2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity (http://www.countdown2010.net/year-biodiversity) and we want to celebrate biodiversity in the Azores. Thus we published the first list of all terrestrial and marine biodiversity, in a Principia edition:

Borges, P.A.V., Costa, A., Cunha, R., Gabriel, R., Gonçalves, V., Martins, A.F., Melo, I., Parente, M., Raposeiro, P., Rodrigues, P., Santos, R.S., Silva, L., Vieira, P. & Vieira, V. (Eds.) (2010). A list of the terrestrial and marine biota from the Azores. Princípia, Oeiras, 432 pp.

The official release will be in the 19th November in Terceira Island (University of Azores)

If you are not author or collaborator,to get a printed copy contact:

Princípia
Rua Vasco da Gama, 60-C – 2775-297 Parede – Portugal
principia@principia.pt • www.principia.pt

This book lists the updated terrestrial and marine (mainly costal) biodiversity of Azores. Book of great importance, lists about 8,050 species and subspecies that breed in the Azores, plus more three hundred potentially breeding birds. This book was coordinated by 14 investigators, 12 from the University of Azores, one from University of Lisbon and one from University of Évora, and had the participation of plus 120 national and foreign scientists.
The book is organized in two sections (terrestrial and marine), including a total of 15 chapters. The first chapter describes the Azorean biodiversity in terms of numbers and propose the strategy for the study and conservation of the biodiversity of this archipelago. The remaining chapters list the biodiversity of 14 large taxonomic groups, presenting their distribution by the nine islands and information on colonization origin of the species and subspecies (ex. endemic from Azores, native, introduced).


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Triantis, K.A., Borges, P.A.V., Ladle, R.J., Hortal, J., Cardoso, P., Gaspar, C., Dinis, F., Mendonça, E., Silveira, L.M.A., Gabriel, R., Melo, C., Santos, A.M.C., Amorim, I.R., Ribeiro, S.P., Serrano, A.R.M., Quartau, J.A. & Whittaker, R.J. (2010). Extinction debt on oceanic islands. Ecography, 33: 285-294

Online in: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1600-0587.2010.06203.x/pdf

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It’s the first record of Tarentola mauritanica Linnaeus, 1758) (Reptilia; Gekkonidae) in the Azores, recently published by researchers from University of Azores.

Barreiros, J.P., R.B. Elias, J. Lourenço, E. Dias & P. Borges 2010. First records of
Tarentola mauritanica (Linnaeus, 1758) (Reptilia; Gekkonidae) in the Azores.
Arquipelago. Life and Marine Sciences, 27: 73-75.


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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P.A.V. (2010).
Preview of Images from Paulo A. V. Borges to be posted during August 2010. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo.


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The images from the Azorean Biodiversity Group of the rare bryophyte species Echinodium renauldii (IUCN, Vulnerable) are now live on the ARKive website. To view these images, please go to:



http://www.arkive.org/echinodium/echinodium-renauldii/images.html



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The report, authored by Prof. Miguel Bastos Araújo and with the collaboration of Raquel Garcia, offers a diagnosis of the potential impacts of climate change on biodiversity in protected areas (including Natura 2000 areas) in Europe. Based on the diagnosis are discussed adaptation strategies for biodiversity, particularly as regards the preservation in situ in protected areas and surrounding areas. Political and management mechanisms to face the challenges posed by climate change are also reviewed and discussed.

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Cave-adapted, with a distribution area restricted to the karst system of the Frade (Sesimbra), in the Natural Park Arrábida, the smallest European spider has been classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Critically Endangered, the highest level of possible threat.

http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/176265/0



http://naturdata.com/index.php?option=com_species&spid=38071:Anapistula-ataecina&Itemid=66


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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P.A.V. (2010).
Preview of Images from Pedro Cardoso to be posted during July 2010. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo.


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Butchard et al. (2010). Global Biodiversity: Indicators of Recent Declines. Sciencexpress. www.sciencexpress.org / 29 April 2010 / Page 1 / 10.1126/science.1187512

In 2002, world leaders committed, through the Convention on Biological Diversity, to achieve a significant reduction in the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. We compiled 31 indicators to report on progress toward this target. Most indicators of the state of biodiversity (covering species’ population trends, extinction risk, habitat extent and condition, and community composition) showed declines, with no significant recent reductions in rate, whereas indicators of pressures on biodiversity (including resource consumption, invasive alien species, nitrogen pollution, overexploitation, and climate change impacts) showed increases. Despite some local successes and increasing responses (including extent and biodiversity coverage of protected areas, sustainable forest management, policy responses to invasive alien species, and biodiversity-related aid), the rate of biodiversity loss does not appear to be slowing.

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Aranda, S.C., Gabriel, R., Borges, P.A.V. & Lobo, J. (2010). Assessing the completeness of bryophyte inventories: an oceanic island as a case study (Azores: Terceira). Biodiversity and Conservation, 19: 2469-2484.

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Collection of papers from the journal Science devoted to Charles Darwin and the Theory of Evolution

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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P.A.V. (2010).
Preview of Images from Paulo A. V. Borges to be posted during July 2010.
Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo


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The Azorean Biodiversity Group published recently a paper in which reveal dramatic and hitherto unrecognized levels of extinction debt, as a result of the extensive destruction of the native forest: more than 95%, in less than 600 years.

Triantis, K.A., Borges, P.A.V., Ladle, R.J., Hortal, J., Cardoso, P., Gaspar, C., Dinis, F., Mendonça, E., Silveira, L.M.A., Gabriel, R., Melo, C., Santos, A.M.C., Amorim, I.R., Ribeiro, S.P., Serrano, A.R.M., Quartau, J.A.& Whittaker, R.J. (2010). Extinction debt on oceanic islands. Ecography, 33: 285-294.

Abstract:

Habitat destruction is the leading cause of species extinctions. However, there is typically a time-lag between the reduction in habitat area and the eventual disappearance of the remnant populations. These ‘surviving but ultimately doomed’ species represent an extinction debt. Calculating the magnitude of such future extinction events has been hampered by potentially inaccurate assumptions about the slope of species–area relationships, which are habitat- and taxon- specific. We overcome this challenge by applying a method that uses the historical sequence of deforestation in the Azorean Islands, to calculate realistic and ecologically-adjusted species–area relationships. The results reveal dramatic and hitherto unrecognized levels of extinction debt, as a result of the extensive destruction of the native forest: more than 95%, in less than 600 years. Our estimations suggest that more than half of the extant forest arthropod species, which have evolved in and are dependent on the native forest, might eventually be driven to extinction. Data on species abundances from Graciosa Island, where only a very small patch of secondary native vegetation still exists, as well as the number of species that have not been found in the last 40 years, despite the extensive sampling effort, offer support to the predictions made. We argue that immediate action to restore and expand native forest habitat is required to avert the loss of numerous endemic species in the near future


