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This paper aims to describe and discuss the significance of the social policy measures implemented in Southern European countries—Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain—in response to the first wave of COVID‐19. Our analysis covers interventions from 1 March to June 30, 2020. Despite significant differences in how the COVID‐19 pandemic spread—with Italy and Spain experiencing much higher rates of infection and lethality—Southern European economies are among the most hard‐hit—and are likely to find themselves in the eye of the storm, once more. The paper shows that despite differences in how countries have countered the spread of COVID‐19, there are important commonalities in the actions governments took to counteract the economic impact of the pandemic. Foremost efforts were directed at wage subsidy schemes to contain mass job destruction, additional temporary benefits to compensate self‐employed and other non‐standard workers for the loss of earnings; the expansion of unemployment insurance; and finally, the introduction and/or strengthening of schemes to provide support to families with care responsibilities. The scale of the social policy and employment protection response has nevertheless been constrained by the fiscal position of each individual country in the post‐Euro crisis context. We argue that, in the long run, the response capacity of these governments and the social and economic consequences of this crisis will need to be contextualised against the backdrop of the deep and prolonged impact of austerity‐driven measures on public budgets, production and welfare regimes over the last decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper adopts a material‐semiotic approach to explore the multiple ontologies of "freshness" as a quality of food. The analysis is based on fieldwork in the UK and Portugal, with particular emphasis on fish, poultry, and fruit and vegetables. Using evidence from archival research, ethnographic observation and interviews with food businesses (including major retailers and their suppliers) plus qualitative household‐level research with consumers, the paper unsettles the conventional view of freshness as a single, stable quality of food. Rather than approaching the multiplicity of freshness as a series of social constructions (different perspectives on essentially the same thing), we identify its multiple ontologies. The analysis explores their enactment as uniform and consistent, local and seasonal, natural and authentic, and sentient and lively. The paper traces the effects of these enactments across the food system, drawing out the significance of our approach for current and future geographical studies of food. This paper adopts a material‐semiotic approach to explore the multiple ontologies of "freshness" as a quality of food. Based on fieldwork in the UK and Portugal, the paper identifies four enactments of freshness as: uniform and consistent, local and seasonal, natural and authentic, and sentient and lively. The paper traces the effects of these enactments across the food system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While observers acknowledge that the 2007–2008 crisis increased food insecurity, few studies considered how being food poor affects children's daily lives. In this paper, I discuss how children from low‐income families in Portugal experience food and deal with food scarcity. I draw on data from a larger European study, which employed a case study approach with a combination of semi‐structured interviews and photo‐elicitation. Children's accounts reveal how food poverty is embedded in their lives, affecting the quality and quantity of food, reducing opportunities to socialize with kin and friends and creating emotional stress. Visual methods added depth to our understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relatively well-studied Lusitanian Basin in coastal west-central Portugal can be used as an analogue for the less well-known Peniche Basin in the deep offshore. In this paper the Lusitanian Basin is reviewed in terms of stratigraphy, sedimentology, evolution and petroleum systems. Data comes from published papers and technical reports as well as original research and field observations. The integration and interpretation of these data is used to build up an updated petroleum systems analysis of the basin. Petroleum systems elements include Palaeozoic and Mesozoic source rocks, siliciclastic and carbonate reservoir rocks, and Mesozoic and Tertiary seals. Traps are in general controlled by diapiric movement of Hettangian clays and evaporites during the Late Jurassic, Late Cretaceous and Late Miocene. Organic matter maturation, mainly due to Late Jurassic rift-related subsidence and burial, is described together with hydrocarbon migration and trapping. Three main petroleum systems may be defined, sourced respectively by Palaeozoic shales, Early Jurassic marly shales and Late Jurassic marls. These elements and systems can tentatively be extrapolated offshore into the deep-water Peniche Basin, where no exploration wells have so far been drilled. There are both similarities and differences between the Lusitanian and Peniche Basins, the differences being mainly related to the more distal position of the Peniche Basin and the later onset of the main rift phase which was accompanied by Early Cretaceous subsidence and burial. The main exploration risks are related to overburden and maturation timing versus trap formation associated both with diapiric movement of Hettangian salt and Cenozoic inversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article locates Portuguese tropical geography within wider academic debates on 'tropicality', contributing to discussion on not only the 'tropicality of geography' but also the 'geography of tropicality'. It traces the role of Portuguese tropical geography in the colonial project and in the production of geographical knowledge, discourses and imaginaries, in particular the emergence of lusotropicality. While noting the underestimated connections with developments in German and British geography, we argue that the genealogy of Portuguese tropical geography lies mostly within contemporaneous French developments. By focusing on the central role of the Lisbon school (i.e. the Centre for Geographical Studies established in 1943), and in particular the tropical research initiated by Orlando Ribeiro (1911-1997), the paper seeks to engage with the ways in which geographical knowledge was produced within the academic discipline in Portugal under military dictatorship associated with the Estado Novo (1926-1974). By decentring the exploration of some of the ways in which the 'tropics' have been constructed and revising forms of producing geographical knowledge, the paper hopes to further understandings of the geographical imaginary of the tropics, unravelling the history and the role of geography in colonialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-distance nationalism and political transnationalism have been concepts largely explored in the analysis of the attachments of contemporary migrants to home. In some cases, this focus on the trans-nation has downplayed competing or complementary identifications to the home country and to the context of settlement, based on locality, region or ethnicity. Focusing on the commemorations of Portugal Day among the Portuguese diaspora in Toronto, this paper seeks to explore how the national script of the event coexists with other narratives of identity and belonging, linked to Portuguese- Canadian ethnicity and to Azorean long-distance regionalism. It thus argues for the need of a more balanced study of the role of national identity in diasporic contexts, able to articulate different layers of collective selfhood and belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reservoirs are fundamental for water and energy supply but vulnerable to impacts including climate change. This paper outlines the steps in the development of a model to predict how climate, land use and hydrological change could affect the physiochemical and ecological quality of reservoirs in Portugal's Douro region. Climatic data will be downscaled for subsequent finer spatial scale models to develop scenarios and outputs. Field observations and satellite imagery analysis will create dynamic maps providing data on change in land use and vegetation cover, while Artificial Neural Networks will determine how climate, land use and vegetation cover change may influence catchment hydrology. Data from field surveys of biological indicators, greenhouse gas emissions plus additional research will be applied in the Stochastic Dynamic Methodology, a sequential modelling process based on statistical parameter estimation, developed to predict and model physiochemical and ecological changes in reservoirs. This interdisciplinary approach will provide vital modelling tools for end users essential for water resource management in Portugal and to comply with the EU Water Framework Directive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is already known about this subject? Obesity is at epidemic levels and presents a serious global public health challenge., Portugal is one of the European countries with the highest prevalence of childhood obesity., Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI) is a robust monitoring system covering similar age groups, using standardized methods that allows comparability with other WHO European Region Member States., What this study adds? In Portugal, one in every three of 6- to 8-year-old children are overweight., Compared with other COSI national surveys, a similar trend was observed in other southern European countries, particularly Italy., The reference method used to define overweight and obesity is important as it provides different estimates., Introduction Previous studies place Portugal among the five countries with the highest prevalence of childhood obesity in Europe. This paper describes the prevalence of thinness, overweight and obesity in Portuguese children of 6-8 years of age, based on the first data collection from Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative Portugal, which took place during the 2007/2008 school year. Methods This study uses a semi-longitudinal design with repeated cross-sectional national representative samples. Specific prevalence of overweight (including obesity) and obesity was determined using three different diagnostic criteria. Across the seven geographic regions, 3765 children were enrolled from 181 schools; 50.3% of participants were males. Results Using the International Obesity Task Force reference, the prevalence of thinness, overweight and obesity were 4.8%, 28.1% and 8.9%, respectively; using the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reference they were 2.1%, 32.2% and 14.6%, respectively; and according to the World Health Organization reference, they were 1.0%, 37.9% and 15.3%, respectively. Univariate analysis showed a higher risk of obesity in older children, in boys and in the Azores region. The islands of Madeira and the Azores were the regions with the highest prevalence of overweight at 39.4% and 46.6%, respectively, and Algarve was the one with the lowest (21.4%). Conclusion These findings demonstrate the need for urgent action in Portugal and provide policy-makers with comprehensive and detailed information to assist with this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obesity is an endemic health problem in most developed countries, requiring serious public health attention. The first Portuguese nationwide representative survey about obesity (with objective anthropometric measurement) was undertaken from 1995 to 1998. This paper presents data coming from the second and most recent nationwide representative study of obesity, with objective measurement of weight, height, waist and hip circumferences. Data were collected between January 2003 and January 2005. The survey collected objective body mass index (BMI) values of 8116 participants aged 18–64. Main findings were: 2.4% of the sample had low weight (BMI < 18.5), 39.4% were overweight (BMI between 25.0 and 29.9), and 14.2% obese (BMI ≥ 30). Waist circumference measurement showed that 45.6% of the sample suffers increased cardiovascular health risks associated with high waist circumference. The overall overweight/obesity prevalence increased from 49.6% (in 1995–1998) to 53.6% (in 2003–2005). These data suggest that although obesity was identified as a public health problem one decade ago, action to reduce it does not seem to have been very effective to date. Well-defined public health intervention must be targeted to specific population groups where higher levels of obesity prevalence were found: low socioeconomic level groups and low-education level groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Various statistical techniques have been used to model species probabilities of occurrence in response to environmental conditions. This paper provides a comprehensive assessment of methods and investigates whether errors in model predictions are associated to specific kinds of geographical and environmental distributions of species. Location Portugal, Western Europe. Methods Probabilities of occurrence for 44 species of amphibians and reptiles in Portugal were modelled using seven modelling techniques: Gower metric, Ecological Niche Factor Analysis, classification trees, neural networks, generalized linear models, generalized additive models and spatial interpolators. Generalized linear and additive models were constructed with and without a term accounting for spatial autocorrelation. Model performance was measured using two methods: sensitivity and Kappa index. Species were grouped according to their spatial (area of occupancy and extent of occurrence) and environmental (marginality and tolerance) distributions. Two-way comparison tests were performed to detect significant interactions between models and species groups. Results interaction between model and species groups was significant for both sensitivity and Kappa index. This indicates that model performance varied for species with different geographical and environmental distributions. Artificial neural networks performed generally better, immediately followed by generalized additive models including a covariate term for spatial autocorrelation. Non- parametric methods were preferred to parametric approaches, especially when modelling distributions of species with a greater area of occupancy, a larger extent of occurrence, lower marginality and higher tolerance. Main conclusions This is a first attempt to relate performance of modelling techniques with species spatial and environmental distributions. Results indicate a strong relationship between model performance and the kinds of species distributions being modelled. Some methods performed generally better, but no method was superior in all circumstances. A suggestion is made that choice of the appropriate method should be contingent on the goals and kinds of distributions being modelled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SummaryRepresentativeness is a desirable property of conservation networks. In this paper an attempt is made to assess the efficiency of current conservation networks in Portugal in representing vertebrates (reptiles and amphibians) and plants (gymnosperms, pteridophytes and bryophytes). It was found that whilst the protected areas do not sample all species in the database they provide a better result than choosing areas at random. For the goal of maximizing representation of taxa per unit area hotspots and complementarity performed better. A pattern of over-representation of vertebrates in relation to lower plants was discovered among selected conservation areas in Portugal suggesting that charismatic organisms with large home ranges may not always be the most appropriate surrogates for biodiversity when representativeness is sought. When trying to fill the gaps in current protected areas with additional areas only complementarity performed better than choosing areas at random. Both rarity and richness hotspots gave worse results. Opportunistic administrative criteria such as supplementing the PAS with other conservation areas (CORINE Biotopes) without taking into account their contribution to a representation goal was nearly half as good as choosing areas at random. The results recall for the need of explicit goals and accountable methods in area selection for conservation and reinforce the role of complementarity for finding additional areas to protected areas when limited resources are available for ‘in situ’ conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution and abundance of many of the 23 native fish species of the Guadiana River basin in Portugal have declined markedly in the past 20 years. This is because of increased pressure to exploit the water resources of the catchment for domestic supply, agriculture and recreation, but also as a result of general habitat degradation and the introduction of exotic species. Thirteen reservoirs have already been constructed in the region and a further 25 proposals have been put forward, mainly to supply the tourist sector in the south of the country. As a result of these activities, one species of fish, Anaecypris hispanica (Steindachner), is critically endangered. The present paper examines the status of the populations of A. hispanica in the Guadiana in Portugal, assesses the impact of water resource schemes on the stocks and general biodiversity, and suggests management options for conserving and enhancing the already degraded stocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]