Publications

Articles in international journals with peer review

 

2023

 2022

In this study I was involved with a highly important team, transdisciplinary and working in several parts of the globe. I was able to provide important data on the role of infrastructure as a threat to Primates. We reviewed the scientific literature and conduct a spatial analysis to assess the significance of Indigenous Peoples’ lands in safeguarding primate biodiversity. We found that Indigenous Peoples’ lands account for 30% of the primate range, and 71% of primate species inhabit these lands. As their range on these lands increases, primate species are less likely to be classified as threatened or have declining populations. We conclude that safeguarding Indigenous Peoples’ lands, languages, and cultures represents our greatest chance to prevent the extinction of the world’s primates.

The ‘Publico’ newspaper published an article on our paper, with great prominence in its section ‘Azul’, on August 11th, 2022. 

URL:https://www.publico.pt/2022/08/11/azul/noticia/primatas-habitam-territorios-indigenas-estao-menor-risco-extincao-estudo-2016717

In this study, we demonstrate for the first time, with numbers and empirical evidence, that road mortality represents a serious threat for the persistence of wildlife populations, in this case the giant anteater

 This study represents another global-scale collaboration, showing my capacity to integrate different networks of research. My role in this work was to show how China’s Belt and Road may become a threat to our planet, if countries involved in this program pursuit the same development path as China did in the past.

 I consider this one of the most important contributions I have had to science. Using large scale datasets, we were able to show that transport infrastructures not only have an effect at the species level, but they also CHANGE the communities. This is highly relevant for both landscape planning and conservation of biodiversity.

2021

This study used a large number of collared giant anteaters to assess the movement behaviour toward roads by this species. We showed that anteaters have a great variability in their responses, but they generally ignore the risk of collision. This study confirmed that roads can become ecological traps, therefore requiring tailored management actions. The analytical approaches that we developed set a high quality pattern in Road Ecology movement analysis.

This is a very important study, where we relate the economic costs of animal-vehicle collisions (vehicle damage) with the costs of road mitigation. We clearly show that road mitigation does not represent an unsurmountable cost, with estimates reaching 10 years to pay off, and with several human lives being saved on the way. 

2020

This work is in my view a mark in how we face transport and development. In this commentary piece, we discuss the pros and cons of the new technology, including Artificial Intelligence and car sensors, to aid conserving biodiversity

This important review (n = 922 studies) was one output of the working group sUrBio2050 - Assessing globally important areas for biodiversity preservation and human well-being. We assessed the direct and indirect impacts of urban growth on habitat and biodiversity. We found that direct impacts are cumulatively substantial, with 290,000 km2 of natural habitat forecast to be converted to urban land uses between 2000 and 2030; but studies of direct impact are disproportionately from high-income countries. Indirect urban impacts on biodiversity, such as food consumption, affect a greater area than direct impacts, but comparatively few studies (34%) have quantified urban indirect impacts on biodiversity.

2019  

In this very timely Perspective, we called the attention to an extreme example, where the entire geographic range of the endangered golden lion tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia, GLT) was bisected by a major highway that was widened to four lanes. We believed that the planned mitigation actions were not enough to reduce the expected increase of barrier effects and road mortality. Among management guidelines, we suggested that a working group integrating key decision makers and stakeholders, including non-governmental organization leading the conservation efforts, partner universities, national road and environmental agencies, and the road construction company, to agree and implement and monitor complementary road passages to improve connectivity of GLT habitat, and consequently to ensure the species' survival. This paper certainly encouraged decision makers to fund the first over passage in Brazil.

2018 

This comment on NS set the discussion on the environmental impacts of Belt and Road Initiative worldwide. It received over 200 citations in several dedicated papers.

2017 and before

This work was pioneer in using agent-based models in Road Ecology. We demonstrate that roadkill could be greatly mitigated by using partial fencing, therefore stopping most animals from crossing through the pavement, but some still being able to, therefore guaranteeing genetic mixture between populations.

Book chapters 

All four chapters were invited by the respective editors.




Publications proceedings of scientific meetings

 

Scientific reports