Cláudia Fernandes

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Verified

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• PhD
• Professor (Assistant) at University of Porto

Social-ecological memory (SEM) may be a key source of resilience in social-ecological systems (SES), allowing for renewal and reorganisation after disturbances. This study provides an overview of the genesis and evolution of the SEM concept, its research trends and gaps, and its potential applicability to geographical thought. Combining systematic...

Water scarcity is a global problem. Thus, sustainable water management is crucial. Cities, especially urban green spaces, are central to sustainable water management. Although multiple strategies are adopted worldwide, it is unclear what the latest scientific research advances are on reducing water consumption in urban green spaces. This paper pres...

The adverse effects of urbanized areas’ growth might be mitigated by the multiple ecosystem services that urban green infrastructure provides. However, the design and composition of such infrastructure is still a hotly debated issue, mainly considering the challenges associated with the use of exotic plant species. To assess if there is a clear ass...

Evaluation of landscape visual quality is crucial for policymaking and planning but is still challenging. A wide range of visual assessment protocols is available, but there is still no consensus on appropriate indicators or approaches. Also, evaluation protocols can encompass many indicators, being exhaustive and complex and making the evaluation...

Introduction: Agricultural cultural landscapes are strongly driven by human management, but landscapes now face rapid and irreversible changes in Land Use and Land Cover (LULC), which can pose several challenges, especially if these landscapes are classified or have special legal protection in place (van der Zanden et al. 2017). LULC changes freque...

Visual quality assessment has gained greater importance over the years and is a relevant tool to improve people's quality of life. These assessments can be accomplished through several methods or a combination of them. However, it is not clear what are the main expert methodologies available and what are the main trends occurring. A systematic revi...

Mediterranean rural landscapes are experiencing multiple changes which imperil the preservation of landscape pattern and character. Despite the abundance of land-use change studies, most approaches do not evaluate the impact of land-use change on landscape character. This study presents a diagnostic framework focused on two main phases: i) the quan...

Public Urban Green Spaces (PUGS) play a vital role in the dense urban fabric as places of Nature-Society contact and socialization. Despite some advances in the field, the relationship between the PUGS surroundings and their users' behaviours remains unclear. This study examined the patterns of human behaviour in four PUGS of the city of Porto, on...

The Douro is a unique region of deep valleys and Mediterranean character, nestled between two important Portuguese mountains and the Iberian plateau. The original geological, morphological, and climatic characteristics allow for the survival of an extraordinary diversity of plants and animals, which is why this territory has been occupied, since pr...

Visual landscape assessment is nowadays crucial in landscape planning. However, scenic beauty remains difficult to assess as the wide range and complexity of expert assessment frameworks available can hinder the task. This paper gathers some basic guidelines for the elaboration of a visual quality study carried out by experts and focuses on in situ...

Este artigo apresenta um olhar sociológico sobre o Jardim da Corujeira, localizado na cidade do Porto, aplicando a técnica do mapeamento do comportamento humano aos seus utilizadores. Para tal, conjugaram-se variáveis sociais, ambientais e espaciais que permitiram identificar regularidades de comportamentos sociais que, por um lado, traduzem a rela...

Public Urban Green Spaces (PUGS) are the main drivers for increasing the quality of urban environments, potentiating local resilience, promoting sustainable lifestyles, as well as improving both the health and well-being of their users. Municipal leaders are responsible for the maintenance of PUGS. However, current evidence identifies limited knowl...

The database presented in this data article is related to the article “Adaptive planting design and management framework for urban climate change adaptation and mitigation” [1]. It includes a list of 287 plant species presently occurring in Porto, Portugal, more precisely in urban green spaces with high urban ecological novelty levels. The plant sp...

Implementing measures to adapt and mitigate climate change effects in cities has been considered increasingly urgent since the quality of life, health, and well-being of urban residents is threatened by this change. Novel communities of plant species that emerge and thrive in the harsh conditions of cities may represent a promising opportunity to a...

The New Ecological Paradigm scale (NEPS) is a worldwide survey-based metric, designed to measure the environmental concern of groups of people through a single instrument including fifteen statements. As far as it is known, the NEPS has never been previously applied to Urban Green Spaces’ Users (UGSU). The assessment and analysis of this group’s pe...