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Top 10 Portuguese species
Hundreds of new species for science have been described from Portugal during the last decade. From common insects never before recognized as new, to moss species with restricted distributions. From spiders with fractions of a millimeter to birds seen at a distance. However, most of these novelties go unnoticed to the general public. Very few realize one doesn’t have to travel to the Amazon in large expeditions to discover species no one has ever seen. It is possible to do it literally on our backyard.
The portal Naturdata - biodiversity online (www.naturdata.com) and the Azorean Biodiversity Portal (www.azoresbioportal.angra.uac.pt) present during this International Year of Biodiversity the initiative “Top 10 Portuguese species”. We intend to list the species that for whatever reason are representative from all the species described between 2000 and 2010. The choice will have three distinct stages:
1. Until August 31 any person, taxonomist or not, expert or not at all, may send “candidate” species which could be listed. Such species should have been described between 2000 and 2010 in the Portuguese territory (including Azores and Madeira). They may be rare and endangered species, they may exhibit a particular behavior or simply be so common that no one would think that they have been described only recently. Just send an e-mail to info@naturdata.com with the following data (if available):
- Scientific name
- Common name
- Why should the species be among the “Top10” (max 200 words)
- Photos (self authored or with the author’s approval)
- Links to online information regarding the species
To facilitate the search you may find a probably incomplete list of about 300 species
below.
2. The portal coordinators will do a pre-selection of the eligible species considered as most interesting (according to the data provided) and create a file for each species. We will then start a voting period so that the public may vote in their “favorite” species. This voting period will run until November 30.
3. According to the public vote (50%) and the coordinators vote (50%) we will announce the Top10 species during December 2010.


Link

Cardoso, P. & Morano, E. (2010). The Iberian spider checklist (Araneae). Zootaxa, 2495: 1-52

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Abstract
Oceanic islands have been the grand stage of documented extinctions. In view of limited resources, efficient prioritization is crucial to avoid the extinction of taxa. This work lists the top 100 management priority species for the European archipelagos of the Macaronesian region (Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands), taking into account both their protection priority and their management feasibility. Bryophytes, vascular plants, molluscs, arthropods and vertebrates were scored by species experts following two sets of criteria: (i) protection priority, including ecological value, singularity, public institutions’ management responsibilities and social value; (ii) management feasibility, including threats knowledge and control feasibility, external socio-economical support for management and biological recovery potential. Environmental managers weighted the same criteria according to their management importance. Final species scores were determined by the combination of both species valuation and criteria weighting. Vascular plants dominate the Top 100 list, followed by arthropods and vertebrates. The majority of listed taxa are endemic to one archipelago or even to a single island. The management feasibility criteria did not dictate that all taxa must be eminently endangered, as for most of the species it should be relatively easy to control threats. The main advantages of this process are the independent participation of scientists and conservation managers, the inclusion of criteria on both protection priority and management feasibility and the taxonomically unbiased nature of the process. This study provides a potentially useful biodiversity conservation tool for the Macaronesian archipelagos that could be readily implemented by the respective regional governments in future legislation.

Martín, J.L., Cardoso, P., Arechavaleta, M., Borges, P.A.V, Faria, B.F., Abreu, C., Aguiar, A.F., Carvalho, J.A., Costa, A.C., Cunha, R.T., Gabriel, R., Jardim, R., Lobo, C., Martins, A.M.F., Oliveira, P., Rodrigues, P., Silva, L., Teixeira, D., Amorim, I.R., Fernandes, F., Homem, N., Martins, B., Martins, M. & Mendonça, E. (2010). Using taxonomically unbiased criteria to prioritize resource allocation for oceanic island species conservation. Biodiversity and Conservation, 19: 1659-1682

See more in - http://www.naturdata.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=169:top-100-especies-prioritarias-para-a-conservacao-na-macaronesia&catid=44:ultimas&Itemid=72

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In this International day of Biodiversity we announce Contest Winners "Biodiversity Azores Photos with Stories"

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Leadley, P., Pereira, H.M., Alkemade, R., Fernandez-Manjarrés, J.F., Proença, V., Scharlemann, J.P.W., Walpole, M.J. (2010) Biodiversity Scenarios: Projections of 21st century change in biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Montreal. Technical Series no. 50, 132 pages


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Pedro Cardoso and Luís Crespo from the Azorean Biodiversity Group published recently a paper in whicg six new species of spiders are described for Portugal.

Bosmans, R., Cardoso, P. & Crespo, L.C. (2010) A review of the Linyphiid spiders of Portugal, with the description of six new species (Araneae: Linyphiidae). Zootaxa, 2473: 1–67.


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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P.A.V. (2010).
Preview of Images from Paulo A. V. Borges to be posted during May 2010.
Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Is attached as an example the new chapter of Vertebrates of the new List of the terrestrial and marine biodiversity of the Azores which will be available soon:

Borges, P.A.V., Costa, A., Cunha, R., Gabriel, R., Gonçalves, V., Martins, A.F., Melo, I., Parente, M., Raposeiro, P., Rodrigues, P., Santos, R.S., Silva, L., Vieira, P. & Vieira, V. (Eds.) (2010). A list of the terrestrial and marine biota from the Azores. Princípia, Oeiras, 388 pp

Link

Dr. Yde de Jong, PESI project coordinator,invite us to join PESI Project as an associate, non-contracted Focal Point, contributing to relevant discussions, e-conferences and proposals, as well as attending themed meetings on invitation.
The PESI Project (Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure) is an ongoing 3-year EU-funded project, building high quality taxonomic name services, including valid species names and names relationships, functioning as authoritative taxonomic reference system:

http://www.eu-nomen.eu/pesi/

The PESI Focal Points are national representatives for biodiversity and taxonomic research, forming the communication channel between the local level knowledge resources and the Pan-European integrated Taxonomic community network. Their activities within PESI include the inventory of the country-based biodiversity data and the transfer of these data to the PESI database experts, who are building the multilingual PESI data portal:

http://www.eu-nomen.eu/portal/index.php

At this site standardised European species information will be available to a European-wide user community, including a taxonmatch tool for name-verification and updated synonymies for species in national checklists. The data contribution of the contracted focal points includes: vernacular names in all European languages (sensu latu), species occurrence, cross-validation of species names, legal instruments and local expertise (e.g. experts, journals, societies, collections).

PESI is working towards a larger geographic coverage of the European expertise network. The current PESI Focal Point network comprises 34 contracted partners and 11 non-contracted partners, including the EU neighbouring countries Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine and Russia. A clickable map is available on:

http://www.eu-nomen.eu/pesi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51&Itemid=64

Link

Gaspar, C., Gaston, K.J. & Borges, P.A.V. (2010). Arthropods as surrogates of diversity at different spatial scales. Biological Conservation, 143: 1287–1294

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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P.A.V. (2010).
Preview of Images from Nuno Bicudo da Ponte to be posted during April 2010. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P.A.V. (2010).
Preview of Images from Pedro Cardoso to be posted during April 2010. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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The special issue on oceanic islands in Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics (PPEES) is meanwhile available in print and can be viewed on the PPEES webpage (Vol. 12, Issue 2):

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/14338319

Conservation of oceanic island floras: Present and future global challenges
Pages 107-129
Juli Caujapé-Castells, Alan Tye, Daniel J. Crawford, Arnoldo Santos-Guerra, Ann Sakai, Katy Beaver, Wolfram Lobin, F.B. Vincent Florens, Mónica Moura, Roberto Jardim, Isildo Gómes, Christoph Kueffer


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The Azorean Biodiversity Group of CITA-A is organizing this event. 2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity (http://www.countdown2010.net/year-biodiversity) and we want to celebrate biodiversity in the Azores

The next conference is on the 23 and 24 of April (see Program in appendix)

Financed By:
SRCTE – Secretaria Regional da Ciência, Tecnologia e Equipamentos da Região Autónoma dos Açores e Universidade dos Açores- Projecto DRCT- M.4.2.2 / I / 002 / 2010; “Os Montanheiros”; “Europe Direct”.

