Overfishing in the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) resulted in degradation of the ecosystem. This study used the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) indicator framework to determine whether the ecosystem is now recovering. Indicator trends were analysed using various data sources that included government institutions and intergovernmental institutions. The results showed that the overall effect of Driver indicators was negative. This was mainly because of socio-economic pressure such as the need to create more jobs in light of rising national unemployment and the declining contribution of the fisheries sector to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In addition to scientific advice, socio-economic factors also influenced the determination of Total Allowable Catches (TACs). The overall trend of Pressure indicators was positively influenced by the effect of TACs. The TACs reduced the quotas allocated for commercial fishing. Environmental factors did not seem to play a significant role in this study. State indicators had mixed results with the indicators assessed almost split in the middle between those showing a positive trend and those showing a negative trend. On the other hand, Impact and Response indicators showed overall positive results. Therefore, the conclusion of the study was that the degradation of the BCLME has slowed down and there are some signs of recovery. / Environmental Sciences / M.Sc. (Environmental Science)

Overfishing in the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) resulted in degradation of the ecosystem. This study used the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) indicator framework to determine whether the ecosystem is now recovering. Indicator trends were analysed using various data sources that included government institutions and intergovernmental institutions. The results showed that the overall effect of Driver indicators was negative. This was mainly because of socio-economic pressure such as the need to create more jobs in light of rising national unemployment and the declining contribution of the fisheries sector to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In addition to scientific advice, socio-economic factors also influenced the determination of Total Allowable Catches (TACs). The overall trend of Pressure indicators was positively influenced by the effect of TACs. The TACs reduced the quotas allocated for commercial fishing. Environmental factors did not seem to play a significant role in this study. State indicators had mixed results with the indicators assessed almost split in the middle between those showing a positive trend and those showing a negative trend. On the other hand, Impact and Response indicators showed overall positive results. Therefore, the conclusion of the study was that the degradation of the BCLME has slowed down and there are some signs of recovery. / Environmental Sciences / M.Sc. (Environmental Science)

