Class of 2015 Abstract / Objectives: Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is considered one of the most intrinsically resistant opportunistic infections in the hospital setting. Immunocompromised patients are at a significant risk for nosocomial S. maltophilia infection. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry can quickly identify S. maltophilia. This study sought to determine the median and range of time to appropriate therapy of S. maltophilia infections after implementation of MALDI-TOF-MS for rapid species identification. Methods: A retrospective electronic medical record review of patients admitted to UAMC-UC during the study period was utilized to determine time to appropriate therapy. Positive cultures for S. maltophilia were identified by the microbiology laboratory database and assessed for inclusion in the study. Demographic information, time of culture, time to appropriate therapy, and isolate susceptibilities were collected using a data extraction tool. Variables were assessed with medians and ranges. Results: The average time to appropriate therapy was 3.4 days with a median of 3 days (range 0-21). Most isolates were susceptible to sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim and levofloxacin and resistant to ceftazidime. Of the 20 isolates resistant to sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, 14 were susceptible to levofloxacin. Only one isolate was resistant to all four drugs. Immunocompromised patients accounted for only 12% of the study population. Conclusions: After implementation of MALDI-TOF MS, the median time to appropriate therapy in S. maltophilia infection was 3 days. Rapid species identification can lead to a quicker time to appropriate therapy, which is essential for effective treatment of S. maltophilia infection.

Magister Scientiae (Biodiversity and Conservation Biology) / Due to the critical status of Psammobates geometricus and the vulnerability of their habitat, there is a need to allocate areas for their protection. The aim of this study was to provide information on the space requirements and activity level of geometric tortoises to facilitate future conservation efforts. The thread-and-spool method was used to compare short-term movements, habitat utilisation, and activity patterns of male and female tortoises over 15 and 20 days respectively, in autumn and spring. Through radiotelemetry, the long-term movements of 10 male and 11 female tortoises were evaluated from April 2002 to April 2003. Locality data for the short-term and long-term studies were used to calculate the size of activity areas and home ranges as minimum convex polygons and fixed kernel estimates. Male and female geometric tortoises were active throughout the year, and maintained a high level of activity in autumn and in spring. However, females were more active than males were in spring. Females may require more resources, particularly food, in spring when they produce eggs. Although males and females travelled similar distances in autumn and in spring, males displaced further than females displaced in both seasons. The movement path for males was often linear, perhaps because this path may enhance their opportunities to encounter females. Geometric tortoise males were substantially smaller than females, which may explain why the distances that males moved and displaced in spring were negatively correlated to environmental temperature. In autumn, when temperatures were lower than in spring, the distance travelled by males was not correlated to temperature. However, in autumn female displacement showed a positive correlation with environmental temperature. Geometric tortoises showed large inter-individual variation in home range size, which may contribute to the fact that home range size did not differ among the three different habitat types: mature renosterveld, burned renosterveld and the old agricultural fields. Average home range size was 11.5 ha for 95% fixed kernel estimates, and 7.0 ha for minimum convex polygon estimates. Body size influenced the home range size of female geometric tortoises, but had no effect on the home range size of male tortoises. Females had larger home ranges than male tortoises had, possibly because females were larger, but reproductive requirements of females may have played a role. During the dry season, home range size increased when compared to the wet season. The larger home range during the dry season, which is associated with high temperatures, may be related to a reduction in resource availability. The fewer resources available, the greater the distance the tortoises would need to travel in order to acquire the necessary resources. The small home range in the wet season may indicate an abundance of resources, but it may also be that large pools of standing water restrict the movements of tortoises. Understanding the spatial and habitat requirements of P. geometricus will help to assess the viability of populations in disturbed and highly fragmented areas, and contribute to the conservation efforts for this endangered species. / South Africa

