M.Sc. (Geology) / The Cradle of Humankind is a 47 000 hectare demarcated area with over three dozen fossil-bearing cave sites well known for the preservation of fossil evidence of early hominin taxa such as Australopithecus Africanus, Australopithecus Sediba, Paranthropus Robustus and Early Homo. As a result, a database of precise and accurate chronological data for fossil-bearing cave deposits of the Cradle of Humankind (similar to that for East African fossil sites) is very important, but developing one has proven extremely challenging. The main challenge is that the fossil-bearing deposits at the cradle are mainly complex breccias with a chaotic, localized stratigraphy and no association to any volcanic ash beds, unlike the East African deposits which are lacustrine and fluviatile deposits interbedded with volcanic ash layers. However, substantial success has been obtained recently through the combination of U-Pb dating of CaCO₃ speleothems and palaeomagnetic dating (magnetostratigraphy) after many attempts and unconvincing results from techniques such as biostratigraphic correlations, electron spin resonance on teeth and cosmogenic burial dating of the sediments. The problem with U-Pb dating of CaCO₃ speleothems is that this requires samples that are extremely clean (i.e. detrital-free) and have an appreciable U content (close to 1 ppm), and such material is at many sites not available...

South African karst aquifers are mainly associated with the dolomitic lithologies of the Transvaal Supergroup. Despite the socio-economic and environmental importance of these aquifers, no scientifically based methodology to outline areas that need protection from potential harmful activities exists. Thus an intrinsic resource aquifer vulnerability mapping method for karst terrains in South Africa was developed. The methodology is a modification of the COP aquifer vulnerability mapping method, developed by the Hydrogeology Group of the University of Malaga. The method is predominantly based on the capability of the unsaturated zone to filter or attenuate pollutants by different processes but considers two additional factors that either increase or reduce the protection provided by the unsaturated zone. These are surface conditions that control water flowing towards zones of rapid infiltration, and the temporal availability of a transport agent (rainfall). These three factors are combined to obtain a final vulnerability index, which is spatially visualised using five vulnerability classes (ranging from Very Low to Very High). Modifications to the original COP method include, amongst others, the consideration of rock types commonly found in South Africa, a statistical redefinition of high rainfall (wet) years, a revised consideration of rainfall rates to account for dilution processes and the consideration of older, sediment filled swallow holes. The method was applied to produce a vulnerability map for Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site near Krugersdorp, South Africa. The vulnerability map clearly shows the generally inferior but variable aquifer protection in areas characterised by dolomitic lithologies, while surrounding non-karstic areas offer moderate to high resource protection. The proposed aquifer vulnerability mapping methodology should be used to assess karstic terrains during land use planning and environmental impact assessments. As an easily understandable planning tool the maps can reduce the likelihood of aquifer pollution. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Geology / unrestricted

The means in which fossil accumulations in the caves of southern Africa have formed is of great importance. One method of accumulation is via the collecting behaviours of a variety of mammalian species. The core of said behaviour is in the use of caves by these species. This project was designed to give insight to the way that animals in the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa are using caves today. The objective of this research is to give a new understanding to the amount that caves are used by various taxa in South African cave systems, with particular regard to taphonomic agents and potential taphonomic agents. This study was accomplished over a 20-month period by setting up motion sensor cameras outside of cave entrances at the Malapa Nature Reserve. Results have shown that animals use caves at high frequencies, crucial to recognize when examining fossil accumulations.

South Africa is well known for its many, important fossil bearing deposits of Plio-Pleistocene age. Many of these sites contain abundant remains of extinct and extant animals including hominins. Non-herpetological fauna have been used to reconstruct important information about past environments and for chronological data. This study tried a different method; using herpefauna to establish past environments of Cooper’s Cave. Herpetological fauna potentially have numerous advantages in their use for such questions, including typically limited ranging behaviors, and specific temperature requirements. Despite these advantages only a few studies have even mentioned the presence of squamate fauna in the fossil assemblages of these sites. This study has demonstrated that herpefauna exists, in reasonable levels of abundance and with adequate preservation within the fossil record of the dolomitic region now known as the Cradle of Humankind. It has also demonstrated for the first time the presence of a relative abundance of herpefauna at numbers far greater than any previous study has recognized. The present study was however, handicapped in not being able to fully utilize the material at hand to interpret past environments, owing to the lack of comparative material needed to move beyond the family or generic level in most cases with any degree of confidence. However, Agamids and Pseudocordylids were described to generic level. However, the many shortcomings that this work highlighted should not be seen as reason not to pursue the study of herpefauna, but to improve present comparative collections and collecting methods around the fossils themselves.

