Luís Cancela da Fonseca

• PhD
• Researcher at MARE – Centro de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente

It is only intended to do not a scientific work, but rather a brief reflection on the sea/continent ecotone and problems resulting from its degradation. This ecotone forms the boundary between land and sea, being responsible for the emergence and maintenance of coastal systems, which are associated with large areas of biodiversity. On the other han...

In the mid-15th century, and with the increase in European sea travels, contacts between Europe and the rest of the world became regular. Ships became primarily responsible for intercontinental connections as well as for the circulation and transport of people and animals, raw materials and goods, knowledge and technology, diseases, pathogens, and...

Purpose There is an increasing interest in visiting protected areas in the Algarve (Portugal). Tourists are interested in contact with nature activities. However, protected areas are quite sensitive to human pressure and are limited in their carrying capacity. The purpose of this study is to fill a literature gap concerning which features attract t...

Resumo: Apesar dos inúmeros alertas e chamadas de atenção que, desde meados do Século XX, vêm a ser emitidos por parte de investigadores, políticos e ambientalistas, os oceanos continuam a ser tratados como um “depósito de lixo” ou uma “pia para todo o tipo de despejos”. Numa revisão recente (2020) sistematizam-se e sintetizam-se os principais con...

Long-term analyzes of human-environment relationships in coastal lagoon systems are still scarce. Therefore, conceptual models that comparatively assess such relationships are not established yet. As lagoon systems incorporate complex interface structures between the geosphere, the hydrosphere, the atmosphere, the biosphere and the anthroposphere,...

The cover image is based on the Original Article Distinctive genetic signatures of two fairy shrimp species with overlapping ranges in Iberian temporary ponds, by Lopes da Cunha et al. https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.13782.

• Temporary lentic water bodies host biotic assemblages adapted to the transient nature of these freshwater habitats. Fairy shrimps (Crustacea, Branchiopoda, Anostraca) are one of the most important biological components of these unique environments and have a fossil record dating back to the Middle Jurassic (>150 million years). • Some anostracan...

It has been found that in the Algarve (southern Portugal) there is an increasing interest for visiting protected areas. Not only ecotourists, but also generalist tourists seek to be in close contact with nature activities. Thus, protected areas are quite sensitive to human pressure and are limited to sustain just a certain carrying capacity. The pu...

O confinamento de enseadas ou baías através do crescimento de restingas arenosas resulta, habitualmente, na formação de sistemas lagunares paralelos à linha de costa. Tais ecossistemas, embora protegidos da incidência direta da agitação marítima, encontram-se em comunicação com o oceano e podem ser propícios para a produção de sal marinho quando lo...

PREFÁCIO DIÁLOGOS EM TORNO DA LINHA DE COSTA: O OCEANO QUE NOS UNE De terra vem a água e da água a alma o tempo é a maré que leva e traz o mar às praias onde eternamente somos Ruy Belo, Orla marítima, 1984 Quando, em 2018, no final do VIII Encontro da Rede BRASPOR, no Rio Grande do Sul, se discutiam os possíveis tópicos do encontro seguinte, a d...

Coastal environments, such as estuaries, are the prime examples of how the presence and influence of man is already, in many ecosystems, part of the dynamics of the natural system. Historically, man has been changing the landscape, using the ecosystem services that coastal systems offer and in many cases it is no longer possible or desirable to exc...

Polychaetes are marine annelid worms that can contribute to aquaculture diversification. Its culture has been viable, and commercially attempted, but intensive production has progressed only in few countries around the world. In the countries with no production, marine polychaetes are imported or harvested. A strong and sustained research investmen...

O confinamento de enseadas ou baías através do crescimento de restingas arenosas, resulta habitualmente na formação de sistemas lagunares paralelos à linha de costa. Tais ecossistemas, embora protegidos da incidência direta da agitação marítima, encontram-se em comunicação com o oceano e podem ser propícios para a produção de sal marinho quando loc...

Benthic macroinvertebrate communities are highly variable, but play a key role in estuarine and lagoonal environments, even at small spatial scales, related to: i) their high productivity; ii) implementation of monitoring plans; iii) application of ecological quality assessment tools. The understanding of benthos distribution patterns is relevant t...

Polychaete annelids are some of the most heavily harvested invertebrates collected in coastal areas and estuaries for their economic value as live fishing bait or as food supplement in aquaculture activities. However, information on bait digging in Portugal is scarce or incomplete. Thus, the present study aimed at investigating the bait digging act...