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The identification of spiders could be facilitated if we have access to good images of the male pedipalp and female epigyne. We are starting a long-term project to produce high quality images of all the Azorean spider species of both the imago habitus and details on male palp and female epigyne. These images will be posted both in the Azorean Biodiversity Portal and in the Azorean Spider Portal
http://www.jorgenlissner.dk/azoreanspiders.aspx

See 79 of the first images in this document belonging to 41 species

Mendonça, E. & Borges, P.A.V. (2010). Images of Azorean Spiders with details for male and female identification v. 9.0. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo


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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P.A.V. (2010).
Preview of Images from Paulo A. V. Borges to be posted during March 2010. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Research policies ensuing from the Convention on Biological Diversity made huge funds available to study biodiversity. These were mostly dedicated to projects aimed at providing services to taxonomy via information and technology, or to develop “modern”, i.e., molecular, approaches to taxonomy. Traditional taxonomy was overly neglected and is in serious distress all over the world. It is argued that both novel and traditional ways to study biodiversity are essential and that the demise of traditional taxonomy (based on phenotypes) in the era of biodiversity is the result of an unwise policy, mainly fostered by portions of the scientific community that aim at taking total advantage of the funds dedicated to the study of biodiversity.

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Belonochilus numenius Say (Lygaeidae Orsillinae) is a true bug native from California who began to spread in southern Europe. Here in the urban area of Angra do Heroísmo, lives on Cryptomeria japonica

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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P.A.V. (2010).
Preview of Images from Pedro Cardoso to be posted during March 2010. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Armsworth, P.R. et al. (2010). The ecological research needs of business. Journal of Applied Ecology, 47: 235-243.

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2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity (http://www.countdown2010.net/year-biodiversity) and we want to celebrate biodiversity in the Azores. This opportunity is reinforced by our responsibility in belonging to the RCE AÇORES (Regional Centre of Expertise in Education for Sustainable Development) and by the publicly expressed priorities of the government

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Service of environmental occurrences in the Azores

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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P.A.V. (2010). Preview of Images from Pedro Cardoso to be posted during February 2010. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P.A.V. (2010). Preview of Images from Paulo A. V. Borges to be posted during February 2010. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Cardoso, P. & Almeida, A.P.G. (2010). Envenenamento por aranhas em Portugal. Verdade ou Mito? Acta Médica Portuguesa, 23: 33-38

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Amaral, J., Almeida, S., Sequeira, M. & Neves, V. (2010). Black rat Rattus rattus eradication by trapping allows recovery of breeding roseate stern Sterna dougallii and common tern S.hirundo populations on Feno Islet, the Azores, Portugal. Conservation Evidence, 7, 16-20

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Grant Student Position Project - “Predicting extinctions on islands: a multi-scale assessment” (2010-2013. (FCT- PTDC/BIA-BEC/100182/2008)

Creative and motivated candidates are invited to apply for a one-year Grant Student position, at the Azorean Biodiversity Group, University of Azores for participation in a collaborative project between Paulo A. V. Borges, Kostas Triantis (University of Azores), Aris Parmakelis (University of Athens) and Robert Whittaker (Biodiversity Research Group, Oxford University Centre for the Environment).

Some training in insect identification is preferable.

Contact: pborges@uac.pt


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See the Worldwide database of Jumping Spiders coordinated by Dr. Heiko Metzner
The database contains informations to 5277 species worldwide
A total of 1589 species are illustrated with:
1408 photos, 6474 figures and 47 videos


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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P.A.V. (2010).
Preview of Images from Hanno Schaefer to be posted during February 2010.
Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo.


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Leal, C. (2010). Caderno de identificação de aves - Paul da Pedreira do Cabo da Praia. Universidade dos Açores.

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Leal, C. (2010). Caderno de identificação de aves - Paul da Praia da Vitória. Universidade dos Açores.

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Socio-economic Benefits of Natura 2000 – a Case Study on the ecosystem service provided by Pico Da Vara / Ribeira Do Guilherme

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The meeting will take place from 23-25 September 2010 in Ponta Delgada, São Miguel Island, Azores, Portugal. It will be hosted by the Biology Department, University of the Azores. See details in the Link below

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Given their richness and abundance in all habitat types, one of the greatest challenges in conservation and biogeography of arthropods is to obtain detailed and comparable data on their distribution. The only solution is to use sampling protocols that are both exhaustive and standardized, enough to convey a rigorous image of the sampled sites. However, resource optimization is paramount but never attempted. For the first time a new methodology allowing to define optimized and standardized protocols was proposed. This methodology was tested with Portugal spiders and is now being implemented all over the country, including its islands.

See more in: Cardoso, P. (2009). Standardization and optimization of arthropod inventories – the case of Iberian spiders. Biodiversity and Conservation. 18: 3949-3962


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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P.A.V. (2010).
Preview of Images from Pedro Cardoso to be posted during January 2010.
Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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See in the Publications, the list of the 10 most accessed publications in 2009.

The Azorean Biodiversity Group (ABG) is one of the four research groups of the Research Centre CITA-A (“Centro de Investigação em Tecnologias Agrárias dos Açores”). This centre is included in the University of Azores and is mainly sponsored by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the Regional Direction of Science and Technology (DRCT). Here we present the list of Projects and publications for the period 2008-2009.

More details in: http://cita.angra.uac.pt/biodiversidade/

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The second issue of Frontiers of Biogeography — the scientific magazine of the International Biogeography Society (December 2009) is now freely available at http://www.biogeography.org/html/fb/FBv1i2/FBv1i2_All.pdf

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Paino, J., Gonzalez-Mancebo, J.J., Fernadez, A., Pena, M. A. & Leal, J. (2009). Briófitos en bosques de niebla delas islas Canarias. El Indiferente, 20: 23-35.

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The GBIF consists of 50 member countries and 40 member international organisations. 52 of these have published datasets via GBIF and, as of July 2009, more than 177 million primary biodiversity records covering more than a million species have been published. However, the records are mainly from North America and Europe with 42 per cent coming from USA, 15 per cent from Sweden and 13 per cent from the UK. Although Africa, Asia and Oceania (lands in the Pacific Ocean) have high levels of biodiversity, they are severely under-represented, contributing only 1.2 per cent, 1.6 per cent and 2.8 per cent respectively of the total GBIF records.
There are a number of obstacles to providing the missing data. Collecting data and digitally converting it for the internet needs funding and expertise. In addition, many researchers are reluctant to share information due to concerns over intellectual property rights and improper use of data. The researchers suggest that relevant policies and funding could help overcome these barriers, for example, by requiring researchers to make data freely available.

