Portugal

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Contacts

LifeWatch Portugal

BIOPOLIS/CIBIO-InBIO – Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, University of Porto, Campus de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, n.º 7, 4485-661 Vairão, Vila do Conde, Portugal

LifeWatch Portugal joined LifeWatch ERIC in 2019 and it contributes to LifeWatch ERIC through its National Distributed Centre.

LifeWatch Portugal is managed by PORBIOTA, the Portuguese e-Infrastructure for Information and Research on Biodiversity, which connects the main Portuguese research institutions working in biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and services, storing and managing biodiversity data. Aimed at fostering a national agenda for biodiversity research, it generates high-quality knowledge to meet societal challenges regarding sustainable development.

What We Do

Species occurrence

Promoting access and scientific use of primary biodiversity data.

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Natural science collections

Digital unification of Portuguese natural science collections.

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Environmental genetics and Metagenomics

Construction and provision of a reference collection of DNA sequences barcoding.

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Ecosystem Monitoring

Long-term ecological research and monitoring.

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Atmosphere-Biosphere Interfaces

Monitoring carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

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Organisation

PORBIOTA connects the main Portuguese research institutions working in biodiversity:

• Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources;

• Associate Laboratory (BIOPOLIS/CIBIO-InBIO);

• cE3c-FCUL, LEAF-ISA and CEF-ISA, University of Lisbon;

• CESAM, University of Aveiro;

• MARE, University of Coimbra;

• Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo;

and the country’s three main natural history museums:

• MUHNAC (University of Lisbon);

• MC (University of Coimbra);

• MHNC-UP (University of Porto).

It also includes the national governmental agency responsible for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use (ICNF), the Portuguese node for GBIF and the Portuguese Ecological Society (SPECO). PORBIOTA is listed in the Portuguese Roadmap of Research Infrastructures of strategic interest (RNIE), which includes LTsER Portugal, ICOS Portugal and Azores BIOPORTAL.

This leaflet presents the LifeWatch Portugal Distributed Centre, its main activities and organisational structure.

You can browse the leaflet online (full screen mode is available in the control bar) or download it by clicking on the three dots icon.

Projects

Azores BIOPORTAL

ICOS Portugal

LTsER Portugal

News from LifeWatch Portugal

LifeWatch ERIC & Marine SABRES at the Tropical Summit 2024

On 4-8 November 2024, LifeWatch ERIC attended the Tropical Summit 2024 in Lisbon, being present with a stand in the “Biodiversity and digitalisation” section of the Exhibition Hall.The event was a key opportunity to present our Research Infrastructure to the people stopping at our booth, highlighting its main services and tools, and presenting some demos on Metadata Catalogue and EcoPortal. We also proposed a survey we prepared for the participants, that people can fill as an additional form of engagement. Moreover, LifeWatch ERIC presented the project Marine SABRES, showing the project brochure, and the videos we produced in the framework...

Bridging science, policy, and innovation at the last Thematic Service Workshop in Portugal

LifeWatch Portugal, in collaboration with all LifeWatch ERIC Common Facilities and National Distributed Centres, organised the sixth and final Thematic Service Workshop at the University of Aveiro in Portugal on May 3. The workshop, entitled "Habitat Mapping: From Science and Policy Needs to Solutions", aimed to explore the intersection of science, policy and innovative solutions in habitat mapping. It attracted a wide range of participants working in environmental conservation and data-driven decision-making. The workshop had 14 online and 17 face-to-face participants. Alberto Basset from the LifeWatch ERIC Service Centre presented the LifeWatch Thematic Core Service (TCS) and explored habitat mapping...

LifeWatch ERIC launches the 2024 Thematic Service Workshop Series

Last update: 1 February 2024 The LifeWatch ERIC Thematic Services, co-developed by the LifeWatch ERIC Common Facilities and National Distributed Centres, are a key component of the 2022-2026 Infrastructure Strategic Working Plan (SWP). They represent the key priority areas of eService construction in LifeWatch ERIC proposed by the National Distributed Centres. Activities, developments and physical outcomes of the LifeWatch ERIC Thematic Services, as eServices, Virtual Labs (vLabs) and more complex and complete Virtual Research Environments (VREs), are planned to be coordinated by Thematic Service Working Groups participated by scientists from both the National Distributed Centres and the Common Facilities, with...

A Dive into Parque das Serras do Porto’s Invertebrate Habitats

The park Serras do Porto in Portugal spans almost 6000 hectares across the municipalities of Gondomar, Paredes, and Valongo in the metropolitan area of Porto. It boasts a stunning array of natural wonders, including the mountains of Santa Justa, Pias, Castiçal, Santa Iria, Flores, and Banjas. To better understand this region, which is so crucial for biodiversity, LifeWatch Portugal has published a free guide to invertebrates that includes 117 species observed in 6000 hectares of protected territory. This guide is in two parts. The first looks at the challenges and needs of species conservation, providing valuable insights and guidance. The...

The LifeWatch Community Platform is here!

Roll up, roll up! LifeWatch followers and collaborators are cordially invited to the grand unveiling of the LifeWatch Community platform, now openly available to everyone! Who should become a member? Well, if you’re interested in biodiversity and ecosystem research, then you should! The content of the Community platform will be widely shaped by its members, allowing them to create and contribute to forums, add opportunities, jobs and events of interest to the community, and hold meetings and collaborative brainstorming together with other members. These features are particularly well-suited to the needs of partners involved in European projects focused on biodiversity,...

