Browsing by Author "Passos, Isabel"
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- How people perceive the ecosystem services provided by Pyrenean oak forestsPublication . Paula, Anabela; Passos, IsabelThe Pyrenean oak (Quercus pyrenaica) is an autochthonous tree in Portugal, predominant in the supramediterranean north and center inland. Despite having an extensive potential area in Portugal, the species has a fragmented distribution due to the long-lasting impact of agriculture and afforestation. The ecological meaning and the vast range of ecosystem services (ES) provided by oak forests are recognized by the scientific community. However, the public's perception of those forests' importance as ES providers, is unknown. We aim to evaluate people’s perceptions on Pyrenean oak forests as a source of ES in the CULTIVAR project study area (www.icultivar.pt). An online survey was carried out to assess: a) which ES are assumed to be provided by those forests (provisioning,regulating and maintenance, and culturalservices), b) which ES the respondents consider to benefit directly and c) how much they value the ES obtained and how to increase this value. The main perceived provisioning services were: the use of oak as firewood, the use of oak forest as a hunting site, a livestock grazing site, and for wild mushroom collection. Nevertheless, most respondents consider not directly profit from those ES, except for firewood and mushroom picking. In opposition, culturalservices seem to be well perceived and enjoyed, being forest oaks considered as a natural heritage that must be preserved, and an important recreation and nature observation area. The ES respondents consider that society and themselves benefit directly from most of the regulation & maintenance ES provided by oak forest. The public’s opinion about this forest value and ES are critical in helping policymakers' decisions and fostering more suitable policies for the sector. The perceptions about such forests and their benefits will also help to identify opportunities to improve communication strategies, which might greatly impact society and its various stakeholders.
- Pyrenean oak forests under global change - integrating projected suitable areas in management planPublication . Passos, Isabel; Almeida, Alice A.; Vila-Viçosa, Carlos; Ribeiro, Maria Margarida; Figueiredo, AlbanoForests provide broad ecosystem services (ES), and their contribution to regulation and maintenance services (e.g. carbon sequestration, soil formation, habitat protection, erosion control) explains why forest recovery/expansion is an effective nature-based solution for climate change mitigation. Thus, forest restoration measures must integrate results about expected changes in species distribution, as future climate change may promote range shifts and suitable habitat loss, followed by species turnover. Expected changes in forest species’ potential distribution should be considered in forest ecosystem restoration planning actions, to increase long-term success, and enhance ES at long term. Pyrenean oak (Quercus pyrenaica) is a native species to the western Mediterranean Basin, and a structural tree in central and northern inland Portugal forests, together with pedunculate oak (Q. robur subsp. broteroana). Despite the extensive potential growing area, it has a fragmented distribution due to fast-growing forest species reforestation, agriculture, and other land-use impacts. In this work, we used species distribution models (SDMs) to assess changes in suitable areas for the Pyrenean oak under two climate change scenarios (SSP370 and SSP585), aiming to guide forest recovery measures dedicated to ES enhancement at long term. The Pyrenean oak's entire native range was considered in the models’ calibration, and different algorithms were used. The results suggest that the species' total suitable area will be negatively affected by climate change in the future, with a clear suitability turnover with other oak species, namely more dryness-adapted ones. Overall, Quercus pyrenaica suitable area will decline, and management actions should consider this aspect in future restoration plans, especially at the edges of its current distribution area
- Uncertainties in plant species niche modeling under climate change scenariosPublication . Passos, Isabel; Figueiredo, Albano; Almeida, Alice; Ribeiro, M.M.A.Species distribution models (SDMs) have been used to forecast the impact of climate change on species’ potential distribution, with results that might support decisions for conservation and biodiversity management. Despite their vulnerability to parameterization and data quality input, SDM use has been increasing in the last decades. In fact, inappropriate inputs and the lack of awareness about the effects of methodological decisions on results can lead to potential unreliability in results, a problem that might gain relevance when SDMs are used to predict climate change impacts on species-suitable areas. Aiming to assess how far such a topic is considered, an analysis of the calibration data and methodological decisions was conducted for recent publications (2018 to 2022) that include SDMs in this context, aiming to identify putative deviations from the consensual best practices. Results show that the parameters presented more consistently are the algorithm in use (MaxEnt was used in 98% of the studies), the