Current evidence states that urban green spaces (UGS) increase the quality of urban settings, enhance local resilience and promote sustainable lifestyles, being recognized as an effective nature-based-solutions. The socioecological research, by combining social and ecological variables, is useful to fully explore Humans- Nature interactions. The di...

This study presents a systematic review to investigate the multiple dimensions of cultural ecosystem services (CES) provided by urban green spaces (UGS) that aim to contribute to supporting the ecosystem services framework towards more sustainable cities. Methodologically, the search was based on peerreviewed journal papers indexed in ScienceDirect...

Novel assemblages of biotic, abiotic, and social components resulting from human-induced actions (e.g., climate change, land-use change, species movement) have been labeled as “Novel Ecosystems”, or “Novel Urban Ecosystems” when emerging in urban contexts. This concept has been shifting perspectives among some scientists and making them question tr...

Research suggests that access to urban green spaces (UGS) is crucial to support public and environmental health through ecosystem services (ES) provision. However, Cultural ecosystem services (CES), due to their connections to human emotion, a deep meaning, fulfilment, and motivation, have been less studied. CES provision in UGS are central to well...

Urban areas are continuously subjected to anthropogenic transformations that result in the emergence of novel urban ecosystems. To prepare for and respond to contemporary negative environmental impacts (e.g., climate change, land-use change, biological invasions), it is increasingly urgent to plan and adapt cities’ green infrastructure. Accordingly...

Indicators are increasingly needed in landscape assessment. Over recent years, a wide range of methods and assessment frameworks were developed to describe and evaluate landscape. However, landscape study is supported by several disciplines with different research targets and goals. Hence, it is not clear to what extent academic research shows inte...

The crescent population concentration in cities is recognized as one of the main contemporary challenges. It is in cities that social and environmental challenges are increasing, which implies a look at the sustainable urban planning. Urban green spaces play an important role in responding to such challenges, specifically through ecosystem services...

Cities must be pleasant and healthy spaces able to contribute to ecosystems regeneration and to bring closer Humans and Nature. Contemporary social and environmental issues present big challenges to promoting sustainable and resilient cities. The potential of ecosystem services of the urban green spaces is visible in the regeneration of the urban e...

The complex interaction of ecological and social systems has shaped the cities through the time. This fosters the need to develop interdisciplinary approaches to urban issues by combining natural and social sciences. Cities, as the predominant mode of social organization, are vulnerable to social and environmental challenges which urban green space...

A identificação dos padrões das relações sociais tem sido o principal foco da Sociologia, englobando as que se estabelecem entre indivíduos, grupos e espaços. A observação direta de comportamentos e práticas assume-se como uma das técnicas mais mobilizadas na investigação sociológica, destacando-se pelo grau de exigência e rigor que é inerente à su...

Os espaços verdes urbanos (EVU) contribuem para a qualidade do ambiente nas cidades, sendo reconhecidos como uma das soluções baseadas na natureza mais eficazes na promoção da resiliência local. Além da importância ambiental são também grandes promotores de estilos de vida saudáveis contribuindo para a saúde e bem-estar dos seus utilizadores. Os lí...

The grid is available and its application is free, provided that due credits are made to the authors through the necessary citation of the article: Combining an evaluation grid application to assess ecosystem services of urban green spaces and a socioeconomic spatial analysis https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2020.1808108

Introduction Contemporary cities face multiple socioenvironmental and health challenges that undermine the efforts to promote healthy environments. The 11th goal – Sustainable cities and communities – of United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development states that the presence of nature in cities plays a vital role for its sustainability thro...

The abandonment and decline of rural regions are conveying huge challenges to their planning and management. The extraordinary natural and cultural values the landscapes of these regions usually display, coupled with the growing need for urban populations to reconnect with nature, have led to an increased demand for these territories for tourism ac...

As populações a residirem nas cidades enfrentam grandes desafios sociais que colocam em causa o seu bem-estar, afetando a sua saúde mental. A presença da natureza nas cidades é fundamental, nomeadamente através da promoção de espaços verdes de acesso público em quantidade mas, sobretudo, com qualidade. Este trabalho tem como objetivo principal real...

