Ana Maria Antão - Geraldes

Instituto Politécnico de Bragança | IPB · Departamento Biologia e Biotecnologia

Given the high annual water consumption for non-potable uses (1112.08 m3, 65%) of an industrial building with a large roof area (4638 m2) located in the Northeast of Portugal, this study aims to evaluate the technical and financial feasibility of a rainwater harvesting system for these uses, considering the existing conventional roof (scenario 1) a...

Plastic debris is thought to be widespread in freshwater ecosystems globally¹. However, a lack of comprehensive and comparable data makes rigorous assessment of its distribution challenging2,3. Here we present a standardized cross-national survey that assesses the abundance and type of plastic debris (>250 μm) in freshwater ecosystems. We sample su...

In the face of excessive soil sealing and the occurrence of heavy rainfall in short time periods leading to flooding, it is becoming increasingly urgent to implement public resilient stormwater drainage systems. Green roofs have several advantages at different levels, of which this paper highlights the ability to retain rainwater, to reduce problem...

This study aimed to determine the water demand of a Municipal Market building to propose water use efficiency measures. The flushing cisterns have the highest water consumption (63.15%), followed by washbasins, restaurant and coffee shop taps, and hairdresser’s showerhead (31.64%). Therefore, the implementation of two main categories of solutions:...

Freshwater ecosystems are biodiversity ‘hotspots’ and offer a wide range of vital services to humanity, particularly water and food supplies, aesthetic, spiritual, and scientific stimuli, and water purification [...]

A snapshot screening was carried out in an urban river at the end of a dry period in the water and sediments to assess the presence and environmental risk for the following CECs: paracetamol, ibuprofen, diclofenac, clofibric acid, carbamazepine, ofloxacin, caffeine, tonalide, galaxolide, and bisphenol-A. Concomitantly, the occurrence and environmen...

Monitoring invasive plant species is a crucial task to assess their presence in affected ecosystems. However, it is a laborious and complex task as it requires vast surface areas, with difficult access, to be surveyed. Remotely sensed data can be a great contribution to such operations, especially for clearly visible and predominant species. In the...

The removal of residual pollutants from a synthetic effluent with a composition similar to that of urban effluent from secondary treatment was evaluated in vertical downflow columns. These were filled with soil, the fine fraction of the soil, and sand, and operated in discontinuous and continuous mode. The results showed high removal rates of organ...

Two potential measures for increasing water use efficiency in a municipal sports center were evaluated: (1) the reuse of water originating from showers in the flushing toilets in the indoor football court building; and (2) the reuse of water from swimming pool filter backwashing for irrigation. In the indoor football court building the total annual...

Efficient detection and monitoring procedures of invasive plant species are required. It is of crucial importance to deal with such plants in aquatic ecosystems, since they can affect biodiversity and, ultimately, ecosystem function and services. In this study, it is intended to detect water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) using multispectral data...

This study aimed to determine the water demand of a municipal swimming pool complex to propose water use efficiency measures. Concomitantly, the possibility of recycling and reusing the water from filter backwashing was evaluated. The pools consumed 25.6% of water, the filter backwashing 24.5%, and the showers 34.7%. Despite the current impossibili...

To determine the drivers of phytoplankton biomass, we collected standardized morphometric, physical, and biological data in 230 lakes across the Mediterranean, Continental, and Boreal climatic zones of the European continent. Multilinear regression models tested on this snapshot of mostly eutrophic lakes (median total phosphorus [TP] = 0.06 and tot...

In order to minimize the effects of climate change and promote the sustainability of the urban environment, it is increasingly important to promote policies for the efficient use of water, such as: (1) reducing consumption, losses and waste; (2) reuse and recycle water and (3) resort to alternative sources for nonpotable applications, such as the u...

The present study aims to compare the sensory qualities and the degree of acceptance of wild/farmed brown-trout (Salmo trutta) and the farmed rainbow-trout (Onchorynchus mykiss) by a consumer panel. Acceptability regarding attributes appearance, taste, texture, and global appreciation were evaluated on 20 wild brown-trout, 20 farmed brown-trout and...

