Water governance in South Africa is challenged by natural as well as socially constructed water scarcity. 15 years after the transition from Apartheid to the new democratic era, this paper shows that water resources are still distributed along racial lines. Based on a case study in rural KwaZulu Natal, results indicate that outcomes of water policies which aimed at redressing historic inequalities have not yet been able to create the expected benefits for the disadvantaged black farming community. This paper uses an ecosystem service (ESS) approach to assess how those benefits that are derived from different water-related ecosystem services (WES) developed in the smallholder community and its adjacent commercial farming area. The change in the distribution of water for household use, water for irrigation, water flow regulation and water for scenic beauty is further discussed in regards to its response to water policies on local and national level. Hereby, the paper addresses the research need to provide insight into ESS responses to policy outcomes, which in turn is expected to reveal challenges and opportunities for policy makers to incorporate the complex yet important interactions between social and ecological systems into their decision making. Practically, this paper contributes by making gaps in ESS utilization between smallholder and commercial farmers explicit. Focusing on the material aspects of equality, i.e. the redistribution of water resources is argued to be neither feasible nor unequivocally desirable in the near future. Rather, I encourage capacity building to increase possibilities of the smallholder farmers to effectively use existing resources.

Grazing by domestic livestock is one of the primary ways by which humans have modified landscapes. At low stocking rates livestock grazing can modify vegetation community composition, but at high stocking rates grazing can also reduce vegetation productivity and initiate soil erosion, leading to land degradation. The country of Iceland has undergone severe land degradation over the past 1100 years, with over half of the former vegetation cover being lost, and the remainder having depleted productivity. This work focuses upon the role that grazing by domestic livestock played in this degradation, and how the interactions between farm management, vegetation cover and climate affected grazing patterns in space and time. The aims of the research were achieved by constructing an environmental simulation model, called Búmodel, which allowed a cross-disciplinary approach that integrated landscape ecology, environmental archaeology and historical analysis. Búmodel was loosely coupled with GIS so that spatially based model inputs and outputs could be displayed and analysed in map form. The purpose of Búmodel was to predict spatial and temporal patterns of vegetation biomass production and utilisation (through grazing and hay-making) with a view to commenting on vegetation degradation in the pre-modern period (pre-1900 AD). The model was parameterised using contemporary and historical Icelandic agricultural data. Model validation was undertaken using sensitivity tests and comparison with data from an independent grazing experiment in the north of Iceland. Búmodel was then applied to two contrasting study areas: Vestur- Eyjafjallahreppur, a farming community on the south coast of Iceland, and Hofstaðir, a farm estate in the north east of the country, situated inland by Lake Mývatn. These applications demonstrated the importance of farm management in avoiding land degradation and in ameliorating the impact of climate. They also established the usefulness of Búmodel as a tool for the investigation of human and environmental interactions in Iceland.

O nordeste paulista é composto por um mosaico de ambientes fortemente antropizado, com predominância de plantios de cana-de-açúcar, além de florestas plantadas de eucalipto e fragmentos de Cerrado. Embora o veado-catingueiro (Mazama gouazoubira) seja uma espécie amplamente distribuída em diferentes biomas do Brasil, pouco é conhecido sobre a sua capacidade de adaptação em paisagens alteradas. Neste contexto, modelos de ocupação da paisagem e dados de armadilhas fotográficas foram utilizados para verificar quais fatores ambientais são importantes na escolha do uso e seleção de hábitat pelo veado-catingueiro. Foram amostradas quatro áreas em três cenas de paisagens, entre os meses de Abril e Setembro de 2013 e 2014, totalizando um esforço amostral de 6240 armadilhas/dia. Os resultados apontam que o veado-catingueiro está amplamente distribuído nos remanescentes de Cerrado do nordeste do estado de São Paulo, além de ocupar com a mesma intensidade tanto o interior como o entorno de unidades de conservação. Foi observado um efeito positivo dos plantios de silvicultura na ocupação da paisagem pela espécie. A distribuição temporal dos registros ao longo do ciclo de 24 horas também foi semelhante dentro e fora de unidades de conservação. Estes resultados sugerem que o veado-catingueiro é uma espécie ecologicamente plástica e que está se beneficiando da heterogeneidade ambiental presente no nordeste paulista. Estes hábitos generalistas lhe atribuem vantagens em comparação a outras espécies mais especialistas nesse cenário. / The northeast of São Paulo state is a region where Cerrado remants are immersed in a landscape with high human influence mediated by vast sugarcane and Eucalyptus plantations. Mammals survival in this landscape has been little explored. Brown brocket deer (Mazama gouazoubira, Fischer 1814) is a species with widespread distribution in different biomes of Brazil, however little is known about its capacity of adaptation in landscapes with intensive agriculture. We conducted a study based on occupancy modelling from camera trapping data in order to evaluate which environmental factors are important to habitat selection by brown brocket deer. The study was carried out in three agricultural landscapes at four study areas between April and September (2013 and 2014) with a total effort of 6240 traps-day. Our results show that brown brocket deer are well adapted to Cerrado/agricultural matrix in the state of Sao Paulo, showing high ecological flexibility. This deer used non-protected areas as much as protected areas. Silviculture represented the only landscape covariate with high relative importance for brown brocket deer. Also, brown brocket deer shows rhythm of activity similar in and out protected areas. Our results suggest that brown brocket deer is extremely plastic species that is benefiting from environmental heterogeneity present in São Paulo\'s northeast. The generalist habit of this deer gives it advantage when compared to other more specialist species in this scenario.

