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Projeto de investigação
Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies
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Publicações
Dynamics of Decapoda larvae communities in a southwest Iberian estuary: Understanding the impact of different thermal regimes
Publication . Monteiro, Marta; Cruz, Joana; Azeiteiro, Ulisses; Marques, Sónia Cotrim; Baptista, Vânia; Teodosio, Maria Alexandra; Cruz, Joana
Environmental conditions play a pivotal role in shaping the dynamics of meroplanktonic communities, which represent a vital life stage, crucial for successful recruitment. Specifically, temperature can impact the survival and duration of larval development in decapod crustacean species. The objective of this study is to analyze the community of decapod larvae in the Guadiana estuary, located in southwest Iberia. The analysis focuses on the community's taxonomic composition, temporal variability, and the influence of environmental factors. Particularly, the study emphasizes investigating the impacts of different thermal regimes on the abundance of these assemblages. A comprehensive zooplankton sampling program was conducted at a single station in the lower estuary, from 2014 to 2022. The decapod larvae assemblages are dominated by Upogebia spp., followed by Diogenes pugilator, Panopeus africanus, Afropinnotheres monodi, and Polybius henslowii species. The results of structural equation modeling unveiled a strong influence of water temperature and salinity on the community, while chlorophyll-a concentration, river runoff, and the large-scale climatic mode North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) revealed no impact on the abundance of these assemblages. Overall, the community and the main taxa displayed a positive linear trend in response to increased salinity. However, the effect of increasing temperature varied among species. In the current climatic scenario, water temperature emerges as a critical factor in predicting seasonal variation of the assemblages' abundances, exhibiting a marked seasonality during spring and summer. Predictive models used to investigate future scenarios, Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 2.6 and RCP 8.5, defined by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), where the temperature is expected to rise 2 °C and 4.3 °C by 2100, suggest the possibility for an alteration in assemblages' composition, where the abundances of D. pugilator, the second most abundant species, tend to decrease abruptly. Reported evidence, coupled with the typical Mediterranean climate of the region, where extreme climatic events, like marine heatwaves, are becoming more frequent, the high connectivity with the Mediterranean Sea, where invasion by non-indigenous species is increasing, also connected with changes in freshwater discharges, may trigger significant alterations in species dominance and abundance, with ecological and socio-economic implications.
Sustainable development in Portuguese higher education institutions from the faculty perspective
Publication . Leal, Susana; Azeiteiro, Ulisses M.; Aleixo, Ana Marta
Higher education institutions play a fundamental role and have great responsibility in promoting sustainability and achieving sustainable development goals. It is therefore essential to study the teacher's perceptions of incorporating sustainability since they are responsible for promoting competences and preparing citizens to respond with solutions to future challenges. The aim of this research is to analyse the perceptions of sustainability held by teachers at Portuguese public higher education institutions. A descriptive and exploratory study was conducted by administering an online questionnaire. The sample is made up of 444 teachers from different Portuguese public higher education institutions (54.1% women and 45.9% men). The results show that while most teachers believe higher education institutions promote the integration of sustainability in their activities, only 16% consider that sustainable development is holistically integrated in the institutions' different activities. About 30% of the teachers report that they largely or extensively integrate sustainable development in their curricular units, but only 20% of them state that higher education institutions provide regular or systematic training in SD. Teachers prefer to increase students' sustainable development education through conferences, seminars, or research projects. Almost 90% of teachers are concerned about climate change or the environment, but only 40% or less engage in sustainable development-related activities. Four clusters are also identified, representing teachers' different perceptions of the higher education institutions' promotion of sustainability, teachers' participation in sustainable development issues and concerns about climate change. Although teachers feel that sustainability is starting to be integrated in higher education institutions, this is not done holistically; moreover, differences are found between teachers in polytechnics and universities and between different scientific areas.
Macroplastics as reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance: a systematic review of evidence, variability and methodological constraints
Publication . Costa, Cátia; Duarte Ferreira, Guilherme; Henriques, Isabel; Tacão, Marta; Campos, Maria Jorge
The environmental accumulation of macroplastics has raised concerns regarding their role in the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). As persistent and mobile substrates, macroplastics provide surfaces for microbial colonization and may act as reservoirs and vectors of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). However, their ecological significance remains insufficiently resolved. Following PRISMA guidelines, we conducted a
systematic review of 55 peer-reviewed studies investigating environmentally collected and experimentally exposed macroplastics across marine, estuarine, and freshwater systems.
Macroplastics consistently harbor clinically relevant ARB and ARGs, supporting their role as AMR reservoirs. However, evidence for systematic enrichment relative to surrounding matrices is
inconsistent, and direct evidence of AMR transfer during environmental transport remains limited.
Anthropogenic pressure, ecosystem type, and plastic weathering emerged as key drivers of AMR patterns, with freshwater systems typically showing higher abundance and diversity of ARB and
ARGs. Weathering enhances biofilm development and the adsorption of selective agents, whereas the influence of polymer type remains inconclusive. Methodological heterogeneity, including
inconsistent quantification strategies, limited environmental controls, and lack of phenotype-genotype linkage, constrains robust inference. We propose a standardized, integrative framework combining environmental baselines, harmonized AMR quantification, and functional validation to improve comparability and support reliable evaluation of macroplastic-associated AMR.
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Entidade financiadora
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Programa de financiamento
6817 - DCRRNI ID
Número da atribuição
LA/P/0094/2020