During the first year of ENVIRON_CHANGE, I extracted land cover information, gathered information on bird morphological traits and of species abundances for tropical (Brazil) and temperate (US) zones. I trained myself in Bayesian Linear Mixed Models and further availed from the WATERING TALENTS program from the host institution in order to strengthen my skills. With the knowledge acquired, I characterised bird assemblages phylogenetically, functionally and derived functional diversity metrics. I presented the results to my colleagues at CREAF, in social media and prepared myself to participate in international conferences. The preliminary results of my research were presented at the ‘GTöE 2022 – European Conference for Tropical Ecology’ and at ‘BOU 2023, the British Ornithologists' Union Conference on Evolutionary Responses’. After considering the comments received, I finished a draft of the first manuscript fruit of ENVIRON_CHANGE. In this study we examined the antagonistic impacts of land use conversion and habitat heterogeneity on species richness, and assessed subsequent effects on functional diversity of tropical birds. The study sheds light on the intricate consequences of transforming native forests into anthropogenic landscapes, emphasising the importance of discerning the effects of deforestation from habitat heterogeneity when assessing its effects on natural biodiversity.
Still during the first year, collaborated in the manuscript "Using biodiversity surrogates for ecosystem services conservation in human-modified landscapes", currently under review in Ecosystem Services journal. In this paper we introduced area-based conservation targets in Europe, using terrestrial vertebrates as biodiversity surrogates for ecosystem services. Using mainland Portugal as a case study, we showed distribution patterns, conservation status and ecological trade-offs between biodiversity and ecosystem targets in human-dominated landscapes. Our findings introduced area-based conservation targets for a better understanding of biodiversity–ecosystem services relationships in environmental management applications at multiple scales.
During the second year of ENVIRON_CHANGE, I participated in a book chapter in collaboration with my supervisor. With the aims at describing the role of animal behaviour and life history traits in defining responses to urbanisation, the book chapter is accepted for publication by the Oxford University Press. Also, in the last six months, I have been co-supervising the master thesis of Jon Went, from the ETZ Zürich. Using data on morphological information of birds, land cover and bird abundances from temperate ecosystems in the US, we are developing large-scale spatiotemporal models that integrate legacy effects and life history traits to investigate their complex relationship and consequences to avian biodiversity. The results will generate a scientific paper to be published in a journal of the first quartile. In parallel, I have a new manuscript in prep, which aims at describing the spatiotemporal changes in phylogenetic and functional bird biodiversity across land use change in temperate ecosystems in the US, complementing and accomplishing the main scientific aims of ENVIRON_CHANGE. When finished, the manuscript will be published in a journal of the first quartile.