Freshwater resources are threatened by the presence and increase of harmful algal blooms (HABs) all over the world. The HABs are sometimes a direct result of anthropogenic pollution entering water bodies, such as partially treated nutrient-rich effluents and the leaching of fertilisers and animal wastes. Microcystis species are the dominant cyanobacteria (algae) that proliferate in these eutrophic waters. The impact of HABs on aquatic ecosystems and water resources, as well as their human health implications are well documented. Countermeasures have been proposed and implemented to manage HABs with varying levels of success. These control measures include the use of flocculants, mechanical removal of hyperscums and chemical algicides. The use of flocculants such as PhoslockTM is effective in reducing the phosphates in a water body thus depriving nutrients that are available to cyanobacteria. The mechanical option entails the manual removal of hyperscums thus reducing the numbers of cyanobacteria cells that may be the inoculum of the next bloom. The major disadvantage of these two measures is cost. Copper algicides have been used successfully to control HABs in raw water supplies intended for potable purposes. The major disadvantages are copper toxicity and release of microcystins from lysed cyanobacteria cells. Algicides accumulate in the sediments at concentration that are toxic to other aquatic organisms and may also cause long-term damage to the lake ecology. In some studies, microcystins have been implicated in the deaths of patients undergoing haemodialysis. Therefore there is an increasing need to reduce the use of chemicals for environmental and safety reasons. Thus, the development of environmentally friendly; safe non-chemical control measures such as biological control is of great importance to the management of HABs. Some papers, describe bacteria, which were isolated from eutrophic waters, such as Sphingomonas species with abilities to degrade microcystins and Saprospira albida with abilities to degrade Microcystis cells. Further research is required to evaluate whether these bacteria are antagonistic towards cyanobacteria. Ideally, a combination of strategies should be introduced; that is, combine predatory bacteria that directly lyse the cyanobacteria with microcystin degrading bacteria that then ‘mop up’ the released microcystins. The major objective of this study was to isolate organisms that have a similar antagonistic properties; determine their mechanism of action and then develop a model to account for the interaction between the predator and prey as the basis for the development of a biological control agent. During the screening for lytic organisms from eutrophic waters of Hartbeespoort dam, seven bacterial isolates were obtained. Based on electron microscope observation, two of the isolates were found aggregated around unhealthy Microcystis cells. These were identified as Pseudomonas stutzeri strain designated B2 and <i.Bacillus mycoides strain designated B16. Based on efficiency and efficacy experiments B. mycoides B16 was a more effective antagonist than P. stutzeri B2. Furthermore the <i.B. mycoides B16: Microcystis critical ratio was found to be 1:1 in 12 days. Thus altering the predator-prey ratio by increasing the predator bacteria numbers reduced the Microcystis lysis time to six days. The B. mycoides B16 managed to reduce the population of alive Microcystis cells by 85% under turbulent conditions and 97% under static conditions in six days. The increase in predator bacteria numbers coincided with a decrease in growth of Microcystis. The study on the interactions of Microcystis aeruginosa and Bacillus mycoides B16 indicated a series of morphological and ultrastructural changes within the cyanobacteria cell leading to its death. These are summarised in a conceptual model that was developed. The predatory bacteria, B. mycoides B16 attached onto the Microcystis cell through the use of fimbriae and or exopolymers. During this attachment the bacteria released extracellular substances that dissolved the Microcystis cell membrane and interfered with the photosynthesis process. The presence of numerous bacterial cells that aggregated around Microcystis cell provided a ‘shade’ that reduced the amount of light (hv) that reached the Microcystis cell. In response to these adverse conditions, the Microcystis cell did the following: It expanded its thylakoid system, the light harvesting system, to capture as much light as possible to enable it