Os espaços verdes urbanos (EVU) podem ser entendidos como o elo de ligação entre o meio urbano e a natureza, desempenhando um papel fundamental na saúde e bem-estar das populações citadinas e, especificamente, na saúde mental dos seus utilizadores diretos ou passivos. Procura-se neste trabalho reunir e analisar a literatura mais significativa publi...

Context Anthropogenic changes (e.g., climate change, land-use change, species introductions, etc.) are reshaping ecosystems processes and patterns and causing an intense reorganization of the Earth's biotic systems. As a result, unprecedented combinations of species are emerging, forming “novel ecosystems”. Objectives The goals of this work are: (...

Human-induced environmental changes have been irreversibly transforming ecosystems (directly through land use change and the introduction of species from other regions and indirectly through climate change and pollution), and even originating a new geological epoch: the Anthropocene. Consequently, unprecedented assemblages of species are emerging a...

Cities must be pleasant and healthy spaces able to contribute to ecosystems regeneration and bring closer Humans and Nature. According to the 11 SDG of 2030 Agenda, by 2030 should be provided universal access to safe and inclusive public green spaces. Scientific evidences emphasize the multiple benefits of ecosystems services: regulation, provision...

Cities must be pleasant and healthy spaces able to contribute to ecosystems regeneration and bring closer Humans and Nature. According to the 11 SDG of 2030 Agenda, by 2030 should be provided universal access to safe and inclusive public green spaces. The main goal of this research aims to evaluate how the ecosystems services of gardens and public...

Cities must be pleasant and healthy spaces able to contribute to ecosystems regeneration and to bring closer Humans and Nature. However, cities are unequal spaces regarding the distribution of environmental resources, resulting in environmental injustice: socioeconomic vulnerable areas are, simultaneously, those where is identified the bigger envir...

The article delves into the potential application of space syntax methodology to landscape architecture. Anticipating the complexity of the landscape architectural design process, the use of 3D space syntax analysis made it possible to better understand the relations between urban space shapes and their functions. The application of an iterative pr...

Od czasów XVIII-wiecznej rewolucji przemysłowej populacja ludzka szybko rośnie (około 7,5 miliarda ludzi w 2017 roku), głęboko zmienia wszystkie ekosystemy Ziemi i w coraz większym stopniu koncentruje się w miastach (54% w 2014 roku), tworząc rozległe tereny metropolitarne. Tak duże liczby wymuszają szybkie zmiany metabolizmu biosfery, wynikające z...

the city of Porto presents optimal conditions for the occurrence of a wide range of plants and diverse set of urban green spaces. however, high construction density and imperviousness cause fragmentation and isolation of existing green spaces, restricting biodiversity connectivity and experience of nature for residents. the objective is to identify...

The Landscape Biodiversity Planning & Design System (LBPDS) is a method of quantitative measurement of potential biodiversity that allows the development of detailed estimates of the performance of design solutions in terms of biodiversity benefits. In this research we tested the applicability of the LBPDS to the design of public green spaces of th...

As a consequence of the relentless global change, new and unprecedented plant species combinations are emerging forming Novel Urban Ecosystems (NUE). These new assemblages are composed by both native and exotic plant species, raising awareness about biodiversity loss and biological invasions, but also for the unexplored opportunities they bring to...

In urban environments, vegetation is constantly under a wide range of stress factors that undermine the plant species making them more susceptible to diseases and pests attacks. To achieve and maintain a healthy and effective green infrastructure, it is increasingly urgent to find nature based solutions to deal with this problem, as the use of pest...

Street trees can play an important role in the urban green infrastructure (UGI). However, changes in the urban fabric often have perverse effects on the structure, diversity, and performance of street trees, and, consequently, on their perception by the public. This research explores public perception of the current street tree adequacy in a coasta...

The University of Porto (UP) holds a vast patrimony, some with strategic importance in the green infrastructure of the city of Porto, such as the Botanic Garden (BG). The UP complex administrative structure reduces the agility of the decision processes, with the conservation of the BG being specially affected by the excessive bureaucracy and shortn...

Context Urban areas are traditionally overlooked by ecologists, but contain a wide range of biodiversity. The existing procedures for consistent recording of habitats and biodiversity are not sufficient to adequately describe urban environments in a fine scale. Objectives A method is required to provide information on biodiversity and its spatial...

