Ana Azevedo

University of Porto | UP · Marine Ecological Modelling Team

Marine aquaculture, particularly in the Mediterranean region, faces the challenge of minimizing growth dispersion, which has a direct impact on the production cycle, market value and sustainability of the sector. Conventional grading methods are resource intensive and potentially detrimental to fish health. The current study presented an innovative...

A R T I C L E I N F O Keywords: PRISMA Systematic review DPSIR DAPSI(W)R(M) Management Deep-sea Mining Climate change Fisheries A B S T R A C T Seamounts are submerged marine mountains across the world's oceans at complex geological and hydrodynamic sites, hosting significant biodiversity and economically important species. However, their inaccessi...

The present study aimed to determine the allometric scaling among a selection of morphological traits in European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) to estimate fish body weight. A set of morphological traits (fish body weight, length, height, and width) were directly measured in 146 fish of a recirculating aquaculture system, with body weights rangin...

Industrial deep-sea mining will release plumes containing metals that may disperse over long distances; however, there is no general understanding of metal effects on marine ecosystems. Thus, we conducted a systematic review in search of models of metal effects on aquatic biota with the future perspective to support Environmental Risk Assessment (E...

The seaweed Gracilaria is not only relevant to the functioning of coastal ecosystems as it also has an important economic value particularly linked to agar extraction. Climate change is expected to affect the production of marine macrophytes and hence their related processes. Baring this in mind, our aim was to develop a numerical model capable of...

This work assessed the Blue Carbon (C) stock in the seagrass meadows (Zostera noltei) of Ria de Aveiro coastal lagoon (Portugal), and evaluated its spatio-temporal trend over the 2003–2005 to 2013–2014 period. Zostera noltei spatial distribution, restricted to intertidal areas in 2014, was mapped by remote sensing using an unmanned aerial vehicle (...

One of the main limitations found in the numerical models available to simulate seagrass dynamics is the absence of processes that differentiate intertidal from subtidal seagrass meadows, namely the desiccation undergone by the leaves when emerged. The main objective of this work is therefore to contribute towards the mechanistic development and te...

The distribution of Zostera noltii seagrass in Ria de Aveiro lagoon (NW Portugal) is presently characterised by intertidal monospecific meadows. Numerical modelling approaches are useful supportive tools for environmental management, although the available numerical models for seagrasses generally overlook the intertidal processes, such as the wate...

Seagrasses are rooted flowering plants, forming dense and highly productive meadows in transitional and coastal waters, which assure major functions and services contributing to the ecosystems health. However, the increased decline and fragmentation of seagass meadows lead to the loss of the associated benefits. In Ria de Aveiro coastal lagoon (Por...

Seagrass meadows support a range of ecosystem functions in coastal lagoons, from habitat and shelter of invertebrates and fishes to stabilizing sediments, serving at the same time as important ecological quality status indicators due to their sensitivity to water quality parameters. Seagrass meadows are recognized as one of the most productive ecos...

Sea level rise is an important consequence of climate change with a significant impact on society and ecosystems. The present work aims to assess the sensitivity of Ria de Aveiro marginal flooded area to the sea level rise. A previous version of the hydrodynamic model ELCIRC was improved extending its numerical grid through the inclusion of the int...

Intertidal off-bottom oyster culture is shown to cause organic enrichment of the shore and although there are two stressors of interest (the presence of a structure, the trestles, and also the sediment and organic waste from the oysters), these can be separated and their relative impacts determined using an appropriate nested experimental design an...