Tree species belonging to the genus Acacia have a significant impact ecologically and economically in southern Africa. Together with the African baobab, these trees are recognized as icons of the African landscape. They are widely distributed in this area and extensively used by local communities as sources of energy, stock feed, medical remedies and building material. There is still a substantial lack of knowledge regarding the ecological association between these plants and other living organisms such as fungi. This is, however, not new to the African continent where fungi are generally poorly studied and collected, and it is envisaged that many new fungal species will be discovered as scientists focus their efforts more on this geographical niche. An example of the lack of knowledge on the fungal biodiversity in Africa is reflected in the limited reports of members of the Botryosphaeriaceae, described to date from Acacia spp.. A review on phytopathogens in South Africa by Crous et al. (2000) indicated no records of the Botryosphaeriaceae associated with native Acacia spp. Despite the importance of many species within the Botryosphaeriaceae as pathogens, knowledge about the true diversity and taxonomy of species in this family is limited, especially where native plant communities are concerned. This dissertation attempts to contribute to knowledge on the associations between members of the Botryosphaeriaceae and indigenous Acacia trees in southern Africa, and the possible role they may play in diseases of these trees. Chapter 1 represents a literature review that focuses on fungi previously associated with Acacia spp. on the African continent. Information provided in this chapter refers to available reports on pathogens and saprophytes occurring on Acacia spp. that are both native and nonnative to Africa. Special reference is made to those occurring in southern Africa. Due to the concern of the introduction of new pathogens in areas where native and non-native plants are co-existing, emphises is also placed on the possibility of pathogen-host jumps between native and non-native Acacia spp. The potential threat they might pose to the future biosecurity of these important trees is discussed. Acacia mellifera, also known as the blackthorn, is one of the native African Acacia spp. that has been extensively studied. This tree is threatened by a serious die-back disease with symptoms similar to the die-back typically caused by members of the Botryosphaeriaceae. In an effort to understand the association of the Botryosphaeriaceae with native Acacia spp. in southern Africa, a study was undertaken to search for the presence of these fungi on especially A. mellifera in Namibia and the Pretoria area in South Africa. Other Acacia spp. were also sampled in cases where they were present in the same areas as A. mellifera. These results are presented in chapter 2. In a previous study, the fungal diversity of native trees and plant species in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa was studied. This resulted in the isolation of a number of fungi that resembled the morphological characteristics of the Botryosphaeriaceae. In chapter 3, these fungi were further identified to species level based on morphological and phylogenetic characteristics. In chapter 4 an attempt was made to compare the Botryosphaeriaceae that are associated with important native trees with those occurring on non-native trees. To accomplish this, a pilot study was done to investigate the presence of the Botryosphaeriaceae on A. mearnsii in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. Results from chapters 2 and 3 on native Acacia spp. from Namibia and South Africa served as the bases of comparison for this chapter. Results of previous studies that investigated diseases of plantation grown A. mearnsii were also included for comparison. Lastly, a summary is included to review the results of this study and also the significance and impact these results made, not only on the taxonomy of the Botryosphaeriaceae, but also understanding the fungal biodiversity of indigenous tree species in southern Africa. To date, this is the most extensive study of the Botryosphaeriaceae associated with native African Acacia spp. and it is also the first study that resulted in the describtion of so many new species in this group of fungi from a single host. Results from this study indicated that there is a significantly greater diversity in the Botryosphaeriaceae associated with native Acacia spp. in southern Africa than was previously thought. This dissertation attempts to form the basis for future studies to finally understand the interactions between the Botryosphaeriaceae and their native hosts as well as their role and threat as pathogens to indigenous and economically important plants. Copyright / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Microbiology and Plant Pathology / unrestricted