The deficiency in the distributional data of invertebrate taxa is one of the major impediments acting on the bias towards the low awareness of its conservation status. The present study sets a basic framework to understand the large branchiopod distribution in the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands. Since the extensive surveys performed in the...

The deficiency in the distributional data of invertebrate taxa is one of the major impediments acting on the bias towards the low awareness of its conservation status. The present study sets a basic framework to understand the large branchiopods distribution in the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands. Since the extensive surveys performed in the...

First record of the tadpole shrimp Triops cancriformis (Lamarck,1801) (Crustacea: Branchiopoda: Notostraca) in Por-tugal Notostracan crustaceans identified as Triops cancriformis according to the presently accepted morphological criteria were recorded for the first time in Portugal in 2007. All previous records of Triops in Portugal belong to mauri...

Freshwater large branchiopods in Portugal: an update of their distribution This study is based largely on 20 years of field and laboratory work, with surveys conducted by the authors and some other researchers. During this period several studies dealing with freshwater large branchiopods (FLB) were carried out, resulting in scientific publications...

This work is not a scientific paper and therefore does not follow the typical structure. This text is a collection of the opinions of several researchers that share a common interest in coastal areas. They were asked to reflect – based on their personal and professional experience – about present coastal management, using as a start the phrase of t...

Different invertebrate groups are often exploited on sediment shores and mudflats, including polychaetes, sipunculids, bivalves and crustaceans. The commercial importance of polychaetes and sipunculids, that has increased in the early 2000's because of its use as a food source for the aquaculture sector and a growing demand of worms for use as sea...

The Cabo Frio region, the object area of this study, is located in the coastal lowlands of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The natural conditions, such as the existence of the Araruama lagoonal system and the occurrence of the resurgence phenomenon on the seashore, provided a rich area for exploitation of marine resources, promoting human sett...

The capture in intertidal sediments of live bait for fishing has increased at a global scale and is an important source of revenue for the people living along the coast given the increase in demand. This activity is the source of strong impacts caused by trampling and disturbance of large areas of sediment that significantly influence both the biog...

1 MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal; 2 MARE– Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Laboratório Marítimo da Guia, Av. N. Sra. do Cabo, 939, 750-374, Portugal; 3 CTA - Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias da Água, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de G...

The presence of the large branchiopod fauna in the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands was recorded obtained from bibliographical and recent captures. The fauna includes 16 anostracans, 7 notostracans and 4 spinicaudatans, although we considered the different species of genus Triops as one taxa, due to the difficulties to allocate the bibliograp...

We examined the variation of stygofauna composition collected in wells, along a gradient in groundwater salinity/conductivity in a coastal aquifer from southern Portugal. The studied coastal aquifer is considered vulnerable to salinization due to seawater intrusion, caused by overexploitation of the aquifer. Knowing the response of the stygofauna s...

Estuaries are worldwide examples of human-ecological coupled systems and are subject to many pressures derived from human activities. The wide array of human impacts that can compromise estuarine ecological integrity led to the intuitive statement that these systems are vulnerable which needs to be translated in quantitative measures. Small estuari...

O interesse comercial por algumas espécies da macrofauna bentónica marinha, nomeadamente de anelídeos poliquetas, vulgarmente designados de minhocas-do-mar, tem vindo a aumentar devido à sua utilização como isco vivo na pesca à linha marinha com anzol (lúdica e profissional) e também à sua crescente utilização como alimento na aquacultura de peixes...

Mértola é indissociável do Guadiana, do respectivo estuário e das condições naturais que apresenta, uma vez que está no limite do seu curso navegável. A utilização dos estuários pelo Homem foi sempre uma constante. O papel que desempenham nos ciclos de vida de inúmeras espécies de aves e de animais marinhos migradores, a aptidão para a produção de...

The Almofala zone, like many others in the Brazilian Ceará coast, is affected by sand build up and silting, causing the destruction of natural reefs that reduces the number of available habitats and is negative for fisheries profitability. To oppose this tendency, fishermen of this community are deploying artificial reefs, named “marambaias”, with...

Landlocked lagoons are naturally stressed environments. They are strongly influenced by freshwater input which not only varies naturally, but which is also impacted by anthropogenic activities. This study investigated the direct influence of freshwater discharges on the distribution patterns and abundance of benthic communities in two neighbouring...

