Bibliography: leaves 179-231. / The two main schools of thought regarding the diets of intermediate microphagous clupeids are: A) that they are herbivorous and B) that they are omnivorous, but consume mainly zooplankton. The former view has been employed to explain their abundance in upwelling areas, since their purported ability to efficiently utilise the primary producers shortens the pelagic food chain to 1 or 2 links. The literature concerning the trophic ecology of some commercially important clupeids is reviewed and it is concluded that few are true phytophagists. Most are omnivorous and derive the bulk of their energy from zooplankton. Results indicating that these fish are herbivorous are largely due to inadequate sampling strategies and analytical techniques. The results of field work show that Engraulis capensis feeds selectively upon meso- and macro-zooplankton. Laboratory experiments supported these findings. Prey are selected on the basis of size and particulate feeding is the dominant mode of intake when the' fish are presented with a mixed size assemblage of prey. Engraulis capensis cannot filter feed on particles less than 0.200mm maximum dimension, and there is a threshold size of approximately 0.700mm when feeding behaviour switches from filter to particulate feeding. Particulate feeding produced faster clearance rates than filtering, and the Cape anchovy feeds at maximum efficiency over most of their prey size spectrum.

Bibliography: leaves 176-192. / The thermal significance of coloration was investigated in two species of Namib Desert tenebrionid beetles and two species of marine birds. Body temperatures and heat fluxes of a black beetle (Onymacris unguicularis) and a beetle with white elytra (Onymacris bicolor) were compared in a wind tunnel in the laboratory. The effects of visible radiation, infrared radiation, conduction, convection, beetle colour and substratum colour on body temperature were analysed. Results showed that body colour has no overall effect on body temperature. Black elytra are warmed more by visible radiation, but colour is not relevant to heat loss by convection, or to heat flux between a beetle and a heated sand substratum, whether by emitted radiation or reflected visible radiation. 0. bicolor absorbs more heat by conduction and free convection from a heated substratum, but differences in shape between the two species may explain this effect. Combining the various modes of heat exchange to simulate natural conditions reveals that the extra heat absorbed by black elytra is readily dissipated by convection, and owing to the increased heating of white beetles from the substratum, heat fluxes between the two beetles balance. Body temperatures of dead and live beetles of both species were also measured in the field. Experiments were conducted on a hot sand substratum in the beetles' natural environment, under both visible (sunny) and infrared (shaded) conditions. Results supported the laboratory experiments, and showed that when temperature differences do occur between black and white beetles, these differences are generally less than 3.5 °C. These differences are small when compared with the ranges of body temperatures experienced by active beetles in the field (± 10 °C). In addition, these temperature differences occur only at low wind speeds (< 2 m s-1). Activity studies in the field showed that beetles choose to be active in high wind speeds, possibly because of the nature of their food source, which is wind-blown detritus. It is concluded that coloration does not have adaptive value in terms of the thermal biology of Namib Desert tenebrionid beetles. Physical properties of the plumages of white Cape gannets (Morus capensis) and black Cape cormorants (Phalacrocorax capensis ) were measured. Black plumages absorb more visible radiation than white plumages in still conditions. However, laboratory experiments with excised plumages showed that at wind speeds of 2 m s-1, cormorant plumages and skins were only 2-3 °C warmer than those of gannets. These differences disappeared at wind speeds of (< 2 m s-1). A biophysical heat transfer model predicted that in still, warm, sunny conditions, cormorants may gain up to 185 of their field metabolic rates, whereas gannets would gain only 42 . Field observations confirmed that nesting cormorants experience greater heat stress than gannets, even though cormorant nests occur in areas of lower micrometeorological temperatures. Cormorants begin to dissipate heat by evaporative water loss (i.e. pant) at lower environmental temperatures than gannets. The thermal consequence of coloration in these two species are that cormorants may have a lower cost of endothermy at temperatures below the thermoneutral zone, but may experience more heat stress during warm conditions; cormorants select cooler and windier nesting sites than gannets; and increased surf ace temperatures of black cormorant plumages may aid evaporative water loss from wet plumages, facilitating wing-drying. However, ptiloerection and wind may interact in the natural environment, negating the differential heating effects of coloration. It is concluded that the thermal implications of colour are negligible in both species, considering the temperate nature of their environment; Colour in both species is best explained by feeding ecology: white coloration is conspicuous to conspecifics and cryptic to prey in plunge divers (gannets), whereas black colour is cryptic to both conspecifics and prey in solitary swimmers (cormorants).