to carry out photosynthesis and it accumulated storage granules such as phosphate bodies, glycogen and cyanophycin and swollen cells. Other researchers have also reported the swelling phenomenon prior to cell lysis but did not account for what might be the cause. During the course of the lysis process the Microcystis cell underwent a transition stage that involved changes from alive (with an intact membrane) to membrane compromised (selective permeability), to death (no membrane) and eventual cell debris. Due to the depleted Microcystis cells, the B. mycoides B16 (non-motile, non-spore former) formed chains, i.e., exhibited rhizoidal growth in search of new Microcystis cells to attack. In conclusion, the present evidence in this study suggests that B. mycoides B16 is an ectoparasite (close contact is essential) in its lysis of Microcystis aeruginosa under laboratory conditions. These findings that B. mycoides B16 is a predatory bacterium towards Microcystis aeruginosa need to be further evaluated under field conditions in mesocosm experiments (secluded areas in a lake) to determine the possibility of using this organism as a biological control agent. The study on the interactions of Microcystis aeruginosa and Bacillus mycoides B16 indicated a series of morphological and ultrastructural changes within the cyanobacteria cell leading to its death. These are summarised in a conceptual model that was developed. The predatory bacteria, B. mycoides B16 attached onto the Microcystis cell through the use of fimbriae and or exopolymers. During this attachment the bacteria released extracellular substances that dissolved the Microcystis cell membrane and interfered with the photosynthesis process. The presence of numerous bacterial cells that aggregated around Microcystis cell provided a ‘shade’ that reduced the amount of light (hv) that reached the Microcystis cell. In response to these adverse conditions, the Microcystis cell did the following: It expanded its thylakoid system, the light harvesting system, to capture as much light as possible to enable it to carry out photosynthesis and it accumulated storage granules such as phosphate bodies, glycogen and cyanophycin and swollen cells. Other researchers have also reported the swelling phenomenon prior to cell lysis but did not account for what might be the cause. During the course of the lysis process the Microcystis cell underwent a transition stage that involved changes from alive (with an intact membrane) to membrane compromised (selective permeability), to death (no membrane) and eventual cell debris. Due to the depleted Microcystis cells, the B. mycoides B16 (non-motile, non-spore former) formed chains, i.e., exhibited rhizoidal growth in search of new Microcystis cells to attack. In conclusion, the present evidence in this study suggests that B. mycoides B16 is an ectoparasite (close contact is essential) in its lysis of Microcystis aeruginosa under laboratory conditions. These findings that B. mycoides B16 is a predatory bacterium towards Microcystis aeruginosa need to be further evaluated under field conditions in mesocosm experiments (secluded areas in a lake) to determine the possibility of using this organism as a biological control agent. The study on the interactions of Microcystis aeruginosa and Bacillus mycoides B16 indicated a series of morphological and ultrastructural changes within the cyanobacteria cell leading to its death. These are summarised in a conceptual model that was developed. The predatory bacteria, B. mycoides B16 attached onto the Microcystis cell through the use of fimbriae and or exopolymers. During this attachment the bacteria released extracellular substances that dissolved the Microcystis cell membrane and interfered with the photosynthesis process. The presence of numerous bacterial cells that aggregated around Microcystis cell provided a ‘shade’ that reduced the amount of light (hv) that reached the Microcystis cell. In response to these adverse conditions, the Microcystis cell did the following: It expanded its thylakoid system, the light harvesting system, to capture as much light as possible to enable it to carry out photosynthesis and it accumulated storage granules such as phosphate bodies, glycogen and cyanophycin and swollen cells. Other researchers have also reported the swelling phenomenon prior to cell lysis but did not account for what might be the cause. During the course of the lysis process the Microcystis cell underwent a transition stage that involved changes from alive (with an intact membrane) to membrane compromised (selective permeability), to death (no membrane) and eventual cell debris. Due to the depleted Microcystis cells, the B. mycoides B16 (non-motile, non-spore former) formed chains, i.e., exhibited rhizoidal growth in search of new Microcystis cells to attack. In conclusion, the present evidence in this study suggests that B. mycoides B16 is an ectoparasite (close contact is essential) in its lysis of Microcystis aeruginosa under laboratory conditions. These findings that B. mycoides B16 is a predatory bacterium towards Microcystis aeruginosa need to be further evaluated under field conditions in mesocosm experiments (secluded areas in a lake) to determine the possibility of using this organism as a biological control agent. / Thesis (PhD (Water Resource Management))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Microbiology and Plant Pathology / PhD / Unrestricted