Thesis (MDF)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / The proper management of protected areas is important for biodiversity conservation and continued flow of ecosystem services such as the building up of soil resources and the provision of clean water. Protected areas provide a means of livelihood for communities on the peripheries of these protected areas through conservation based development projects and create an opportunity for people to learn about the environment and wildlife. Protected areas are areas of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and natural and associated cultural resources, and management through legal or other means (International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 1994). These are special places around the world that are managed for conservation purposes. Darey, (1998), recommends that protected areas should be planned and managed as a system, a shift from the previous mindset in which they were considered as separate entities. The role played by protected areas is vital and is recognized in most countries including 177 countries who are signatories to the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD). The CBD caters for cooperation amongst its members by providing support for the financing of protected area systems. There exists, therefore a global mandate for and a specific responsibility to ensure that protected areas are adequately financed. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife is a statutory nature conservation body mandated with the protection of natural resources and management of biodiversity in the province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). Biodiversity conservation needs to happen both inside and outside of state-controlled protected areas to create conservation corridors and buffer zones and also to prevent the environmental degradation taking place as a result of human population growth, habitat destruction, and unsustainable development. (Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, 2005). The challenge facing Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife in carrying out this mandate is the lack of adequate financial resources. The subsidy received is not sufficient to cover all the conservation initiatives that the entity would like to undertake and so the exploration of alternative financing initiatives is required. The aim of this paper is to explore and discuss alternative funding strategies that can be used by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife to supplement the subsidy received from government. These strategies will form a blueprint that protected area managers can use to source sustainable alternative funding that is reliable and environmentally friendly. This study was conducted at Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife’s head office, based at Queen Elizabeth Park in Pietermaritzburg. The research included input from the organization’s Hospitality Managers and Conservation Managers spread throughout the Province. A questionnaire was designed and circulated to draw responses from Executives and relevant Managers. Interviews to ascertain the organizations sources of funding and future sources were carried out. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife official documents such as annual reports, strategic documents and project plans were reviewed and interpreted. The report showed that 90percent of the organizations funding comes from government or state affiliated organizations. These sources are neither sufficient nor reliable. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife cannot plan adequately before establishing the annual subsidy it will receive from government – its primary funder (Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, 2008). The research also showed that there are numerous strategies that the organization can implement to supplement its subsidy. These include the widespread implementation of Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) strategies and revenue maximization through improved customer service. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife has a great potential to generate sufficient funds through its commercial services such as camping, accommodation, gates and boating services to name but a few. The challenge however is to develop an operational strategy that will be devoid of bureaucracy and promote business best practices and the formation of partnerships with the private sector and the communities in the form of Public Private Partnerships (PPP’s) and co-management agreements respectively.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Ecosystem service research has grown significantly in recent years, highlighting links between ecosystem services and human well-being. Few studies are however, geared towards providing user-friendly, user-useful and user-relevant information suitable for implementing effective local management of areas that deliver ecosystem services, resulting in a gap between ecosystem service research and management. In response to this challenge, it has been argued that in order to safeguard the benefit flows provided by ecosystems, the concept of ecosystem services should be mainstreamed into land-use (and water-use) planning and management processes. As the conservation of ecosystem services is ultimately a social process operating in a social context, understanding the complexity of the research-management interface demands input from a range of stakeholders. Thus, mainstreaming the environment into decision making requires multi-stakeholder engagement processes that facilitate the co-production and exchange of knowledge. Accordingly, through the use of a transdisciplinary, mixed method approach, this dissertation contributes to a better understanding of some of the opportunities and challenges for mainstreaming ecosystem services in development planning at a local level, using a case study in the Eden District (Eden) of South Africa. Through an extensive stakeholder engagement process which explored what the information needs, responsibilities and capacities of decision makers in Eden are, both opportunities that facilitate the integration of ecosystem service information in decision making, and challenges impeding integration, have been identified. This research found that despite a history of ecosystem service research in Eden, there has been limited integration of the concept of ecosystem services into decision-making processes driving development. Insufficient capacity, limited resources, minimal proactive planning, a weak regulatory environment, entrenched disciplinary thinking and insufficient communication amongst diverse stakeholders on the benefits of using an ecosystem-based approach remain as challenges for the mainstreaming of ecosystem services in decision making. However, strategic opportunities for mainstreaming ecosystem services into decisions regarding current and future development trajectories were also found. It was found that the development, and nurturing of transdisciplinary learning networks that are problem driven, and action oriented, using a communities of practice model of engagement, can facilitate legitimate knowledge exchange processes. In this regard, the role of individual and institutional knowledge brokers was found to be critical. It was also found that the concept of risk was useful as a mainstreaming tool in bridging the gaps between different disciplines, and between science, policy and practice. A frame of risk enabled different disciplinary and knowledge communities to participate in joint activities and discussions during which information was co-produced and exchanged. Through this work, new relationships were built that facilitated both learning and action with regards to the importance of ecosystem services for mitigating risk. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Ekosisteemdiens-navorsing het aansienlik gegroei in die afgelope jare, met ‘n klem op die verband tussen ekosisteemdienste en menslike welsyn. Min ondersoeke is egter gerig op die verskaffing van gebruikersvriendelike, -nuttige en -relevante inligting wat geskik is vir die implementering van doeltreffende plaaslike bestuur van die gebiede wat ekosisteemdienste lewer, en dit lei tot 'n gaping tussen ekosisteemdiens-navorsing en -bestuur. In reaksie op hierdie uitdaging word aangevoer dat ekosisteemdienste gehoofstroom moet word in prosesses ter beplanning en bestuur van grond- en watergebruik, ten einde die voordele wat deur ekosisteme gebied word, te beskerm. Omdat die behoud van ekosisteemdienste per slot van rekening `n sosiale proses is wat in `n sosiale konteks in werking is, word insette van 'n verskeidenheid van belanghebbendes vereis, om die ingewikkelde aard van die koppelvlak tussen navorsing en bestuur te verstaan. Dus, om die omgewing in besluitneming te hoofstroom, vereis prosesse van betrokkenheid van veelvuldige belanghebbendes, wat die medevervaardiging en uitruil van kennis fasiliteer. Gevolglik, deur die toepassing van `n transdissiplinêre, gemengde metode benadering in `n gevallestudie in die Eden Distrik (Eden) van Suid-Afrika, dra hierdie verhandeling by tot `n beter begrip van sommige van die geleenthede en uitdagings verbonde aan die hoofstroming van ekosisteemdienste in ontwikkelingsbeplanning op 'n plaaslike vlak. Deur `n uitvoerige proses van deelname met belanghebbendes is inligting benodig deur besluitnemers in Eden, sowel as hul verantwoordelikhede en vermoëns, verken, en sodoende is beide die geleenthede wat die integrasie van ekosisteemdiens-inligting in besluiteming fasiliteer, en uitdagings wat integrasie belemmer, geïdentifiseer. Hierdie navorsing het bevind dat, ten spyte van `n geskiedenis van ekosisteemdiens-navorsing in Eden, is daar beperkte integrasie van die konsep van ekosisteemdiens in besluitnemingsprosesse wat ontwikkeling dryf. Onvoldoende kapasiteit, beperkte hulpbronne, minimale proaktiewe beplanning, 'n swak reguleringsomgewing, verskanste dissiplinêre denkwyses en onvoldoende kommunikasie tussen uiteenlopende belanghebbendes oor die voordele verbonde aan die gebruik van 'n ekosisteembenadering, bly uitdagings vir die hoofstroming van ekosisteemdienste in besluitneming. Maar strategiese geleenthede vir die hoofstroming van ekosisteemdienste in besluitneming in verband met huidige en toekomstige ontwikkelingsbane is ook aangetref. Daar is bevind dat, deur transdissiplinêre leernetwerke wat probleemgedrewe en aksie-georiënteerd is, te ontwikkel en koester met behulp van 'n praktykgemeenskappemodel van betrokkenheid, legitieme kennisuitruilingsprosesse gefasiliteer kan word. In hierdie verband is die rol van individuele en institusionele kennismakelaars as krities bevind. Daar is ook bevind dat die konsep van risiko nuttig is as 'n hoofstromings-instrument in die oorbrugging van die gaping tussen die verskillende dissiplines, en tussen wetenskap, beleid en praktyk. `n Raamwerk van risiko het verskillende dissiplinêre en kennisgemeenskappe in staat gestel om deel te neem aan gesamentlike aktiwiteite en besprekings, waartydens inligting saam geproduseer en uitgeruil is. Deur hierdie werk is nuwe verhoudings gevestig, wat beide leer en optrede rakende die belang van ekosisteemdienste vir risikotempering gefasiliteer het.

