Carolina Lopes Nogueira

EDUCATION

MSc in Ecology and Environment (2021), University of Porto, Portugal
BSc in Biology (2019), University of Aveiro, Portugal

Scopus Publications

Brown bear habitat use patterns across 19 years of population expansion in the Cantabrian Mountains
Carolina Nogueira, Dário Hipólito, Doriana Pando, João Carvalho, Carlos Fonseca, et al.
Landscape Ecology, 2024
Context Large carnivores have faced severe extinction pressures throughout Europe during the last centuries, where human-induced disturbances reached unprecedented levels. In the late twentieth century, the Cantabrian brown bear population was on the verge of extinction, due to poaching. Yet, the end of the last century was a turning point for this population. Presence data on the western Cantabrian subpopulation was collected since the beginning of the century and insights provided by this long-term monitoring may be useful for brown bear conservation. Objectives Here, we aim to: (i) identify the landscape features relevant to bears’ recovery; and (ii) understand if and how the landscape use patterns by bears changed over time. Methods We tested the influence of landscape structure (i.e., composition and configuration) on bear occurrence patterns using MAXENT in three periods representative of land cover change. Results Despite variation across the 19-year monitoring period, brown bears were more often detected near broad-leaf forests and bare rock areas and at lower to intermediate altitudes, but avoided arable lands, permanent crops, and burnt areas. Human population density or distance to roads—often used for modelling habitat suitability for Cantabrian brown bears—were not identified as relevant variables for this brown bear subpopulation. Artificial areas were identified as relevant landscape features, but not as disturbance. Conclusions These findings reinforce the importance of preserving bears’ native habitats and provide new insights, namely on the use of humanized landscapes.

Publications

Nogueira, C; Hipólito, D; Pando, D; Carvalho, J; Fonseca, C; Hartasánchez, A; Magadan, JR; Rosalino, LM; Torres, RT; Hartasánchez, R; Ferreira, E. "From the edge of extinction to expansion: Land use as a major driver of Cantabrian brown bear recovery". Conference abstract presented in SIBECOL-AIL Meeting, Aveiro, 2022.

Nogueira, C; Rodrigues, C; Pinto, E; Pereira, R; Talhadas dos Santos, P. "Literacia ambiental na era da desinformação". CAPTAR 9 1(2020): 18. .

Marques, R; Matos, M; Alves, D; Soutinho, JG; Moreira-Pinhal, T; Abreu, JG; Couto, A; Ribeiro, E; Hipólito, D; Nogueira, C; Duarte, L; Amorim, M; Ferreira, E; Rosalino, LM; Fonseca, C; Pinto, N. "Estudo da flora e fauna da Pateira de Frossos", Albergue -História e Património do Concelho de Albergaria-a-Velha, (2019).