The Portuguese National Fisheries Strategic Plan (2007-2013), which is in accordance with several European Directives, defines as a major priority the ensuring of the sustainable development of coastal areas dependent on fisheries. In accordance with such purposes and under the project "BONAQUA - Cooperación transfronteriza para el desarrollo de bu...

The European Waterframework Directive requires the assessment of ecological status of all water bodies, including rivers, estuaries, coastal areas, emphasizing that the status of surface aquatic ecosystems might depend on groundwater status. The assessment of the ecological status of coastal lagoons dependent on groundwater is particularly complex...

The study of groundwater dependent ecosystems opened the opportunity to involve specialists of different areas of knowledge in order to obtain answers for complex interrelations between groundwater and the associated ecosystems. The actual study, carried out in two coastal lagoons of the Portuguese SW coast, showed the high dependency of the marine...

This study examined the variation of groundwater fauna composition collected in wells, along a gradient in groundwater salinity/conductivity in a coastal aquifer from southern Portugal. The studied coastal aquifer is considered to be vulnerable to salinization due to seawater intrusion, caused by overexploitation of the aquifer, which can make it u...

This study aims to ascertain the structure of benthic macroinvertebrate communities of Santo André and Melides River Basins and understand how these communities are affected by different environmental variables. These are small river basins with a Mediterranean climate. The majority of the watercourses of these basins is temporary and dependent on...

O principal instrumento da política da União Europeia relativa à água, a Directiva Quadro da Água tem como principal objectivo atingir o “bom” estado ecológico das massas de água, dando grande importância aos componentes biológicos dos ecossistemas. No âmbito desta directiva, o Índice Português de Invertebrados do Sul, que avalia a qualidade ecológ...

With the publication of the Water Framework Directive in 2000, Portugal and all other Member States of the European Community, assumed the commitment to achieve a good ecological status of all water bodies by the year of 2015. The accomplishment of this major objective requires the assessment of the current status of all water bodies. Benthic macro...

The characteristic high variability and low predictability of coastal lagoons, due to strong changes in marine and freshwater inputs, make these ecosystems an interesting case study. The small Melides landlocked coastal lagoon in SW Portugal is a paradigmatic example, with a biological community highly stressed by these phenomena. Benthic macroinve...

Fish growth models may help understanding the influence of environmental, physiological and husbandry factors on fish production, providing crucial information to maximize the growth rates of cultivated species. The main objectives of this work were to: i) develop and implement an Individual Based Model using a Dynamic Energy Budget (IBM-DEB) appro...

In a mesocosm experiment, pigment levels, organic matter and the structure of macroinvertebrate community were compared in two linked wetland systems encompassing fish-farm pond and natural reservoir. A stratified sampling design was applied, and treated experimental azoic sediment was placed in suspended boxes. The set of box was used to follow cu...

Land-locked coastal lagoons are naturally stressed environments that consequently constrain biological communities that colonize these systems, through direct or indirect influence. This study investigated the influence of groundwater outflows and catchment runoff on the fish community of Melides and Santo André, two land-locked coastal lagoons in...

The biogeochemistry of fish earth ponds is a complex subject due to the interactions between several water column and sediment compounds, particularly nutrient species. Models can improve our ability to understand such complexity. This study combines existing knowledge on biogeochemical processes in earth ponds into a model that calculates the conc...

The aim of the present work was to investigate variations in the structure of fish communities of Melides and Santo André lagoons related with the presence of groundwater-dependent permanent streams and runoff-dependent intermittent streams.

A comparative study on climate change and its impacts on coastal aquifers is performed for three Mediterranean areas. Common climate scenarios are developed for these areas using the ENSEMBLES projections that consider the A1b scenario. Temperature and precipitation data of three climate models are bias corrected with two different methods for a hi...

The relative influences of local and regional factors on the distribution of passive dispersers may be altered by habitat degradation, partly via differential effects on species depending on their niche breadths. To study this, we compared the effects of local (pond, water and vegetation characteristics) and regional (Moran’s eigenvector maps) fact...

Abstract - Human uses of lagoons have a long history, mainly because they are natural sites for harbors and for aquaculture. Nowadays lagoons are also utilized for recreational and even industrial aims. Lagoons constitute nurseries and feeding grounds for many itinerant marine animals, as well as for thousands of migratory birds during their jour...