At first, sustainable technologies use the natural processes in answering the questions that intend to respond. Thus, it was proposed to use plastic curtains, with the aim of increasing the available habitat for biofilm colonization for the improvement of environmental quality in rivers. The goal of this work is to potentiate the assimilation of nu...

Apenas 1% da água doce está disponível para ser utilizada pela humanidade. No entanto, as atividades da nossa espécie são as principais causas de degradação da qualidade deste recurso e dos ecossistemas aquáticos dulçaquícolas que, apesar de serem essenciais para a sobrevivência da humanidade, são considerados como sendo dos ecossistemas mais ameaç...

Many rural areas in northern Portugal, not unlike other countries, are experiencing degrowth, as the lack of business and employment opportunities lead to an exodus of inhabitants. This is particularly so as it relates to the youth, who seek opportunities in more populated cities. Rural degrowth has serious implications not only for human-focused e...

Under ongoing climate change and increasing anthropogenic activity, which continuously challenge ecosystem resilience, an in-depth understanding of ecological processes is urgently needed. Lakes, as providers of numerous ecosystem services, face multiple stressors that threaten their functioning. Harmful cyanobacterial blooms are a persistent probl...

Body composition (total crude protein, lipid, ash, dry matter and moisture) and fatty acid profiles were compared between wild and farmed brown trout and between farmed rainbow trout. Farmed brown trout contained the highest amount of crude protein (18.39%), whereas farmed rainbow trout contained higher levels of crude lipid (2.35%). Thirty six fat...

Insight into how environmental change determines the production and distribution of cyanobacterial toxins is necessary for risk assessment. Management guidelines currently focus on hepatotoxins (microcystins). Increasing attention is given to other classes, such as neurotoxins (e.g., anatoxin-a) and cytotoxins (e.g., cylindrospermopsin) due to thei...

Insight into how environmental change determines the production and distribution ofcyanobacterial toxins is necessary for risk assessment. Management guidelines currently focus onhepatotoxins (microcystins). Increasing attention is given to other classes, such as neurotoxins (e.g.,anatoxin-a) and cytotoxins (e.g., cylindrospermopsin) due to their p...

Neste trabalho avaliou-se o efeito de diferentes tipos de extractos da planta de rosmaninho (Rosmarinus officinalis) ricos em compostos fenólicos, no crescimento e na fisiologia da microalga Chlorella vulgaris. Os extractos foram obtidos por infusão aquosa a quente e a frio, esta ultima com dois períodos de extração (5 e 21 dias). Os ensaios foram...

Os ecossistemas oferecem à humanidade uma vasta gama de benefícios denominados serviços ecossistémicos, englobando a purificação da água e estímulos estéticos e espirituais. Estes serviços estão em larga medida dependentes da conservação da biodiversidade. As piscinas convencionais contribuem para a degradação destes serviços, pois a depuração da á...

Bosmina (Eubosmina) coregoni Baird, 1857 has been recorded for the first time in the Iberian Peninsula. It is a planktonic cladoceran widely distributed in the Holarctic region which was never previously referred in the Iberian Peninsula in spite of the numerous and intensive studies on freshwater planktonic fauna in this geographic area in the las...

ABSTRACT Aims: Evaluate the in vitro effects of essential oils and water extracts of Laurus nobilis, Rosmarinus officinalis, Mentha suaveolens and Fraxinus angustifolia on the growth of Anabaena cylindrica and Chlorella vulgaris. 1078 Study Design: Experimental research. Place and Duration of Study: The cyanobacterium Anabaena cylindrica and the gr...

AIM: This study intends to provide information on how precipitation variation may impact environmental parameters (total phosphorus, water temperature, pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, Secchi depth, chlorophyll a and Anabaena abundance) and crustacean zooplankton composition and abundance. METHODS: Samples were collected monthly from October 200...

It is know that cyanobacterial taxonomic groups are characterized by particular lipid patterns that can be used as their biological markers. The present study examined the fatty acid composition of nostocacean heterocystous cyanobacterial strains isolated from Central-western Portuguese freshwater shallow water bodies, namely Vela Lake and rice fie...

