MSc., Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, 2011 / Riparian zones harbour different species pools from the surrounding landscape and are thus important to biodiversity conservation. However, riparian zones are highly variable. Network characteristics, morphology, flow-sediment interactions, biophysical connectivity and biological characteristics all vary along the length of a river. It could therefore be expected that the biodiversity characteristics of different riparian zones may also be variable. To investigate this, this study quantified compositional and structural diversity in 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 7th stream order rivers in south-western Kruger National Park (KNP). A suite of measures, chosen to encompass the variety, balance, and disparity properties of diversity, was used to quantify woody vegetation and bird compositional and structural diversity within each stream order. Woody plant species richness and species diversity was highest in the 7th order river and similar in the 1st through 5th order rivers. Likewise the woody vegetation community composition of the 7th order river was distinct from those in the other stream order rivers. Bird species diversity was similar in all five stream orders considered. Bird community composition of the 7th order river was distinct from the bird community composition of the 4th and 5th order rivers, which in turn was distinct from the bird community composition of the 2nd and 1st order rivers. Woody vegetation height, canopy width and diameter diversity tended to be highest in the 4th and 5th order rivers, while number of stem (NoS) diversity was generally highest in the 1st order rivers and decreased along the stream order sequence to the 7th order river. Bird body mass diversity was highest in the middle of the stream order sequence, while bird wing length/body length (WL/BL) and leg length diversity was similar along the entire stream order sequence. Overall, a variety of patterns of change in biodiversity along the stream order sequence were observed The lack of a consistent pattern along the stream order sequence among the different elements of compositional and structural diversity illustrates that no single measure can properly characterise the biodiversity of an area, and thus researchers and managers need to be explicit about which aspect of biodiversity they are aiming to study/conserve. Additionally, the unique combination of biodiversity found in each of the stream orders illustrates that each contributes importantly to overall regional biodiversity, and thus there is need to consider the role of entire drainage networks in the landscape, rather than simply focusing on perennial rivers. Finally, this study illustrates the need to consider the heterogeneous nature of biodiversity itself.

No description available.

Myers first identified the world’s 25 biodiversity hotspots and pioneered innovative ideas about the usefulness of biodiversity models for establishing long-term resource conservation strategies at global scales. Since Myers, most of the subsequent studies using hotspot science for biodiversity modeling have used large spatial scales like countries, provinces or states, and other biogeoraphic regions. The California Floristic Province continues to be one of the recognized global biodiversity hotspots. Our study site, San Luis Obispo County is within this hotspot and we created a map of plant biodiversity hotspots at the county scale using GIS technology. We wanted to determine the effectiveness and applicability of biodiversity hotspot mapping at this scale with anticipation that the map will serve as a new tool for establishing long-term resource conservation strategies in the County. Our plant biodiversity hotspot map is based on distribution data collected from herbarium specimens of San Luis Obispo County’s rare flora. These data were extracted from the Hoover Herbarium at Cal Poly and manually digitized into GIS. We built a model with GIS to identify, locate, and quantify the resultant hotspots from the data. The overall approach was successful at identifying and quantifying the attributes and geographic extents of plant biodiversity hotspots at the county scale. Our results are highly applicable for establishing local and regional plant conservation priorities at lower resolutions, which is frequently where land acquisition and reserve establishment occurs. We conclude that biodiversity hotspot modeling with GIS is an effective tool that can be applied to many other finer-scale biological inventories for conservation purposes.

Foraminifera are a diverse clade of mostly shell-building single-celled organisms. Estimation of foraminiferal diversity is critical for understanding past and present climatic conditions, as they are highly sensitive to environmental perturbations. Biodiversity estimates of foraminifera began with the counting of test (i.e., shell) microfossils composed of calcium carbonate, as they are well preserved in sediment samples. However, this view has changed with molecular biodiversity estimates, which suggest that early-diverging single-chamber (i.e., "monothalamid") species that lack preservation ability are more diverse than anticipated. Although biodiversity estimates of foraminifera at the molecular level have changed our perceptions, they possess various challenges, especially with metabarcoding approaches. The metabarcoding approach is challenging in foraminifera because small subunit ribosomal (SSU) rRNA gene does not PCR amplify "universal" eukaryotic primers due to the presence of large insertions. Therefore, studies of foraminiferal diversity require targeted primers. Similarly, the pair-wise sequence similarity approach to taxonomic resolution can be problematic for Foraminifera, as fewer matching reference database exists for “monothalamids”- this requires the use of a more robust phylogeny-informed taxonomy, which provides a taxonomic identification for each sequence. Also, the appropriateness of recently developed metabarcoding tools still needs validation and comparison with clustering approaches for foraminiferal biodiversity estimation. This chapter introduces the current state of knowledge of foraminiferal biodiversity while also describing the knowledge gaps addressed in this thesis.