Abstract - Coastal lagoons are very productive and unique aquatic systems due to their high variability and low previsibility of environmental conditions. Physical and ecological characteristics show a high variability, mainly because of strong changes in the flushing regime and freshwater inputs. The Melides coastal lagoon is a small system (0,4...

As salinas de Castro Marim, albergam grande diversidade de espécies de aves residentes e invernantes e constituem zona de passagem de milhares de aves aquáticas durante os seus voos migratórios, estando abrangidas pela convenção de Ramsar e integradas na Reserva Natural do Sapal de Castro Marim e Vila Real de Santo António (RNSCMVRSA), numa Zona de...

The secondary productivity of reef epifauna is one of the least investigated aspects in artificial reef research. During the first 12 months after the deployment of the Faro/Ancão (Algarve, Portugal) artificial reef, we assessed the effect of substratum orientation on the secondary production of epibenthos, using the Boysen-Jensen method. Whenever...

A Directiva Habitats (Directiva 92/43/CEE) classifica as lagoas temporárias mediterrânicas (também designadas charcos temporários) como um habitat prioritário. O cruzamento da distribuição geográfica destes charcos com as propriedades dos ambientes hidrogeológicos onde ocorrem mostra que estes são ecossistemas dependentes de águas subterrâneas, poi...

On summer 2000 a motocross race passing through a dry temporary pond (G37) located north to Cabo São Vicente (Vila do Bispo municipality, SW Portugal) have occurred. Aiming the evaluation of its impact on the upper reaches of pond sediments, Large Branchiopods (Crustacea: Anostraca, Spinicaudata, Notostraca) were used as bioindicators. Density of l...

The Parque Natural da Ria Formosa is considered a site of international importance for aquatic birds especially during migration periods. The number of resident and breeding birds is one of the factors that justify the recognition of this area by different protection status. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of one area of Ria Formosa betw...

program, assessing the impact of climate change on coastal groundwater resources and dependent ecosystems. These resources are often intensively exploited, potentially leading to saltwater intrusion and the degradation of groundwater and dependent wetlands. Climate change may increase this problem in Mediterranean regions, due to the combined effec...

The present study was undertaken in order to analyse whether macrobenthic communities can or not be used in monitoring programmes of the environmental quality of fish ponds. Functional community analysis and biotic metrics were analysed aiming at the assessment of their effectiveness in discriminating potential impacts of fish production in these s...

The present work aims to assess the importance of settlement ponds (SP) in semi-intensive fish farms by studying benthic dynamics in an aquaculture fish farm, more specifically in the water reservoir (WR) and SP and also in production (P) and nonproduction (C) ponds during a 16-month period. In Portugal, a SP is only mandatory for intensive fish fa...

Serra do Caldeirão is located in the south of Portugal. Has a high economic and ecological value. In the last century, a severe degradation of soil occurs. Recently it was also subject to intense forest fires. In the present study we evaluated the area regeneration after a burnt on 2004. We characterized landscape intrinsic factors, present anthrop...

The importance of Santo André Lagoon (SW Portugal) for the conservation of biodiversity has been recognized over the last few years (Ramsar, SPA, Natura 2000). This is well demonstrated by its inclusion, since 2000, in the Portuguese Network of Protected Areas (Reserva Natural das Lagoas de Santo André e Sancha). In this circumstance, birds clearly...

Atlantic ditch shrimp Palaemonetes varians (Leach, 1814) is a euryhaline grass shrimp abundant in temperate saltmarshes and estuaries. In the Iberian Peninsula it is used for human consumption or as fish bait, presenting an increase demand, with a good market price. Although there is no official statistic data, high captures are made in saltpans. T...

Os anelídeos poliquetas, comuns nos ecossistemas costeiros, são tradicionalmente explorados, quer para o mercado interno, quer para exportação, e constituem uma importante fonte de riqueza para as populações que vivem na sua vizinhança. A procura deve-se à sua utilização como isco vivo na pesca desportiva e profissional e tem vindo a aumentar com a...

The main goal of the study was to follow the colonization process of soft-bottom macrofauna communities in two wetland systems with different organic inputs: a lagoon reservoir and a fish-farm system in the Ria Formosa, Portugal. After a previous treatment in the natural sediments, the resulting experimental azoic sediments were placed in suspended...

