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Food security and nutrition in Mozambique: comparative study with bean species commercialised in informal markets

Publication . Charrua, Alberto B.; Havik, Philip J.; Bandeira, Salomão; Catarino, Luís; Ribeiro-Barros, Ana; Cabral, Pedro; Moldão, Margarida; Romeiras, Maria M.

In Mozambique (South-eastern Africa), Phaseolus vulgaris and Vigna spp. are important staple foods and a major source of dietary protein for local populations, particularly for people living in rural areas who lack the financial capacity to include meat in their daily dietary options. This study focuses on the potential for improving diets with locally produced nutritious legumes whilst increasing food security and income generation among smallholder farmers. Using bean species and varieties commercialised as dry legumes in the country, it sets out to characterize and compare the chemical properties of Phaseolus vulgaris and Vigna spp. among the most commercialised dry legume groups in Mozambique. The principal component analysis showed a clear separation between Phaseolus and Vigna species in terms of proximate composition, whereas protein content was quite uniform in both groups. It concludes that the introduction of improved cultivars of Phaseolus vulgaris and Vigna species maize–legume intercropping benefits yield, diets and increases household income with limited and low-cost inputs while enhancing the resilience of smallholder farmers in vulnerable production systems affected by recurrent drought and the supply of legumes to urban informal markets

2021Journal article

Open access

Sett Use, Density and Breeding Phenology of Badgers in Mediterranean Agro-Sylvo-Pastoral Systems

Publication . Silva, Marcelo; Rosalino, L. M.; Alcobia, Sandra; Santos-Reis, Margarida

Carnivores social organization varies widely, from strongly social to solitary predators. European badgers are facultative social carnivores that also shows a geographical variation in social structure. These patterns derive mainly from central/west European regions, with an underrepresentation of Mediterranean populations that face different conservation challenges, especially regarding group composition, sett use patterns and breeding phenology. We addressed these traits topics for a population inhabiting a Portuguese agro-silvo-pastoral system. Based on monthly monitoring of 34 setts and continuous camera-trapping surveys of 12, we showed that setts surrounded by diversified vegetation and located in sandy sites are more used, a pattern probably linked to food availability and ease of sett excavation and maintenance, respectively. Badgers followed a general pattern regarding group size (2–4 adults), but showed an intermediate population density (0.49–0.73 badgers/km2), with values higher than those estimated for other Mediterranean environments, but lower than for central-western populations. This, together with the breeding (November/January) and cub emergence (1.8 cubs/sett; March/April) periods, indicates an ecological adaptation to the landscape context, where human-related resources and mild environmental conditions allow badger to reach higher densities than in many southern populations, and to reproduce earlier than their northern counterparts.

2021-09Journal article

Open access

Genomic data and multi-species demographic modelling uncover past hybridization between currently allopatric freshwater species

Publication . Mendes, Sofia L.; Machado, Miguel P.; MM, Coelho; Sousa, Vitor C

Evidence for ancient interspecific gene flow through hybridization has been reported in many animal and plant taxa based on genetic markers. The study of genomic patterns of closely related species with allopatric distributions allows the assessment of the relative importance of vicariant isolating events and past gene flow. Here, we investigated the role of gene flow in the evolutionary history of four closely related freshwater fish species with currently allopatric distributions in western Iberian rivers—Squalius carolitertii, S. pyrenaicus, S. torgalensis and S. aradensis—using a population genomics dataset of 23,562 SNPs from 48 individuals, obtained through genotyping by sequencing (GBS). We uncovered a species tree with two well-differentiated clades: (i) S. carolitertii and S. pyrenaicus; and (ii) S. torgalensis and S. aradensis. By using D-statistics and demographic modelling based on the site frequency spectrum, comparing alternative demographic scenarios of hybrid origin, secondary contact and isolation, we found that the S. pyrenaicus North lineage is likely the result of an ancient hybridization event between S. carolitertii (contributing ~84%) and S. pyrenaicus South lineage (contributing ~16%), consistent with a hybrid speciation scenario. Furthermore, in the hybrid lineage, we identify outlier loci potentially affected by selection favouring genes from each parental lineage at different genomic regions. Our results suggest that ancient hybridization can affect speciation and that freshwater fish species currently in allopatry are useful to study these processes.