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science by coursework and research report. Johannesburg, 13 May 2014. / The African baobab (Adansonia digitata) is a multi-purpose tree that is important among African villages as it provides food and a range of raw materials. Its fruits provide essential nutrients and are sold to generate income. As baobab fruits are important to the livelihoods of many people, it is important to understand the causes of differences in fruit production in order to maximise use and for conservation purposes. Many studies have examined fruit production to understand the causes of variation in fruit yields. In Venda, a region northern South Africa, differences in baobab fruit yield has been recorded for 8 years, thus classifying individual trees as either poor producers or producers (Venter and Witkowski, 2011). Poor producers are adult trees producing less than five fruits each year and some not producing at all. On the other hand, adult trees producing more than five fruits each year are referred as producers. Causes of this difference in fruit production have not been identified. Among other factors, the observed difference in fruit production could be related to differences in ploidy-level among baobab trees. Importantly, few or no studies to our knowledge have been carried out to confirm whether differences in fruit production among baobab trees are related to a difference in ploidy-level. The well-known and widespread mainland African baobab, Adansonia digitata, is known to be a tetraploid (four sets of chromosomes). Recently, a difference in ploidy-level has been revealed. A new diploid species, Adansonia kilima, has been identified in Africa (Pettigrew et al., 2012). Morphological characteristics (floral, pollen, and stomatal size and density), ploidy, and molecular phylogenetics suggest the presence of a new species. This new species has been reported to overlap the well-known and widespread tetraploid A. digitata’s distribution in Venda. Consequently, the presence of a diploid species that reproduces with a tetraploid species could result in triploid progeny and contribute to the observed differences in fruit production in these baobab trees. The objectives of this study were (i) to assess if there is any difference in ploidy-level between the poor producer and producer baobab trees in Venda using flow cytometry, (ii) to assess if stomatal density and size correlate to differences in ploidy-level, and (iii) to use microsatellites to estimate levels of gene flow between these baobab trees. Morphological results showed that stomatal size and density were not significantly different between poor producer and producer trees and these features may not be true indicators of difference in ploidy-level for baobabs. Gene flow results showed that there was high mean genetic heterozygosity and low population differentiation expressed in all populations. This suggests that inbreeding was not responsible for the differences in fruit production between poor producer and producer trees. Low population differentiation observed among the populations indicated that a large number of common alleles were shared among the populations. Therefore, the high gene flow observed among the populations suggests that poor producer and producer trees were sharing alleles, and what is causing the differences in fruit production remains unclear.

Die andauernde Armut, Nahrungsmittel- und Ernährungsunsicherheit im Subsahara-Afrika (SSA) verweist auf die Notwendigkeit für einen Paradigmenwechsel in Ernährungssystemen, der auf die Diversifizierung von Nahrungsmittelketten wie z.B. durch unzureichend genutzten Pflanzenarten (UPS) abzielt. In diesen Pflanzenarten steckt das Potenzial, SSA mit ertragreichen, ernährungssensiblen und resilienten Nahrungsmittelsystemen zu versorgen. Jüngste Studien belegen, dass UPS zur Ernährungssicherheit beitragen, indem sie Grundnahrungsmittel ergänzen, einen Puffer in Zeiten von Knappheit darstellen und die Nahrungsqualität erhöhen. Sie können somit als ein Hebel zur Armutslinderung verstanden werden. Trotz der Bedeutsamkeit von UPS, fokussiert sich die bestehende Literatur vorwiegend auf angebaute Nahrungsmittel und Nutzpflanzen. Diese Dissertation trägt dazu bei, die Faktoren Geschlecht, kollektives Handeln und die Auswahl von Vermarktungskanälen unter den Sammler:innen von UPS zu verstehen. Sie besteht aus drei Aufsätzen, die auf unterschiedliche Weise einen Beitrag zur existierenden Literatur zu UPS leisten. Alle drei Aufsätze basieren auf Haushaltsbefragungen von 864 Baobabsammler:innen (Baobab ist ein Beispiel für UPS) in Malawi, im Jahr 2021. Im ersten Aufsatz analysieren wir die geschlechtsspezifischen Unterschiede bei der Sammlung und Vermarktung von Baobab. Insbesondere evaluieren wir die Unterschiede zwischen weiblichen Baobabmanagerinnen (FBMs) und männlichen Baobabmanagern (MBMs) in Bezug auf die gesammelte Menge Baobab. Wir erweitern unsere Analyse und betrachten auch die Unterschiede zwischen FBMs in Bezug auf ihren Familienstand (verheiratete FBMs vs. unverheiratete FBMs). Bestehende Literatur über Geschlecht und Agrarwirtschaft hat sich überwiegend auf die geschlechtsspezifischen Unterschiede in Bezug auf agrarwirtschaftliche Ertragfähigkeit und die Einführung von Technologien fokussiert, insbesondere im Hinblick auf den Hauptpflanzenbestand in Afrika. Dahingegen existieren begrenzte empirische Untersuchungen über die geschlechtsspezifischen Unterschiede zwischen den UPS-Geschlechtern, besonders in Bezug auf das Sammeln und die Vermarktung von Baobabprodukten. Wir wenden ein exogenes Switching-Regressionsmodell in einem kontrafaktischen Rahmen an. Diese Methode erlaubt uns, Schätzungen über die Kausaleffekte des Geschlechts auf das Sammeln und die Vermarktung von Baobabprodukten anzustellen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass weibliche Baobabmanagerinnen und unverheiratete weibliche Baobabmanagerinnen wahrscheinlicher weniger sammeln und verkaufen als männlichen Baobabmanager und verheiratete weibliche Baobabmanagerinnen. Die empirischen Ergebnissen zeigen, dass die geschlechtsspezifischen Unterschiede auch unter Kontrolle sozioökonomischer Faktoren (z.B. Alter, Bildung, Familienstand) bestehen bleiben. Dementsprechend deuten diese Ergebnisse darauf hin, dass es unbeobachtete Faktoren wie z.B. Normen und Führungsqualitäten gibt, die geschlechtsspezifische Unterschiede beeinflussen. In dem zweiten Aufsatz untersuchen wir die Wirkung kollektiven Handelns auf das Wohlergehen der Haushalte von UPS-Sammler:innen. Die Anzahl von Studien über kollektives Handeln und seine Wirkung auf das Wohlergehen von Haushalten in Entwicklungsländern wächst. Jedoch sind die empirischen Ergebnisse und Aussagen gemischt und nicht aussagekräftig. Ein Großteil dieser Wirkungsstudien konzentrieren sich auf Grundnahrungsmittel und hochwertige Nutzpflanzen, mit einem geringem Anteil an Studien über UPS. Dennoch fehlen empirische Befunde und Aussagen über das südliche Afrika, insbesondere Malawi, und in Bezug auf Baobab. Einige Studien über UPS berücksichtigen den Selfselektionsbias nicht. Des Weiteren geben diese Studien keinen Auskunft über die Heterogenität der Wirkungen, insbesondere in Bezug auf das Geschlecht Wir verwenden den inversen wahrscheinlichkeitsgewichteten Regressionsanpassungsschätzer (IPWRA), um die durchschnittlichen und heterogenen Verfahrenseffekte kollektiven Handelns auf Baobab-Einkommen und Ernährungssicherung zu schätzen. Wir stellen fest, dass die Mitgliedschaft in Genossenschaften das Baobab-Einkommen, den Vielfaltswert in der Haushaltsernährung, und den Nahrungsmittelkonsumwert jeweils um 3,57%, 11% und 5,6% erhöht. Die Wirkung der Genossenschaftsmitgliedschaft ist bei männlichen Baobabmanagern höher. Dahingegen weisen Haushalte mit unverheirateten, weiblichen Managerinnen bessere Wirkungen auf das Gemeinwohl auf. Die empirischen Befunde beleuchten daher die Notwendigkeit, kollektives Handeln im unzureichend genutzten Pflanzensektor durch Genossenschaften zu unterstützen, um das Gemeinwohl der Haushalte zu verbessern. In der dritten Aufsatz evaluieren wir die durchschnittlichen Verteilungseffekte der Auswahl von Vermarktungskanälen in Bezug auf das Einkommen und die Ernährungssicherheit von Baobabsammler:innen. Sie beteiligen sich hauptsächlich in drei Vertriebskanälen: Im landwirtschaftlichen Betrieb, in ländlichen Märkten und urbanen Märkten. Wir zeigen, dass die Beteiligung an Vertriebskanälen außerhalb der Landwirtschaft, also Off-Farm Marktkanälen, (ländliche und urbane Märkte) im Verhältnis zu landwirtschaftlichen Vertriebskanälen höhere Baobab-Einkommen und Ernährungssicherheit zur Folge hat. Wir wenden den Quantilbehandlungseffekt an, um zu zeigen, dass der durchschnittliche Behandlungseffekt in der Umstellung von landwirtschaftlichen Vertriebskanal zu Vertriebskanälen außerhalb der Landwirtschaft, also Off-Farm Vertriebskanälen, sich je nach Quantil des Baobab-Einkommens und der Ernährungssicherheit unterscheidet. Die Baobab-Einkommenseffekte von Vertriebskanälen außerhalb der Landwirtschaft, also Off-Farm Marktkanäle, im Vergleich zu landwirtschaftlichen Vertriebskanäle, also Farm-Gate Marktkanälen, sind nur für Baobabsammler:innen im oberen Quantil der Einkommensverteilung positiv. In Bezug auf die Ernährungssicherheit ist der positive prozentuale Effekt für Haushalte mit einem niedrigeren Maß an Ernährungssicherheit höher. Basierend auf den drei Aufsätzen dieser Dissertation, ziehen wir folgende Schlussfolgerungen: Aus dem ersten Aufsatz kommen wir zum dem Schluss, dass es geschlechtsspezifische Unterschiede bei der Sammlung und Vermarktung von Baobab gibt. Die Ergebnisse bestätigen auch, dass diese Unterschiede variieren wenn das Geschlecht mit dem Familienstand interagiert. Bemühungen zur Verminderung geschlechtsspezifischer Unterschiede in der Produktion und Vermarktung sollten auf die Befähigung von Frauen / weiblichen Personen sowie auf die zugrundeliegenden Ursachen von Geschlechterungleichheiten ausgerichtet sein. Aus dem zweiten Aufsatz schlussfolgern wir, dass kollektives Handeln zur Verbesserung der Einkommen und Ernährungssicherheit von Baobabsammler:innen beitragen kann. Die wichtigste Auswirkung für die Politikausrichtung ist, dass Bündnisse zwischen den Akteuren im UPS-Sektor ein wichtiges Instrument zur Verbesserung des Gemeinwohls der Haushalte von UPS-Sammler:innen sind. Wir betonen jedoch, dass dieser positive Effekt ungleichmäßig auf alle Genossenschaftsmitglieder verteilt ist. Wiederum kommen wir aus dem dritten Aufsatz zu der Schlussfolgerung, dass die Beteiligung an Vertriebskanäle außerhalb der landwirtschaftlichen Marktkanäle, also Off-Farm Marktkanälen, im Verhältnis zu landwirschaftlichen Vertriebskanälen, also Farm-Gate Marktkanälen, zu einem verbesserten Baobab-Einkommen und einer besseren Ernährungssicherheit unter den Baobabsammler:innen beiträgt. Daher sollte der Zugang zu Verkaufsstellen außerhalb der Landwirtschaft für Baobabsammler:innen verbessert werden. / The persistence of poverty and food and nutrition insecurity in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), highlights the need for a paradigm shift in food systems that focuses on diversification into other food chains such as underutilised plant species (UPS). These crops have the potential to provide SSA with a productive, nutrition-sensitive, and resilient food system. Recent evidence concludes that UPS contribute to food security by supplementing staples, acting as a buffer in time of shortages, and increasing diet quality, and can be viewed as a lever towards poverty alleviation. Despite the significance of UPS, previous literature has extensively focussed on food and cash crops. This dissertation contributes to understanding of the aspects of gender, collective action and market channel choices among collectors of UPS. It is composed of three essays that contribute to the literature on UPS in different ways. All the three essays are based on a household survey of 864 baobab (an example of UPS) collectors in Malawi in the year 2021. The first essay analyses the gender gaps in the collection and marketing of baobab. In particular, I evaluate the differences in the quantity of baobab collected between male baobab managers (MBMs) and female baobab managers (FBMs). We further extend our analysis and also evaluate differences among FBMs relative to their marital status (i.e. married FBMs vs unmarried FBMs). The literature on gender and agriculture has mainly focused on gender gaps in agricultural productivity and technology adoption, especially for major crops in Africa. However, there is limited empirical evidence on gender gaps in UPS, especially in terms of collection and marketing. We employ an exogenous switching regression model in a counterfactual framework, as this method allows us to estimate the causal effects of gender in the collection and marketing of baobab products. We find that female baobab managers and unmarried female managers are more likely to collect and sell less than male baobab managers and married female managers, respectively. The results demonstrate that the gender gap persists even after controlling for observed socio economic factors (for example, age, education, marital status). These findings mean that there are unobserved factors such as norms and managerial ability that influence the gender gaps. In the second essay, we examine the impact of collective action on household welfare of collectors of UPS. The number of impact studies on collective action and their effect on household welfare in developing countries is growing, yet the findings are mixed and the evidence is inconclusive. Most of these impact studies focus on staple and high-value crops with a few studies on UPS. However, there is no empirical evidence from Southern Africa, particularly Malawi and specific to baobab. In the case of UPS, some studies fail to account for self-selection bias. Further, these studies do not provide an account of heterogeneity in impacts, particularly with respect to gender. We use the Inverse Probability Weight Regression Adjustment estimator (IPWRA) to estimate average and heterogeneous treatment effects of collective action on baobab income and food security. We find that the cooperative membership increases baobab income, household dietary diversity score, and food consumption score by 3.57%, 11% and 5.6%, respectively. However, the impact of cooperative membership was higher in male baobab managers. Households with unmarried female managers have better welfare outcomes. The results, therefore, highlight the need to promote collective action through cooperatives in the underutilised crop sector to enhance household welfare. In the third essay, we evaluate the average and distributional effects of market channel choices on income and food security of baobab collectors. Baobab collectors mainly participate in three market channels; farmgate, rural market, and urban market. We show that participation in off-farm market channels (rural and urban market) relative to farmgate, was associated with increases in baobab income and food security. We use quantile treatment effect to show that the average treatment effect of moving from farm gate market channels to off-farm market channels differed across quantiles of baobab income and food security. For baobab income, the effects of the off-farm market channels compared to the farm gate market are positive only for baobab collectors in the upper quantile of the income distribution. In terms of food security, the positive percentage effect is higher for households with low levels of food security. Based on the three essays in this dissertation, we draw the following conclusions. From the first essay we conclude that there are gender gaps in the collection and marketing of baobab. The results also confirm that these gaps vary as gender interacts with marital status. Efforts to reduce gender differences in production and marketing should focus on empowering women and also addressing the underlying causes of gender inequality. From the second essay, we conclude that collective action can contribute to better incomes and food security among baobab collectors. The important policy implication is that organization among actors in the UPS sector is a major mechanism of improving household welfare of collectors of UPS. But we stress that this positive effect is not distributed uniformly across all cooperative members. From the third essay, we conclude that participation in off-farm market channels relative to farmgate contributes to improved baobab income and food security among baobab collectors. Hence baobab collectors’ access to off-farm selling outlets should be enhanced.

Thesis (PhD For) (Forest and Wood Science))--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: See full text for abstract / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Sien volteks vir opsomming

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / A laboratory information management system (LIMS) is central to the informatics infrastructure that underlies biobanking activities. To date, a wide range of commercial and open source LIMS are available. The decision to opt for one LIMS over another is often influenced by the needs of the biobank clients and researchers, as well as available financial resources. However, to find a LIMS that incorporates all possible requirements of a biobank may often be a complicated endeavour. The need to implement biobank standard operation procedures as well as stimulate the use of standards for biobank data representation motivated the development of Baobab LIMS, an open source LIMS for Biobanking. Baobab LIMS comprises modules for biospecimen kit assembly, shipping of biospecimen kits, storage management, analysis requests, reporting, and invoicing. Baobab LIMS is based on the Plone web-content management framework, a server-client-based system, whereby the end user is able to access the system securely through the internet on a standard web browser, thereby eliminating the need for standalone installations on all machines. The Baobab LIMS components were tested and evaluated in three human biobanks. The testing of the LIMS modules aided in the mapping of the biobanks requirements to the LIMS functionalities, and furthermore, it helped to reveal new user suggestions, such as the enhancement of the online documentation. The user suggestions are demonstrated to be important for both LIMS strengthen and biobank sustainability. Ultimately, the practical LIMS evaluations showed the ability of Boabab LIMS to be used in the management of human biobanks operations of relatively different biobanking workflows.

Thesis (M. A. (Anthropology)) --University of Limpopo, 2016. / The baobab tree (Adansonia digitata), with more than 300 cultural and ethnobotanical uses in Africa has been identified as one of the most important savanna trees to be conserved, domesticated and valorised on the continent. A decline in baobab populations due to overexploitation could have a significant negative effect on African livelihoods. Therefore, it is important to determine potential strategies for the conservation of this tree species. The study aimed to explore the cultural significance and ethnobotanical use, as well as conservation of baobab trees by the Sagole community in the Vhembe District of the Limpopo Province, South Africa. Furthermore, the conservation efforts of this community and the provincial government were also elucidated. In the Sagole community 40 local community members, aged 20 years and older, were selected via convenience sampling. A semi-structured questionnaire was employed to collect information on the cultural significance of baobab trees to members of this community. Research questions focussed specifically on identifying folk taxonomy, the transfer of species-specific information to younger generations, and cultural taboos pertaining to the baobab. It has been discovered that young people of Sagole are not well versed in the cultural value pertaining to baobabs. Furthermore, members of the community and the village head (chief) have limited knowledge related to taboos associated with this species. Thus, when individuals transgressed a taboo related to this tree species there is no formal punishment. Sagole community members use baobab trees for various purposes such as food and medicine. The species is used medically to cure various ailments. Most inhabitants in the community harvest this tree. The most common plant parts harvested for cultural use are the fruits, bark, roots and leaves. However, community members have limited knowledge about the taboos related to harvesting of this majestic tree.

This study assesses elephant induced damage and mortality of baobab and common star-chestnut trees in the northern Kruger National Park. Comparisons are made between the populations north and south of the Luvuvhu River. The density, population size and age structure are estimated. The population structure of neither species has been shaped by elephant utilisation. While the baobab population has a healthy age distribution, that of the star-chestnut population shows that recruitment has declined in recent decades. Utilisation has been found to be higher in the south as a result of higher elephant densities, although recently damage has been greater in the north. Damage increases with tree size. The mortality of baobabs is lower than in other areas where elephants and baobabs co-exist. Elephants are not playing a significant role in mortality of either tree species and management of factors other than elephant is required to improve regeneration rates of these species. / Dissertation (MSc (Wildlife Management))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Animal and Wildlife Sciences / unrestricted

M. Tech. (Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology), Vaal University of Technology. / This study presents the use of sodium methoxide as a homogeneous catalyst and impregnated Perlite (potassium hydroxide/perlite) as heterogeneous catalyst for production of biodiesel using Baobab and Marula oil respectively. One factor at a time experimental design was used to study the effect of temperature, time, amount of catalyst and methanol to oil ratio on the transesterification of baobab oil using sodium methoxide as a catalyst. Response surface methodology was used to study the effect of temperature, time, amount of catalyst and methanol to oil ratio on the transesterification of marula oil using perlite as a catalyst. Biodiesel yield produced using sodium methoxide and baobab oil was 96% at 1 hr reaction time, 30 wt.% methanol to oil ratio, 1 gram of catalyst and 60°C reaction conditions. Biodiesel yield produced using perlite and marula oil was 91.38% at 3.55 hr reaction time, 29.86 wt.% methanol to oil ratio, 3.46 grams of catalyst and 70.41°C reaction conditions. Perlite catalyst was reusable for transesterification of marula oil while sodium methoxide was not reusable for transesterification of baobab oil. Baobab and Marula biodiesel fuel properties are comparable to American Society for Testing Materials standard (ASTM).

This thesis explores the thematic desire to establish an ecological human bond with nature in four contemporary novels: The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje, The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh, An Imaginary Life by David Malouf, and The Expedition to The Baobab Tree by Wilma Stockenström. These authors share a concern with the influence that language has on human perception, and one of the most significant ways they attempt to connect with the natural world is through somehow escaping, or transcending, what they perceive to be the divisive tendencies of language. They all suggest that human perception is not steered entirely by a disembodied mind, which constructs reality through linguistic and cultural lenses, but is equally influenced by physical circumstances and embodied experiences. They explore the potential of corporeal reciprocity and empathy as that which enables understanding across cultural barriers, and a sense of ecologically intertwined kinship with nature. They all struggle to reconcile their awareness of the potential danger of relating to nature exclusively through language, with a desire to speak for the natural world in literature. I have examined whether they succeed in doing so, or whether they contradict their thematic suspicion of language with their literary medium. I have prioritised a close ecocritical reading of the novels and loosely situated the authors’ approach to nature and language within the broad theoretical frameworks of radical ecology, structuralism and poststructuralism. I suggest that these novels are best analysed in the context of an ecocritical mediation between poststructuralist conceptions of nature as inaccessible cultural construct, and the naïve conception of unmediated, pre-reflective interaction with the natural world. I draw especially on the phenomenological theories of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, whose insistence that perception is always both embodied and culturally mediated truly renders culture and nature irreducible, intertwined categories. By challenging historical dualisms like mind/body and culture/nature, the selected novels suggest a more fluid and discursive understanding of the perceived conflict between language and nature, whilst problematizing the perception of language as merely a cultural artefact. Moreover, they are examples of the kind of literature that has the potential to positively influence our human conception of nature, and adapt us better to our ecological context on a planet struggling for survival.

Please read the abstract in the 08summary part of this document / Thesis (DPhil (Zoology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Zoology and Entomology / unrestricted