Locais importantes para a observação de aves na região Norte de Portugal Continental – contributos da ciência cidadã para a gestão ambiental, desenvolvimento do turismo e atividades recreativas e integração com outros valores do património cultural e natural
Data
2021-03-26
Autores
Título da revista
ISSN da revista
Título do Volume
Editora
Resumo
A biodiversidade da Terra está a enfrentar a sexta extinção em massa, cujas principais causas são sobretudo antropogénicas, como a expansão urbana e a intensificação da agricultura. Estas alterações vão ter impacto especial nas comunidades de aves, que são fundamentais por todos os serviços ecossistémicos que fornecem, incluindo os recreativos. Estes últimos, apesar de não serem essenciais para a sobrevivência da nossa espécie são importantes para a saúde mental e psicológica do ser humano. De entre os serviços recreativos, destaca-se o ecoturismo, reconhecido como um dos setores da economia verde sustentável. A observação de aves é, de facto, uma das formas de ecoturismo que mais tem crescido nas últimas décadas e com potencial para criar um impacto positivo a nível social, cultural e económico. O objetivo desta dissertação é tentar perceber se a ciência cidadã pode ser a base da criação de ferramentas de gestão de ecossistemas com um enfoque na diversidade ornitológica do norte de Portugal e, desta forma, potenciar o turismo ornitológico regional. Pretende-se também investigar quais as regiões que mais poderão beneficiar duma gestão do turismo direcionada para a diversidade ornitológica. A região em estudo, abrange uma área de 21 286 km2 , 8 sub-regiões e 86 municípios. A partir da plataforma de ciência cidadã eBird, desenvolvida pelo Cornell Lab of Ornithology, foi possível extrair informação relativa aos principais locais para observação de aves, denominados “hotspots”, inferindo desta forma probabilidades de observação ao longo do ano. Foi considerada informação referente aos usos do solo, dados ambientais e socioeconómicos, retirada de várias bases de dados nacionais e internacionais. Relacionaram-se os diferentes tipos de informações através de técnicas de estatística multivariada. O norte de Portugal apresenta, entre o litoral e o interior, uma disparidade demográfica em termos socioeconómicos, bem como diferenças nos usos do solo. Os hotspots encontram-se distribuídos um pouco por toda a região, com algumas concentrações em determinados locais. Em termos de riqueza de espécies observadas, o litoral apresenta mais espécies registadas por área, enquanto que os municípios do interior apresentam mais espécies registadas em termos absolutos. Além disso, as variáveis dos usos do solo apresentam uma correlação significativa com a riqueza de aves registadas por hotspot e na escolha do hotspot por parte do observador, aumentando a importância do uso do solo associado ao hotspot que traduza uma maior biodiversidade ornitológica e atratibilidade para o observador. Os resultados obtidos demonstram que, apesar da região apresentar uma elevada riqueza ornitológica, as zonas selecionadas pelos observadores são em geral próximas de zonas urbanas, onde provavelmente muitos dos observadores residem, apesar de alguns locais no interior de Portugal, talvez pelas espécies emblemáticas que aí ocorrem, apresentarem também elevados números de observadores. A plataforma eBird demonstrou ser uma ferramenta extremamente útil, pois permitiu não só percecionar a distribuição de muitas espécies, mas também a produção de ferramentas que auxiliem na gestão de ecossistemas e até indicar quais as melhores alturas e locais para observar determinadas espécies, fomentando o turismo ornitológico.