No abstract available Please read the resumé in the section 08back of this document / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Microbiology and Plant Pathology / unrestricted

In group living species animals commonly compete for limited resources such as food (Darwin 1859). Winning competition for food may be beneficial for an individuals survival or reproductive success (Williams 1966; Clutton-Brock 1988; Metcalfe et al 1995) but conflict with group members may be costly as it typically involves aggression (Huntingford&Turner 1987, Mesterton-Gibbons&Adams 1998). Asymmetries between individuals are predicted to determine the outcome of competition (Maynard-Smith&Parker 1976), and individuals are expected to steal food when the benefit to them is greatest (Barnard 1984; Trivers 1972). I therefore investigate what determines the outcome of competition for food between group members, and what factors affect whether group members try to steal food in the cooperatively breeding meerkat (Suricatta suricatta). Meerkats competed for food items infrequently and the owner of a food item typically won competition, but dominant individuals and breeding females were more likely to win competition than other group members. This provides support for models of conflict over resources in group living species which predict that ownership may determine the outcome of competition, thereby avoiding frequent costly conflict (Maynard-Smith 1982). Furthermore, where large asymmetries exist between contestants in dominance status or the value of a resource, these may determine the outcome of competition (Maynard-Smith&Parker 1976; Grafen 1987). Meerkats varied in how frequently they tried to steal food depending upon the costs and benefits of competition. Dominant individuals competed for food more frequently which is likely to reflect reduced costs of competition as subordinate individuals may avoid conflict with them (Packer&Pusey 1985). Females competed for food more frequently than males and more frequently during breeding, reflecting the higher costs of reproduction to females compared to males (Williams 1966; Trivers 1972). Meerkats compete more frequently for food when food availability is low, which indicates that food items may be more valuable when they are rare. Meerkats in smaller groups competed more frequently. In cooperatively breeding species group members undertake a large number of costly helping behaviours. Individuals in small groups each contribute more effort to helping than individuals in large groups and suffer higher costs which may increase the benefit of food to them (Clutton-Brock et al 1998a; Clutton-Brock et al 2001a). Competition for the opportunity to breed in cooperatively breeding meerkats has resulted in despotic dominance hierarchies where a dominant female monopolises breeding and reproductively suppresses subordinates (Clutton-Brock et al 2001b). Dominant females stole more food than any other group members. This is likely to be a consequence of the high costs of reproduction for the dominant breeding female in species with high reproductive skew (Creel&Creel 1991; Clutton-Brock et al 2001b). Furthermore, dominant females were more aggressive and more successful in competition for food with their reproductive competitors. Dominant females may therefore use competition for food as a means of asserting dominance over their reproductive competitors which could contribute to reproductive suppression (Creel et al 1992; Williams 2004; Kutsukake&Clutton-Brock 2006b; Young et al 2006). / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Zoology and Entomology / unrestricted

