Jose Aranha - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Jose Aranha

Animals, Jul 26, 2022

Pharingomyia picta and Cephanemyia auribarbis in Wild Populations of Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) in... more Pharingomyia picta and Cephanemyia auribarbis in Wild Populations of Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) in Portugal.

Agronomy

Brazil has emerged as the world’s largest soybean producer and exporter in recent years. In the B... more Brazil has emerged as the world’s largest soybean producer and exporter in recent years. In the Brazilian Amazon Biome, the state of Pará has become a new agricultural frontier over the last two decades due to a significant increase in soybean cultivation throughout its territory. However, it is essential to understand the associated effects on the environment at every point in the supply chain. This research aims to measure the effects on the environment of the soybean supply chain of two production poles utilising openLCA software and the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology in the northeast (Paragominas) and south (Redenção) of the state of Pará in Brazil. In addition, we determine which is the most efficient route between the shipment port and the ultimate destination. The Recipe Midpoint (H) and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) methods of environmental impact categories were used in accordance with the cradle-to-grave scope. The BRLUC regionalised model (v1.3...

International Journal of Wildland Fire

Background This paper identifies the weaknesses of the Portuguese approach to promote wildfire ri... more Background This paper identifies the weaknesses of the Portuguese approach to promote wildfire risk reduction through spatial planning. Aims This paper contributes to bridging a critical gap in knowledge on the role of spatial planning in the reduction of wildfire hazard, given that the characteristics of fire hazard are distinctive from other natural hazards. Methods Firstly, we used an online questionnaire answered by 175 municipalities of Portugal in order to examine local technicians’ experience in applying spatial planning legislation and wildfire management policies. In a second step, we collected data from a Delphi survey with 27 experts with the aim of confirming or repudiating the importance of each need for integration between spatial planning and rural fire management indicated by the replies of the 175 municipalities. Key results, conclusions, and implications One of the main identified weaknesses relates to the integration of the National Hazard Map in the Constraints M...

Global Ecology and Conservation

Biology and Environment: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy

Recently, there has been an increase in the number of supply chain Life Cycle Assessments, from l... more Recently, there has been an increase in the number of supply chain Life Cycle Assessments, from local cultivation to the final product and its disposal. Globally, the soybean supply chain has expanded. In the 2019/20 season, Brazil was the largest producer and exporter of this commodity worldwide. Currently, LCA publications addressing the environmental impacts of the Brazilian soybean supply chain are scarce, and a review with multiple results is necessary. In the current paper, we performed a search on the &amp;#39;Web of Knowledge&amp;#39; database using the following search strings: &amp;#39;Soybean Life Cycle Assessment&amp;#39; and &amp;#39;Soybean Supply Chain Brazil Assessment&amp;#39;. The search initially retrieved 335 papers. Screening of the identified studies eventually reduced the sample down to 27 relevant papers. We then extracted data that included diverse system boundaries, functional units, life cycle inventories, allocation, impact assessments, and LCA interpretations from each of the studies. Interestingly, the results showed that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change method and the environmental impact of greenhouse gas emissions appeared most (13 times each). Additionally, the SimaPro software was used in nine studies, and the cradle-to-grave concept was addressed in 15 publications. Furthermore, due to the use of various inputs, the agricultural phase has the most significant environmental impact on the soybean supply chain, followed by the transport phase.

Insects

Vespa velutina accidentally arrived in Europe (France) in 2004, and rapidly expanded throughout t... more Vespa velutina accidentally arrived in Europe (France) in 2004, and rapidly expanded throughout the entire country. Its presence in mainland Portugal was first noticed in 2011. Being an invasive species with no natural predators in the region to control it, it has caused enormous environmental and economic damage, particularly on Apis mellifera (honeybee) colonies. Although there is already some research on this species’ biology, little is known about its adaption to European ecological conditions, specifically in terms of nest building. This type of hornet builds a primary nest in the spring to start a colony. During the summer, they build a secondary nest to develop the main colony. These secondary nests are ovoid-shaped and range in size from 18.7 cm to 45.0 cm in diameter and from 19.2 cm to 65.0 cm in length, attaining their highest development in late summer. The external appearance of these nests is characterized by alternating stripes that are beige and brown in color. The m...

Journal for Nature Conservation, 2022

Practice, Progress, and Proficiency in Sustainability, 2022

The production of bioenergy and biofertilizers based on animal and plant biomass is a crucial pil... more The production of bioenergy and biofertilizers based on animal and plant biomass is a crucial pillar in circular economy (CE). CE conceptual model and main aims are closely related to the 3 “R” (reduce, reuse, and recycle) rule, which is to improve the use of resources, minimize waste, and assure sustainability. Although bioenergy offers many opportunities and could be an alternative to fossil fuels use, the path for a broader implementation of this type of activity is still long. This study marks the starting point or direction of research to be taken, ensuring the existence of benefits from plant and animal biomass for the production of bioenergy and biofertilizer, as well as the contributions of this type of production to the circular economy and the mitigation of the climate change impacts.

Ecological Indicators, 2021

Sustainable management of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes is a European Union objective s... more Sustainable management of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes is a European Union objective supported on multifunctional agri-environment measures. The effectiveness of specific practices implemented to reverse declines in farmland biodiversity should be monitored using straightforward methodologies and indicators. This work outlines an innovative hybrid framework to predict the response of biodiversity indicators to farm management options. We exemplify the framework application, integrating monitoring, statistics and spatio-temporal modelling procedures with a case study using flying vertebrates' patterns for indicating biodiversity trends. The indicators considered depict significant divergences within contrasting on-farm implemented environmental management options. In fact, while birds' abundance was expected to increase within environmentally friendly options, bats passes showed fluctuating patterns. Overall, the framework and indicators selected were considered relevant for biodiversity assessments in vineyard landscapes. This approach also provides a promising baseline to support sustainable management practices and options for other agroecosystems, derived from ecological models with increased predictive power and intuitiveness to decision makers and environmental managers.

Energies, 2019

Biomass from forestry and agricultural sector provides an important contribution to encounter the... more Biomass from forestry and agricultural sector provides an important contribution to encounter the government’s targets for increasing bioenergy production and utilization. Characterization of agricultural and forest wastes are critical for exploiting and utilizing them for energy purpose. In the present work agricultural and forest wastes and shrubs were sampled in two sites in north Portugal (Ave and Sabor basin) and subjected to Higher Heating Value (HHV) and chemical composition quantification. The HHV was evaluated according to the methodology described in Standard DD CEN/TS14918:2005. For the lignin content, the procedure was made by the Klason method and the extractives content was determined with the Soxhlet method. For agricultural and forest wastes the HHV values are identical with a range of 17 to 21 MJ·kg−1. However, shrubs biomass presentx slightly higher and statistically different values from agricultural and forest wastes, varying between 19 and 21 MJ·kg−1. Forest was...

Agricultural and Forest Entomology, 2017

The aims of this research performed in vineyards within the Douro Demarcated Region were to deter... more The aims of this research performed in vineyards within the Douro Demarcated Region were to determine the species composition of vineyard epigaeic arthropods assemblages and to determine the influence of certain factors on their activity densities and diversity: (i) landscape composition in buffers (125, 250, 500 and 750 m) around each study site; (ii) adjacent vegetation; and (iii) vineyards' ground cover. Arthropods' were assessed using pitfall traps located inside the vineyards at three distances from adjacent vegetation (5, 50 and 100 m). 2 Activity densities and diversity increased from spring to summer for all the studied trophic groups (omnivores, detritivores, predators, phytophages), thus showing them to be affected by season. 3 The activity densities of phytophages were always higher at a distance of 5 m from the adjacent vegetation, which suggests that, although they could originate from these habitats, they do not move too far into the vineyard. Predators reported higher activity densities at 5 m during spring. Meanwhile, in summer, no significant differences were found with the increasing distance from the edge. This result suggests that these habitats could serve both as a refuge and a hibernation habitat, from which predators could colonize the vineyard.

Ecological Modelling, 2012

Spatially crown biomass of Pinus pinaster stands and shrubland above-ground biomass (AGB) estimat... more Spatially crown biomass of Pinus pinaster stands and shrubland above-ground biomass (AGB) estimation was carried-out in a region located in Centre-North Portugal, by means of different approaches including forest inventory data, remotely sensed imagery and spatial prediction models. Two cover types (pine stands and shrubland) were inventoried and biomass assessed in a total of 276 sample field plots. We compared AGB spatial predictions derived from Direct Radiometric Relationships (DRR) of remotely sensed data; and the geostatis1ical method Regression-kriging (RK), using remotely sensed data as auxiliary variables. Also, Ordinary Kriging (OK), Universal Kriging (UK), Inverse Distance Weighted (lOW) and Thiessen Polygons estimations were performed and tested. The comparison of AGB maps shows distinct predictions among DRR and RK; and Kriging and deterministic methods, indicating the inadequacy from these later ones to map AGB over large areas. DRR and RK methods produced lower statistical error values, in pine stands and shrubland, when compared to kriging and deterministic interpolators. Since forest landscape is not continuous variable, the tested forest variables showed low spatial autocorrelation, which makes kriging methods unsuitable to these purposes. Despite the geostatistical method RK did not increase the accuracy of estimates developed by DRR, denser sampling schemes and different auxiliary variables should be explored, in order to test if the accuracy of predictions is improved.

Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing, 2009

Silva Lusitana, Dec 1, 2006

Animals

Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae is a relevant zoonotic infectious agent causing swine erysipelas (SE... more Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae is a relevant zoonotic infectious agent causing swine erysipelas (SE) in wild boar. In Portugal, there is no information on its occurrence. For this reason, this study aims to perform a first serosurvey of SE in hunted wild boars in Portugal. During the 2019/2020 hunting season, 111 sera from hunted wild boar were collected and analysed serologically in the laboratory with a commercial ELISA kit. No animals were eviscerated and examined after the hunt. The hunters took it all for private consumption. The results identified 18 animals that were exposed to SE, corresponding to a seroprevalence of 16.2% (95% CI: 19.9–24.4%). No statistical significance was observed on the effect of gender and age on seropositivity. However, wild boar hunted in Pinhel County, had five times more likely to be seropositivity (p-value < 0.05; OD = 5.4). Apart from its potential debilitating capacity and chronicity in the wild boar population, SE is also a very serious occupa...

Forests

Spatial planning potential for reducing natural risks including wildfires is widely recognized. T... more Spatial planning potential for reducing natural risks including wildfires is widely recognized. This research is focused on Portugal, a wildfire-prone country in southern Europe, where the competencies for spatial planning lie on four geographical levels: (i) the national and regional levels, with a strategic nature, set the general goals or the agenda of principles for spatial planning and (ii) the inter-municipal and municipal levels use regulative land-use planning instruments. There is a trend to bring together spatial planning and wildfire management policies. Thus, this paper aims to identify which are the main difficulties and which are the major opportunities, regarding the implementation of the new Integrated Management System for Rural Fires (IMSRF) and the challenge of integrating wildfire risk reduction in the Portuguese spatial planning framework. Through a survey of municipal professionals with experience in applying the legislation of both policies, the major difficul...

Fire

In terms of researching fire-related structure loss, various factors can affect structure surviva... more In terms of researching fire-related structure loss, various factors can affect structure survival during a wildfire. This paper aims to assess which factors were determinants in house resistance in the specific context of a case study of an extreme wildfire in the Central Region of Portugal and therefore which factors should be taken into account in the definition of a municipal mitigation strategy to defend buildings against wildfires. In this context, it is possible to conclude that various factors presented a predominant influence, some in building destruction and others in building survival. The existence of overhanging vegetation and lack of defensible space constitute major factors for structure destruction. the inherent wildfire severity, the location in the forest area, and the structure’s isolation from major roads were equally important factors that induced house destruction. Building survival was determined by its increasing distance from the forest and by its location i...

ICFBR 2022

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

ESP Europe, Oct 1, 2018

International audienc