Browsing by Author "Pereira Domingues Martinho, Vítor João"
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- Analysing the different interrelationships of soil organic carbon using machine learning approaches: Assessing the specific case of PortugalPublication . Pereira Domingues Martinho, Vítor João; Ramos, Tiago Brito; Castanheira, Nádia; Cunha, Carlos; Ferreira, António José Dinis; Pereira, José Luís da Silva; Sánchez-Carreira, Maria del CarmenGiven the importance of soil organic carbon (SOC) for sustainability, policymakers and researchers are particularly concerned with identifying the conditions that promote carbon storage in the soil. These assessments provide relevant support for the design of policy instruments aimed at increasing soil quality and its carbon sequestration capacity. The new technologies associated with the digital transition can bring relevant added value, namely through artificial intelligence methodologies, where machine learning approaches are important. In this context, this research aims to analyse the several interrelationships of SOC in the specific Portuguese context, with a focus on highlighting its main predictors and providing proposals for stakeholders (including policymakers). To achieve these objectives, statistics from the INFOSOLO database were considered and evaluated using machine learning algorithms to select the most important SOC predictors and identify accurate models. These interrelationships were quantified with cross sectional regressions and optimisation models. The results obtained provide relevant information for the design of adjusted policy measures that promote sustainable practices and increase soil quality. Generally, Portuguese soils have low organic carbon content due to soil features, climate circumstances and land management. Adjusted management of agroforestry activities is possibly the easiest part to deal with in this context.
- Five models and ten predictors for energy costs on farms in the European UnionPublication . Pereira Domingues Martinho, Vítor JoãoEnergy costs are the main concerns of the agricultural stakeholders, because of their economic, environmental, and social impacts on the farms and the development of interrelated activities. In fact, it is important to save costs with the energy use to improve the profitability of the farms, but the level of these costs is often interlinked with the options to manage the energy consumption and the respective implications on sustainability. This framework highlights the importance of good management and planning for energy utilisation in the farming sector, namely to promote a balanced and integrated rural development. Considering these perspectives, this research intends to identify which factor, and how, impacted the energy costs in the European Union farms over the last decades. To achieve these objectives data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network database were considered for the European Union agricultural regions and the period 2013–2021. This statistical information was analysed through machine learning approaches following the procedures proposed by the software IBM SPSS Modeler. The linear support vector machine, regression, random forest, random trees, and the classification and regression tree are the most accurate models. On the contrary, the level of production, the size of farms, the economic and financial structure, and policy measures are the most important predictors. The findings here may be important insights for the European Union farming stakeholders, specifically to allow the design of policies for a more adjusted energy resources management.
- Integrated Soil Management: Food Supply, Environmental Impacts, and Socioeconomic FunctionsPublication . Pereira, José Luís da Silva; Pereira Domingues Martinho, Vítor JoãoThis Editorial refers to the Special Issue “Integrated Soil Management: Food Supply, Environmental Impacts, and Socioeconomic Functions”. The Special Issue highlights bringing a broader perspective on soil management, namely in its relationship with food supply, environmental dimensions, and socioeconomic activities. From a total of twenty-six manuscripts submitted for consideration and peer review, fourteen were accepted for publication and inclusion in this Special Issue (two reviews and twelve articles). The published contributions are listed below followed by a description review to encourage the reader to explore them.
- Suggestions for resin research under the COST Action EU-PoTaRChPublication . Pereira Domingues Martinho, Vítor João; Brózdowski, JakubForest management and planning are often challenging, specifically because of the irregular income flow available to landowners. In timber production, for example, producers must wait several years before receiving returns on their investments in forested land. As a result, such economic uncertainty can make forest activities less attractive to investors and discourage effective management strategies. The forest by-products appear as an opportunity to increase the profitability of the forest lands and motivate the landowners for more effective planning. This is crucial, namely in countries where, for example, forest fires are real problems for economic activity, populations and the environment. In this context, this study, developed within the scope of the COST Action EUPoTaRCh, intends to bring more insights and suggestions for the scientific research about resin. To give suggestions, a search was performed in the Scopus database (article title, abstracts and keywords), on 02 November 2024, for the following topics: “natural resin” or “plant resin”. In the search, 4127 documents were obtained and assessed through bibliometric analysis. The results obtained show that scientific research has focused mainly on biological and chemical aspects, while social, economic, cultural, and policy dimensions remain unexplored. The study suggests promoting transdisciplinary and international collaboration, principally in countries with limited research on resin, to support more comprehensive and inclusive policies and strategies on forest byproduct.