L’intensification des pratiques agricoles de ces dernières décennies a engendré des modifications profondes des écosystèmes agricoles. Les oiseaux prairiaux sont particulièrement concernés par ces changements et ont fortement décliné. La mise en place de Mesures Agro-Environnementales (MAE) n’ont pas permis d’enrayer ce déclin et une évaluation de leur efficacité passe au préalable par une compréhension affinée des réponses écologiques des espèces dans l’écosystème considéré. Nous avons ainsi tenté de mieux comprendre la distribution et la sélection d’habitat des oiseaux prairiaux dans les plaines d’inondation du bassin de la Loire dans l’ouest de la France. Cette étude visait à construire et à tester à l’échelle de la zone d’étude des prédicteurs environnementaux pertinents d’humidité, de climat, de végétation et de paysage. Il a ainsi été possible d’établir la réponse des espèces à ces prédicteurs et de construire des modèles de distribution locaux. Cette étude a permis de confirmer le rôle structurant du gradient d’humidité pour les populations d’oiseaux prairiaux en plaine alluviale. Ce gradient conditionne la qualité de l’habitat pour ces espèces en contrôlant notamment la végétation présente. Il contrôle en outre la phénologie des fauches qui est le facteur-clé dont dépend le succès reproducteur. Enfin, il est largement déterminé par la susceptibilité à l’inondation, qui peut affecter la distribution lorsqu’elle intervient au printemps induisant ainsi un découplage spatial entre les MAE et la distribution des espèces prairiales en milieu alluvial. Nous avons également mis en évidence l’évitement par les oiseaux prairiaux du bocage qui concentre par ailleurs des enjeux importants de conservation de la biodiversité. Enfin, nous avons utilisé les prédicteurs environnementaux pour modéliser la distribution des oiseaux prairiaux lesquels mettent en évidence des différences d’utilisation de l’habitat prairial entre les espèces. Ces résultats mettent en avant la nécessité de redéfinir les priorités de conservation à l’échelle du paysage. Ils pourraient également être pris en considération pour améliorer l’efficacité des MAE. / The intensification of agricultural practices in the last decades profoundly changed agricultural ecosystems. Grassland birds are particularly affected by these changes and have been declining sharply. The implementation of Agro-Environmental Schemes (AES) failed to halt this decline. Assessing their effectiveness requires a better understanding of the ecological responses of species in the ecosystem. We attempted to quantify and analyze the distribution and habitat selection of grassland birds in the floodplains of the Loire basin in Western France. This study aimed at building and testing relevant environmental predictors of moisture, climate, vegetation and landscape. Then, we established species response to these predictors and built local distribution models. This study confirmed the prominent rôle of moisture gradient for grassland bird populations in floodplains. The location on the gradient determines habitat quality for these species especially by affecting vegetation composition. It also controls the phenology of mowing, a key factor for reproductive success. Finally, this gradient is largely determined by flooding susceptibility, which may affect bird distribution when flood occurs in spring. In such years, we observed a spatial mismatch between AES and grassland bird distributions in floodplain. We also highlighted the avoidance of hedgerows by grassland birds, which stresses the incompatibility at fine scale between two objects of biodiversity conservation. Finally, we used the environmental predictors to model the distributions the main grassland birds, which models highlighted differences in habitat use between grassland species. These results emphasize the need to redefine the priorities of conservation at the landscape scale. They could also be considered to improve the efficiency of AES

At its inception, taxonomy simply provided guidelines for nomenclature. It has since developed into a science applied to problems relating to economics, conservation and even law. Taxonomy is arguably one of the most important pillars of the biological sciences, providing the framework from which all other studies are conducted. We expand this essential foundation by describing four new species of Trox in Chapter 2 of this dissertation - the first to be recorded in South Africa since Scholtz’s comprehensive revision of the family in 1980. All four new species are flightless and are restricted to densely vegetated areas. Based on their morphological characteristics, we conclude that the new species probably belong to the endemic South African “horridus”-group of Trox. At present, morphological studies suggest that Trogidae consists of only three genera – Polynoncus, Omorgus and Trox. The current consensus on the zoogeography of trogids, based on their current distribution patterns, is that they evolved in Central Pangaea, prior to the split that formed Laurasia and Gondwanaland. The Trox lineage is thought to have speciated in temperate Laurasia, invading Africa via a temperate faunal exchange route only after Gondwanaland had separated into the southern landmasses. However, in Chapter 3, our work, based on a molecular dataset, challenges these ideas. We