Includes bibliographies. / This thesis examines the utilization of rocky intertidal, sandy-beach surf-zone and estuarine habits by fishes on the southwestern Cape coast of South Africa. It has there central objectives: 1) to determine the species composition, abundance, size structure and seasonality of fish and to examine the extent to which they are influenced by environmental factors; 2) to describe the diets and patterns of feeding of the fish and to assess their impact on the food resources; and 3) to determine the importance of these habitats as nursery areas for juvenile fish.

Bibliography: leaves v. 1, 156-171. / 1. Two study sites near Pretoria in the Transvaal were located in a summer rainfall climatic area, type 113d (Walter & Lieth 1964), on deep and in both open woodland and grassland. 2. Eleven study sites in the south-western Cape were distributed between two winter rainfall climatic areas, type IV in the Cape of Good Hope Peninsula and type III(IV)a (Walter & Lieth 1964) on the west coast. The west coast could be divided into two subregions, the coastal belt of deep calcareous sand and the Darling Hills comprising predominantly sandy soils with a higher clay fraction. Vegetation at the sites formed a gradient from low, dense pasture to taller sparser shrubland; The five pasture sites were distributed between all three subregions whereas the six shrubland sites were located only in the Cape of Good Hope Peninsula and on the west coastal belt. 3. Pitfall traps baited with cattle dung were used to sample dung beetle fauna over 24h periods once a week in the Transvaal, irrespective .of weather (three traps/site), and on three sunny occasions per month in the south-western Cape (ten traps/site) for one year. 4. A further 13 study sites used for back-up studies in the south-western Cape were concentrated into three localities, three in the Cape of Good Hope Peninsula, six on the west coastal plain and four-in the Darling Hills. These sites comprised different combinations of pasture (five sites) and shrubland (eight sites) habitats. Five traps at each site were baited on one 24h occasion each month over six months.

Includes bibliographies. / Adaptations of penguins for pursuit diving have resulted in reduced foraging ranges, compared to volant seabirds. However, their classification as inshore, offshore or pelagic foragers, based on rates of food provisioning to chicks, still has merit as a framework around which aspects of their feeding biology and allocation of energy within individual energy budgets may be discussed. The average rates at which seabird species supply food to chicks may influence many aspects of their biology. I defined some of the foraging parameters of the pelagic feeding King Penguin Aptenodytes patagonicus and the inshore feeding Gentoo Penguin Pygoscelis papua at sub-Antarctic Marion Island.

Bibliography: leaves 159-175. / The southwestern Cape coastline supports only two common, resident gull species, Hartlaub's Gull Larus hartlaubii and the larger Kelp Gull L. dominicanus. Hartlaub's Gull is endemic to southern Africa and the Kelp Gull that occurs in this region is sub-specifically distinct, L. d. vetula. Although locally abundant, both the Kelp and particularly Hartlaub's Gull have been relatively little studied. This study addressed three aspects of the two gull species' ecology related to foraging. The diet of both species was studied through direct observation and analysis of pellets, scats and stomach samples. Diet was quantified at a range of foraging habitats; (i) a sandy beach; (ii). a rocky shore; (iii) a fishing harbour; and, (iv) a refuse dump. In addition, the proportion of marine prey in the diet of Kelp Gulls at a refuse dump, a sandy beach and at archaeological sites was estimated using stable carbon isotope analysis of bone collagen. Both gulls are generalist foragers feeding on a wide and diverse range of prey species. The Kelp Gull is able to feed on a wider range of prey species than is Hartlaub's Gull due to its larger size. The preferred natural foraging habitat of the Kelp Gull is sandy beaches, where the sand mussel Donax serra is the most important prey. Present day Kelp Gull diet at an undisturbed• sandy beach includes a similar proportion of marine protein to prehistoric gull diet in the same area. Hartlaub's Gull most commonly forages on swarms of invertebrates associated with accumulations of stranded kelp e.g. Ecklonia maxima.

