The distribution, status, biology and ecology of four flufftail species were investigated in South Africa and Zimbabwe. The Redchested Flufftail is a successful and widely distributed species, occupying a wide range of dense vegetation, from seasonally wet grassland and sedges to permanently shallowly flooded reedbeds. It colonizes artificially created wetland patches and occupies very small patches of suitable habitat. Redchested Flufftails maintain a permanent pair bond and are permanently territorial and entirely sedentary. Their habitat is relatively stable but unpredictable catastrophic events such as burning may force temporary emigration in winter or spring. Displaced birds move a short distance, occupy often marginally suitable habitat and recolonize burned areas as soon as vegetation cover becomes adequate. Periodic burning improves habitat quality, and recommendations are formulated for the management of wetland habitats by burning. The size of the winter territory is larger than the minimum required for survival and provides an insurance against forced emigration, while immatures often share parental territories in winter. The Striped Flufftail's grassland habitats in Natal are decreasing and its numbers are declining. Striped Flufftails are sedentary in low-altitude grassland habitats, but in high-altitude sourveld the decrease in invertebrate food forces emigration in April-June, when the birds move to unknown wintering destinations (movements are possibly altitudinal). Return time to unburned vegetation is dependent upon invertebrate food availability. Return time to burned vegetation is governed by the development of suitable cover, which may occur too late in the breeding season to permit occupation. The species is well adapted to frequent burning of its habitats, which serves to maintain suitable fire-climax grassland, but is also adapted to post-fire-climax vegetation types. The Whitewinged Flufftail is rare but its occurrence was regularly noted during the summer at four sites in Natal and the Transvaal. Habitat preferences and movement patterns were clarified, as was the bird's ecological segregation from the Redchested Flufftail. No conclusive evidence was found for breeding in South Africa and it is suggested that lack of suitable breeding habitat (possibly as a result of its being occupied by breeding Redchested Flufftails) may account for this. Some aspects of the bird's behaviour and calling were investigated. In view of this bird's threatened status and the continuing destruction of its wetland habitats, further surveys are urgently required to clarify the bird's status and the full extent of suitable habitat in South Africa, while a captive breeding programme is recommended to study breeding behaviour. The Buffspotted Flufftail inhabits a wide variety of forested and bushed habitats, and in Natal is a successful colonist of exotic vegetation in gardens. Its breeding biology, territorial and aggressive behaviour, and feeding ecology, were investigated in detail. It has regular seasonal movements in Natal, probably both altitudinal and coastal, although birds may remain throughout the year in areas where conditions are suitable. Seasonal departures are correlated with decreasing invertebrate food availability, while return time is largely governed by food availability, although cover development in exotic vegetation delayed recolonization at one site. The pair bond and the territory are maintained throughout the breeding season, and possibly throughout the year under suitable conditions. Adult mortality is probably high and the species' breeding strategy emphasises fecundity, this being achieved by a large clutch size, a very restricted period of parental care and rapid re-nesting. Juvenile mortality is high. The plumage, behavioural and vocal development of the young were studied in detail. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1994.

The world environmental crisis has ed to a growing international concern to promote sustainable development. Environmental education is being heralded as one of the foremost responses to the promotion of sustainable development The Southern African Development Community Environment and Land Management Sector initiated a programme to support environmental education in the region. Among other things, this programme offers various forms of training for environmental educators in an attempt to meet the needs of southern Africa. The purpose of this report is to investigate the environmental education training needs in the southern African region. The research itself concentrates on the environmental education training needs as articulated by participants in, and applicants to, the Southern African Development Community Regional Environmental Education Programme (SADC-REEP). The report documents the establishment of the SADC-REEP and the environmental education training it offers within the context of current thinking on environmental education processes in the region. It then goes on to document the training needs articulated by the research respondents. This leads to a discussion of the articulated needs in relation to the current training offered by the SADC-REEP. The research reveals common themes expressed amongst the research respondents as to the training needs of the region. These themes include such issues as a broader understanding of environmental education processes, networking and the ability to disseminate information. These themes have led to recommendations for the SADC-REEP for the enhancement of their training programmes. / Thesis (M.Sc.) - University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