See http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature_biodiversity/index_en.htm
See also: www.gbif.org
Source: Gilman, E., King, N., Peterson, T., Chavan, V., Hahn, A. In Press. (2009). Building the Biodiversity Data Commons - The Global Biodiversity Information Facility. In: ed. Maurer, L. ICT for Agriculture and Biodiversity Conservation. ICT Ensure, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria. (2009). 79-102.

Contact: ericlgilman@gmail.com

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Borges, P.A.V. (2009). Preview of Images from
Paulo A. V. Borges to be posted during December 2009 – part 2.
Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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May, R.M. (2009). Ecological science and tomorrow s world. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 365: 41-47.

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The Naturdata is the portal of Biodiversity of Portugal.
Here you can find information about the species of Portugal, request information or request services. Access the site via the link below

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Please find enclosed the first edition of NET-BIOME newsletter, in which there is an article about the Azorean Biodiversity Group. In this editionn tehre is a description of the NET-BIOME project and of its main activities along the past months of implementation. Three partners, one from each corner of the earth (or better, oceans) present themselves: Reunion Island, the Azores archipelago and French Polynesia. Finally, the voices of local initiatives regarding biodiversity are spelled out in the News in Brief.


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See the new website at
http://cita.angra.uac.pt/biodiversidade/


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Borges, P.A.V. (2009). Preview of Images from
Paulo Henrique Silva to be posted during December 2009. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Borges, P.A.V. & Hortal, J. (2009). Time, area and isolation: Factors driving the diversification of Azorean arthropods. Journal of Biogeography 36: 178-191.

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Borges, P.A.V. (2009). Preview of Images from Paulo A. V. Borges to be posted during December 2009. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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The Ubuntu Committee of Peers for the Regional Centres for Expertise (RCEs) held its fourth meeting on 10 November 2009 in Tokyo, Japan and considered the 23 RCE applications from all over the world for formal acknowledgement. Among all, the Committee recommended UNU to acknowledge 8 RCEs, including RCE Atlantis (Azores) submitted by the Azorean Biodiversity Group (CITA-A) early this year! The Committee members acknowledged that the proposal for RCE Atlantis was well prepared and showed an excellent understanding of the ESD/RCE principles

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To be Lauched on the 7th December 2009 at University of Azores (Terceira). See here the PDF.

Borges P.A.V. & Gabriel, R.G. (2009). Predicting extinctions on oceanic islands: arthropods and bryophytes. Universidade dos Açores.

This book is based on a Project with the same designation that received one of the BES - Biodiversity prize of 2008. The started in 1998 with the aim of obtaining the first time a standardizing sampling of island arthropods. Later, the same study was extended to bryophytes. This knowledge to the terrestrial biodiversity – based on a rigorous scientific study – allowed the complete listing of species, the identification of the rarest and threatened species, and the selection of the hotspot areas of biodiversity. The research group published several studies that demonstrated the need to include more sites in the Azorean network of protected areas, some of which were later considered by the Azorean Government to be included in the new Azorean system of protected areas. The project implied for the first time in oceanic islands the simultaneous study of both soil and canopy arthropods and bryophytes. The studied forest was the native "Laurisilva". Many species new for science were discovered. One of the most important achievements was the Azorean Biodiversity Portal.

Link

See the summary here of (in portuguese):

Guerreiro, O., Borges, A. & Borges, P.A.V. (2009). A térmita de madeira seca Cryptotermes brevis (Walker) na cidade de Angra do Heroísmo: monitorização e controle dos voos de dispersão e prevenção da colonização. Departamento de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade dos Açores, Angra do Heroísmo. 30 pp


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Martín, J.L. (2009). Are the IUCN standard home-range thresholds for species a good indicator to prioritise conservation urgency in small islands? A case study in the Canary Islands (Spain). Journal of Nature Conservation, 17: 87-98.

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Silva, L., M. Martins, G. Maciel & M. Moura (2009). Flora Vascular dos Açores. Prioridades em Conservação. Azorean Vascular Flora. Priorities in Conservation

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Lorenzo-Carballa, M. O., Beatty, C. D., Utzeri, C., Vieira, V. & Cordero-Rivera, A. (2009). Parthenogenetic Ischnura hastata revisited: present status and notes on population ecology and behaviour (Odonata: Coenagrionidae). International Journal of Odonatology, 12(2): 395-411.

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Borges, P.A.V. (2009). Preview of Images from
Paulo A. V. Borges to be posted during November 2009. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P.A.V. (2009). Distribution of the endemic Bryophytes from the Azores. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P.A.V. (2009). Preview of Images from Pedro Cardoso to be posted during November 2009. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Based on a request by the owner of a house located at Santa Rita (Praia da Vitória, Terceira), termite experts of the Azorean Biodiversity Group (University of Azores) made a survey of two houses and found evidences of the occurrence of a subterranean termite. A detailed investigation of abandoned wood in the surrounding fields allowed the discovery of a large population of a subterranean termite of Reticulitermes, the same genus of the species occurring at Faial (Reticulitermes grassei). We suspect that this population now discovered at Terceira belongs to another species, confirmed as Reticulitermes flavipes, the eastern subterranean termite, very common in the USA. Subterranean termites live in the soil and have very large populations that can number several million termites per colony. To control this situation two urgent measures are needed: i) the first step requires the delimitation of the infested area followed by an ongoing process of monitoring. Once delimited, a multi-year management program should be initiated in which a number of management practices are implemented in an integrated manner. A key component of such programs is a colony-level control methodology based on baiting and the Trap-Treat-Release method; ii) Yard Wood Management is a crucial part of area-wide termite management. This means that every item of dead wood must be either removed and disposed or elevated off the ground so that termites can not access it, e.g., sheds, firewood, edging boards, doghouses, posts, wood chip mulch, and most of all: stumps. Stumps are of critical importance because these provide ideal reproductive sites.

SEE A DETAILED REPORT IN APPENDIX (In Portuguese).

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Hortal, J., Triantis, K.A., Meiri, S., Thébault, E. and Sfenthourakis, S. (2009). Island species richness increases with habitat diversity. American Naturalist, 174: E205-E217

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Anapistula ataecina sp. n. is one of the smallest spiders described to date. The species is almost exclusively known from the Frade Cave System in Portugal which is partly endangered by limestone quarries.

Cardoso, P. & Scharff, N. (2009). First record of the spider family Symphytognathidae in Europe and description of Anapistula ataecina sp. n. (Araneae). Zootaxa, 2246: 45-57

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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P. A. V. (2009). Distribution of the Exotic invasive Vascular plants from the Azores (Top 100 Invasive Species of Macaronesia). Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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See here the available chapter from:

Wilson E.O. (2009). Island Biogeography in the 1960s - Theory and Experinent. In: Ricklefs, R.E. & Losos, J.B (eds.), The Theory of Island Biogeography Revisited. pp. 1-12. Princeton University Press
http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9096.html

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Moura, M., Candeias, M.I. & Silva, L. (2009). In Vitro Propagation of Viburnum treleasei Gand., an Azorean Endemic with High Ornamental Interest.
Hortoscience 44(6):1668–1671.