O projecto AQUARIPORT serve de base ao Programa Nacional de Monitorização de Sistemas Aquáticos e tem como objectivos (1) a recolha de informação base de suporte ao ordenamento dos recursos piscícolas nacionais; (2) o desenvolvimento e a implementação de índices bióticos, baseados na ictiofauna e nos macroinvertebrados bentónicos, que permitam a av...

O projecto AQUARIPORT serve de base ao Programa Nacional de Monitorização de Sistemas Aquáticos e tem como objectivos (1) a recolha de informação base de suporte ao ordenamento dos recursos piscícolas nacionais; (2) o desenvolvimento e a implementação de índices bióticos, baseados na ictiofauna e nos macroinvertebrados bentónicos, que permitam a av...

The abundance, composition and dynamics of zooplankton were followed in two reservoirs of the River Douro catchment. The Serra Serrada Reservoir is subject to marked fluctuations in water levels. The highest values of total phosphorus, soluble reactive phosphorus, nitrate, water colour and chlorophyll a were found during the minimum level phase. Ro...

With the purpose of finding out whether seasonal water level fluctuations could affect water quality in a reservoir subjected to those changes, trends in environmental variables and in phytoplankton and zooplankton assemblages were analysed. The reservoir's hydrological cycle was characterized by three regimes. The maximum level phase lasted from J...

In a meso-eutrophic reservoir, cladoceran and copepod assemblages were characterised in two sampling sites: One located in the pelagic zone (site 1) and the other in the shallow littoral zone (site 2), the latter colonised by emergent macrophytes. Samples were collected biweekly from June to July 2001 and from May to July 2002 at the two sites. At...

Changes in environmental variables, as well as in planktonic algae and in crustacean zooplankton abundance, were investigated in a meso-eutrophic reservoir during two successive years: one wet, another dry. In the wet winter, both total phosphorus and soluble reactive phosphorus reached their maxima, whereas water transparency achieved the minimum...

The assemblage patterns of pelagic Cladocera species were investigated in a meso-eutrophic reservoir from January 2000 to December 2002. Trends of environmental factors (water temperature, conductivity, pH, and nutrient concentrations), as well as of biotic factors (availability of potentially edible phytoplankton and densities of herbivorous and c...

Alkaline phosphatase activity was assessed concomitantly with total phosphorus, orthophosphate and phosphomonoester con-centrations in two meso-eutrophic reservoirs with distinct age and subjected to different kinds of environmental influence. Differ-ences in conductivity, temperature and pH were found. However, during the study period alkaline pho...

With the purpose of finding out whether different landscape occupation could affect water quality in two reservoirs of distinct age and subjected to the same climatic influence, several factors were investigated in a study lasting from January 2000 till December 2001. Total phosphorus, orthophosphate, chlorophyll a concentrations and water colour w...

In the present study, several limnological characteristics of a reservoir filled for the first time are compared with those of another reservoir totally emptied after being full for almost 40 years and then refilled. Three phases were considered during the study, determined by the filling and emptying in the oldest reservoir: (i) filling phase, fro...

The feeding behaviour of Barbus bocagei was assessed in a lowland system by a two years survey of two contrasting sites, also taking into account, for the first time, diurnal changes of fish diet and benthos availability. This barbel feeds more or less continuously during the 24 hours upon the do-minant and the most available benthic items, such as...

The first results of a long-term study on the role of riparian ecotones on the population and community dynamics of Iberian stream fish are presented and discussed. Riparian and macrophyte cover, bank slope and depth were among the most important variables affecting fish distribution. In general small fish favoured shallow areas with high macrophyt...

Material e Métodos Extracção: As plantas foram recolhidas no Campus do IPB, em Setembro de 2009 e incluíram: alfazema (Lavandula sp), alecrim (Rosmarinus officinalis), freixo (Fraxinus angustifolia), loureiro (Laurus nobilis), choupo (Populus sp.), sabugueiro (Sambucus nigra) e mendrasto (Mentha suaveolens) Após secagem procedeu-se à extracção de ó...

Landscape runoff potential impact on reservoir limnology was indirectly evaluated by assessing the effect of precipitation variation on several water quality parameters, on Anabaena (Cyanophyta) and crustacean zooplankton abundances. The obtained results showed that total phosphorus increased with strong precipitation events whereas water transpare...