Joana Cruz

I am an experienced ecologist specializing in wildlife conservation with extensive knowledge in designing and applying vertebrate monitoring programmes and developing and implementing conservation projects. My research interests cover conservation biology and wildlife management, applied ecology, with emphasis on vertebrate communities and data analysis.

Most of my research career focused on the evaluation of restoration actions on density, diet, abundance, space occupancy and habitat selection of vertebrate communities (carnivores and lagomorphs) in Portugal. I was also involved in the assessment of the conservation status of the Iberian lynx in Portugal.

More recently, I finished my PhD, with the University of York, on the subject of the impact of eucalypt plantations on amphibians, bats and carnivore communities in the Mediterranean region. This study confirmed the negative impact of eucalypt plantations on bats and carnivores and suggested forest management guidelines to improve biodiversity at the stand and landscape scale. Namely, at a local scale, the implementation of a pond network of different hydroperiods and the exclusion/removal of exotic fish and promotion of understorey vegetation on eucalypt stands; at a landscape scale, it was suggested a multi-functional landscape, promoting eucalypt plantations with diverse age stands and the maintenance/promotion of native and patchy habitats.