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Borges, P.A.V. (2009). Preview of Images from Paulo Borges to be Posted during October 2009 – Part 2. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Cardoso, P., Lobo, J.M., Calvo, S., Dinis, F., Gaspar, C. & Borges, P.A.V. (2009). A spatial scale assessment of habitat effects on arthropod communities of an oceanic island. Acta Oecologica, 35: 590-597

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Cardoso, P., Borges, P.A.V. & Veech, J.A. (2009). The robustness to undersampling for beta diversity measures based on presence-absence data. Diversity and Distributions, 15: 1081-1090

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Cardoso, P.; Gaspar, C.; Borges, P.A.V.; Gabriel, R.; Amorim, I.R.; Martins, A.F.; Maduro-Dias, F.; Porteiro, J.M.; Silva, L. & Pereira, F. (2009). Açores - um retrato natural. Veraçor, Ponta Delgada, 240 pp.
To buy Online see http://www.veracor.pt/

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Jiménez-Valverde, A., Diniz, F., Azevedo, E.B. & Borges, P.A.V. (2009). Species distribution models do not account for abundance: the case of arthropods in Terceira Island. Annales Zoologici Fennici, 46: 451-464

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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P. A. V. (2009). Preview of Images from Paulo Henrique Silva to be posted during October 2009. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Biodiversity of Angra do Heroísmo (Terceira - Azores) in Images and video

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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P.A.V. (2009). Preview of Images from Pedro Cardoso to be posted during October 2009. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Rgis paper:

Hortal, J., Borges, P.A.V. & Gaspar, C. (2006). Evaluating the performance of species richness estimators: Sensitivity to sample grain size. Journal of Animal Ecology, 75: 274-287.

Was selected for the
Virtual Issue for Methods in Ecology and Evolution
http://www.methodsinecologyandevolution.org/view/0/virtualIssues.html

See the other papers on a New section in the Publications

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Martins, A. M. de Frias, Borges, J.P., Ávila, S. P., Costa, A.C., Madeira, P. & Morton, B. (2009). Illustrated checklist of the infralittoral molluscs of Vila Franca do Campo. Açoreana (Suppl. 6): 15-103.

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Borges, P.A.V. (2009). Preview of Images from Paulo Borges to be Posted during October 2009 . Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Cardoso, P.; Gaspar, C.; Borges, P.A.V.; Gabriel, R.; Amorim, I.R.; Martins, A.F.; Maduro-Dias, F.; Porteiro, J.M.; Silva, L. & Pereira, F. (2009). Azores - a natural portrait. Veraçor, Ponta Delgada, 240 pp
To buy Online ver http://www.veracor.pt/

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The inaugural issue of Frontiers of Biogeography — the scientific magazine of the International Biogeography Society (September 2009) is now freely available at http://www.biogeography.org/html/fb/FBv1i1.html


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We are putting available PDFs of historical papers on Azorean Biodiversity. See Publications.
Example:

Méquignon, A. (1935). Voyage de MM. L. Chopard et A. Méquignon aux Açores (Août-Septembre 1930). VIII - Coléoptères américains acclimatés aux Açores. Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France, 40: 203-204.

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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P. A. V. (2009). Distribution of the Exotic Arthropods from the Azores. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Martin Sharman
"The wicked problem of biodiversity"
Perspectives about biodiversity and sustainability"

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Harvey, J.A. (2009). Preparing a paper for publication: an action plan for rapid composition and completation. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 46: 158–164

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The Azorean Biodiversity Group (CITA, Univ Azores) presents its scientific production in the years 2008-2009

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Vanderpoorten, A. et al. (2007). Does Macaronesia exist? Conflicting signal in the bryophyte and pretidophyte floras. American Journal of Botany, 94: 625-639.

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Borges, P.A.V., Amorim, I.R., Cunha, R., Gabriel, R., Martins, A. F., Silva, L., Costa, A. & Vieira, V. (2009). Azores – Biology. In: R. Gillespie & D. Clagu (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Islands, pp 70-75. University of California Press, California.

© 2009 by The University of California Press, California.

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The University of Azores in Angra do Heroísmo (Azorean Biodiversity Group- CITA-A) in collaboration with other organizations in the Azores who work on broad issues of education for sustainable development, have submitted an application to the United Nations University to be recognized as a Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE) for Education for Sustainable Development. The world-wide RCE network is a program of the UN´s Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014) www.ias.unu.edu/sub_page.aspx?catID=108&ddlID=183. The proposed “RCE Atlantis” is an informal network open to new members from the Azores as well as from the wider Macraronesia region. The evaluation of new RCE applications will occur in October

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Borges, P.A.V. (2009). Preview of Images from Paulo Borges to be Posted during July 2009 . Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Machado, A. (2009) El género Drouetius Méquignon, 1942 Stat.Prom. de las islas Azores (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Entimidae). Graellsia, 65: 19-46.

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Mendonça, E., Silva, L. & Borges, P.A.V. (2009). Distribution of the endemic vascular plants from the Azores. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P.A.V. (2009). Images of Arthropods from Azores using the Sincroscopy System. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Borges, P.A.V., Ugland, K.I, Dinis, F.O. & Gaspar, C. (2008). Insect and spider rarity in an oceanic island (Terceira, Azores): true rare and pseudo-rare species. IN: S. Fattorini (Ed.). Insect Ecology and Conservation. pp. 47-70. Research Signpost

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Borges, P.A.V. (2009). Images from Pedro Cardoso currently available in the Portal. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo.

http://www.ennor.org

http://naturgrafia.blogspot.com

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In this extraordinary documentary look at the state of our planet.

Keywords: Sustainability, Environment, Climate Change, growth of the human population, biodiversity; YouTube; Yan Arthus-Bertrand

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Borges, P.A.V. (2009). Entomological expedition to Santa Maria (Azores) - May 2009 . Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Borges, P.A.V. (2009). Preview of Images from Paulo Borges to be Posted during May 2009 . Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P.A.V. (2009). Distribution of the endemic Hemiptera from the Azores. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Jordaens et al. (2009). Speciation on the Azores islands: congruent patterns in shell morphology, genital anatomy, and molecular markers in endemic land snails (Gastropoda, Leptaxinae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 97, 166–176.

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Borges, P.A.V. (2009). Preview of Images of Insects and Spiders from Paulo Borges to be Posted during May 2009 . Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Gaspar, C., Borges, P.A.V..& Gaston, K.J. (2008). Diversity and distribution of arthropods in native forests of the Azores archipelago. Arquipélago. Life and marine Sciences, 25: 1-30

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Paulo Borges (coordinator of the Azorean Biodiversity Portal) starts here the preview of his images to put available in this Portal soon.

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Heleno, R. et al. (2009). Effects of Alien Plants on Insect Abundance and Biomass: a Food-Web Approach. Conservation Biology, 23: 410-419

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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P.A.V. (2009). Distribution of the endemic lepidoptera from the Azores. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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José Marcelino a Post-Doc from CIRN- Dep. of Biology of the University of the Azores sent some nice images of the small Collembola.