Earth’s biodiversity is facing the sixth mass extinction, whose causes are mainly anthropogenic, such as urban expansion and intensification of agriculture. These changes will have a special impact on bird communities that are critical for all the ecosystem services they provide, including recreational ones. Even though the latter are not necessary for the survival of our species, they are important to the mental and psychological health of the human being. Among the recreational services, ecotourism is the one that stands out the most, recognized as one of the sustainable green economy sectors. Birdwatching is one of the forms of ecotourism that has grown the most in the last few decades and with the potential to create a positive impact on a social, cultural and economic levels. The main goal of this dissertation is to try to understand if citizen science can be the basis for the creation of ecosystem management tools with an emphasis on bird diversity of northern Portugal and in this way enhance regional ornithological tourism. It is also intended to investigate which regions will benefit most from a tourism management oriented to bird richness and diversity. The region in study comprehends an area with 21 286 km2 , 8 subregions and 86 municipalities. From the eBird citizen science platform, developed by Cornell Lab of Ornithology, it was possible to extract information related to the principal locations for birdwatching, called “hotspots”, thus inferring observation probabilities throughout the year. It was considered information regarding land uses, environmental to socioeconomic data, withdrawn from multiple national and international databases. This information was analyzed using multivariate statistical techniques. Northern Portugal displays, between the coast and the interior, a demographic disparity in socioeconomic terms, and differences regarding land uses as well. Hotspots are scattered throughout the region, with a few concentrations in certain locations. In terms of observed species richness, the coast has a higher concentration of species registered per area, while the municipalities in the interior have a higher number of species registered in absolute terms. In addition, land uses variables presents a significant correlation with bird richness registered per hotspot and with the choice of the hotspot by the observers, increasing the importance of the land use associated with the hotspot for greater ornithological biodiversity and attractiveness for an observer. Results show that although the region has a high ornithological richness, locations selected by the observers are generally close to urban areas, where most likely a great extent of the observers live, despite some locations in the interior of Portugal also having a high number of observers, perhaps due to the presence of some emblematic species that occur. The eBird platform proved to be an extremally useful tool because it allowed to perceive the distribution of many species, but also the creation of tools that could help in the management of ecosystems and even indicate which are the best time and locations to observe certain species, promoting ornithological tourism
Earth’s biodiversity is facing the sixth mass extinction, whose causes are mainly anthropogenic, such as urban expansion and intensification of agriculture. These changes will have a special impact on bird communities that are critical for all the ecosystem services they provide, including recreational ones. Even though the latter are not necessary for the survival of our species, they are important to the mental and psychological health of the human being. Among the recreational services, ecotourism is the one that stands out the most, recognized as one of the sustainable green economy sectors. Birdwatching is one of the forms of ecotourism that has grown the most in the last few decades and with the potential to create a positive impact on a social, cultural and economic levels. The main goal of this dissertation is to try to understand if citizen science can be the basis for the creation of ecosystem management tools with an emphasis on bird diversity of northern Portugal and in this way enhance regional ornithological tourism. It is also intended to investigate which regions will benefit most from a tourism management oriented to bird richness and diversity. The region in study comprehends an area with 21 286 km2 , 8 subregions and 86 municipalities. From the eBird citizen science platform, developed by Cornell Lab of Ornithology, it was possible to extract information related to the principal locations for birdwatching, called “hotspots”, thus inferring observation probabilities throughout the year. It was considered information regarding land uses, environmental to socioeconomic data, withdrawn from multiple national and international databases. This information was analyzed using multivariate statistical techniques. Northern Portugal displays, between the coast and the interior, a demographic disparity in socioeconomic terms, and differences regarding land uses as well. Hotspots are scattered throughout the region, with a few concentrations in certain locations. In terms of observed species richness, the coast has a higher concentration of species registered per area, while the municipalities in the interior have a higher number of species registered in absolute terms. In addition, land uses variables presents a significant correlation with bird richness registered per hotspot and with the choice of the hotspot by the observers, increasing the importance of the land use associated with the hotspot for greater ornithological biodiversity and attractiveness for an observer. Results show that although the region has a high ornithological richness, locations selected by the observers are generally close to urban areas, where most likely a great extent of the observers live, despite some locations in the interior of Portugal also having a high number of observers, perhaps due to the presence of some emblematic species that occur. The eBird platform proved to be an extremally useful tool because it allowed to perceive the distribution of many species, but also the creation of tools that could help in the management of ecosystems and even indicate which are the best time and locations to observe certain species, promoting ornithological tourism
Descrição
Este trabalho foi elaborado como dissertação original para efeito de obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Engenharia do Ambiente.
Palavras-chave
Avifauna , Ecossistemas Naturais e Seminaturais