Naturvärdesinventering (NVI) görs inför exploatering av naturmiljöer som en del i bevarande- och förstärkningsarbetet av den biologiska mångfalden. I Sverige har en standard för utförandet av NVI tagits fram. Studien gjordes på uppdrag av Trafikverket, beställare av NVI och Boreal Partner AB, potentiell ny utförare av NVI. Syftet var att jämföra olika grupper av utförarorganisationers NVI-rapporter för att utröna av vilka och på vilket sätt högts kravefterlevnad uppnås. Vidare skulle en redovisningsmall för att optimera kravefterlevnaden föreslås. Beskrivningarna av arbetssätt var för få och övergripande för att kunna användas för att utveckla ett arbetssätt för en ny utförare. Skillnaderna mellan gruppernas kravefterlevnad visade sig vara små till följd av variationer inom grupperna. Att vara väl insatt i standarden visade på högre och jämnare kravefterlevnad. Den föreslagna redovisningsmallen utgår från standardens krav och ska underlätta redovisning med hög kravefterlevnad och vara till nytta för så väl beställare som utförare.

Thesis (M. Sc. (Botany)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / Nature reserves are reservoirs for biodiversity. Their very purpose is to preserve indigenous fauna and flora and thus protect associated ecosystem services. The Schuinsdraai Nature Reserve of rural Sekhukhune District, Limpopo Province, is the focus of this study. Sekhukhune District is predominantly rural, with limited economic opportunities but rich mineral resources, the mining of which negatively impacts biodiversity. The Sekhukhune Centre of floristic endemism falls within this district and the nature reserve is thus an important factor in safeguarding a representative section of this floristic center. The veld type present in the reserve is central sandy bushveld. Although mining is prohibited within the reserve, invasive alien plants or (IAPs) pose as high a threat to biodiversity as does mining. The spread of IAPs in nature reserves is harder to control than mining which is prohibited outright whereas IAP spread is automatic and insidious. The management of IAPs is of concern to the government of South Africa and is an ongoing process. Rural areas and the nature reserves within them, such as the Schuinsdraai Nature Reserve, are often under studied or under managed with regards to IAPs. This study supplements the available but scarce data on IAPs for Schuinsdraai Nature Reserve. The Schuinsdraai Nature Reserve is dominated by the Central Sandy Bushveld vegetation type. Rainfall is on average 470 mm per year and mean annual temperature varies from 24 ˚C in the summer, to 14 ˚C in the winter. The topography includes mountains, hills, plains, and the Flag Boshielo Dam. The aims of the study were to establish the presence and extent of IAPs in the Schuinsdraai Nature Reserve and to determine whether the IAPs present negatively affect the biodiversity. Road-side inspections, road surveys and line transects were used to investigate presence and extent of IAPs. Modified Braun-Blanquet quadrates were used to compare the effect of the most prevalent IAPs on the plant biodiversity in the Schuinsdraai Nature Reserve. Quadrates were positioned in areas heavily infested by species of IAPs and these areas compared with untransformed areas within 10 m of the infested quadrates. Species richness, species evenness and v biodiversity indices were calculated for transformed (control) areas compared with infested areas. Roadside inspections and road surveys indicated the presence of IAPs. They revealed that most IAPs were present on the eastern side of the nature reserve closest to areas most visited by tourists. Roads and the movement of people therefore affect the spread of IAPs within the Schuinsdraai Nature Reserve. The four most prevalent species identified from roadside inspections and road surveys were: Opuntia stricta, Cylindropuntia fulgida, Cereus jamacaru and Boerhavia diffusa. Opuntia stricta had the greatest negative effect and was also the most prevalent IAP on the Schuinsdraai Nature Reserve. The number of IAPs per transect observed in the area where access was unlimited was significantly higher than where access was limited. Opuntia stricta was the IAPs exhibiting the most significant (.00057) impact on species richness and species diversity and, where funds are limited, these should be targeted for eradication rather than other IAPs. From the results obtained, management recommendations were tabled including the most important, which is to clearly demarcate areas where public movement should be restricted, and meticulously patrol areas which are open to the public and remove IAP’s immediately. In conclusion, IAPs are present and do cause deleterious effects on species richness, diversity and evenness within the Schuinsdraai Nature Reserve, however, the strict management of anthropogenic influences should be implemented to control their spread and increase.

Although businesses have extended their efforts towards addressing their environmental responsibilities, there are still substantial gaps, especially in their approach to biodiversity loss. It is one of the biggest threats to humankind and corporate activities are known to contribute substantially to the deterioration of ecosystems which makes these omissions particularly worrisome. The voluntary global Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) framework has the potential to bring about the transformative change needed to improve biodiversity reporting (BDR), but this connection is rather understudied. This work therefore wants to bridge this literature gap by exploring the role SDGs 14 and 15 play in biodiversity reporting. To that end, the sustainability reports of large German companies were evaluated. A mixed-method approach was applied consisting of statistical testing an assumed association between using SDGs and the quality of BDR and a content analysis of SDG and BDR practices. One main finding is, that increased utilisation of SDG 14 and/or 15 goes hand in hand with better BDR but developed independently and rather as a result of increased biodiversity awareness within corporations. This might be the result of a combination of normative and coercive pressure. The second main finding is that overall, there are tendencies to integrate SDG 14/and or 15 but those are marginal, far from the transformational change needed and overshadowed by misleading reporting practices that fall under the greenwashing umbrella. These findings contribute to our understanding of voluntary frameworks like the SDGs on corporate governance by highlighting how they are currently underutilised.