The garden of the Nursing School of Porto (NSP) was conceived in 1973 by the Landscape Architect Ílidio de Araújo. Today it displays a developed and mature green structure with some remarkable trees which perform irreplaceable environmental, aesthetical and social services. The garden is located in Porto, Portugal, near important health and educati...

As a consequence of the relentless global change, new and unprecedented plant species combinations are emerging, forming novel ecosystems which can be understood as a reaction of nature towards human agency. These new assemblages are composed by both native and exotic plant species, raising awareness for the loss of biodiversity and the spread of p...

In urban environments, vegetation is constantly under a wide range of stress factors that weakens it, making it more susceptible to diseases and pests attacks. In order to achieve and maintain a healthy and effective green infrastructure, it is increasingly urgent to find nature-based solutions to deal with this problem, as the use of pesticides is...

for a unique assemblage of plants and animals, particularly its public green spaces. Public green spaces, namely parks, gardens and green squares, are often too numerous to allow a detailed study of all of them. Due to their high heterogeneity, a random selection or a stratification based on few features would have consequences on the statistical v...

In green space requalification projects, planting design can become a challenging exercise once, usually, the green structure is already consolidated. The focus of this research was to explore the suitability of Adaptive Planting Design to address these questions using as case study the garden of the Nursing School of Porto, Portugal. In this space...

Management and maintenance of green spaces is a growing activity with many job opportunities and in much need for skilled labor in Landscape Architecture. However, most of Landscape Architecture students still subordinate the apprenticeship of this subjects. This article describes the importance of fieldwork classes to engage students with maintena...

Two public green spaces in Porto were analysed regarding the relation between spatial features and urban biodiversity. Our objective was to identify which design options influence biodiversity in similar sized public green spaces, a garden and a square. For each of the study areas, permeability and vegetation cover was assessed; habitats were mappe...

Freixo’s Archaeological Site, located in the north region of Portugal, unveils the ruins of an ancient roman city called Tongobriga. Classified as a national monument since 1986, it is widely visited. Currently the absence of infrastructures don’t meet visitors’ needs or the requirements of this landmark potential of attraction. Deficient accessibi...

The concepts of ecological restoration, wildlife gardens and naturalness are practiced as theoretical or speculative narratives, but less as concrete experiences. They stand for the mitigation of the “human” sprawl, sustainability, biodiversity enhancement, ecological aesthetics, and social inclusion. This is the motivation for an ongoing experimen...

The Bologna process reduced teaching contact hours on planting design course units in the Landscape Architecture programs of the University of Porto. Such change called for a different approach, focused on a more active participation of the students in the learning process. This article describes a plant learning and design methodology adopted in t...

Despite evidences regarding the benefits of nature experience in physical and mental restoration, in Portugal, there is yet no real concern about the existence of quality green spaces near healthcare facilities. The Garden of the Nursing School of Porto is here analyzed as a central and strategic green space of an important area of the city dedicat...

Demand for urban allotment plots has recently increased in Portugal but little is known about the characteristics and motivations of the demanding population, and if and how its characteristics affect its motivations.

Green spaces reveal a crucial role in the urban environment , as they positively contribute to ecosystem services. They are particularly helpful in supporting biodiversity in the context of human proximity. The diversity of green spaces in the city of Porto set the framework for a study of the relation between spatial morphology and urban biodivers...

The 20th century was marked by rapid and dramatic changes in the urban landscape promoted by the economic growth, namely the growth of the construction sector. It was an era of large investments, both in gray infrastructure and in green spaces. The economic crisis of the first decade of the 21st century, and the lack of viable management strategies...

The city of Porto, Portugal, has an important collection of historic gardens and squares filled with old trees of monumental sizes and wide range of species, some of them legally protected. This paper analyzes the urban metamorphosis of a part of the city from the unusual perspective of one ancient and protected tree. The research methodology inclu...

Communication between decision-makers and civil society can be challenging, especially regarding to interventions in public spaces involving a dramatic change in the perceived everyday landscape. In the city of Porto, neighborhoods revitalization projects fail quite often. In this research, participatory methods were applied to test if the resident...