A evolução da resistência de insetos a culturas que expressam proteínas derivadas de Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) é o maior desafio para a manutenção dessa biotecnologia em programas de manejo integrado de pragas. Diante do risco de evolução de resistência de Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) à soja MON87701 × MON89788 foi realizada uma análise de risco levando em consideração o conjunto de fatores que influenciam no processo de seleção. Portanto, os objetivos do presente estudo foram a de caracterizar a suscetibidade à proteína Cry1Ac em populações de H. armigera e H. zea, caracterizar a eficácia da soja MON87701 × MON89788, bem como a adequação do produto ao conceito de alta dose para H. armigera e H. zea, avaliar a frequência dos alelos que conferem resistência à proteína Cry1Ac em populações de H. armigera, identificar a preferência hospedeira de H. armigera e H. zea em diferentes culturas e paisagens agrícolas e avaliar os parâmetros biológicos e demográficos de H. armigera e H. zea em diferentes hospedeiros. A espécie H. zea foi aproximadamente 60 vezes mais tolerante à proteína Cry1Ac que H. armigera. Além disso, baixa variabilidade na suscetibilidade à Cry1Ac foi verificada em populações de H. armigera coletadas em diferentes regiões do Brasil, o que pode ser explicada pela recente introdução dessa espécie no continente americano. A soja MON87701 × MON89788 resultou em mortalidade completa de H. armigera durante todo o ciclo da cultura, enquanto que para H. zea não foi verificado 100% de mortalidade sob condições de laboratório em bioensaios de cinco dias de duração, apesar dos altos níveis de mortalidade encontrados. Uma baixa frequência (frequência estimada = 0,0011) de alelos que conferem resistência à soja MON87701 × MON89788 em populações de campo de H. armigera foi estimada pelo método de F2 screen. A avaliação da tabela de vida em laboratório demonstrou que H. armigera tem altos níveis de desenvolvimento e a reprodução nas principais culturas das regiões dos Cerrados, sendo a cultura do algodão a que resulta nos maiores valores de crescimento populacional e menor tempo entre gerações. Por outro lado, H. zea se mostrou menos polífaga, se estabelecendo até a fase adulta e gerando descendentes apenas em milho e milheto. A ocorrência das duas espécies no campo corrobora com as informações encontradas na tabela de vida, na qual H. armigera foi encontrada em grande parte as culturas da soja e algodão, e em menor frequência à cultura do milho, enquanto que H. zea apresentou comportamento funcionalmente monófago no campo, associada apenas à cultura do milho. Os parâmetros toxicológicos da soja MON87701 × MON89788 associada à alta suscetibilidade de H. armigera à proteína Cry1Ac e à baixa frequência inicial de alelos que conferem resistência se adéquam aos preceitos da estratégia de alta dose/refúgio. A manutenção das áreas de refúgio com plantas não-Bt, de acordo com as recomendações, é essencial para retardar o processo de seleção de resistência de populações de H. armigera à soja MON87701 × MON89788 no Brasil. / Insect resistance to crops expressing proteins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis proteins (Bt) impose the biggest challenge to maintaining the value of this biotechnology in integrated pest management programs. To support a resistance to Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) to soybean MON87701 × MON89788 was carried out a risk analysis taking into account all factors that influence the selection process. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to characterize the suscetibidade the Cry1Ac protein in H. armigera populations and H. zea, characterize the effectiveness of soybean MON 87701 × MON 89788, as well as the suitability of the product to the concept of high dose H. armigera and H. zea, evaluate the frequency of alleles that confer resistance to Cry1Ac protein in H. armigera populations from different regions of agricultural production, understand the host preference of H. armigera and H. zea in different crops in and agricultural landscapes and evaluate the biological and demographic parameters of H. armigera and H. zea on different hosts. The species H. zea was approximately 60 times more tolerant to Cry1Ac protein than H. armigera. Low variability on susceptibility