Habitat disturbance can lead to the alteration of host-parasite dynamics and ultimately influence the mechanisms that regulate wildlife populations. This study investigates whether anthropogenic changes in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, have affected gastrointestinal parasite infections in a free-living population of chacma baboons (Papio ursinus). Data on parasite diversity and prevalence were obtained from 616 faecal samples collected from over 350 individuals in eight troops (six from the Cape Peninsula, one from Pringle Bay, and one from Wildcliff Nature Reserve) between July 2006 and August 2007. Faeces were processed using a modified formalin-ether sedimentation technique and helminth eggs and protozoan cysts were identified. The helminth and protozoan fauna of the Cape Peninsula baboon population was similar to both neighbouring and geographically disparate chacma baboon populations in South Africa. Distribution of helminth infection within a troop was influenced by the age of the host but not by other individual-level traits (i.e., gender and female reproductive and social status). Protozoan and helminth species richness was highest in the troop (Kanonkop) with the least human contact and the most pristine indigenous vegetation and was lowest in the troop (Tokai) with the highest levels of anthropogenic disturbance. Prevalences of the nematodes Trichuris sp. and Oesophagostomum sp. were highest in the troop (Da Gama Park) with the most frequent human interactions. A series of potential host-intrinsic (e.g., host sex and age) and host-extrinsic (e.g., troop characteristics, climate) determinants of host-parasite dynamics were investigated but failed to explain the observed inter-troop variations in parasite infections. Molecular analyses of the ubiquitous and highly prevalent nematode, Trichuris sp., provided evidence of two genetically distinct Trichuris species, including a newly identified baboon parasite, named T. papionis, and another that strongly resembles (91% similarity between ITS1-5.8S rDNA-ITS2 sequences) the human T. trichiura. The latter finding provides the first evidence of a likely reverse zoonotic infection of baboons with human parasites and provides management authorities with a strong motivation to restrict the spatial overlap between the humans and baboons in the Cape Peninsula and indeed other regions of the Western Cape. Keywords: Papio ursinus - chacma baboon - parasites - urbanization - Trichuris - molecular