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Hanno Schaefer sent recently 222 new images of the Azorean Vascular Plants. See here the preview of some of those images and visit their distribution on the database.

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Dowmload here the Species Files and go to Publications - TOP100 Invasive species to access the other chapters

Silva L, E Ojeda Land & JL Rodríguez Luengo (eds.) (2008) Flora y Fauna Terrestre Invasora en la Macaronesia. TOP 100 en Azores, Madeira y Canarias. ARENA, Ponta Delgada, 546 pp.

To have a copy of the book contact with Luis Silva.

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ScientificCommons.org (http://en.scientificcommons.org/)is a project of the University of St.Gallen (Switzerland) and hosted and developed at the Institute for Media and Communications Management

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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P.A.V. (2009). Distribution of the endemic beetles from the Azores. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Gabriel, R., Borges, P.A.V., Cardoso, P., Frahm, J-P., Homem, N. & Mendonça, E. (2009). Images of Azorean endemic Bryophytes. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo.


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IUCN 2009-2011 ACTION PLAN - The EU and its overseas entities: strategies to counter climate change and biodiversity loss.

See more in http://www.iucn.org/euoverseas

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This publication resulted from the Project INTREFRUTA (http://www.interfruta.angra.uac.pt/)

Lopes, D.H., Cabrera Perze, R., Borges, P.A.V., Aguin-Pombo, D., Pereira, A.M.N., Mumford, J.D. & Mexia, A.M.M. (Eds.)(2009). Folhas Divulgativas. Universidade dos Açores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Valter Jacinto colaborator of the site Olhares (www.olhares.com/Valter) sent fantastic images for the Azorean Biodiversity Portal.

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Alberto Maia colaborator of the site Olhares (www.olhares.com/AMAIA) sent fantastic images for the Azorean Biodiversity Portal.

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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P.A.V. (2009). A preview of images of orthoptera from Galerie de Insectes to be posted during April 2009. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo.


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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P.A.V. (2009). Distribution of the Endemic Spiders from the Azores. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo.

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Filipe Caetano colaborator of the site Olhares (www.olhares.com/firelord) sent fantastic images for the Azorean Biodiversity Portal.

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Mendonça, E., Frias Martins, A. & Borges, P.A.V. (2009). Distribution of the Endemic Molluscs from the Azores. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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This book is organized in eight chapters, and includes the results of 1200 questionnaires, made in Castelo Branco (interior north Portugal) and the Azores (São Miguel and Terceira Islands).

Silva, E. & Gabriel, R. (2009, “2007”). As atitudes face ao ambiente em regiões periféricas. Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia & Universidade dos Açores, Angra do Heroísmo. 214 pp

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It was recently launched a website which aims to illustrate the diversity of spiders from the Azores in images (see: http://www.jorgenlissner.dk/azoreanspiders.aspx). This is an initiative led by Jørgen Lissner and with the collaboration of Paulo Borges (University of the Azores - DCA, CITA). A total of 124 new images will soon be shared with the Azores Biodiversity Portal. Here are some of them

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Mendonça, E., Rodrigues, P., Cunha, R. & Borges, P.A.V. (2009). Distribution of the Endemic Vertebrates from the Azores. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Sabino, V., Rodrigues, P., Cunha, R. & Borges, P.A.V. (2009). Preview of images of endemic Vertebrates from the Azores. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo.

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We call attention for the following conclusions of the attached publication:

"Our results highlight an important lesson for conservation agencies working to eradicate invasive species globally; that is, risk assessment of management interventions must explicitly consider and plan for their indirect effects, or face substantial subsequent costs. On Macquarie Island, the cost of further conservation action will exceed AU$24 million"

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Gaston, K.J. & Fuller, R.A. (2009). The sizes of species geographic ranges. Journal of Applied Ecology, 46: 1-9.

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Martín, J.L, Arechavaleta, M., Borges, P.A.V. & Faria, B. (eds.) (2008) TOP 100 - As cem espécies ameaçadas prioritárias em termos de gestão na região europeia biogeográfica da Macaronésia. Consejería de Medio Ambiente y Ordenación Territorial, Gobierno de Canarias, 500 pp. TEXTS In SPANISH - PART 2


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Martín, J.L, Arechavaleta, M., Borges, P.A.V. & Faria, B. (eds.) (2008) TOP 100 - As cem espécies ameaçadas prioritárias em termos de gestão na região europeia biogeográfica da Macaronésia. Consejería de Medio Ambiente y Ordenación Territorial, Gobierno de Canarias, 500 pp. TEXTS IN PORTUGUESE


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Martín, J.L, Arechavaleta, M., Borges, P.A.V. & Faria, B. (eds.) (2008) TOP 100 - As cem espécies ameaçadas prioritárias em termos de gestão na região europeia biogeográfica da Macaronésia. Consejería de Medio Ambiente y Ordenación Territorial, Gobierno de Canarias, 500 pp. TEXTS IN SPANISH - PART1


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Martín, J.L, Arechavaleta, M., Borges, P.A.V. & Faria, B. (eds.) (2008) TOP 100 - As cem espécies ameaçadas prioritárias em termos de gestão na região europeia biogeográfica da Macaronésia. Consejería de Medio Ambiente y Ordenación Territorial, Gobierno de Canarias, 500 pp

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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P.A.V. (2009). A preview of images of insects from Galerie de Insectes to be posted during March 2009. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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We are indebted to all the contributors to the Insecte.org & Galerie-insecte.org projects (http://www.galerie-insecte.org/galerie/fichier.php)

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Borges, P.A.V. & Gabriel, R. (2009). Azorean Biodiversity Group Newsletter 3 (February 2009). Angra do Heroismo.

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Toste, M. & Frias Martins, A. (2009). Preview of images of endemic molluscs from the Azores. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo.


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Losos, J. & Ricklefs, R.E. (2009). Adaptation and diversification on islands. Nature, 457: 830-836.

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Mace, G.M., et al. (2008) Quantification of Extinction Risk: IUCN´´s System for Classifying Threatened Species. Conservation Biology 22, 1424-1442.

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Alves, C., Schaefer, H., Silva L. & Borges, P.A.V. (2009). A preview of images from the
Azorean endemic vascular plants – part 2. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo.

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A total of 18 arthropod images belonging to Denis Bourgeois were recently offered to be posted in the Azorean Biodiversity Portal. The images will be posted during February.
The images were obtained from the site Entomoland "http://denbourge.free.fr"

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Alves, C., Schaefer, H., Silva L. & Borges, P.A.V. (2009). A preview of images from the
Azorean endemic vascular plants – part 1. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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Hanno Schaefer sent recently 300 new images of the Azorean Vascular Plants belonging to 281 species. See here the preview of some of those images and visit their distribution on the database.

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Mendonça, E. & Borges, P.A.V. (2009). A preview of images from the Azorean endemic spider species. Univ. Azores, Angra do Heroísmo

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We start here a new series of documents with lists of Azorean endemics with photos. We hope that this could be of interest for students. The documents could also be assessed in the Publications (Other resources)

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We are indebted to all the contributors to the Insecte.org & Galerie-insecte.org projects (http://www.galerie-insecte.org/galerie/fichier.php), particularly those who have allowed their photos to be used here:
Jean-Pierre Arnaud, Calmont Benjamin, Jean-Claude Bernard, Patrick Bonneau, Robert Bonneau, Franck Buron-Mousseau, François Calame, Marina Chavernoz, Franco Christophe, Christine Devilliers, Pierre Duhem, Hélène Dumas, Michel Ehrhardt, Gerard Euziere, Sylvie Faeles, Jean-Michel Faton, Jérémie Fevrier, Anne Forgues, Etienne Iorio, Dennis Keith, Arp Kruithof, Christophe Lauriaut, Bruno Lavoué, Olivier Levoux, Patrick Libouel, Denys Liger, Clement Marc, Henri Maleysson, Franck Noel, Pierre Oger, Nicolas Paris, Christian Perez, Didier Petot, Matthieu Pilard, Dominique Poirier-Ducrocq, Daniel Radix, Michel Renou, Didier Roustide, Eric Serres, Patrick Straub, Déjean Sylvain, Nicolas Vansteene, Stephane Vassel, Michel Verolet, Arnaud Ville.

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A new species of bird was recently described for the Azores, Oceanodroma monteiroi, Monteiro’s Storm-petrel. See the images of juveniles in the database.

UPDATE from Journal of Biogeography: Editors Choice

The Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Biogeography, Rob Whittaker, has recently chosen a new selection of research articles for the third edition of Highlighted Articles. These articles reflect the level of commendable research published in the journal.



Articles in this edition:

-Azorean arthropods do it fast in dark caves
-Comparing present and past expansion processes in a desert bird
-Past climate transition explains penguin genetic diversity
-Do migratory pathways affect regional abundance of wintering birds? A test in northern Spain
-Venomous snakes illuminate ancient speciation patterns in Middle American highlands
-The Hawaiian Archipelago is a stepping stone for dispersal in the Pacific

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Borges, PA.V. & Gabriel, R. (eds.) (2008). Azorean Biodiversity Group Newlsletter 2. Universidade dos Açores.

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It was recently launched a website which aims to illustrate the diversity of spiders from the Azores in images (see: http://www.jorgenlissner.dk/azoreanspiders.aspx). This is an initiative led by Jørgen Lissner and with the collaboration of Paulo Borges (University of the Azores - DCA, CITA).
Jørgen Lissner is coordinating a portal on spiders from Europe (http://www.jorgenlissner.dk/default.aspx) and now agreed to cooperate with the Azorean Biodiversity Portal in this initiative.
The aim is to have pictures of live spiders but also some details to help the identification of the Azorean species with the help of the image system Syncroscopy, images taken by Enésima Mendonça (Azorean Biodiversity Group, CITA-A).
It is hoped to supplement habitus images with images of female epigynes and male palps to enhance the ability of anyone wanting to successfully identify spiders collected on the archipelago. Images shown on this page may not be based on Azorean specimens but spiders collected or observed elsewhere in their distributional range.

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We would like to highlight some specialists who are sending large amounts of images (100 or more) for the portal already available and many others to offer soon:
- John Bridges (http://northeastwildlife.co.uk/) with images of several taxonomic groups.
- Jan-Peter Frahm, with images of Bryophyta.
- Hanno Schaefer, with images of Spermatophyta.
- Felix Schumm, pictures of Lichens.
- Tim Fassa, with images of several taxonomic groups (most of Arthropoda).

About 3,914 images are now available covering about 1,639 of the 5,000 terrestrial species of the Azores. We are indebted to all colleagues and friends that sent recently many images of species (Ingrid Altmann, Clube de Ambiente - FOC, Isabel Amorim, Jean-Yves Baugnée, Osvaldo Borges, Joel Bried, John Bridges, Bruno Brum, Pedro Cardoso, Alain Doornaert, Tim Faasen, Jan-Peter Frahm, Martin Gascoigne-Pees, Nuno Gonçalves, Martin Gossner, Hannes Günther, Ben Hamers, Bart Hanssens, Walter Haug, Jan Henderickx, Claus Hense, INTREFRUTA, David Jones, Frank Köhler, Stanislav Krejcik, Jørgen Lissner, Cosmin Manci, Fernando Martins, Enésima Mendonça, Walter Müller, Tom Murray, Ed Nieuwenhuys, Alby Oakshott, Sabine Ortmann, Fernando Pereira, Hubert Polacek, Urs Rindlisbacher, Jean-Claude Ringenbach, Francisco Reis, Jordi Ribes, Jacques Rosès, Ana Simões, Hanno Schaefer, Udo Schmidt, Felix Schumm, Paulo H. Silva, D´Almeida Simões, Stefan Sollfors, Malcolm Storey, Xim Sureda, Martin Suvák, Brian Valentine, Alex Wild, Albert de Wilde, Peter Wirtz).

We are indebted to all the contributors to the UK Moths Webpage (http://ukmoths.org.uk/index.php), particularly those who have allowed their photos to be used here: Charles Baker, Tristan Bantock, George Davis, Tony Davison, Rob Edmunds, Shane Farrell, Graham Finch, Charles Fletcher, Stephen Foster, Martin Gray, Lee Gregory, David Grundy, Dave Hamilton, Paul Harris, Steve Hatch, Donald Hobern, Ian Kimber, Ingeborg M. M. van Leeuwen, Keith Naylor, Ben Smart, Ian Smith, Francis Solly, Brian Stone.

See details in the list of species of arthropods about new images of several species of spiders from the Azores. Put in the search word "spider" and then search for images of each species.

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The Azorean Biodiversity Group is one of the four research groups of the FCT Centre CITA-A (University of Azores. To improve the communication between all members and collaborators a “Group News” or “Newsletter” was launched. Download here the first number.

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Inward, D. et al. (2007). Death of an order: a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study confirms that termites are eusocial cockroaches. Biology Letters, 3: 331-335.

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Farinha, N. et al. (2008). Portal da Biodiversidade dos Açores. Edição ARENA.

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Martín, J.L, Arechavaleta, M., Borges, P.A.V. & Faria, B. (eds.) (2008) TOP 100 - As cem espécies ameaçadas prioritárias em termos de gestão na região europeia biogeográfica da Macaronésia. Consejería de Medio Ambiente y Ordenación Territorial, Gobierno de Canarias, 500 pp

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Martín, J.L, Arechavaleta, M., Borges, P.A.V. & Faria, B. (eds.) (2008) TOP 100 - As cem espécies ameaçadas prioritárias em termos de gestão na região europeia biogeográfica da Macaronésia. Consejería de Medio Ambiente y Ordenación Territorial, Gobierno de Canarias, 500 pp

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Borges, P. A. V. & Hortal, J. (2008) Time, area and isolation: factors driving the diversification of Azorean arthropods. Journal of Biogeography, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2008.01980.x.

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See the PDF in Portuguese of:

Cardoso, P., Borges, P.A.V.,, Costa, A. C., Cunha, R. T., Gabriel, R., Martins, A. M. F., Silva, L., Homem, N., Martins, M., Rodrigues, P., Martins, B. & Mendonça, E. (2008). A perspectiva arquipelágica - Açores. In: J. L Martín,. M. Arechavaleta, P.A.V. Borges & B. Faria, (eds.) TOP 100 - As cem espécies ameaçadas prioritárias em termos de gestão na região europeia biogeográfica da Macaronésia. pp 421-449. Consejería de Medio Ambiente y Ordenación Territorial, Gobierno de Canarias.