Human activity can affect the soil in ways which are traceable long after the land has been given over to other uses, and past land management practices can be reconstructed by investigation of these relict characteristics. In some regions the addition of fertilising materials to the arable soils has created artificially deepened anthropogenic topsoils which can be over 1m thick. Such relict soils are found all over the world, and are widespread in north-western Europe. This work focuses on the anthropogenic soils in the Northern Isles, which were formed from the Neolithic period up until the 20th century. Three multi-period sites were investigated using thin section micromorphology, organic/inorganic phosphate analysis, soil magnetism, particle size distribution, loss on ignition and soil pH. Current views of anthropogenic soil formation, based on pedological investigation and historical documentary sources, are that they are formed as a result of the addition of domestic animal manures and turf used as animal bedding to arable areas. This project sets out to test the hypothesis that in fact anthropogenic soils are the result of a wide range of formation processes which took place over extended periods of time. The hypothesis has been tested by analysing soils and associated middens of different dates, which have been sealed and protected by blown sand deposits. The results have shown that in the Neolithic period arable soils were created by cultivating the settlement's midden heaps as well as by adding midden material to the surrounding soils. In the Bronze Age human manure, ash and domestic waste were spread onto the fields around the settlements to create arable topsoils up to 35cm thick. In the Iron Age arable agriculture was intensified by selective use of organic manures on one of the sites investigated, but organic waste material was not used as efficiently as it was in later periods, and on both sites it was allowed to accumulate within the settlements. In the Norse period, when the intensive system used in historical times appears to have originated, organic waste may have been used more efficiently. These changes appear to reflect a greater organisation of land resources and manuring strategies and increased demand for arable production over time.