Subterranean ecosystems are regarded as the most extensive biome on earth, comprising terrestrial and aquatic systems - the latter constituting freshwater, anchialine and marine systems. This system plays a key role in the distribution and storage of freshwater, once it contains 97% of the world’s total liquid freshwater (Chapter 1), which has been progressively explored in quality and amount. Initial observation of the subterranean environment began with speleological studies by the recognition of a typical fauna adapted to live inside caves. The first studies to provide information about aquatic subterranean fauna commenced in Slovenia, with the description of the Proteus aguinus by Laurenti in 1768. After an initial faunal classification by the Danish zoologist Schiödte (1849), the Austrian naturalist Schiner (1854) established the most commonly used classification for cave fauna and a great portion of modern research dealing with ecobilogy of aquatic subterranean fauna has mostly evolved from the European biospeleology (Chapters 1 and 3). Studies in biospeleology have made a significant contribution to the progressive knowledge in aquatic subterranean ecology, especially in those circumstances where the access of the underground through smaller voids (e.g. crevicular spaces) is not possible. Accessibility to the underground environment is in fact a negative factor that has led a large number of studies consider about subterranean fauna initially being limited to caves. Spatial constraint was (and still is) a limiting factor in accessing a diverse range of subsurface habitats, although during the last decade, modern research has been using advance technology as a tool to overcome the physical barriers to subterranean research. For a long time the classification of subterranean aquatic organisms was an unclear subject, with the classification subterranean fauna mostly related to terrestrial cave fauna (troglofauna). The classification system dealing with aquatic subterranean groups (stygofauna) is more recent. A few nomenclature schemes have been proposed to describe these relationships, based on morphological, behavioural, and ecological adaptations of animals to the underground life and their level of relationship with groundwater (Chapter 4). The prefix “stygo” is suggested as the most descriptive to refer ecologically to a group of animals related to groundwater habitats. Groundwater related fauna (stygofauna) is comprised by groups of animals encompassing aquatic surface, intermediate and subterranean habitats. They represent diverse group of animals that have different interactive relationships with the groundwater habitat. Some may transact between surface water and groundwater systems, while others spend the whole life cycle in the subterranean voids (Gibert et al., 1994). This transition zone between surface streams and groundwater is recognized as a critically important boundary or ecotone, constituted by a habitat that contains a reservoir of invertebrate fauna biodiversity. It is therefore from the study of karst systems that most information on groundwater ecobiology is resourced, once the open structure of most karsts terrains promotes a number of caves, streams, crevices, sinkholes, and springs to allow human access. Karst systems are well fractured because of the relation between the rock mass and the action of meteoric water, as well as the dissolution rate of calcium carbonate rocks that high. The latter increases with time, producing a terrain with a great drainage potential (Chapter 2). Once porosity is high and the flow of percolating water is fast, it allows good vagility for subterranean fauna and nutrients, as well as penetration of contaminants. In subterranean karsts, much water saturates some areas inside rock spaces. The saturation in the rock in turn promotes large water pockets, known as aquifers. When these groundwater aquifers are found to be interconnecting with the adjacent ecosystems, they became active eco-hydrological components, due to their key participation in the surface-groundwater continuum. Groundwater has different degrees of importance, depending on the available sources of surface water. In many countries it supplies a significant proportion of urban and rural drinking water, industrial, and agricultural. Yet, groundwater systems are “hidden”, difficult in access and to study (Chapter 4, 5 and 7), consequently the recognition of the groundwater aquifer as a natural resource that needs to be protected is largely ignored. Moreover, studies in the ecobiology and distribution of stygobitic invertebrates (Chapter 5), and the need to identify a frame of methods for quality assessment and the suitability of groundwater invertebrates as bioindicative elements, has not been developed (Chapter 6). Finally, strong management and public education programs are required to emphasize the need for a better understanding of the nature of groundwater resources, their participation and complexity (Chapter 8), with the conceptualization of the groundwater aquifer integrity as an ecosystem still receiving little attention in South Africa. / Dr. J.F. Durand Prof. G.J. Steyn