2021-08Journal article

Open access

Closing Water Cycles in the Built Environment through Nature-Based Solutions: The Contribution of Vertical Greening Systems and Green Roofs

Publication . Pearlmutter, David; Pucher, Bernhard; Calheiros, Cristina S. C.; Hoffmann, Karin A.; Aicher, Andreas; Pinho, Pedro; Stracqualursi, Alessandro; Korolova, Alisa; Pobric, Alma; Galvão, Ana; Tokuç, Ayça; Bas, Bilge; Theochari, Dimitra; Milosevic, Dragan; Giancola, Emanuela; Bertino, Gaetano; Castellar, Joana A. C.; Flaszynska, Julia; Onur, Makbulenur; Mateo, Mari Carmen Garcia; Andreucci, Maria Beatrice; Milousi, Maria; Fonseca, Mariana; Lonardo, Sara Di; Gezik, Veronika; Pitha, Ulrike; Nehls, Thomas

Water in the city is typically exploited in a linear process, in which most of it is polluted, treated, and discharged; during this process, valuable nutrients are lost in the treatment process instead of being cycled back and used in urban agriculture or green space. The purpose of this paper is to advance a new paradigm to close water cycles in cities via the implementation of naturebased solutions units (NBS_u), with a particular focus on building greening elements, such as green roofs (GRs) and vertical greening systems (VGS). The hypothesis is that such “circular systems” can provide substantial ecosystem services and minimize environmental degradation. Our method is twofold: we first examine these systems from a life-cycle point of view, assessing not only the inputs of conventional and alternative materials, but the ongoing input of water that is required for irrigation. Secondly, the evapotranspiration performance of VGS in Copenhagen, Berlin, Lisbon, Rome, Istanbul, and Tel Aviv, cities with different climatic, architectural, and sociocultural contexts have been simulated using a verticalized ET0 approach, assessing rainwater runoff and greywater as irrigation resources. The water cycling performance of VGS in the mentioned cities would be sufficient at recycling 44% (Lisbon) to 100% (Berlin, Istanbul) of all accruing rainwater roof–runoff, if water shortages in dry months are bridged by greywater. Then, 27–53% of the greywater accruing in a building could be managed on its greened surface. In conclusion, we address the gaps in the current knowledge and policies identified in the different stages of analyses, such as the lack of comprehensive life cycle assessment studies that quantify the complete “water footprint” of building greening systems.

2021-08Journal article

Open access

Patterns and Drivers of Rodent Abundance across a South African Multi-Use Landscape

Publication . C. Afonso, Beatriz; Swanepoel, Lourens H.; Rosa, Beatriz; Marques, Tiago A.; Rosalino, L. M.; Santos-Reis, Margarida; Curveira-Santos, Gonçalo

South Africa’s decentralized approach to conservation entails that wildlife outside formally protected areas inhabit complex multi-use landscapes, where private wildlife business (ecotourism and/or hunting) co-exist in a human-dominated landscape matrix. Under decentralized conservation, wildlife is perceived to benefit from increased amount of available habitat, however it is crucial to understand how distinct management priorities and associated landscape modifications impact noncharismatic taxa, such as small mammals. We conducted extensive ink-tracking-tunnel surveys to estimate heterogeneity in rodent distribution and investigate the effect of different environmental factors on abundance patterns of two size-based rodent groups (small- and medium-sized species), across three adjacent management contexts in NE KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: a private ecotourism game reserve, mixed farms and traditional communal areas (consisting of small clusters of houses interspersed with grazing areas and seminatural vegetation). Our hypotheses were formulated regarding the (1) area typology, (2) vegetation structure, (3) ungulate pressure and (4) human disturbance. Using a boosted-regression-tree approach, we found considerable differences between rodent groups’ abundance and distribution, and the underlying environmental factors. The mean relative abundance of medium-sized species did not differ across the three management contexts, but small species mean relative abundance was higher in the game reserves, confirming an influence of the area typology on their abundance. Variation in rodent relative abundance was negatively correlated with human disturbance and ungulate presence. Rodent abundance seems to be influenced by environmental gradients that are directly linked to varying management priorities across land uses, meaning that these communities might not benefit uniformly by the increased amount of habitat promoted by the commercial wildlife industry.

2021-09Journal article

Open access