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See the PDF in Spanish of:

Cardoso, P., Borges, P.A.V.,, Costa, A. C., Cunha, R. T., Gabriel, R., Martins, A. M. F., Silva, L., Homem, N., Martins, M., Rodrigues, P., Martins, B. & Mendonça, E. (2008). La perspectiva archipelágica - Azores. In: J. L Martín,. M. Arechavaleta, P.A.V. Borges & B. Faria, (eds.) TOP 100 - As cem espécies ameaçadas prioritárias em termos de gestão na região europeia biogeográfica da Macaronésia. pp 79-107. Consejería de Medio Ambiente y Ordenación Territorial, Gobierno de Canarias.

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See the PDF in Spanish of

Arechavaleta, M. & Matín, J.L. (2008). La perspectiva archipelágica: Canarias. In: J. L Martín, M. Arechavaleta, P.A.V. Borges & B. Faria, (eds.) TOP 100 - As cem espécies ameaçadas prioritárias em termos de gestão na região europeia biogeográfica da Macaronésia. pp 129-145. Consejería de Medio Ambiente y Ordenación Territorial, Gobierno de Canarias.

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See the PDF in Portuguese of:

Arechavaleta, M. & Matín, J.L. (2008). A perspectiva arquipelágica: Canárias. In: J. L Martín, M. Arechavaleta, P.A.V. Borges & B. Faria, (eds.) TOP 100 - As cem espécies ameaçadas prioritárias em termos de gestão na região europeia biogeográfica da Macaronésia. pp 469-485. Consejería de Medio Ambiente y Ordenación Territorial, Gobierno de Canarias.

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See the PDF in portuguese of:

Faria, B. et al. (2008). A perspectiva arquipelágica: Madeira. In: J. L Martín, M. Arechavaleta, P.A.V. Borges & B. Faria, (eds.) TOP 100 - As cem espécies ameaçadas prioritárias em termos de gestão na região europeia biogeográfica da Macaronésia. pp 451-468. Consejería de Medio Ambiente y Ordenación Territorial, Gobierno de Canarias.

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See the PDF in Spanish of:

Faria, B. et al. (2008). La perspectiva archipelágica: Madeira. In: J. L Martín, M. Arechavaleta, P.A.V. Borges & B. Faria, (eds.) TOP 100 - As cem espécies ameaçadas prioritárias em termos de gestão na região europeia biogeográfica da Macaronésia. pp 109-128. Consejería de Medio Ambiente y Ordenación Territorial, Gobierno de Canarias.

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See the PDF in Spanish of:

Martín, J.L, Arechavaleta, M., Borges, P.A.V. & Faria, B. (2008). La perspectiva Macaronésica. In: J. L Martín, M. Arechavaleta, P.A.V. Borges & B. Faria, (eds.) TOP 100 - As cem espécies ameaçadas prioritárias em termos de gestão na região europeia biogeográfica da Macaronésia. pp 47-78. Consejería de Medio Ambiente y Ordenación Territorial, Gobierno de Canarias.

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See the PDF in Potuguese of

Martín, J.L, Arechavaleta, M., Borges, P.A.V. & Faria, B. (2008). A perspectiva Macaronésica. In: J. L Martín, M. Arechavaleta, P.A.V. Borges & B. Faria, (eds.) TOP 100 - As cem espécies ameaçadas prioritárias em termos de gestão na região europeia biogeográfica da Macaronésia. pp 389-419. Consejería de Medio Ambiente y Ordenación Territorial, Gobierno de Canarias.

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The book on the threatened species of Macaronesia is already available .
Martín, J.L, Arechavaleta, M., Borges, P.A.V. & Faria, B. (eds.) (2008) TOP 100 - As cem espécies ameaçadas prioritárias em termos de gestão na região europeia biogeográfica da Macaronésia. Consejería de Medio Ambiente y Ordenación Territorial, Gobierno de Canarias, 500 pp

To obtain a copy contact with Manuel Hernandez (mareher@gobiernodecanarias.org) of the Canary Islands Government or Paulo A. V. Borges from the Azorean Biodiversity Group - University of the Azores (pborges@uac.pt).


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Visit the website of the conference “The European Union and its Overseas Entities: Strategies to counter Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss”, which was hosted on Reunion Island from 07 to 11 July 2008, under the auspices of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

http://www.reunion2008.eu/pages/en/en-home.html

LIFE+ Biodiversity will co-finance innovative or demonstration projects that contribute to the implementation of the objectives of Commission Communication (COM (2006) 216 final) "Halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010 – and beyond". The maximum co-financing rate will be 50%.
See also:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/funding/lifeplus/components/component_nat.htm


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Popular booklet in PDF about Garden Entomology produced by the "Royal Entomological Society"

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Power Point presentation in PDF about the Canary Islands biodiversity

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Power Point presentation in PDF about the Azorean terrestrial bryophyte and lichen biodiversity

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Power Point presentation in PDF about the Azorean terrestrial biodiversity

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Biodiversity of Macaronesian islands in Graphs, based on the recently published list of species from the Açores, Madeira, Canary Islands and Cape Verde.
Edition: Gobierno de Canárias. Consejería de Médio Ambiente y Ordenación Territorial. depósito Legal: GC 496 2008.

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Borges, P.A.V., Cunha, R., Gabriel, R., Martins, A. F., Silva, L. and Vieira, V. (eds.) (2005). A list of the terrestrial fauna (Mollusca and Arthropoda) and flora (Bryophyta, Pteridophyta and Spermatophyta) from the Azores. Direcção Regional do Ambiente and Universidade dos Açores, Horta, Angra do Heroísmo and Ponta Delgada, 318 pp

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Arechavaleta, M., Zurita, N., Marrero, M.C. & Martín, J.L. (2005) Lista preliminar de especies silvestres de Cabo Verde (hongos, plantas y animales terrestres). Consejería de Medio Ambiente e Ordenación Territorial, Gobierno de Canarias, Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

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Izquierdo, I., Martin, J.L., Zurita, N. & Arechavaleta, M. (eds.) (2004) Lista de especies silvestres de Canarias (hongos, plantas y animales terrestres). 2nd, Consejería de Política Territorial y Medio Ambiente del Gobierno de Canarias.

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The background paper for the international conference "Reunion 2008" has been written by IUCN, in collaboration with ONERC, during the last 8 months and is now available online.

Climate Change and Biodiversity in the European Union Overseas Entities:
http://reunion2008.eu/pages/en/en-publication.html



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Management of Natura 2000 sites: Best Practice
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/natura2000/management/best_practice_en.htm

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Please ask for a copy sending a request to:
Mr. Bernardo Faria
Secretaria Regional do Ambiente e Dos Recursos Naturais do Governo Regional da Madeira, Rua Dr. Pestana júnior, nº 6 – 3º Direito. 9054-558 Funchal – Madeira

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