The natural vegetation of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site (COH WHS) was classified using Braun-blanquet methodology. This identified 22 distinct plant communities and 2 variants. Sampling took place over two growing seasons with a total of 91 releves being compiled. A stratified random approach to sampling used Land Types as a means of primary area stratification, with terrain position providing the means for further refinement. The grassland comprised of 12 plant communities and 2 variants and the woodland comprised of 10 plant communities. The classification of the woodland areas included some bush clumps associated with the entrances of caves which were also described independently in which seven distinct plant communities were identified A positive linear correlation exists between the size of the cave entrances and the extent to which the surrounding woody vegetation extends. This suggests the likelihood of cave entrance size influencing the surrounding vegetation. / Environmental Sciences / M. Tech. (Nature Conservation)

The natural vegetation of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site (COH WHS) was classified using Braun-blanquet methodology. This identified 22 distinct plant communities and 2 variants. Sampling took place over two growing seasons with a total of 91 releves being compiled. A stratified random approach to sampling used Land Types as a means of primary area stratification, with terrain position providing the means for further refinement. The grassland comprised of 12 plant communities and 2 variants and the woodland comprised of 10 plant communities. The classification of the woodland areas included some bush clumps associated with the entrances of caves which were also described independently in which seven distinct plant communities were identified A positive linear correlation exists between the size of the cave entrances and the extent to which the surrounding woody vegetation extends. This suggests the likelihood of cave entrance size influencing the surrounding vegetation. / Environmental Sciences / M. Tech. (Nature Conservation)

M.Sc. / The grassland biome of South Africa harbours rich ecosystem diversity. Some of the distinctive features of grassland biodiversity in South Africa include globally significant centres of plant endemism, half of the country's endemic mammal species, a third of its endangered butterfly species and 10 of 14 of its globally threatened bird species. Grassland is one of the most inadequately maintained biomes in Southern Africa because 23% is under cultivation, 60% is irreversibly transformed and most of the remaining natural area is used as rangeland for livestock. Only 2% of the grassland biome is currently protected. Grasslands provide essential ecosystem services for economic development, but this biome also supports a large human population whose resource demands have serious environmental implications that threaten the grasslands‘ biodiversity. Urbanisation is possibly one of the major immediate threats to the grassland ecology in South Africa. This is also the case in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site (COHWHS) and adjacent areas. New housing complexes and informal housing are encroaching on the COHWHS. Indigenous fauna and flora are being affected by ecologically insensitive urban development. This poses a major threat to the fauna of this region including the insects that occur in grassland habitats. The insects play a vital role as pollinators in grassland habitats and form an essential food source to a range of predators, including grass owls, shrews, bull frogs, lizards and bats. In order to conserve the insects and therefore the food web of which they form part, it is necessary to understand the diversity of the insects in the grassland in the dolomitic areas. The COHWHS is a world renowned heritage site devoted to the origin of humankind and is characterised by dolomitic caves. These caves are also the home of a large population of bats consisting of several species. The negative impact on the grasslands in the COHWHS and surroundings pose a threat to the survival of these bat populations if the food source they depend on is negatively affected. For this reason it is important to determine which flying nocturnal insect species are available in the grasslands surrounding bat roosts in the COHWHS and surroundings. 3 The choice of location for the primary trap site was made on the basis of its proximity to known bat roosts and the fact that it is situated in a nature reserve that, although the river is polluted, contains an otherwise relatively unspoilt grassland habitat. Sampling took place over a period of 14 months during which fluctuations in the insect population was observed. The fluctuations can be ascribed to seasonal climate changes and the three veld fires that occurred during this period. This fluctuation was most evident in the representatives of the Orders Lepidoptera and Coleoptera sampled.