New Caledonia, an archipelago situated in the South-West Pacific Ocean has a very high biodiversity of which many flora and fauna species are endemic, and is therefore considered as one of the world hotspots for the biodiversity conservation. Sclerophyll forests, one of the five main vegetation types occurring on the island are mainly threatened by anthropogenic activities. Rusa deer (Cervus timorensis russa) were introduced into New Caledonia from Java in 1870. They have colonised all the biotopes of the main island, and represent one of the major threats to the New Caledonian sclerophyll forests. Currently, there is a lack of management tools to monitor the trends of rusa deer in New Caledonian sclerophyll forests. To test monitoring methods for use as management tools, six sclerophyll forests study sites were studied using direct census methods (i.e. spotlight count and drive count), indirect census methods (i.e. faecal standing crop method) and three indices (i.e. the faecal pellet groups index, the browsing index and the antler rubbing index). The faecal pellet groups index is based on sampling pellet groups in plots along transects. To ensure reliable data collection with a coefficient of variation of the mean number of intact faecal pellet groups per plot per transect of less than 20 percent, my study indicated that 15 plots per transect and 20 transects per sites should be sampled in New Caledonian sclerophyll forests whereas previous studies conducted in New Zealand indicated that a minimum of 25 plots per transect and of 18 transects per site should be sampled. The advantages of reducing the number of plots per transect and of transects per site is that it reduces the expenses (e.g. time, finance) and the bias due to data collection (e.g. fatigue, boredom and visual activity) which will improve the precision of the data recorded. Estimates of rusa deer density obtained from the census methods were not correlated (r = - 0.425, df = 4, P = 0.401) due to my small sample size. The reliability of these estimates is questionable because of biases. Previous publications have shown that biases are difficult to avoid when using direct census methods and that it is difficult to estimate the size of animal populations with accuracy and precision. The faecal standing crop method was subjected to bias because the estimation of the decay rate and the defecation rate were unreliable. These methods were not recommended for rusa deer management in New Caledonian sclerophyll forests. Of the three indices tested, the faecal pellet groups index and the browsing index based on unpalatable browse species were the most reliable as the confidence intervals of these two indices were small (i.e. from ±0.08 to ±0.11 for the faecal pellet groups index; from ±0.04 to ±0.27 for the browsing index of unpalatable browse species), and they also showed significant correlations with a subjective ranking of the rusa deer density based on expert knowledge (rs = 0.829, df = 4, P = 0.042 and rs = 0.829, df = 4, P = 0.042 respectively). These two indices appear to show the most promise for use as management tools, as they could reliably track local variations of rusa deer densities on the sclerophyll forests. These two indices could be used by wildlife technicians in New Caledonia to establish management plans of rusa deer populations which rely on participative management involving the stakeholders (e.g. hunters, forest managers, local communities). We believe that the faecal pellet groups index and the browsing index could be useful to monitor rusa deer populations in New Caledonian sclerophyll forests, and meet conservation and hunting objectives of the local population and authorities. Management tools such as culling and hunting operations will be implemented in New Caledonian sclerophyll forests where monitoring of indices I recommended show an increase in the deer population. Stakeholders will be involved in the implementation of the monitoring tools (i.e. indices) and of the management tools (e.g. culling and hunting operations, fencing) but also in decision making for the management of the rusa deer in New Caledonian sclerophyll forests.

Similar ecosystems may be expected where climates and landforms on different continents match. The most detailed tests of such convergence have examined mediterranean areas of Europe, North and South America. This thesis compares mediterranean Australia and southern Africa, two relatively nutrientpoor areas largely neglected in previous studies. Inparticular, two study areas very similar in climate, landform and soils were compared, one at the Barrens on the south coast of Western Australia and the other at the Caledon coast in the southwestern Cape of South Africa. The less frequent, but heavier, rain in Australia probably led t o the anomalous presence of trees there. The height and density of vegetation appeared only weakly related to soil nutrients but strongly correlated with moisture. Conversely, nutrient status rather than climate appeared to govern many of those features of plants that interacted with animals, such as flowers and fruits . This applied particularly to ants, which took seeds bearing elaiosomes, and birds, which took fleshy fruits . Soil fertility thus determined the occurrence of agents which both consumed plants and aided their propagation. Climate, soil and fire, together with the consequent regimes of fiutrient cycling and predation, determined the relativeroles played by endotherms, such as mammals, and by ectotherms, such as reptiles, amphibians and their invertebrate prey. Despite close matching, small differences in physical factors remained between the two study areas, with commensurate differences in their biological communities. It is suggested that co-adaptation is not a major cause of differences between ecosystems on different continents but rather a consequence of inevitable differences in physical conditions.