to Cry1Ac was found among field H. armigera populations, what can be explained by the recent introduction of this species into America. MON 87701 × MON 89788 soybean resulted in complete mortality of H. armigera throughout the crop cycle, while incomplete mortality was found for H. zea using leaf disc bioassays, although high levels of mortality were found. A low resistance allele frequency (estimated frequency = 0.0011) to MON 87701 × MON 89788 soybean was estimated by using the F2 screen methodology. The assessment of the Life Table parameters in laboratory demonstrated the main row crops such as cotton, soybean and maize are suitable for the development and reproduction of H. armigera, wherein cotton resulted in higher values of population growth parameter and shorter times between generations. Conversely, H. zea was less polyphagous in which only corn and millet were suitable hosts. Field occurrence of both species was consistent with laboratory studies. H. amigera was mostly found in soybean and cotton, and rarely on corn, while H. zea was found mainly on maize. Overall, toxicological aspects of MON87701 × MON89788 soybean associated with high susceptibility of H. armigera to Cry1Ac protein and low initial resistance allele frequency fit properly to the highdose/ refuge strategy to delay resistance evolution. Therefore, maintenance of compliance with the refuge recommendation is essential to delay the evolution of resistance in H. armigera to MON87701 × MON89788 soybean in Brazil.

<p>The first part of this essay focuses on how we relate to the landscape at the international and the national level today. The landscape convention is presented and compared to actual current Swedish policies. Different definitions of landscape are discussed. The second part renders the landscape in different archaeological contexts. The central theme is the attempt to investigate if and how we can approach prehistoric man by looking at the landscape as a socially constructed concept. How we should relate to thelandscape from a prehistoric standpoint today is the topic of the third and final part of the study.</p>

The first part of this essay focuses on how we relate to the landscape at the international and the national level today. The landscape convention is presented and compared to actual current Swedish policies. Different definitions of landscape are discussed. The second part renders the landscape in different archaeological contexts. The central theme is the attempt to investigate if and how we can approach prehistoric man by looking at the landscape as a socially constructed concept. How we should relate to thelandscape from a prehistoric standpoint today is the topic of the third and final part of the study.

Annotation The thesis deals with an influence of linear landscape elements and landscape heterogeneity on a biodiversity and population dynamics of small terrestrial mammals (STM) in an agricultural landscape of South Bohemia. The theoretical part consists of literally review about landscape, historical analysis of landscape structures development in the area of interest and summarizes existing knowledge about the ecology of present STM species. The aim of the practical part is to compare small mammals' biodiversity in three biotopes using capture-release-recapture method. The thesis follows my bachelor thesis and uses the same methods as in 2013. Data obtained in 2013 and 2015 were evaluated and the results were compared. In both years three three-days long captures were performed, always with 30 traps in 5 meters distance in every biotope. The species, sex, weight, foot length and age of captured animals were determined. In 2013, 60 individuals of three species of small terrestrial mammals were captured (Apodemus sylvaticus, Myodes glareolus and Microtus arvalis). In 2015, 444 individuals of four species were captured (Apodemus sylvaticus, Myodes glareolus, Microtus arvalis and Apodemus flavicollis). The total numbers of STM significantly differ between 2013 and 2015 (Wilcoxon's pair test, Z = 2,66; p = 0,008). The biotopes differ significantly in animal abundance in both 2013 (Chi-Square 114,1; d. f. = 2; p < 0, 0001) and 2015 (Chi-Square 346,96; d. f. = 2; p < 0, 0001). The highest species diversity and abundance were always found in linear landscape element (alley).

