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Projeto de investigação
Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre
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Environmental behaviours and risk perception of domestic consumers
Publication . Martinho, Graça; Castro, Paulo J.; Santos, Pedro; Alves, Ana; Araújo, João M. M.; Pereiro, Ana B.; MARE - Centro de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente; DQ - Departamento de Química; LAQV@REQUIMTE; Elsevier
European citizens believe they can play a role in protecting the environment through changes in how they buy, consume, and separate waste, but they also believe they are not doing enough. Household refrigerating appliances, such as refrigerators, freezers, and air conditioning systems (at home or in the car), impact severely global warming due to their high energy consumption and the high global warming potential of the most used refrigeration gases. Despite the unequivocal importance of consumers' actions, their behaviours during equipment purchase, use, maintenance, and disposal at the end-of-life have been largely ignored in policy regulatory strategies. In this work, the gap between consumers’ concerns and their behaviours was addressed by assessing their actions specifically related to the refrigeration gases of their domestic refrigeration equipment (refrigerators and air conditioning systems), at every stage of the equipment life cycle. A questionnaire was conducted with a sample of 648 Portuguese, Spanish and French consumers, aiming at diagnosing the importance and risk attributed to refrigeration gases, and their perception of the actions they can take to reduce this risk. The results revealed that, despite attributing great importance to climate change and considering refrigeration gases a high danger to the environment, most consumers did not consider these gases in their decision when purchasing refrigeration equipment. However, in general, consumers have correct behaviours when there is an equipment malfunction, although they have little information relative to the authorized technicians for installation or maintenance of equipment. The results of this work allowed us to identify the topics that need to be reinforced in future awareness campaigns and to provide some recommendations to promote appropriate consumer behaviour.
Distribution patterns of microplastics in subtidal sediments from the Sado river estuary and the Arrábida marine park, Portugal
Publication . Rodrigues, Diana; Antunes, Joana; Pais, Joana; Pequeno, João; Caetano, Paulo Sá; Rocha, Fernando; Sobral, Paula; Costa, Maria Helena; MARE - Centro de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente; GeoBioTec - Geobiociências, Geoengenharias e Geotecnologias; Frontiers Media
Understanding local accumulation patterns of microplastics in subtidal sediments is crucial to assess how available such particles are for ingestion by benthic feeders and to identify the potential pollution sources in the region upon which is urgent to act. The coastal urban centers of Setúbal and Sesimbra (Portugal) and the multiple activities taking place at the contiguous Sado estuary and in the sheltered waters of Professor Luiz Saldanha Marine Park make this a relevant case study about MPs pollution in the seabed. Here, a short-term investigation assessed the spatiotemporal distribution, abundance, and composition of MPs on the nearshore seabed. Sediment samples were monthly collected from summer 2018 to winter 2019, in six stations. Despite the differences observed in rainfall between campaigns, no distinct patterns were detected in the accumulation of MPs throughout the sampled months. Yet, strong variations occurred among stations. The abundance of MPs in the Sado estuary (1042.8 ± 430.8 items kg−1) was higher in comparison to all the stations located along the marine park (52.9 ± 31.9 items kg−1). Fragments comprised 70% of particles found in estuarine sediments, while fibers were the predominant type in marine sediments. The majority of MPs collected in the estuary shared the same size class as the best represented grain size fraction: 0.250–0.500 mm. On average, the ratio between the abundance of MPs and the abundance of meiofauna organisms was higher in the estuary, suggesting more encounter rates, by both meiofauna and their predators, with MPs. The distribution of MPs throughout the study area was moderately correlated with sediment sorting and organic matter content. Also, the distinct mineralogical content of each station indicates a reduced sediment transit between stations and consequently a weak exportation of MPs from the estuary. The majority of the polymers identified by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy was denser than seawater. Polyethylene terephthalate represented 41% of the items analyzed and was mostly assigned to fibers and fiber bundles. Unveiling the distribution patterns of MPs along this segment of the Portuguese west coast enabled to identify a high-risk area where the implementation of preventive measures is urgent.
The impact of ESG news on the volatility of the Portuguese stock market
Publication . Zanatto, Cássio; Catalão-Lopes, Margarida; Pina, Joaquim P.; Carrilho-Nunes, Inês; DCSA - Departamento de Ciências Sociais Aplicadas; MARE - Centro de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente; John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
This paper assesses how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) news influence Portuguese stock market volatility depending on the business cycle. Given the lack of an adequate index to capture the effects of ESG media on the Portuguese stock market, a News Sentiment Index is developed. This index, which captures positive and negative ESG news on companies listed in the Portuguese Stock Index (PSI-20), is then used as an external regressor in symmetric and asymmetric GARCH-type models employed to model the stock market volatility. Results show that during non-crisis periods ESG news reduce returns' volatility, and that when considering the period preceding the financial crisis the disclosure content (positive or negative) of the news matter. However, during economic downturns, neither the amount nor the content disclosure of ESG news affect volatility; thus, ESG preoccupations might no longer be paramount.
