Ecological indices tracking distinct impacts along disturbance-recovery gradients in a temperate NE Atlantic Estuary – Guidance on reference values

Results gathered from a monitoring programme on the Mondego Estuary (Western Coast of Portugal) were compliant with findings drawn from other studies, which pointed out that unstable environments, namely estuarine systems, constitute a great challenge for the use of environmental tools such as ecological indices. The Margalef Index, the Shannon–Wiener Index and AMBI were proposed to evaluate the ecological status of benthic communities in the scope of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) in Portugal and other European member states. In this system these indices were not equally effective in tracking changes in benthic communities that expressed obvious responses to anthropogenic disturbances (eutrophic situations and severe physical disturbance) and to subsequent impacts' cessation. Natural variability played an important role on the indices' response, with estuarine gradient and habitat heterogeneity affecting the ranges of values obtained, and with extreme climate events slowing down the ongoing recovery process. Nonetheless, both natural and anthropogenic variability during the study period could be satisfactorily detected if we accounted for the information provided by all three indices. Based on the whole range of variation observed (a) as a response to different kinds of impacts, and (b) along recovery gradients, as well as accounting for the natural driving forces acting upon estuarine benthic invertebrate communities, we propose a set of reference values for these three indices. This proposal aims at contributing to the implementation of classification tools within the scope of the European WFD.     

Disentangling exploitation of the intertidal grazer Phorcus sauciatus (Gastropoda: Trochidae) in an oceanic archipelago: Implications for conservation

Harvesting of intertidal grazers such as topshells is known to affect negatively the exploited populations by altering population structure and decreasing abundance. Phorcus sauciatus has a wide geographic distribution in the North‐eastern Atlantic Ocean and is subject to increasing levels of harvesting pressure due to the expansion of human population on coastal areas. The effect of proximity to human settlements and coastal accessibility on the size structure and abundance of P. sauciatus populations was examined in Madeira archipelago. Mean size, proportion of reproductive individuals, and abundance of this species were generally smaller in areas closer to human settlements and in more accessible coastal areas. Marine protected areas returned the highest mean sizes evidencing their effectiveness in preserving the size structure of this species. The results highlight the necessity to regulate the harvest of P. sauciatus in Madeira archipelago, as well as the implementation of management measures aiming at the sustainable exploitation and conservation of this species, exploited in this region since the early 15th century.     

Quality assessment of benthic macroinvertebrates under the scope of WFD using BAT, the Benthic Assessment Tool

Assessing the health of ecosystems has become a focal point among researchers worldwide. Recently, the European Water Framework Directive intensified the development of approaches to assess ecosystems’ ecological quality. The Benthic Assessment Tool (BAT) is a multimetric approach to evaluate condition of subtidal soft bottom macroinvertebrates of coastal and transitional waters. The effects of anthropogenic disturbances on benthic macroinvertebrate communities, from 1990 to 2006, allowed testing BAT performance in Mondego estuary (Portugal). The method was able to detect decrease on ecological quality, induced essentially by eutrophication and physical disturbances, and follow communities’ subsequent recovery. It evidenced, nevertheless, some limitations associated with the unstable nature of estuaries. The ecological classification of key species in the community and the balance expected between ecological groups of estuarine communities had great influence in the final ecological assessment. Shortcomings of the method were discussed in the light of its suitability for assessing transitional waters’ condition.     

Double exposure in Mozambique's Limpopo River Basin

This paper examines how double exposure to economic and environmental stressors – and the interaction between the two – affect smallholder farmers in Mozambique's Limpopo River Basin. Studying two case study villages we find that people, in general, are resilient to environmental stressors. However, most households show less resilience to the socioeconomic stressors and shocks that have been introduced or intensified by economic globalisation. Our findings indicate that economic change brought about by structural adjustment policies pressures rural people to alter their approach to farming, which makes it more difficult for them to respond to environmental change. For example, smallholder farmers find it difficult to make a transition to commercial farming within the Limpopo Basin, in part because farming techniques that are well adapted to managing environmental variability in the region – such as seeding many small plots – are not well suited to the economies of scale needed for profitable commercial agriculture. People use a variety of strategies to cope with interactive environmental and economic stressors and shocks, but many face considerable constraints to profitably exploiting market-based opportunities. We conclude that economic stressors and shocks may now be causing small-scale agriculture to be less well adapted to ecological and climate variability, making smallholders more vulnerable to future climate change. Some local level policy interventions, including those that support and build on local environmental knowledge, could assist rural agricultural societies in adapting to future environmental change in the context of economic globalisation.     

Applying neighbourhood classification systems to natural hazards: a case study of Mt Vesuvius

Mt Vesuvius is regarded as one of the most deadly volcanoes on earth. With over 1 million people living on its flanks and in its periphery, there is little doubt that an eruption of sub-Plinian magnitude would be catastrophic to the livelihood and well being of contemporary Neopolitans. Such a large scale eruption would have wide ranging and differential effects on the surrounding population. Whereas previous studies of social vulnerability have focused on individual demographic factors (such as age, income or ethnicity), this research proposes the application of a general neighbourhood classification system to assess natural hazard vulnerability. In this study, Experian’s Mosaic Italy is used to classify and delineate the most vulnerable neighbourhood types around the province of Naples. Among the neighbourhoods considered most at risk, those areas with high proportions of elderly and low income families are deemed particularly vulnerable. With current evacuation plans deemed outdated and poorly communicated to the locals Rolandi (2010), Barberi et al. (2008), this methodology could prove to be a useful input to both town planners and civil protection agencies. A range of statistical measures and geophysical risk boundaries are employed here to assess the different areas of human resilience.