investigated the phylogenetic relationships within the family by analysing the 16S ribosomal subunit gene on the mitochondrial genome, which has proved useful in investigating sub-familial relationships due to its fairly conserved nature. We performed both phenetic (Neighbor-Joining and Minimum Evolution) and likelihood (Parsimony, Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference) analyses on the resulting molecular dataset. We found only partial support for the theories suggested by the morphological dataset. In all analyses, we find four major groups - Polynoncus, Omorgus, Holarctic Trox (Trox s. str.) and African Trox (Phoberus) - not three as suggested by previous morphological studies. We strongly support the promotion of Phoberus to full generic status as it is represented by a monophyletic group in all analyses. Given the evolutionary divergence suggested by our molecular phylogeny, we still propose a Pangaean origin for Trox sensu lato, but suggest that this lineage might have had its origin in what would become North Africa. It is likely to have inhabited the globe-spanning metamorphic geological features known as the Pan-African Belts, which would have offered the ancestral temperate biome preferred by this genus. We theorize that the formation of the Tethys Sea would have separated Trox s. str. from the Phoberus lineage. Copyright / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Zoology and Entomology / unrestricted

Mycoplasmas are prokaryotic micro-organisms belonging to the class Mollicutes, which lacks rigid cell walls. Their genomic size ranges from 500-1500 bp. It causes a wide variety of different diseases in small ruminants and in particular ulcerative balanitis and vulvitis that affects Dorper Sheep in South Africa. The disease causes high economic losses to the Dorper sheep breeders in South Africa. The presence of the disease has been known in South Africa since 1979. Earlier publications have identified the causative agent of this disease as Mycoplasma mycoides mycoides LC (MmmLC). However, several Mycoplasma organisms isolated from cases of ulcerative balanitis have been shown not to be MmmLC. There is a need to characterize the organisms isolated from sheep suffering from this disease using conventional and genetic molecular methods. In this study, 16SrRNA gene-based PCR assays and gene sequencing was used for the detection and characterization of Mycoplasma species from cases of ulcerative vulvovaginitis and balanoposthitis in Dorper sheep in South Africa. This investigation was conducted on 34 stored field isolates of mycoplasmas collected between 2003-2009 from 15 different farms in the Northern and Western Cape provinces of South Africa. The isolates were screened and characterized by means of microbiological culture and biochemical methods and confirmed by PCR and sequencing. Evidence of involvement of these Mcoplasma idolates in ulcerative vulvovaginitis and balanoposthitis was obtained from the submission histories. All 34 isolates were analysed by means of PCR, cloning and sequencing of a 1 078 bp fragment length of 16S a rRNA gene and identified as Mycoplasma species. BLAST searches for sequence similarity from Genbank data revealed 18 isolates out of 34 four are 99 % similar to M. arginini, six out of 34 are 99 % similar to M. bovigenitalium, and two out of 34 were found to be 99 % similar to M. sp. ovine/caprine serogroup II. Two isolates out of 34 are 99 % similar to A. Laidlawii, and BLAST searches of two isolates gave 99 % similarity to M. sp. USP120. Two isolates were found to be 99 % similar to synthetic M. mycoides mycoides Jvc1. A last isolate gave 99 % similarity to M. canadense. Phylogenetic trees were drawn using the neighbour joining method and maximum parsimony analysis to compare the South African isolates with other GenBank reference strains to determine relationships between South African isolates with isolates in other parts of the world. This thesis is composed of five chapters. The first chapter deals with the historical background of ulcerative vulvovaginitis and balanoposthitis in Dorper sheep in South Africa and comparisons with findings from previous research. The chapter ends with the aims and objective of this research project. Chapter two contains a literature review that deals with ulcerative vulvovaginitis and balanoposthitis in various parts of the world and controversy about the views of researchers about the aetiology of ulcerative vulvovaginitis and balanoposthitis in sheep. Chapter three presents the first research on molecular characterization of mycoplasmas species isolated from cases of ulcerative vulvovaginitis and balanoposthitis in Dorper sheep in South Africa by means of PCR and gene sequencing. Chapter four provides the findings of the analyses of the various Mycoplasma species that were involved in ulcerative vulvovaginitis and balanoposthitis in Dorper sheep in South Africa. The chapter also gives the results of phylogenetic analysis of the various Mycoplasma species with their relationship to sequences from all over the world deposited by researchers in Genbank. Chapter five summarizes the research findings and provides conclusions. Copyright / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Veterinary Tropical Diseases / unrestricted

