Social-ecological systems are facing complex social, political, economic and environmental problems beyond the capacity of one group of stakeholders or organization to solve in isolation. Ecosystem degradation causes major environmental and economic concern, due to the loss of ecosystem services which river and wetland ecosystems provide. Stakeholder communities who depend on natural resources need to identify the social processes which are underlying causes to unsuccessful natural resource management and thus environmental degradation. The study is primarily aimed at identifying and understanding the structural and functional properties of the stakeholder network in the Duiwenhoks River catchment in the Western Cape, South Africa. Through analyzing the social network properties the study identifies and describes the main stakeholders involved with natural resource management in the Duiwenhoks water catchment area. How the individual actors from the diverse stakeholder groups are connected through communication ties were assessed. Furthermore, issues and factors which limit the effectiveness of the social network were identified. The main factors include a lack of communication and collaboration between key local resource users and governance officials caused by conflicting perspectives regarding resource management and societal conflicts caused by asymmetries in power distribution favoring government institutions. The lack of collaboration between stakeholders was identified as a contributing factor that links to the resource degradation experienced in the catchment. Ultimately means of overcoming the limitations to effective social networking, in order to manage the challenges related to natural resource management were identified. Management recommendations include the development of bridging ties and collaboration between diverse stakeholders, whilst facilitating participatory processes aimed at participatory problem solving and adaptive co-management of natural resources. Government institutions were identified as being dominant stakeholders in the network and should be mobilized to perform a stronger bridging role to connect disconnected actors. The findings of the study may inform future efforts of researchers and facilitators to implement strategies which promote social networking, social learning and ultimately adaptive co-management in the study area or other similar social-ecological systems. Ultimately, collaboration can be achieved between the diverse stakeholders to successfully improve ecosystem management and resilience in the Duiwenhoks water catchment.

Societal Impact Statement Plants play fundamental roles in ecosystems, yet merely 10% of species have an assessment of their global extinction risk. Through the integration of national Red Lists and comprehensive global plant distribution data, we identify previously unassessed plant species in Europe that are threatened throughout their geographic range and thus at risk of global extinction. Our workflow can be replicated to facilitate the integration of disparate national monitoring efforts around the world and help accelerate global plant risk assessments. Summary • A comprehensive extinction risk assessment for plant species is a global biodiversity target. However, currently, only 10% of plant diversity is assessed in the global Red List of Threatened Species. To guide conservation and restoration actions in times of accelerated species extinction, plant risk assessments must be expedited. • Here, we examine the extinction risk of vascular plant species in Europe through the integration of two data streams: (1) national Red Lists and (2) global plant distribution data from Kew's Plants of the World Online database. For each species listed on a national Red List, we create a list of countries that form part of its range and indicate the threat status in these countries, allowing us to calculate the percentage of the range in which a given species is listed as threatened. • We find that 7% to 9% of European vascular plant diversity is threatened in its entire range, the majority of which are single-country endemics. Of these globally threatened species, 84% currently have no assessment in the global Red List. • With increasing national biodiversity monitoring commitments shaping the post- 2020 policy environment, we anticipate that integrating national Red Lists with global plant distribution data is a scalable workflow that can help accelerate global risk assessments of plants.

Herbivores have a significant influence on their environment. Factors that influence herbivore distribution in a landscape are important for conservation. Artificial water provision is one such factor, with water sources being focal points of herbivore activity. Variation between herbivore utilisation of different waterhole types and habitat integrity surrounding the different waterholes is assessed in this study. Correlations are drawn between herbivore utilisation and habitat integrity to quantify the impact that artificial waterholes have on the landscape. A scoring system is devised to investigate the various factors affecting vegetation around artificial waterholes. Results show that there are significant variations between herbivore utilisation for different artificial waterhole types, as well as significant variation in habitat integrity surrounding the different waterhole types. Distance between waterholes and drainage lines, and utilisation by specific herbivore species have a significant impact on habitat integrity - specifically affecting veld condition and disturbance observed on woody plant species. A habitat score that was created by combining data from both the herbaceous and woody layers is not affected by waterhole type, distance from waterholes, or the different herbivore species utilising the different waterhole types. Earth dams have the greatest impact on surrounding vegetation and are the most utilised waterhole type. Closures of earth dams are not recommended due to their importance to herbivores. Less utilised waterhole types are also important, mitigating the impact of herbivore damage to vegetation at earth dams. / Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Nature Conservation)