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Florestas do Norte de Portugal: História, Ecologia e Desafios de Gestão
... In the Barroso Agro-Sylvo-Pastoral System (Figure 1), livestock farming is the main agricultural activity and is carried out in extensive grazing systems using both permanent pastures and scrublands for beef cattle breeding [22]. Crops are mainly rainfed and cultivated in rotation with set-aside rye, potato, and maize, the most common crops in the region [23]. ...
... Sensitive parameters in the soil (.sol), vegetation (.crop), and management databases (.mgt) were changed (Table 1) to improve SWAT outputs by land cover for leaf area index (LAI), evapotranspiration (ET) and total biomass (BIOM) when compared with expected values from the literature [23,36]. Additional methodological details are available in Supplementary material S3 of the supplementary material. ...
Water pollution from unsustainable agricultural practices is a global problem that undermines human health and economic development. Sustainable agricultural practices have been considered to maintain global food production without compromising water quality and ecosystem health. However, the effectiveness of sustainable agricultural practices in reducing sediments and nutrient export and the combination of practices that will best achieve water quality objectives is still under-explored. In this study, we assess the effectiveness of sustainable agricultural practices in reducing sediments and nutrients export to rivers and determine the combination of practices that would allow the highest reductions of sediments and nutrients, using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) in a Portuguese river basin highly affected by agricultural pollution. SWAT was calibrated and validated for river discharge, sediments, phosphorous, and nitrate loads at the outlet of the basin, with a good agreement between simulated and observed values. The effects of filter strips, fertilizer incorporation, and conservation tillage were analyzed considering both individual and combined effects. Our study shows that sustainable agricultural practices can substantially reduce sediments and nutrients export from a river basin, with the highest average combined depletion of sediments, phosphorus, and nitrate export (25%) achieved when fertilizer incorporation, conservation tillage, and filter strips were implemented simultaneously. Additional studies exploring the effect of sustainable agricultural practices across a range of climate and watershed characteristics, as well as their capacity to deal with challenges related to climate change, will further improve our understanding of the effectiveness of sustainable agricultural practices.
... SWAT outputs by land cover for leaf area index (LAI), evapotranspiration (ET), and total biomass (BIOM) were first compared with values from the literature (ICNF -National Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests 2015; Tereso et al. 2011), to calibrate the model by changing sensitive parameters in the soil (.sol), vegetation (.crop), and management databases (.mgt). The SWAT parameters USLE_K, USLE_P, and USLE_C were 1980-1982; validation: 1983-1985 Water flow-in to reservoirs Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. ...
Sustainable agricultural practices have been extensively used to reduce water pollution; however, the effectiveness of these practices may be significantly affected by climate change. In this study, we assess the effectiveness of sustainable agricultural practices in reducing sediment and nutrient export to rivers under future climate conditions, using the Soil & Water Assessment Tool in a Portuguese river basin exposed to high levels of agricultural pollution. In our study, filter strips demonstrated a significant mitigation effect on sediment and nutrient increases under simulated climate change conditions, with maximum sediment export depletion reaching 65% and the highest nutrient export depletion observed at 35%. The implementation of multiple sustainable practices resulted in the highest depletions, with a notable 71% depletion in sediment export and a 35% depletion in nutrient export. Additionally, our research underscores the crucial role of filter strips and multiple sustainable agricultural practices in mitigating the projected rise in nutrient concentrations during summer, given the effect of climate change on river discharge. Further studies exploring sustainable agricultural practices across different climates and watersheds can improve our understanding of their effectiveness for adaptation to climate change.
... A 3-year warm-up period was used to reduce uncertain initial conditions. SWAT outputs by land cover for irrigation (IRR), evapotranspiration (ET), water stress days (W_STRS), temperature stress days (TMP_STRS), total biomass (BIOM) and leaf area index (LAI) were compared with expected values from the literature (Tereso et al. 2011;ICNF 2015), in order to be calibrated by changing sensitive parameters in the soil (.sol), vegetation (.crop) and management databases (.mgt). Parameters modified in the vegetation (.crop) database are available in Table A.6 (Online Resource 1). ...
Climate change is expected to affect hydropower generation by modifying river runoff and increasing reservoir evaporation. Anticipating the impact of climate change on hydropower generation is crucial to develop adaptation strategies and to efficiently plan a renewable energy transition. In this study, we assess the impact of climate change on hydropower generation using the Soil & Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) in Portuguese river basin with strategic importance, since it is responsible for 20% of the national hydropower generation. SWAT was calibrated against 6 reservoir flow-in and 1 river discharge, with a good agreement between simulated and observed values. Future climate projections were based on EURO-CORDEX climate simulations under RCP4.5 and 8.5 scenarios for 2031–2060 (short-term) and 2071–2100 (long-term), compared to 1976–2005. Results reveal that in the short-term, reservoir flow-in is expected to decrease up to 55% in the summer under RCP4.5, and up to 90% in the long-term under RCP8.5. Consequently, the hydropower plants may generate less 79 GWh per year in the short-term under RCP4.5, and less 272 GWh per year in the long-term under RCP8.5, which is equivalent to 11% and 38%, respectively, of the total electricity used in the study area in 2019. Our study shows that, at least in some regions, climate change can substantially reduce hydropower generation and thereby hamper the renewable energy transition. This is relevant for policymakers and water managers by allowing them to anticipate the impact of climate change on hydropower generation and better plan a renewable energy transition.
This study investigated the impact of regional land abandonment in northeast Portugal. It specifically focused on carbon sequestration opportunities in the Upper Sabor River Watershed, situated in the northeast of Portugal, amidst agricultural land abandonment. The study involved mapping the distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) across four soil layers (0–5 cm, 5–10 cm, 10–20 cm, and 20–30 cm) at 120 sampling points. The quantification of SOC storage (measured in Mg C ha−1) allowed for an analysis of its relationship with various landscape characteristics, including elevation, land use and land cover (LULC), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), modified soil-adjusted vegetation index (MSAVI), topographic wetness index (TWI), and erosion risk (ER). Six statistical tests were employed, including multivariate approaches like Cubist and Random Forest, within different scenarios to assess carbon distribution within the watershed’s soils. These modeling results were then utilized to propose strategies aimed at enhancing soil carbon storage. Notably, a significant discrepancy was observed in the carbon content between areas at higher elevations (>1000 m) and those at lower elevations (<800 m). Additionally, the study found that the amount of carbon stored in agricultural soils was often significantly lower than in other land use categories, including forests, mountain herbaceous vegetation, pasture, and shrub communities. Analyzing bi- and multivariate scenarios, it was determined that the scenario with the greatest number of independent variables (set 6) yielded the lowest RMSE (root mean squared error), serving as a key indicator for evaluating predicted values against observed values. However, it is important to note that the independent variables used in set 4 (elevation, LULC, and NDVI) had reasonably similar values. Ultimately, the spatialization of the model from scenario 6 provided actionable insights for soil carbon conservation and enhancement across three distinct elevation levels.
The intertidal environment of the Ponzos beach (NW Iberian Peninsula) hosts a sedimentary sequence (including large wood fragments) deposited during the first half of the Holocene in a hygrophilous continental wetland. Pollen and macrofossil data alongside radiocarbon dating allow reconstruction of the changes that occurred during the Early and Middle Holocene in the landscape of the NW Iberia coastal lowlands, as well as the local wetland plant communities, in response to the climate variations and the eustatic sea‐level oscillations. The sequence represents the evolution of a coastal wetland from its initial phases as a hygrophilous wetland towards the subsequent installation of a freshwater lagoon. Pollen data show the dominant role of Atlantic (mainly deciduous) woody taxa, the scarcity of conifers and the lack of Mediterranean elements in the coastal landscapes around the Ponzos site. The presence and abundance of some taxa such as deciduous Quercus, Castanea, Fagus, Tilia and Ulmus during the Early Holocene provides further support for the occurrence of glacial refuges in the Cantabrian‐Atlantic area during the Last Glaciation. The diverse vegetation that characterizes the modern landscapes in this territory established later, spreading from these glacial reservoirs of biodiversity. In this sense, the notable and early presence of Fagus at the beginning of the Holocene, a tree also previously recorded during several phases of the Last Glacial Cycle on the NW Iberia coasts, is noteworthy. In addition, during the Early and Middle Holocene are recorded other trees that are currently extirpated as natural taxa in the area, such as Pinus, Tilia and Carpinus.
Relatório de estágio efetuado pelo CIBIO - Centro de investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, realizado no Museu de História Natural e da Ciência da Universidade do Porto, no Laboratório de Arqueologia Ambiental - ENVARCH, sob orientação do Dr. João Pedro Vicente Tereso e coorientação do M.e. Leonardo Gondim Carvalho da Fonte.
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