Joao Mora Porteiro

• University of the Azores

Over geological time, glacial-interglacial cycles affected the geographical range of marine species. Typically, this has been documented by tracking the long-distance dispersal of tropical, shallow-water mollusc species in archipelagos during the last phase of glacial terminations or the early phase of an interglacial episode. Many studies conducte...

The Azores archipelago is located in the North Atlantic Ocean, including nine volcanic islands. The Azores climate, temperate oceanic, is influenced by the Azores anticyclone, being characterized by high air humidity indices, low thermal amplitude, abundant precipitation and persistent wind. Like other urban areas, Ponta Delgada, in S. Miguel Islan...

Tourists have become increasingly interested in certain aspects of their destination, including landscape and biodiversity elements, thereby promoting the development of nature-based tourism. The Azores are considered a sustainable tourism destination, with various natural attractions, including hiking trails. Based on the hypothesis that natural v...

Forests provide a broad range of ecosystem services, but their contribution is not homogeneous. Due to land changes associated with anthropogenic activity, primordial forests have been replaced by production and secondary forest, often constituted by exotic woodland, particularly in islands. This research addresses ecological and economic valorisat...

Nature-based tourism is the new paradigm of nature destinations, thus tourists are increasingly interested in peculiar aspects related with local landscape and biodiversity. The Azores are considered a sustainable nature destination, with several tourist attractions including hiking trails. To test the hypothesis that natural vegetation/forest may...

Eutrophication of lakes in the Azores archipelago (Portugal) has been described since the 80s, and due to water quality deterioration several remediation methodologies were applied. Long-term monitoring data on water quality from Sete Cidades and Furnas lakes (São Miguel island) were analyzed in order to address that the success of the ongoing poli...

The Sete Cidades Lake (437 ha) is located in a volcanic crater of São Miguel Island (Azores). The watershed is 1923 ha, and 25% of it is covered with water. Extreme logging and the use of fertilizers in the cattle grazing areas have caused sedimentation and eutrophication of the main water body (Carlson Trophic State Index TSI = 40–50 mesoeutrophy)...

In 2007 the Archipelago of the Azores, one Autonomous Portuguese Region, decided to develop a major assessment of the Protected Areas Network. As a result, the Regional Government decided to re-classify the Network in a more coherent, operational, manageable and visible/understandable system. The Geography team proposed a challenge that was accepte...

The European Union sustainability policies recently reaffirmed by the Lisbon Treaty, shows the makers concerns regarding the maritime sector. The overall approach proposed by the new European policy instruments aimed at reconciling environmental and economic interests both for the Marine and Coastal Zones. Thus, The Outermost regions of the Europe...

The Sete Cidades lake in the Azores, is located in a volcanic crater. Increased frequency of logging (380 hectares of production forests) and the use of fertilizers on pastures and forages (450 hectares) that sustain 750 cows, provide direct employment to 67 farmers and induce employment to more 50 actives, but also increases the eutrophycation and...

O objectivo da Directiva-Quadro da Água -2000/60/CE -(DQA) consiste em alcançar, até 2015, o bom estado ecológico ou o bom potencial ecológico de todas as massas de água. Sendo o estado ecológico de uma determinada massa de água expresso em função do desvio (desvio ecológico) relativamente às comunidades biológicas de uma massa de água com as mesma...

RESUMO Na continuidade da linha de investigação em curso que visa a gestão integrada das zonas costeiras dos Açores, a Secção de Geografia do Departamento de Biologia da Universidade dos Açores deslocou uma equipa pluridisciplinar, composta por 9 elementos, para participar na "Expedição Cien-tífica Graciosa 2004", evento que decorreu entre 07 e 15...