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.

During the 21st century, more people will reside in cities than in rural areas for the first time in human history. As cities expand to accommodate their growing population, pressure is mounting on local biodiversity and the ecosystems they support. This prompted the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity - in collaboration with the City of Singapore - to develop a biodiversity index specifically for cities. In 2014, the final draft of the City Biodiversity Index was released. Twenty-three indicators comprise three categories that assess: native biodiversity, ecosystem services, and municipal support for local biodiversity. A case-study was designed for Starkville, MS to better understand the merits of the index and its application to small rural town planning. The research illuminated the breadth and flexibility of the index across multiple scales and the availability of local resources to deliver a meaningful biodiversity analysis.

No description available.

Ecological restoration has the potential to provide a multitude of benefits, such as conserving biodiversity and supporting natural-resources dependent livelihoods. Tropical dry forests (TDFs) occur in densely populated human-modified landscapes in the tropics and are susceptible to degradation, making them an important biome to restore when degraded. TDFs are also socio-ecological systems, where local people rely on the forest for subsistence and livelihoods and effectively manage them for desire outcomes. People’s reliance on TDFs necessitates restoration projects to take into account more than biophysical and abiotic considerations when they are designed. In this decade of restoration, while there is the much-needed impetus to restore degraded land, to achieve enduring and just outcomes at large spatial scales, restoration projects need to more intentionally address local considerations, such as traditional land tenure systems and livelihood strategies, and goals such as socio-economic development. At the same time, to guide restoration efforts and realistically forecast the consequences of these efforts in the future, there is a need for rapid and accurate assessment tools to quantify the impact of restoration on biodiversity and people at several time steps. In Chapter 1, I use India, a country with high biophysical potential for restoration, as a case study to demonstrate a people-centric approach for identifying restoration opportunities. I find that there is a large overlap between areas of high biophysical restoration potential and high poverty, indicating potential and need to pursue restoration in a manner that addresses both ecological and social goals. In Chapter 2, I study a commonly adopted livelihood strategy, seasonal migration, in forest-dependent communities in India. I find that households in more agricultural and prosperous districts experience lower rates of migration but are more sensitive to climatic variability than households in poorer districts. In Chapter 3, I examine the impact of ecological restoration of a tropical dry forest in central India (CI). I find no significant difference in the cumulative number of bird species detected, but a significant difference in bird communities across the sites. In the lower frequencies dominated by birds and insects, I find that restored sites were positively associated with acoustic space occupancy in comparison to unrestored and low Lantana density (LLD) sites. In Chapter 4, I study the combined socio-ecological outcomes of restoration in the same sites in CI. I find that in the absence of alternative, people rely on Lantana camara, an invasive shrub, for subsistence and livelihoods, in the form of firewood and farm boundaries. I do not find any significant effect of restoration or LLD on people’s perception of ease of forest use, except for the distances covered for grazing, an important indicator of restoration success in this landscape. Finally, I also find that restoration is not associated with any significant changes in soundscapes in the higher frequency ranges dominated by insects and bats. Taken together, my chapters contribute to a greater understanding of the potential for restoration to meet social and ecological goals, the vulnerability of the livelihoods of people living on forest-fringes of TDFs to climate variability and expected and unexpected socio-ecological outcomes of restoration.

No description available.

The Indian government’s twin objectives of protecting the tiger population in the Nallamala forest in Andhra Pradesh and providing “development” to the indigenous Chenchu people have resulted in an on-going process of Chenchu displacement from the forest. The research is an anthropological intervention to comparatively analyze the development definitions of the Chenchu people (N=15), subgrouped location-wise as Deep Forest Chenchu, Intermediate Forest Chenchu, and Displaced Chenchu, and the Government and NGO representatives (N=13), including Integrated Tribal Development Agency representatives, NGO workers, and conservation authorities. Both groups defined development as access to basic amenities, education and jobs, health, freedom, livestock, and well-being in varying agreements. The study concludes that discrepancies exist in the development perspectives of the two groups, the Chenchu displacement is unsystematic, and the implementation of development projects was non-uniform. Small sample size, limited research time, and gender imbalance are some of the limitations of this study.

No description available.

No description available.

Lake Victoria is known for its cichlid fish species flock of 500 or more, which have been drastically decreased due to mass extinction. The lake's fisheries transformed from artisanal to industrial, with exotic species displacing the indigenous flock, changes linked to local and global anthropogenic consequences. Cage aquaculture has been established in the lake as a result of dwindling catch fisheries, a growing human population, and increased demand for fish. This dissertation investigates: 1) the distributional ecology of fishes along a limnological gradient in Lake Victoria, Kenya; and 2) the effects of cage aquaculture in the lake on limnology and fish communities, as well as the scientific and social correlates of proper implementation and growth. In April/May and July/August 2017, fish distribution patterns in the lake were surveyed using gillnets at eleven littoral sites and trawls at thirty lake-wide locations. From November 2018 to July 2019, four sites arrayed on an inshore-offshore gradient were sampled using paired cages and control stations. Using established protocols, water quality variables were sampled and analyzed. The status of variables and their associations were investigated using descriptive and exploratory statistics in the R statistical programming language. There was a limnological gradient, with nutrient concentrations, chlorophyll-a, and turbidity decreasing dramatically from the inner gulf to the outer waters. In the gulf's eutrophic waters, indigenous catfishes and cyprinids were abundant, while Nile perch and haplochromines were abundant in the open less eutrophic waters. Along the inner gulf-open lake gradient, Nile perch population structure, size at 50% maturity, and feeding patterns differed. There were no significant variations in environmental metrics between the paired cage farms and the controls, implying that inputs like sewage and agricultural runoff contribute more to eutrophication and the state of the gulf. Near cages, the average monthly total fish biomass was higher than in control areas. In the inner gulf, non-haplochromine fishes were many and diversified, with some species being particularly prevalent near cages. Based on biophysical constraints and overlap between cage aquaculture, fisheries, and biodiversity conservation in the lake, it was projected that cages could yield 250,000 metric tons of Nile tilapia per year. The findings indicate that, when correctly managed, cage aquaculture in Lake Victoria has a positive impact on both biodiversity and economic prosperity in the region.

A taxonomic synopsis of Philippine Cyrtandra (Gesneriaceae) is presented. Following a study of 138 published names and their types, we accept 98 Cyrtandra species for the Philippine flora. Except for C. angularis, C. elatostemoides, and C. yaeyamae, all are endemic to the country. Lectotypes or neotypes are designated for all names for which this is necessary, except for six names for which we were unable to locate original material. We also validate a species name that was previously described without a Latin diagnosis (C. peninsula), synonymize three names, and provide taxonomic notes for each species. In addition, we propose two replacement names for taxa for which a legitimate name in Cyrtandra does not currently exist: C. edanoi for a Philippine species and C. siporensis for a Sumatran species. A look-up table is provided to facilitate referencing of currently accepted names in Philippine Cyrtandra.