This study seeks to assess the viability, acceptability and feasibility of an overnight air courier network linking Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique and South Africa. The positivist research approach was adopted in this study. A questionnaire was sent to each the regulatory bodies in the six countries under study. 40 questionnaires were also administered to respondents from air courier companies. Judgement sampling was used for questionnaire administration to regulatory bodies because of the reduced cost and time involved in this method. For courier air service providers, the researcher used simple random sampling because it ensures that the perceptions and views of everyone are represented. Study results show that most of the nations under consideration belong to sub-regional, regional and international groupings. Most nations would want to grant fifth freedom rights, but on a conditional basis. Also, the states advocate for liberalisation of air traffic because it results in improved service quality and courier companies do not offer money-back refunds if service guarantees are not met. Though courier companies do not offer overnight air courier services, they say such services are critical to their operation. Courier companies are dogged by inaccessibility of the market. Some of the major recommendations are that states should liberalise market access and other ancillary services such as ground handling. Specific provisions such as open route exchanges, multiple designation and the practice of 5th freedom should be implemented. The development of a regional aircraft maintenance centre should be explored as soon as possible. Furthermore, all the states should commit themselves to implementing the sub-regional safety projects. Countries should implement agreements they make as economic and political blocs because this leads to a shift away from restrictive bi-lateral air service agreements in favour of liberalised multi-lateral policies. A further study should be carried out to assess the impact of deregulation on service delivery in airline networks. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

Freshwater copepod taxonomy has been neglected in southern Africa for more than 50 years and this has placed a constraint on research on the biology and ecology of this important component of the freshwater invertebrate fauna. In this review of the calanoid family Diaptomidae of southern Africa, keys to the freshwater families, the African genera and southern African species are presented as well as diagnoses of the family Diaptomidae and the subfamilies Paradiaptominae and Diaptominae. The genus Lovenula has been revised. All available information on each species has been collated. This includes illustrations of the most important identifying characters, synonymies, a record of material examined and a map of distribution. The discovery of 11 new species, four Paradiaptomus, two, Metadiaptomus and five Tropodiaptomus, indicates that the diaptomid fauna of southern Africa is more diverse than was previously envisaged. Biogeography and evolution of the group is discussed with reference to vicariance, dispersal and palaeoenvironments of the African continent. The Paradiaptominae (Lovenula, Paradiaptomus and Metadiaptomus) are endemic to Africa, while the Diaptominae have one endemic African genus Thermodiaptomus and the other, Tropodiaptomus, is not limited to the African continent. The latter genus has speciated throughout the warmer regions of Africa, with more than 30 described species. Additional collections from isolated regions will, without doubt, substantially increase this number. Included in the account is a glossary of copepod terminology, an explanation of local limnological terms in current use, and a gazetteer. Biographical information on the pioneers of copepod research in southern Africa is included. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1990.

Revision of thesis (Master's) - Univerity of the Witwatersrand, 2004. / Title from PDF title screen (viewed July 27, 2009). Includes bibliographical references p. 107-119.

"Academic dissertation to be publicly discussed ... Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Helsinki ... on the 9th of June 2006"--Added t.p. / Added t.p. inserted. Includes bibliographical references (p. 228-241).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2005. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on October 18, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The study takes place in the context of the Southern African Development Community’s Regional Environmental Education Programme (SADC REEP). The SADC REEP is a programme of the Food Agriculture and Natural Resources Directorate of the SADC Secretariat. The programme is implemented through four components namely policy, networking, training and learning support materials development. The bulk of the policy budget is in the form of seed funding to support policy initiatives in the member states. The intention of this study is to illuminate factors that influence the deployment and use of seed funding to support environmental education policy processes within the SADC REEP. To sharpen the understanding of the context within which these activities take place, the study looks at the global and regional landscape of policy events and their influence on policy in the sub-region. The study also looks at the landscape of the fields within which environmental education is embedded, the power relations, and the notion of agency in environmental education policy processes. The discourse in environmental education policy processes is analyzed by drawing on Bourdieu’s constructivist structuralism to highlight some of the social and institutional complexities in dynamic fields, capital and policy context. The research takes a qualitative interpretative approach using case study methodology to explore the processes and influences that have a bearing on the SADC REEP policy sub-component, specifically the deployment and use of seed funding for policy initiatives. The findings show the complexity of the variables at play in shaping the processes of developing and reviewing environmental education policies in the sub-region. These variables include discourse that is used, economics and politics of the responsible institutions and actors, as well as relationships between the environmental field and education field. The results point towards a need to clearly understand the policy context within which the SADC REEP is operating in order to make correct assumptions, to develop realist expectations, and to put in place appropriate mechanisms that will effect the expectations. The study recommends further probing of the relationship between the actors and networks in relation to the success of policy processes. It also recommends a further exploration of the SADC REEP’s open-ended approach with respect to articulating the monitoring and consolidation of the successes in supporting environmental education policy processes.