Perception of citizens regarding marine litter impacts
Publication . Ferreira, José C.; Monteiro, Renato; Vasconcelos, Lia; Duarte, Cláudio M.; Ferreira, Filipa; Santos, Euclides; MARE - Centro de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente; MDPI - Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Marine litter has been considered one of the most serious global challenges, requiring urgent action by governmental bodies, especially in African Small Island Developing States (SIDS), where resources and research are limited. In addition to this, waste management and environmental education and ocean literacy programs in schools are scarce, with islands suffering more seriously from these problems. Despite the amount of literature regarding causes and impacts of marine litter, there is still not enough research conducted concerning the public perceptions on both the problem and the potential solutions. This is even more noticeable in African developing countries, where resources and research are scarce. Perception plays a key role for ecosystem management and conservation policies. This study intends to explore the perceptions of local island fishing communities in Cape Verde regarding marine litter, in order to contribute for an improvement of marine ecosystem management and development of conservation policies. To achieve that, two participatory sessions were conducted in two communities in the island of Santiago—Porto Mosquito and Porto Gouveia—where brainstorming and active listening were used to create shared and authentic spaces for dialogue between the members of the community. Results show that the population of both communities were very aware of the marine litter problem. They were able to identify the lack of a proper waste management system in the island and the inappropriate behaviours of the population as the main causes of this problem. Equipment damages and the presence of plastic inside the fish were the most relevant impacts identified by the participants. These findings reinforce previous research on the importance of public engagement and environmental education to contribute to the conservation of marine ecosystems and to build a strong collaborative ocean governance.
Food web attributes to assess spatial–temporal dynamics in estuarine benthic ecosystem
Publication . Vieira, Soraia; Maurer, Anne France; Barrocas Dias, Cristina; Neves, Joana; Martins, Marta; Lobo-Arteaga, Jorge; Adão, Helena; Sroczyńska, Kasia; MARE - Centro de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente; Elsevier
Threatened benthic ecosystems need urgent tools for effective bioassessment and relevant management. EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) obligates member states to achieve GES (Good Environmental Status) for 11 descriptors of environmental state (MSFD; 2008/56/EC). From all of the descriptors, D4 that focuses on Food Webs is the most functional-oriented indicator, but also the most challenging to implement due to our limited knowledge on benthic interactions. Particularly, it is still unclear how spatially and temporally regulated abiotic variables determine the entire benthic food webs, and which benthic food web attributes best respond to these spatially and temporally derived environmental variations. To fill this gap, we measured the natural isotopic ratios (δ13C and δ15N) of macrobenthic organisms and their food sources and build twelve food web topologies across three distinct sites (Navigator, Gambia, Tróia) in summer and winter during two consecutive years. To assess these food web topologies, we applied isotopic metrics, further integrated with univariate and multivariate analysis to find food web-based indicators that best respond to these spatial and temporal variability. We found clear spatial patterns associated to an increase in primary production and quantity and quality of organic matter (OM). Sites with higher organic load and less quality OM (Navigator and Gambia) had simpler food webs, likely associated to high abundance of opportunistic meiobenthic species. Site located inside protected area (Tróia) with high quality OM had the most complex food web characterized by high diversity of specialist consumers that used more efficiently available resources. Similarity metrics were valuable complementary tool that helped to further disentangle the causes of spatial variability, in this case distinguishing between two food webs (Navigator and Gambia) that had similar structures but different resource utilization. The temporal patterns were not so evident than the spatial patterns, although significant differences were reported between sampling occasions for the same metrics (maximum trophic position and the percentage of carnivores and omnivores, p < 0.05). The most complex Tróiás food web demonstrated greater responsiveness in capturing temporal differences in resource use, suggesting that more complex food webs are better equipped to reflect temporal variability. The integration of isotopic metrics complemented with multivariate and univariate analyses proved to be an important tool for the analysis of different aspects of the benthic food web complexity in a spatial–temporal context providing a promising approach to assess the functional integrity of the estuarine ecosystems, especially in the context of the descriptor 4 within MSFD.
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Entidade financiadora
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Programa de financiamento
6817 - DCRRNI ID
Número da atribuição
UIDB/04292/2020