This collection of papers comprises four sections. The first section deals with the helminth and arthropod parasites recovered from a variety of mammalian hosts, and consists of four chapters. The first chapter deals with the taxonomy of the parasites of mammalian hosts, where some 15 nematode species were either newly described, redescribed or descriptions amended, and the immature stages of an oestrid fly and the adults of two hippoboscid flies described. The second describes the seasonal occurrence of arthropod and helminth parasites recovered from approximately 1 380 antelope, scrub hares, warthogs and bushpigs. In the third chapter some miscellaneous natural and experimental findings of helminths in free-living hosts are presented, amongst others several new host-parasite associations and the proceedings of symposia, while the fourth chapter deals with the pathology of natural infections of impalas with Cooperiodes hepaticae, kudus with Elaeophora sagitta and buffaloes with Parafilaria bassoni. The second section deals with the parasites of freshwater fishes. In the taxonomic part of this section, Chapter 1, one trematode genus is redescribed, and one new trematode species and 14 new nematode species described. In the second chapter, the seasonal occurrence of the helminth parasites of approximately 700 freshwater fish representing 14 species is presented. The third part deals with the helminths of lizards, snakes and crocodiles, where a new Paraspirura species, a new Madathamugadia species and some 14 new species, subspecies and forms of subspecies of the oxyurid genera Spauligodon, Skrjabinodon, Thelandros and Tachygonetria were described. A comprehensive host-parasite list of snakes and lizards is included, as is an equally comprehensive host-parasite list of the pentastome parasites of crocodiles. In the fourth part, two new Tetrameres species are described and the population dynamics of guineafowls and Swainson’s spurfowl discussed. A complete list of the helminth parasites of guineafowls is listed, together with an extended host list of these parasites. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Veterinary Tropical Diseases / unrestricted

Lowland riparian ecosystems constitute a tiny fraction of total land area in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, yet they are extremely important to human livelihoods and biotic communities. Facing ongoing projected climate change toward hotter and drier conditions, riparian ecosystems are both vulnerable to changes in climate and increasingly critical to the well-being of humans and wildlife. Due to the dynamic nature of these ecosystems and their abundance of resources, riparian areas have been modified in various ways and to a large extent through human endeavor. These alterations often interfere with multiple and complex ecological processes, making riparian areas more vulnerable to disturbance and change. Few naturally functioning riparian areas remain, and those that do are imperiled by climate change, groundwater pumping, land use, and other factors. A small but growing body of literature suggests that wildfires may be increasing in frequency and severity in southwestern riparian zones. This literature review summarizes and synthesizes the state of the knowledge of wildfire and prescribed fire effects on abiotic processes and vegetation, and post-fire rehabilitation. Results suggest that in lowland riparian ecosystems, fire regimes and fire effects are influenced primarily by streamflow and groundwater regimes. Thus, increasing fire frequency and severity may be attributed to drought, land use, water use, and their subsequent effects on the spread of non-native plant species, as well as a history of fire suppression and increasing anthropogenic ignitions in areas with a growing human presence. Changing fire regimes are likely to have drastic and potentially irreversible effects on regional biodiversity and ecosystem function. However, there are options for managing riparian ecosystems that will be more resilient to fire and climate change, such as implementing environmental flows, prescribed fire, fuel reduction treatments, floodplain restoration, and promoting gene flow. This study is intended to inform management decisions, and identify gaps in systematically reviewed literature.