The biology and ecology of the endocoprid dung beetles of the Aethiopian zoogeographic region has been studied in the field and laboratory. Work has centred mainly on Oniticellus planatus and O. formoaus although infomation has also been supplied on O. egregius, O. pictus and Tragiscus dimidiatus. The taxonomy of Onticellus (s.str.) and Tragiscus has been discussed with the recommendation that O. planattus and O. pseudaplanatus be synonymised. It has been suggested that endocoprid distribution is chiefly controlled by temperature, rainfall and the density of suitable large dung masses. On the basis of distribution it has been suggested that the taxonomic status of the subspecies of O. pictus should be reviewed. Endocoprids (genus Oniticellus (s.str.) are found throughout the warmer regions of Africa and Asia. Tragiscus is found only in Africa. Methods are described for monitoring endocoprids in the field, for distinguishing freshly emerged from older specimens, and for breeding endocoprids under laboratory conditions. It has been shown that endocoprids breed within or just beneath large dung masses unlike most other members of the Scarabaeinae which actively bury dung and construct the their broods at depth in the soil. It has been shown that there is a restriction of breeding sites available to endocoprids due to the removal of dung by the Scarabaeinae beetles and the limited space available within dung pads. This has resulted in low endocoprid population numbers, a disadvantage, which has been countered by highly specialised but opportunistic breeding habits. The requirements of dung plasticity have limited the time available for breeding activity by most endocoprids (excluding O. egresius) so that both the reproductive system and the reproductive behaviour (cf. O. planatus) are geared to rapid egg and brood production. Large numbers of follicles are able to be produced over a short period. In the probable absence of feeding, this has possibly been allowed by the involvement of a well developed fat body. The broods are tended by the parent female during larval development and the follicles are gradually resorbed, probably to prevent starvation. Ovarian recovery is rapid once feeding recommences. Behavioural mechanisms have developed which boost the number of broods constructed and the rapidity with which they are produced. The duration of endocoprid colonisation and the timing of arrival at dung is shown to be related to the rate of pad desiccation which is chiefly controlled by temperature and degree of dung removal by other dung beetles. Precipitation may also play a part. Predation by vertebrates and other insects has been noted and a number of mechanisms are described which are probably protective. Two insect parasitoids of O. formosus larvae have been recorded. The potential use of endocoprids in the Australian dung and fly control project has been discussed and it is recommended that their introduction be considered of low priority. It is suggested that the endocoprids evolved from Euoniticellus type ancestors and that their behaviour complex nidification developed in response to harsh environmental factors, chiefly the danger of desiccation and competition for dung with other dung beetles. From a consideration of brood and brood chamber construction it is suggested that O. egresius is a relatively unspecialised endocoprid which may retain dry season aestivation and has not evolved much further than its probable Euoniticellus type ancestor. The broods are coated in clay and abandoned soon after construction. Greater specialisation is shown by O. planatus and O. formosus which exhibit brooding behaviour, increasing longevity, more specialised brood protection, increased potential fecundity and continuous activity throughout the year. O. formosus shows greater specialisation in brood production than O. planatus. Greatest specialisation is found in T. dimidiatus which exhibits a precise brooding period and low egg production. Brood construction is of a similar degree of specialisation to that of O. formosus. Activity is also continuous throughout the year. The comparative biology of the five southern African endocoprids is summarised in Table 35. Summary, p. 129-131.