http://hdl.handle.net/10174/30 Sun, 10 May 2026 19:04:38 GMT 2026-05-10T19:04:38Z http://hdl.handle.net/10174/41984 Title: The Impact of Roads on Birds Authors: Santos, Sara Maria; Wang, Yun; Goosem, Miriam; Develey, Pedro; Lourenço, Rui Editors: DÁmico, Marcello; Barrientos, Rafael; Ascensão, Fernando Abstract: Most published studies regarding the impact of roads on birds focus either on collision with vehicles or noise pollution and disturbance effects, but also habitat fragmentation and chemical pollution. Fewer studies describe positive influences of roads on birds. Many studies originate from Europe and North America. Recently, contributions from South America have increased, but studies from Asia, Australia and Africa are still scarce. This pattern is consistent across collision and disturbance topics, except barrier effects, for which most contributions come from South America, especially from rainforests. Studies concerning collision with vehicles generally focus on all road-killed vertebrates while others specifically focus on mortality across all bird taxa. For most other impacts, passerines are the most investigated taxonomic group, although there are also relevant contributions focusing on birds of prey, owls, and some regionally endangered species. Roads can also provide some benefits to some birds, providing new foraging opportunities in the form of carcasses of road-killed animals, garbage or spills from passing vehicles. However, there are negative consequences of this proximity, and roads might be an ecological trap for some species. Although roads have many negative effects on bird populations, road mortality, fragmentation and traffic noise can be more detrimental than other types of impacts. The impacts of roads on birds are very variable across landscape context, communities, taxa, or road type. Thus, it is crucial to investigate the situations where a road will or will not have negative effects for birds. Given the recent expansion of transportation infrastructure in many developing countries, it is also urgent to address long-term population consequences of road impacts for birds, in particular those with specialised habits. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10174/41984 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10174/41957 Title: Maximising biodiversity potential in Europe’s mines and quarries: A key role for EU Nature Restoration Regulation targets Authors: Ballesteros, Miguel; Řehounková, Klara; Decleer, Kris; Martínez-Ruiz, Carolina; Alday, Josu G; Gentili, Rodolfo; Nunes, Alice; Salgueiro, Pedro A; Mahy, Gregory; Bouchoms, Samuel; Kirmer, Anita; Tischew, Sabine; Carabassa, Vicenç; Nikolic, Nina; Marrs, Rob; Prach, Karel Abstract: Amid the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and the EU’s Nature Restoration Regulation (NRR), which aims to restore degraded areas in the coming decades, post-mining sites must be integrated into biodiversity and ecosystem recovery strategies as key contributors. While mining, quarrying, and other extractive activities have considerable environmental impacts, they also present massive opportunities to create valuable habitats, support biodiversity, guide restoration efforts, and contribute to conservation. A strong foundation of scientific and practical knowledge is already in place, yet implementation gaps persist, and regulatory frameworks remain under-utilised for restoring these degraded areas. Under-exploited pathways exist to reconcile development needs with NRR restoration goals. To maximise the biodiversity potential of post-mining sites, we emphasise the need for: (1) Site-specific scientific assessments and long-term monitoring; (2) Practical restoration guidelines for European habitats; (3) The strategic use of restored site networks as demonstration areas; (4) Active stakeholder engagement; and (5) Supportive policies. Tue, 02 Sep 2025 23:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10174/41957 2025-09-02T23:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10174/41553 Title: Mercury and Blood Pressure Levels in Inhabitants from a Highly Industrialized Region in Northern Portugal Authors: Pastorinho, M Ramiro; Barros, R; Valente, JV; Gonçalves, D; Taborda-Barata, L; Sousa, Ana Catarina Abstract: Objective: Estarreja is a highly industrialized municipality in NW Portugal, well known for its historical mercury contamination. Mercury exposure is a serious risk to human health (cf. Minamata Disease), and due to its widespread occurrence and persistency, it is recognized as a priority substance. Amongst the myriad deleterious effects of mercury on human health, hypertension has only recently gained attention. The aim of this work was to evaluate the levels of mercury in matched dust and hair samples from inhabitants of Estarreja; and to study possible associations between hypertension and mercury. Methods: House dust and hair samples from the residents of Estarreja were collected, together with systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure measurements. Mercury levels were analyzed by CV-AAS. Results: Levels of mercury in dust (93–9100 ng/g) were, on average, higher than those in hair (624–4535 ng/g). No statistically significant association between dust and hair could be established (Spearman Rank Order Correlation, p=0.199), reinforcing that dust is not the major exposure pathway to this toxicant. Twentyeight per cent of the participants were hypertensive. No statistically significant differences in mercury levels between the hypertensive and normal group were found (One-tailed P-value=0.444). No significant associations between SBP (p=0.826) or DBP (p=0.695) and hair mercury levels were obtained. Conclusions: Overall, 72% exhibited levels higher than the acceptable dose set by the USEPA (1000 ng/g), and 44% of individuals exhibited hair mercury levels higher than the WHO acceptable dose (2000 ng/g). Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10174/41553 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10174/41552 Title: An optimized method for the preliminary detection of Microplastics in the Indoor Environment Authors: Valente, J; Pastorinho, Manuel; Sousa, Ana Catarina Abstract: Objective: Microplastics (MPs) are plastic particles with sizes between 100 nm and 5 mm, regarded as emerging contaminants and responsible for multiple deleterious effects on human health. Due to MPs ubiquity, humans are continuously exposed. However, exposure dosimetry is very rarely performed, particularly for the indoor environment. This work describes a simple protocol to evaluate the presence of MPs in the indoor environment. Methods: Passive dust samples were collected in two divisions (kitchen and bedroom) of the same house during one-week periods. Active dust samples were retrieved from the vacuum cleaner bag. Different methods for the extraction of MPs were tested, including the combination of density separation with sodium chloride and digestion with hydrogen peroxide. Since no standard protocol for MPs quantification in dust samples was available, the amount of dust to be used in the analysis was also optimized. The MPs were then visualized and identified by confocal microscopy after Nile Red staining. Results: For passive samples, only the oxidative digestion of the lipids content with H2O2 is necessary. For active samples, it is necessary to perform a density separation with NaCl prior to oxidative digestion. Overall, the results from the passive dust samples revealed that the bedroom exhibited a higher number of fibers than the kitchen and that the highest fluorescence intensity was also registered in the bedroom samples. Concerning the active samples, the optimization of the amount of dust to be analyzed indicated that a minimum of 0.5 g of the 63 µm dust fraction should be used. Conclusions: Nile Red visualization technique proved to be efficient in MPs detection and quantification. However, it cannot discern the composition of different MPs present in a sample. Hence, this technique should be used as a preliminary approach to confirm the existence/non-existence of MPs. Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10174/41552 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z