<p dir="ltr">Over 90% of fungal species are undescribed and tropical areas are presumed to be both highly diverse and less studied, therefore containing a large portion of fungal species awaiting discovery. In this dissertation, I first examine this presumption by reviewing literature from long-term studies of fungi in the tropics and examining data in public biodiversity repositories. Both literature review and metabarcoding studies of soils suggest the tropics are greater in diversity than non-tropical regions in general, and for certain taxonomic groups and functional guilds. Public biodiversity repositories show that fewer molecular, conservation, and alpha diversity data exist for fungi occurring in tropical versus non-tropical locations and that less data is generated from citizen scientists in tropical localities. Second, I describe the start of a long-term fungal biodiversity study in Cusuco National Park, Honduras to improve knowledge of fungal alpha diversity in this region and determine if increased fungal richness is associated with certain environmental variables such as elevation, leaf litter depth, soil density, and canopy cover. Descriptive statistics from opportunistic collections in the summers of 2019, 2022, and 2023 and an analysis of collections from standardized plots from 2022 and 2023 are provided. Overall, 466 nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) barcode sequences were generated from 993 collections from at least 11 different classes of fungi that cluster into 392 operational taxonomic units (OTUs). The high number of OTUs represented by a single sequence and the high likelihood a new DNA sequence represented a new OTU indicate we have not captured the majority of fungal diversity in Cusuco. Preliminary results from standardized plots show that fungal richness increases as soils are less compacted and decreases as leaf litter depth increases. Finally, through a combination of fieldwork and specimens preserved in herbaria and culture collections, five new species of Helotiales in the genus <i>Chlorosplenium</i> are described and four new species in the genus <i>Ascocoryne</i> are proposed. Incorporating metabarcoding of herbarium specimens in both genera has improved our understanding of the diversity and biogeography of these groups. In both cases, the estimated number of species in each genus is double the number previously described and unique morphological features are reported, such as the production of macroscopic crystals in culture in the genus <i>Chlorosplenium</i>. This work highlights that advances in fungal biodiversity knowledge can occur in both temperate and tropical regions by making new collections and examining collections of fungi stored in fungaria, particularly in understudied groups, like the Helotiales.</p>

This thesis investigates the intricate relationship between biodiversity and businesses within the regulatory realm. The study will specifically look into new compliances imposed by international organisations such as The Kunming-Montreal Global Framework for Biodiversity, the Biodiversity strategy for 2030 in the European Green Deal and the upcoming Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. A meticulous literature review and thorough semi-constructed interviews were conducted and combined in the analysis. The research applies an Institutional theory framework and aims to seek the implications of institutional pressures. Furthermore, findings suggest collaboration and the use of external actors such as consultants are of importance in adaption. Challenges found highlight the need for standardised measurements, assistance to handle data and the lack of economic incentives. This study provides insightful findings in understanding how the current and upcoming biodiversity compliance affects businesses in Europe. Future research should focus on specific industry sectors, regions, and business sizes, investigate the dialogue between businesses and regulators, explore how businesses impact their external environment, and examine how they navigate new and unclear regulations.

This thesis investigates the design of a model, methods and guidelines that may assist government agencies in South Africa to find a balance between the objective of biodiversity conservation and increased local economic development in cases of land restitution in protected areas. The data collection that was needed for this study took place from 2007 to 2009 and was limited to seven priority protected areas in Mpumalanga Province. The general model design was established via an extensive literature review and analysis of the legal background and formed the theoretical concept of this thesis. The general model design was used to devise the guidelines for co-management to be used by government agencies in South Africa for the possible implementation of the biodiversity conservation and local economic development mandates in cases of land restitution in protected areas, within their financial and institutional limitations. From the results, it is clear that a consolidated government position, agreed upon by all relevant government stakeholders, assists in keeping the land restitution process in protected areas within the legal framework. Through the analysis of the model design in the seven priority protected areas it was identified that additional information is needed to reach the preferred land claim settlement option per protected area such as the actual tourism record, a socio-economic assessment of the environment in which each protected area is embedded, and financial figures to make projections on current and future net profit calculations. Government should support all the land claim settlement options, as elaborated in the model design, which is not the case at the moment, and most alternative options, other than co-management, are currently still unclear and/or not feasible. This might have serious negative implications for the conservation agency, with the risk of compromising its mandate to manage areas of high biodiversity effectively. The methods that were developed to workshop the generic agreement frameworks with the land claimant representatives proved to assist in the land claimants making an informed choice within the legal framework and to tailor the land claim settlement option and agreements to their specific situation. / Development Studies / Ph. D. (Development Studies)