidactylus turcicus was expanded, with its presence reported in nine new locations. It was also discovered that locals still have some misconceptions of geckos as poisonous and carriers of dermatological diseases. The presence of these ideas has led the population to a fear of and aversion to geckos, resulting in direct persecution being one of the major conservation problems facing these animals. It is essential, from both a scientific and conservationist perspective, to understand the knowledge and perceptions that people have towards the animals, since, only then, may hitherto unrecognized pertinent information and conservation problems be detected and resolved.

Suitable methods for landscape evaluation and valorization: the third dimension in landscape metrics

Abstract Landscape metrics have been widely developed over the last two decades. One of the major recent developments in landscape metrics analysis was the integration of the third dimension. Topography has an extremely important role in ecosystems function and structure, even though the common analysis in landscape ecology only considers a planimetric surface, which leads to some erroneous results particularly in mountain areas. In this study we tested landscape metrics behaviour in 13 sample areas of 10,000 m2 each in several topographical conditions of Central Alentejo, Portugal. The significance analysis of the results achieved in planimetric and three-dimensional environments is presented.

Guidelines for the integration of biological and cultural values in a landscape interpretation centre: application in southern Portugal

The city of Évora (the Roman Ebora Liberalitas Julia) is the most important town in Alentejo province (Southern Portugal) and is surrounded by a quite rich cultural and biological landscape involving archaeological sites of several epochs, old field networks and farms, as well as specific multifunctional cultural landscapes, the agro-forestry-pastoral systems called montados. Based on previous studies and land surveys, in which where identified the best preserved sectors and marks around Évora concerning the old cadastral systems, ecological corridors networks and the most important montados areas for preservation, it is presented the main guidelines for the development of an interpretation centre for the cultural and biological values in the Évora region. The methodology applies GIS spatial analysis and multilevel approaches and gives the guidelines for the integration of the different cultural and biological values in a holistic approach of landscape. The conceptual model is presented as well as the results obtained for the Évora Region.