In order to examine how substratum colonisation can affect community structure, a 1-year study was conducted at the Faro/Ancao artificial reef (Algarve, Portugal). In the study of hard substratum communities, motile species are usually neglected and only the conspicuous species are taken into account. Therefore, the development of vagile and sessil...

Characterization of the polychaete annelids communities throughout a gradient of depth in the Ancão region (Algarve -Portugal). This study reports on the distribution of polychaete assemblages in the region of the "Ancão", off the Faro -Quarteira coast (Algarve, South of Portugal). It was developed in four sampling stations at different depths (14,...

Temporary ponds, in spite of being protected by the Habitats Directive (92/43/CEE), are presently disappearing at a fast rate. Urgent management measures are thus required, but which parameters should be used to establish management procedures? Since most large branchiopod species (LBS) inhabit exclusively temporary lentic ecosystems, and an import...

Os recifes artificiais desempenham um importante papel no aumemto da produtividade das comunidades rnarinhas, tendo sido implantados ern diversas regiões do mundo. A criação de recifes artificiais encontra-se geralmente associada à exploração de espécies piscicolas, à preservação e reabilitação de habitats e à protecção do habitat marinho da pesca...

O presente trabalho visou a avaliação do macrozoobentos na região do Ancão, ao longo do trecho costeiro Faro - Quarteira (Algarve, Sul de Portugal). Foi desenvolvido em quatro estações de amostragem localizadas a diferentes profundidades (14, 21, 22 e 29 metros). Para que o gradiente da profundidade se evidenciasse, foi estabelecido que aquelas dev...

This study was carried out on the “Faro/Ancão” artificial reef (AR), located off Faro, deployed in May 2003. We aimed to characterise early macrobenthic community colonisation of two concrete AR groups located at different depths (16 m and 20 m depth) and to test the effect of reef structure on these communities. The non-colonial organisms were cou...

The present work evaluates the influence of fish production on macrobenthic colonization over large areas (approximately 700 m 2), where the colonizing populations are not nearby the disturbed area. Sampling was undertaken within newly created aquaculture earthen ponds under two contrasting conditions: white seabream (Diplodus sargus) production an...

Em Portugal a ocorrência das lagoas temporárias é mais frequente nos territórios mediterrânicos mais térmicos e de fisiografia plana. Abundante num passado recente, actualmente trata-se de um habitat em regressão por efeito das alterações no uso do território. Apesar de possuírem um elevado valor ecológico e estarem listadas na Directiva Habitats c...

The present work analysed the potential impacts of the enrichment of semi-intensive production earthen ponds with the ragworm Hediste diversicolor in the benthic dynamics and natural productivity. The macrobenthos and sediment characteristics were analysed in two enriched ponds and two control ponds in May, June and September 2005. The number of sp...

During an annual cycle, overlying water and sediment cores were collected simultaneously at three sites (Tavira, Culatra and Ramalhete) of Ria Formosa’s intertidal muddy and subtidal sandy sediments to determine ammonium, nitrates plus nitrites and phosphate. Organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus were also determined in superficial sediments. Amm...

The present work analysed the potential impacts of the enrichment of semi-intensive production earthen ponds with the ragworm Hediste diversicolor in the benthic dynamics and natural productivity. The macrobenthos and sediment characteristics were analysed in two enriched ponds and two control ponds in May, June and September 2005. The number of sp...

Portuguese Litoral: the ongoing saga... Littoral is nowadays considered a privileged zone... Meanwhile its relatively recent fates and misfortunes, deal with areas with a high natural, landscape and cultural values (salt marshes, saltpans, estuaries, lagoons, tidal flats, sandy beaches, sand barriers and dune systems, barrier-islands, rocky cliffs...

As zonas costeiras representam uma pequena parte da área e do volume dos oceanos. No entanto, a sua importância como interface entre a terra e o mar é enorme. Mais de 60% da população humana vive a menos de 60 km do mar e, além disso, as zonas costeiras garantem uma série de serviços essenciais à humanidade. Estes ecossistemas funcionam como um mec...

The relationship between organic enrichment and macrobenthic colonization patterns was investigated during an 8-month period in Diplodus sargus (white seabream) production ponds. A stratified sampling design was applied and each pond was divided into three zones: water entrance (WE); central (C); and automatic feeder zones (AF). Generally, the numb...