This thesis investigates the impacts of the demersal trawl fishery on infaunal, epifaunal and fish assemblages in the southern Benguela upwelling system for the first time. In the absence of representative areas of similar habitat protected from trawling in the southern Benguela region, infaunal and epifaunal assemblages were compared between heavily and lightly trawled areas to assess the impacts of the otter-trawl fishery. Infauna were sampled at four sites, from southern Namibia to near Cape Town by means of five replicate grab samples at each paired heavily and lightly trawled area. Invertebrate epifauna were sampled at two sites in heavily and lightly trawled areas using a finemeshed otter trawl. Sites ranged in depth from 350-450 m in unconsolidated sediment habitat. Epifaunal assemblages showed greater differences at heavily trawled areas with significantly reduced species diversity, average number of species and individuals. Several epifaunal species were absent from heavily trawled areas highlighting their vulnerability to impacts of trawling. Multivariate analyses show significant differences in composition of both infaunal and epifaunal assemblages among the sites and between trawling treatments at all sites. The results of this study suggest that intense trawling activities are at least partially responsible for significantly altering benthic community composition, affecting epifauna to a greater measurable extent than infauna. Biological Traits Analysis (BTA) was used to explore potential changes in ecological functioning of benthic assemblages, comparing areas exposed to heavy and light trawl intensities in the Benguela system. BTA incorporates biological traits (life-history, morphology and behaviour) of infaunal and epifaunal species with biomass, capturing a broad range of information of marine benthic assemblages. Seventeen percent of the infaunal traits analysed showed a significant difference between heavily and lightly trawled areas. Twenty-four percent of epifaunal biological traits investigated were significantly different between areas of heavy and light trawling. This study suggests that more intense trawling modifies some trait constituents of the benthic assemblage in the southern Benguela region, confirming the sensitivity of functional traits analysis in detecting changes induced by trawling disturbance. Biological traits analysis of benthic invertebrates shows promise as a practical technique for incorporation into monitoring programmes and for developing indicators of benthic ecosystem health, needed for implementation of an ecosystem approach to fisheries management in South Africa. A lack of representative untrawled areas in the trawl grounds of southern Africa precluded investigations comparing trawl impacts with unfished reference sites. A bilateral agreement between South Africa and Norway (NORSA) provided the opportunity to conduct experiments in an untrawled area of Oslofjord, Norway, where a shrimp trawl fishery for Pandalus borealis operates nearby. Infauna Abstract 2 were sampled at four untrawled sites in Oslofjord with five replicate grabs after which an Agassiz beam sled was dragged across two of the sites (impact sites) four times, simulating a trawl disturbance. Infauna were re-sampled at all four sites immediately after trawling (post-impact), 14 days and 64 days after the impact to monitor recovery of infaunal populations. Multivariate analyses comparing the impact sites with paired control sites for each sampling occasion showed no significant differences in infaunal assemblages at any stage of the experiment. Whilst it is considered possible that the trawl simulation was not a sufficient impact to represent that of a commercial trawl effect, it is considered more likely that trawl activities in Oslofjord do not inflict measurable impacts on infaunal assemblages. However, the impact of trawling on epifaunal assemblages in Oslofjord was not investigated in this study. Annual research survey data collected over the past 24 years (1986-2009) provide an opportunity to explore long-term demersal fish assemblage composition changes on the west coast of South Africa. Differences in spatial (latitude and depth) and temporal (seasonal and annual) factors were examined using multivariate analyses. Possible long-term changes were investigated using the Sequential T-test Algorithm to detect Regime Shifts (STARS). Results indicate geographic differences in fish assemblage composition from the northern to the southern region on the west coast of South Africa. The fish community composition is also clearly influenced by depth with a distinct change in fish assemblages in the shelf break region between 300 m and 400 m. Multivariate analyses also show two clear temporal changes in assemblage composition, firstly, in the early 1990s and secondly, in the mid- 2000s. STARS analyses detect long-term shifts in 27% of demersal species with the majority of speciesâ shifts detected either in the early- to mid-1990s or in the past decade (2002 to 2009). Multivariate analyses among year groups reveal an increase in three fast-growing, early maturing species and decreases in two slow-growing, long-lived species. STARS analysis detected increases in two of the same fast-growing species, decreases in an additional four slow-growing, long-lived species, but four other slow-growing, long-lived species showed the opposite trend (i.e. increases). The hypothesis of an increase in fast-growing, early maturing species and a decline in slow-growing, longlived species in fished systems is therefore only partially supported by these findings. Shifts in demersal fish assemblages coincide temporally with spatial shifts observed in small pelagic species and west coast rock lobster. The shifts in the demersal fish assemblage composition detected in this study are probably a reflection of long-term indirect effects of fishing in combination with environmental changes. Abstract 3 The response of benthic invertebrate assemblages to two levels of fishing intensity in the southern Benguela region justifies regular monitoring of epifauna during existing annual demersal research surveys and infaunal monitoring through dedicated, periodic sampling initiatives. Demersal fish assemblage data should be regularly assessed for changes in community composition. Representative protected areas can serve as reference areas against which fishing impacts could be assessed and improve our understanding of ecosystem effects of demersal fishing.

Bibliography: leaves 123-134. / This thesis deals with host relationships in an enigmatic and seemingly primitive group of weevils belonging to the genus Antliarhinus (Coleoptera: Brentidae). These beetles occur only on species of the cycad genus Encephalartos and appear to retain an ancient association with cycads, a group of plants that were widespread in the Mesozoic era (ca. 200 MYA) before the rise of the angiosperms and which are now represented by 11 genera with relict distributions in the tropics and sub-tropics. The primary aim of this research was to determine the possible causes of narrow host specialization in Antliarhinus zamiae (Thunberg) and A. signatus Gyllenhal, two species which develop exclusively on the ovules of their cycad hosts.

Bibliography: leaves 182-196. / The thesis first reviews the research on zooplankton ecology in the Benguela system and then evaluates the contribution of euphausiids to the zooplankton biomass of the southern Benguela region. The study further investigates the population dynamics and maintenance of the dominant euphausiid, Euphausia lucens, principally in the St Helena Bay region because of its importance as a recruitment area for the pelagic fishery.