It can be difficult to disentangle the factors that determine population success in freshwater systems, particularly for organisms with disturbance-resistant life stages like aquatic invertebrates. Nevertheless, the effects of environmental variation and habitat structure on animal population success in wetlands are important for understanding both trophic interactions and biodiversity. I performed two experiments to determine the factors limiting crayfish (Procambarus fallax) and dragonfly (Family: Libellulidae) populations in wetland environments. A simulation of a dry-disturbance and subsequent sunfish (Family: Centrarchidae) re-colonization revealed that crayfish populations are sensitive to sunfish, while dragonfly naiads seemed to be limited by other drying-related factors. A second manipulation revealed that small-bodied fishes and habitat structure (submerged vegetation) shaped dragonfly communities primarily through postcolonization processes. / by Natalie Knorp. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

Fire plays a key role in the ecology of the Everglades and is a ubiquitous tool for managing the structure, function, and ecosystem services of the Greater Everglades watershed. Decades of hydrologic modifications have led to the alteration of plant community composition and fire regime in much of the Everglades. To create a better understanding of post-fire recovery in sawgrass (Cladium jamaicense) communities, sawgrass marshes in the northern Everglades were studied along a chronosequence of time since fire and along a nutrient gradient. Areas closer to a water nutrient source and with fewer mean days dry contained greater total and dead aboveground graminoid biomass whereas live graminoid biomass was greater in areas with less time since fire and with fewer days dry. Post-fire characteristics of sawgrass marshes can provide insight on the effectiveness of fire management practices in the maintenance and restoration of quality habitat in the northern Everglades. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

As ecosystems degrade globally, ecosystem services that support life are increasingly threatened. Indications of degradation are occurring in the Northern Indian River Lagoon (IRL) estuary in east central Florida. Factors associated with ecosystem degradation are complex, including climate and land use change. Ecosystem research needs identified by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) include the need to: consider the social with the physical; account for dynamism and change; account for complexity; address issues of scale; and focus on ecosystem structure and process. Ecosystems are complex, self-organizing, multi-equilibrial, non-linear, middle-number systems that exist in multiple stable states. Results found are relative to the observation and the frame of analysis, requiring multi-scaled analytical techniques. This study addresses the identified ecosystem research needs and the complexity of the associated factors given these additional constraints. Relativity is addressed through univariate analysis of dissolved oxygen as a measure of the general health of the Northern IRL. Multiple spatial levels are employed to associate social process scales with physical process scales as basin, sub-basins, and watersheds. Scan statistics return extreme value clusters in space-time. Wavelet transforms decompose time-scales of cyclical data using varying window sizes to locate change in process scales in space over time. Wavelet transform comparative methods cluster temporal process scales across space. Combined these methods describe the space-time structure of process scales in a complex ecosystem relative to the variable examined, where the highly localized results allow for connection to unexamined variables. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Oyster reefs are biodiverse communities that provide many ecological and commercial benefits. However, oyster reefs have declined around the world from human activities. Oyster reef restoration programs have begun to limit some of the decline, but the need for determining the success of a program has been problematic. Passive acoustic techniques can use naturally occurring sounds produced by organisms to assess biodiversity. Passive acoustics was utilized to compare the sounds in natural and restored oyster reefs, with special attention on snapping shrimp (Alpheus spp.) snap sounds, in the St. Lucie Estuary, Florida over a one year period. Season, estuary region, habitat and day period had an effect on sound production. Passive acoustic monitoring of snapping shrimp sound production may be a useful non-destructive technique for monitoring the progress of oyster reef restoration projects once further correlations are established between environmental effects and sound production. / by Hilde P. Zenil Becerra. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2012. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

In Florida, mangroves have responded to climate change by slowly migrating northward into traditional salt marsh habitat. However, little is understood about the relationships among mangrove growth form plasticity and environmental conditions. In addition, the effects of the mangrove northward expansion on pre-existing salt marsh communities are unknown, especially any influences of differences in tree morphology. The size, canopy structure, and root structure of the three mangrove species Rhizophora mangle, Avicennia germinans, and Laguncularia racemosa were measured at six sites along the east coast of Florida. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the multivariate relationships between environmental and biotic variables. Mangrove growth form varied widely with environmental variables. The results of this study suggest that R. mangle expansion into salt marsh may rely on interactions with salt marsh and shading as well as on climatic variables, which has implications for future mangrove expansion northward in Florida. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection