During more than five centuries of human colonization, 50% of original peatlands in Azores have been destroyed or degraded, mainly due to pasture use, resulting in landscape changes and a loss of ecosystem biodiversity and services. This study aims to identify the most effective measures in the recovery and to detect initial responses (2 years). These are the first restoration experiments, carried out in a background of complete absence of strategies adapted for Azores pastured peatlands. In a post‐pastured peatland, 24 experiments were implemented, repeated in more degraded (northern) and more natural (southern) areas. The experiments were combinations of restoration measures, with the introduction of Juniperus brevifolia , Calluna vulgaris , and Sphagnum palustre and the use of management techniques to control herbaceous cover (alien‐rich herbaceous cover competing with Sphagnum or peatland natural shrubs): intensive and extensive grazing and grass cutting. Principal response curves and redundancy analyses were used to assess changes in the flora and the physicochemical parameters. Globally there was an increase in Sphagnum cover and a decrease in herbaceous species. This was accompanied by an increase in organic matter and a decrease in nitrogen. In more natural parcels (large artificially divided areas where different experiments were implemented), the most positive tendencies were associated with the combination of J. brevifolia planting and grass cutting. In more degraded areas, treatments had a lower impact, as the results tended to be similar to the control, pointing to an important natural regenerative succession dynamic that overlapped the response to the implemented treatments.

Trichomanes speciosum is a protected fern whose sporophyte generation is abundant on the island of Terceira (Azores archipelago, Portugal) but whose dispersal mechanism has never been directly documented. Based on its distribution, bird‐mediated epizoochory is a likely mechanism for spore dispersal, but there is no evidence to support this hypothesis. Laboratory experiments were performed to test the transportability of T. speciosum spores by the woodpigeon (Columba palumbus azorica), by observing the persistence of artificially added spores to feather samples that had been exposed to treatments of different wind speeds (2, 4, 6, and 8.25 m s−1) to simulate flight. The spores attached readily to the woodpigeon feathers, and 47% of the spores, on average, were lost after applying the maximum wind speed of the experiment. Spore loss was significantly related to wind speed but not to time of exposure. These findings suggest that if a fern spore adheres to the feathers of a woodpigeon, it has a probability of around 53% to remain there during flight and to eventually be dropped away from its origin. This study not only sheds new light on the possibility of T. speciosum spores being dispersed by woodpigeons, but also provides mechanistic evidence for spore retention on bird surfaces more generally. Laboratory experiments were performed to test the transportability of spores of Trichomanes speciosum by the Azorean woodpigeon (Columba palumbus azorica). The persistence of artificially added spores to feather samples that had been exposed to treatments of different wind speeds during different periods to simulate flight was measured. Spore loss was <50% and was more significantly related to wind speed than to time of exposure. These results suggest that if a fern spore adheres to the feathers of a woodpigeon, it has a probability of around 53% to remain there during flight and to eventually be dropped away from its place of origin.

Pereira, Dinis; Dias, Eduardo; Mendes, Cândida (2022). Aplicação de Imagens de Satélite na Deteção e Monitorização de Flora e Habitats-Açores. O fascínio de ver para além da vista humana. Palestra no âmbito da iniciativa Espaço vai à Escola 2022 (outubro e novembro) - Ciência Viva - ESERO Portugal, com a apresentação em várias escolas (ilhas e Portugal continental).

Presentation, invited by EBS Biscoitos, integrated in the Eco-Schools programme. It was an Environmental Education action for 8th grade students of that institution. The main theme was Azorean biodiversity with special focus on endemic species.