A evolução da resistência de insetos a culturas que expressam proteínas derivadas de Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) é o maior desafio para a manutenção dessa biotecnologia em programas de manejo integrado de pragas. Diante do risco de evolução de resistência de Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) à soja MON87701 × MON89788 foi realizada uma análise de risco levando em consideração o conjunto de fatores que influenciam no processo de seleção. Portanto, os objetivos do presente estudo foram a de caracterizar a suscetibidade à proteína Cry1Ac em populações de H. armigera e H. zea, caracterizar a eficácia da soja MON87701 × MON89788, bem como a adequação do produto ao conceito de alta dose para H. armigera e H. zea, avaliar a frequência dos alelos que conferem resistência à proteína Cry1Ac em populações de H. armigera, identificar a preferência hospedeira de H. armigera e H. zea em diferentes culturas e paisagens agrícolas e avaliar os parâmetros biológicos e demográficos de H. armigera e H. zea em diferentes hospedeiros. A espécie H. zea foi aproximadamente 60 vezes mais tolerante à proteína Cry1Ac que H. armigera. Além disso, baixa variabilidade na suscetibilidade à Cry1Ac foi verificada em populações de H. armigera coletadas em diferentes regiões do Brasil, o que pode ser explicada pela recente introdução dessa espécie no continente americano. A soja MON87701 × MON89788 resultou em mortalidade completa de H. armigera durante todo o ciclo da cultura, enquanto que para H. zea não foi verificado 100% de mortalidade sob condições de laboratório em bioensaios de cinco dias de duração, apesar dos altos níveis de mortalidade encontrados. Uma baixa frequência (frequência estimada = 0,0011) de alelos que conferem resistência à soja MON87701 × MON89788 em populações de campo de H. armigera foi estimada pelo método de F2 screen. A avaliação da tabela de vida em laboratório demonstrou que H. armigera tem altos níveis de desenvolvimento e a reprodução nas principais culturas das regiões dos Cerrados, sendo a cultura do algodão a que resulta nos maiores valores de crescimento populacional e menor tempo entre gerações. Por outro lado, H. zea se mostrou menos polífaga, se estabelecendo até a fase adulta e gerando descendentes apenas em milho e milheto. A ocorrência das duas espécies no campo corrobora com as informações encontradas na tabela de vida, na qual H. armigera foi encontrada em grande parte as culturas da soja e algodão, e em menor frequência à cultura do milho, enquanto que H. zea apresentou comportamento funcionalmente monófago no campo, associada apenas à cultura do milho. Os parâmetros toxicológicos da soja MON87701 × MON89788 associada à alta suscetibilidade de H. armigera à proteína Cry1Ac e à baixa frequência inicial de alelos que conferem resistência se adéquam aos preceitos da estratégia de alta dose/refúgio. A manutenção das áreas de refúgio com plantas não-Bt, de acordo com as recomendações, é essencial para retardar o processo de seleção de resistência de populações de H. armigera à soja MON87701 × MON89788 no Brasil. / Insect resistance to crops expressing proteins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis proteins (Bt) impose the biggest challenge to maintaining the value of this biotechnology in integrated pest management programs. To support a resistance to Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) to soybean MON87701 × MON89788 was carried out a risk analysis taking into account all factors that influence the selection process. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to characterize the suscetibidade the Cry1Ac protein in H. armigera populations and H. zea, characterize the effectiveness of soybean MON 87701 × MON 89788, as well as the suitability of the product to the concept of high dose H. armigera and H. zea, evaluate the frequency of alleles that confer resistance to Cry1Ac protein in H. armigera populations from different regions of agricultural production, understand the host preference of H. armigera and H. zea in different crops in and agricultural landscapes and evaluate the biological and demographic parameters of H. armigera and H. zea on different hosts. The species H. zea was approximately 60 times more tolerant to Cry1Ac protein than H. armigera. Low variability on susceptibility to Cry1Ac was found among field H. armigera populations, what can be explained by the recent introduction of this species into America. MON 87701 × MON 89788 soybean resulted in complete mortality of H. armigera throughout the crop cycle, while incomplete mortality was found for H. zea using leaf disc bioassays, although high levels of mortality were found. A low resistance allele frequency (estimated frequency = 0.0011) to MON 87701 × MON 89788 soybean was estimated by using the F2 screen methodology. The assessment of the Life Table parameters in laboratory demonstrated the main row crops such as cotton, soybean and maize are suitable for the development and reproduction of H. armigera, wherein cotton resulted in higher values of population growth parameter and shorter times between generations. Conversely, H. zea was less polyphagous in which only corn and millet were suitable hosts. Field occurrence of both species was consistent with laboratory studies. H. amigera was mostly found in soybean and cotton, and rarely on corn, while H. zea was found mainly on maize. Overall, toxicological aspects of MON87701 × MON89788 soybean associated with high susceptibility of H. armigera to Cry1Ac protein and low initial resistance allele frequency fit properly to the highdose/ refuge strategy to delay resistance evolution. Therefore, maintenance of compliance with the refuge recommendation is essential to delay the evolution of resistance in H. armigera to MON87701 × MON89788 soybean in Brazil.

O nordeste paulista é composto por um mosaico de ambientes fortemente antropizado, com predominância de plantios de cana-de-açúcar, além de florestas plantadas de eucalipto e fragmentos de Cerrado. Embora o veado-catingueiro (Mazama gouazoubira) seja uma espécie amplamente distribuída em diferentes biomas do Brasil, pouco é conhecido sobre a sua capacidade de adaptação em paisagens alteradas. Neste contexto, modelos de ocupação da paisagem e dados de armadilhas fotográficas foram utilizados para verificar quais fatores ambientais são importantes na escolha do uso e seleção de hábitat pelo veado-catingueiro. Foram amostradas quatro áreas em três cenas de paisagens, entre os meses de Abril e Setembro de 2013 e 2014, totalizando um esforço amostral de 6240 armadilhas/dia. Os resultados apontam que o veado-catingueiro está amplamente distribuído nos remanescentes de Cerrado do nordeste do estado de São Paulo, além de ocupar com a mesma intensidade tanto o interior como o entorno de unidades de conservação. Foi observado um efeito positivo dos plantios de silvicultura na ocupação da paisagem pela espécie. A distribuição temporal dos registros ao longo do ciclo de 24 horas também foi semelhante dentro e fora de unidades de conservação. Estes resultados sugerem que o veado-catingueiro é uma espécie ecologicamente plástica e que está se beneficiando da heterogeneidade ambiental presente no nordeste paulista. Estes hábitos generalistas lhe atribuem vantagens em comparação a outras espécies mais especialistas nesse cenário. / The northeast of São Paulo state is a region where Cerrado remants are immersed in a landscape with high human influence mediated by vast sugarcane and Eucalyptus plantations. Mammals survival in this landscape has been little explored. Brown brocket deer (Mazama gouazoubira, Fischer 1814) is a species with widespread distribution in different biomes of Brazil, however little is known about its capacity of adaptation in landscapes with intensive agriculture. We conducted a study based on occupancy modelling from camera trapping data in order to evaluate which environmental factors are important to habitat selection by brown brocket deer. The study was carried out in three agricultural landscapes at four study areas between April and September (2013 and 2014) with a total effort of 6240 traps-day. Our results show that brown brocket deer are well adapted to Cerrado/agricultural matrix in the state of Sao Paulo, showing high ecological flexibility. This deer used non-protected areas as much as protected areas. Silviculture represented the only landscape covariate with high relative importance for brown brocket deer. Also, brown brocket deer shows rhythm of activity similar in and out protected areas. Our results suggest that brown brocket deer is extremely plastic species that is benefiting from environmental heterogeneity present in São Paulo\'s northeast. The generalist habit of this deer gives it advantage when compared to other more specialist species in this scenario.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Science, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, University of the Witwatersrand. September 2016. / The cause of the transformation of agricultural land to other land uses has been investigated, especially in the Northern Service Delivery of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality within Gauteng Province. This was achieved by evaluating the processes undertaken during the review of the land use applications and what was considered by the decision makers when making decisions on land use applications in order to determine the effectiveness of the legislations and policies in protecting agricultural land from been transformed to other uses such as residential and industrial activities. The literature review undertaken in this study showed that for South Africa, and particularly the Gauteng Province to be more successful in addressing the transformation of agricultural land to other land uses, different approaches are necessary. The review of literature showed that the South African legislations are fragmented and contribute to the transformation of agricultural land. In addition, it was highlighted that the South African government’s priority is on infrastructure development which is also considered the cause of the transformation of agricultural land, and this compels government to continuously amend the planning policies in order to accommodate pressure of development. Lastly, several studies highlighted that government is also focusing on the land reform programmes which are not sustainable hence failed due to lack of support from government. The results of the investigation confirmed that there is fragmentation of legislations and operational structure resulting in conflicting mandate and inconsistent decision making. This was pointed out through the experience of the participants during the questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews. Data from the questionnaires, interviews and literature review was analysed to find information in order to address the research questions. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that legislations should be amended and ensures that the administration process is simple and aligned. Key words: Transformation of agricultural land, fragmented legislations, fragmented institutions and processes. / LG2017