The Caledon River Basin is located on one of the most water-scarce region on the African continent. The water resources of the Caledon River Basin play a pivotal role in socio-economic activities in both Lesotho and South Africa but the basin experiences recurrent severe droughts and frequent water shortages. The Caledon River is mostly used for commercial and subsistence agriculture, industrial and domestic supply. The resources are also important beyond the basin’s boundaries as the water is transferred to the nearby Modder River. The Caledon River is also a significant tributary to the Orange-Senqu Basin, which is shared by five southern African countries. However, the water resources in the basin are under continuous threat as a result of rapidly growing population, economic growth as well as changing climate, amongst others. It is therefore important that the hydrological regime and water resources of the basin are thoroughly evaluated and assessed so that they can be sustainably managed and utilised for maximum economic benefits. Climate change has been identified by the international community as one of the most prominent threats to peace, food security and livelihood and southern Africa as among the most vulnerable regions of the world. Water resources are perceived as a natural resource which will be affected the most by the changing climate conditions. Global warming is expected to bring more severe, prolonged droughts and exacerbate water shortages in this region. The current study is mainly focused on investigating the impacts of climate change on the water resources of the Caledon River Basin. The main objectives of the current study included assessing the past and current hydrological characteristics of the Caledon River Basin under current state of the physical environment, observed climate conditions and estimated water use; detecting any changes in the future rainfall and evaporative demands relative to present conditions and evaluating the impacts of climate on the basin’s hydrological regime and water resources availability for the future climate scenario, 2046-2065. To achieve these objectives the study used observed hydrological, meteorological data sets and the basin’s physical characteristics to establish parameters of the Pitman and WEAP hydrological models. Hydrological modelling is an integral part of hydrological investigations and evaluations. The various sources of uncertainties in the outputs of the climate and hydrological models were identified and quantified, as an integral part of the whole exercise. The 2-step approach of the uncertainty version of the model was used to estimate a range of parameters yielding behavioural natural flow ensembles. This approach uses the regional and local hydrological signals to constrain the model parameter ranges. The estimated parameters were also employed to guide the calibration process of the Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) model. The two models incorporated the estimated water uses within the basin to establish the present day flow simulations and they were found to sufficiently simulate the present day flows, as compared to the observed flows. There is an indication therefore, that WEAP can be successfully applied in other regions for hydrological investigations. Possible changes in future climate regime of the basin were evaluated by analysing downscaled temperature and rainfall outputs from a set of 9 climate models. The predictions are based on the A2 greenhouse gases emission scenario which assumes a continuous increase in emission rates. While the climate models agree that temperature, and hence, evapotranspiration will increase in the future, they demonstrate significant disagreement on whether rainfall will decrease or increase and by how much. The disagreement of the GCMs on projected future rainfall constitutes a major uncertainty in the prediction of water resources availability of the basin. This is to the extent that according to 7 out of 9 climate models used, the stream flow in four sub-basins (D21E, D22B, D23D and D23F) in the Caledon River Basin is projected to decrease below the present day flows, while two models (IPSL and MIUB) consistently project enhanced water resource availability in the basin in the future. The differences in the GCM projections highlight the margin of uncertainty involved predicting the future status of water resources in the basin. Such uncertainty should not be ignored and these results can be useful in aiding decision-makers to develop policies that are robust and that encompass all possibilities. In an attempt to reduce the known uncertainties, the study recommends upgrading of the hydrological monitoring network within the Caledon River Basin to facilitate improved hydrological evaluation and management. It also suggests the use of updated climate change data from the newest generation climate models, as well as integrating the findings of the current research into water resources decision making process.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / South Africa is facing a problem of many municipal waste water treatment works (WWTW) not working efficiently. The environmental impacts of poorly treated effluents on receiving water bodies have required special attention from researchers. In this study, the relationships between water quality variables in the Baths River in the Western Cape province of South Africa were evaluated upstream, at the source and downstream of the Caledon wastewater treatment works between March 2013 to March 2016. The assumption has been tested that water quality is deteriorating downstream of the Caledon Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTW) discharge point in the Baths River and are affected by this change in water quality. / 2023

M.Sc. (Zoology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / This research study addresses the effectiveness of child support grants in South Africa. It specifically asks the questions, what do social policy makers in South Africa want to achieve with the Child Support Grant (CSG) and are they achieving it? If not, how can policy makers ensure that social grants achieve the desired impact? The researcher will establish the effectiveness of the current CSG and how the CSG programme design and implementation might be improved for the CSG system to have its desired effect for children and at the family level.

No abstract provided / Thesis / Bachelor of Arts (BA)