Cristina
Branquinho
Associate Professor with habilitation
Universidade de Lisboa
1. Ecological Restoration and Ecosystem Management When we mantai, we must restore. This research uses knowledge of the structure and principles of ecosystem functioning to apply to environmental management and ecological restoration of degraded ecosystems. In particular, we work in Mediterranean rivers, metal mines, quarries, industrial zones, forests, forests, coastal dunes and, more recently, in desertified zones of our country. 2. Indicators of early warning of climate change and desertification in the global semiarid Since 2010 we are studied the ecology of the semi-arid in particular the patterns of functional diversity along climatic gradients and / or desertification. We intend to find indicators of early warning of climate change and desertification, using the functional diversity of epiphytic lichens, biological crusts of the soil and plants. These works have been developed in the south of Portugal successfully and are now being applied in other areas of the world. In the Spanish semi-arid, Italian-level Europe. In America in the Brazilian semiarid (Caatinga), and in the arid American (Arizona). The development of ecological indicators common to the various regions will be relevant not only in assessing the effects of climate change on arid areas on a global scale but also in increasing scientific knowledge on ecological responses to climate change. It can also act as a tool for predicting ecosystem transitions, allowing the development of adaptation strategies. 3. Adapt Forests to climate change Increasing native forest represents a strategy for adapting to climate change at the ecosystem level as it increases resilience and ecosystem services. For this reason, large areas were reforested with autochthonous species, but with a low success rate. We have been studying how best to tailor reforestation efforts and energy through knowledge of its ecology, improving long-term survival rates. We are defining the most suitable species for reforestation in 2100. Another very innovative project at the international level is the restoration of the lagoon banks using biological soil crusts that are submerged and emerge daily. 4. Ecological Indicators Knowledge of the ecology and diversity of species is then applied to the area of ecological indicators. Because of its complexity, it is extremely difficult to quantify all the properties of the ecosystem in response to global changes. Ecological Indicators are measurable characteristics of ecosystem structure, composition and functioning and can be used efficiently to measure and describe the effects of environmental changes on the structure and functioning of ecosystems by providing simple and representative information that can be communicated to environmental stakeholders for decision making. Since 2004, we have been using various types of ecological indicators based on diverse metrics of diversity in relation to various environmental factors. The most used ecological indicators go through the diversity of epiphytic lichens, biological crusts of the soil and vascular plants. The most commonly used metrics range from specific wealth to the most common functional diversity metrics (functional wealth, functional divergence, etc.). The most studied environmental factors are air pollution, climate change, changes in land use, desertification, eutrophication, etc. These developments have been carried out on a local, regional, national and global scale. 5. Mechanisms of desiccation tolerance in poikilohydrics At the level of plant biology we worked with organisms that show desiccation tolerance (bryophytes, lichens and vascular plants). An aquatic bryophyte was studied for its mechanisms of desiccation tolerance at the physiological, cellular, metabolic and proteomic levels. We conclude that the mechanisms are very similar to those occurring in bryophytes typical of deserts. It appears that the greatest differences observed between bryophytes of different habitats are related to the shape of the stems that is adapted to each habitat and that determines the appropriate rate of dehydration for each context. This work, along with recent research from other laboratories, has been changing the established paradigm on desiccation mechanisms in bryophytes since the 1970s