Managing historic parks and gardens can be a daily challenging job as they are areas of great sensitivity, often exhibiting a green structure in decline, and visited by many people. This is the case Serralves Park. Serralves was projected in the modernism threshold, but still presents a lot of classical concepts and it has become a landmark in Port...

Porto Botanical Garden contributes significantly to the increased performance of ecosystem services in the urban context where it is situated; its role is particularly noted in the support of urban biodiversity, learning services, recreation and other cultural services. Such diversity has been comprehensively analyzed through urban habitat mapping...

Porto Botanic Garden was installed at “Quinta do Campo Alegre”, an old private estate in the outskirts of the historic city. The formal gardens started to be built in 1875 and were well developed until the 1930s. In the early 1950s the property integrated the University of Porto as a Botanic Garden. Since then it was planned to accommodate plant co...

Urban green spaces display significant diversity in terms of size, shape, composition, connectivity or proximity to existing natural environments. This sets the framework for a study of the relation between spatial morphology and urban biodiversity, with the city of Porto chosen as a case study. Focusing primarily in public parks, gardens and green...

O Alto Douro Vinhateiro é uma paisagem cultural evolutiva viva, património mundial desde 2001. Dez anos após a distinção foi feito um estudo multidisciplinar sobre o seu estado de conservação. No trabalho que aqui se apresenta avalia-se a evolução, entre 2001 e 2012, das classes de uso do solo que codificam o património natural do ADV: Matos e Mata...

With the increasing impact of urbanization in the natural ecosystems, urban areas have a key role in the preservation and enhancement of biodiversity. A multidisciplinary review, crossing various approaches to urban biodiversity has been carried out, focusing both on the concepts (fragmentation, species richness, habitat structure, pattern analyses...

Analytical methodologies that describe ecological functionalities in the landscape are decisive to quantify the effects of their apparent modifications. When dealing with game resource management it is necessary to understand how landscape variables respond to changes in the abundance of particular species.The main goal of the present work is to ev...

Approach on the climatic characterization for Northern of Portugal. The atlanticmediterranean floristic transition. Thirty-nine specific and infraspecific taxa with different occurrences in the continental portuguese area are referred in the present work. In the light of these behaviours, the climatic and geomorphological variability of the North o...

Several specific and infraspecific taxa with different occurrences in the continental Portuguese area are referred in the present work. In the light of these behaviours, the climatic and geomorphological variability of the North of Portugal has been important environmental factors to explain the floristic diversity in this part of the country. In t...

RESUMEN La vegetación de los bosques húmedos de la Amazonia Central (Norte de Brasil) se desarrolla sobre un perfil orográfico muy irregular, con toposecuencias de cima, cima/ladera, ladera, lade-ra/valle y valle. En el presente trabajo se procedió a la caracterización de la vegetación arbórea de este tipo de vegetación. Para alcanzar tal objetivo...

The encouraging results obtained in a previous work induced the authors to pursue here the characterization of the structure of the vegetation in northern Portugal, using the phytostructural methodology proposed earlier by the authors. With this objective, eight different types of vegetal communities, representative of the apparent states of the su...

The analysis of the correlation between phenotypic plasticity and environmental variability has been very useful to describe the morphologic responses of individuals to environmental factors affecting them (in the present contribution the altitudinal variation), from a genecological perpective. However, the literature shows that the studies in this...

The encouraging results obtained in a previous work induced the authors to pursue here the characterization of the structure of the vegetation in northern Portugal, using the phytostructural methodology proposed earlier by the authors. With this objective, eight different types of vegetal communities, representative of the apparent states of the su...

RESUMEN Una de las cuestiones más controvertidas, en relación a la caracterización de la vegetación, con-siste en determinar la posible existencia de fenómenos de estabilidad estructural. Este tipo de situaciones son puestas de relieve especialmente estudiado el comportamiento de la vegetación en agroecosistemas, donde existen manchas vegetales bie...

La intrincada orografía del norte de Portugal proporciona la posibilidad de desarrollar una alta diversidad específica, y además la de distribuir esta diversidad de acuerdo con la variabilidad ambiental existente. El presente trabajo expone el ejemplo de las especies del género Medicago, detectándose un total de 13 especies: M. arabica, M. doliata,...