Fortifying Spanish-Portuguese Cooperation on Technology for Research at IBERGRID 2022

IBERGRID 2022, the 11th Iberian Grid Conference, took place 10–13 October at the University of Algarve in Faro, Portugal. IBERGRID stands for the Iberian Grid Structure, federating computing and data resources across the Iberian area to support research and innovation. The theme of the conference was “Delivering Innovative Computing and Data Services for Research”, and LifeWatch ERIC had a strong presence at the event, with a presentation “EOSC Activities in the Environmental Sciences” from ICT-Core e-Infrastructure Operations Coordinator Antonio José Sáenz on behalf of CEO Christos Arvanitidis and CTO Juan Miguel González-Aranda, as part of the EOSC tripartite event which took place on day 1, and a two-part workshop on “IBERLifeWatch” – focusing on...

Unravelling Biodiversity in Parque das Serras do Porto

To celebrate International Biodiversity Day 2022, LifeWatch Portugal and partners are organising a 4-day BioBlitz, from 19–22 May, in collaboration with Vila do Conde – Ciência Viva Center – and the Serras do Porto Natural Park (Parque das Serras do Porto). The first two days will be dedicated to school groups and the weekend will be open to families and adults. Researchers from the Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Porto (MHNC-UP) and the Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (BIOPOLIS/CIBIO-InBIO) are inviting everyone to step out into the wild and unravel the beautiful biodiversity of some...

International Women’s Day 2022: Rita Covas

For International Women’s Day 2022, we at LifeWatch ERIC are putting eight scientists in the spotlight. Each of the LifeWatch ERIC member states has proposed a figure who has broken boundaries over the course of her lifetime, and is an inspiration to younger generations looking to pursue a career in STEM. As we explored in the podcast we recorded for The International Day of Women and Girls in Science, women are still underrepresented in various scientific fields, such as engineering, computer science and AI. Additionally, scientific research in general is not only unbalanced in terms of composition (33% female) but...

Celebrating European Researchers’ Night 2021

Friday 24 September marked the 2021 edition of European Researchers’ Night (ERN), the Europe-wide event which takes place every year on the last Friday of September. The aim of the initiative is to bring research and researchers closer to the public, displaying the diversity of science and its impact on citizens' daily lives. The LifeWatch ERIC Common Facility in Spain celebrated the occasion by taking part in ERN Seville (Spain), setting up its own designated area in the Plaza de San Francisco. Here it presented the SUMHAL Project (Sustainability for Mediterranean Hotspots in Andalusia integrating LifeWatch ERIC), which is supported...

Spatial modelling in Portugal

study from 2012 to 2019 in the Sabor river in northeast Portugal focused on stream fish affected by hydropower development. Trajectory analysis was used to quantify the directionality and velocity of community change across 30 sites, and geometric modelling provided a simple framework to understand where and why temporal community dynamics vary across dendritic stream networks.

Crowdsourcing platform for Coimbra Herbarium

The Herbarium of the University of Coimbra, Portugal, celebrated its 140th anniversary in 2020, but it is only since 2002 that the collection has been moving online to make sure that these priceless resources will be available to future generations. As the digitisation is a painstakingly slow process, the University has developed a platform to enable citizen scientists to contribute to the transcription of information to the database. The COI Catalogue, as it is known internationally, contains approximately 800,000 specimens, many of which are of great historical interest. The new crowdsourcing platform - EXPLORATOR - allows registered citizens to update the...

Metabarcoding and Metagenomics Conference

The 10th edition of the Trends in Biodiversity and Evolution Conference (TiBE2020), organised by the Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources CIBIO- InBIO Associate Laboratory, at the University of Porto, Portugal, was conducted online from 9-11 December, with a focus on Metabarcoding and Metagenomics. The availability of ever more powerful DNA sequencing technologies has made possible exploration of the living world in ways that were beyond our imagination just ten years ago. Researchers at all levels came together to discuss the application of metabarcoding and metagenomics to foster new and more cost-efficient environmental assessment and monitoring programs in ecological and environmental...

TiBE2020 Metabarcoding and Metagenomics

9-11 December 2020, online. The tenth edition of the Trends in Biodiversity and Evolution (TiBE) conference will be virtual this year and focus on Metabarcoding and Metagenomics. The meeting, held over three afternoons, will discuss exciting developments associated with the advent of ever more powerful DNA sequencing technologies, which are opening possibilities to explore the living world in ways that were unimaginable just a decade ago. This annual Trends inn Biodiversity and Evolution event is organised by CIBIO-InBIO, the Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, connected through PORBIOTA with LifeWatch Portugal. It brings together senior researchers, post-graduate and graduate...

United for #Biodiversity

The Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Porto (MHNC-UP), including its Botanical Garden and Hall of Biodiversity – Ciência Viva Center - is the first institution from Portugal to become an official member of the European Commission Global Coalition 'United for #Biodiversity', a campaign calling for stronger mobilisation in raising awareness about the need to protect biodiversity. As a member of LifeWatch Portugal, MHNC-UP has joined this global movement to call the attention of world leaders to the pressing need to take immediate and concerted action to protect nature by acting locally and worldwide, and is proud to be one...

Ecology Day 2020 in Portugal

Ecology Day was firstly established in 2016, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the date when Ernst Haeckel coined the term "ecology". The first event to mark this special date was held in Brussels at the European Parliament that same year, organised by the European Ecological Federation (EEF). From that year on, September 14 has been set as Ecology Day. Inspired by this celebration in Brussels, the Portuguese Ecological Society (SPECO – Sociedade Portuguesa de Ecology), and the EEF have been promoting the concept since 2017, making the most of generous sponsorship from the UNESCO Portuguese Commission. This annual celebration of Ecology Day now occurs worldwide with the dual purposes...