<p>Participation in recreational and formal sports can play a vital role in enhancing adolescents&rsquo / wellbeing. Research indicates that involvement in different forms of recreation and physical activities offer beneficial effects on the physical and mental health status of individuals. Sports participation has also been associated with lowered obesity, multiple risk behaviours, smoking and substance abuse. In South Africa rural and urban areas are increasingly affected by violence and a range of psychosocial problems such as youth crime, substance abuse and alcohol abuse. The aim of this research project was to explore the perceptions of community leaders of the role of sports participation in dealing with psychosocial problems amongst adolescents in a rural area. A qualitative approach was adopted to explore the perceptions of community leaders. Purposeful sampling was used to select participants according to the criteria set by researcher. The data was collected through the process of 10 indepth, semi-structured interviews with Afrikaans speaking community leaders, male and female from the two rural towns in the Cederberg region namely, Lamberts Bay and Clanwilliam. The semi-structured interview schedule consisted of five open-ended questions. A thematic content analysis was used to interpret the information. The study revealed that community leaders perceived sports participation as a protective factor against psychosocial problems within the community. They discussed sports benefits under three broad themes namely, health benefits, societal benefits and emotional benefits. The study further revealed poor financial resources, transport and poor facilities to be the major constraints for sports participation in their area. Future studies which explore the role of sports participation should include more information from a female&rsquo / s perspective, to enrich and understand the benefits of sports participation amongst females in the community.</p>

<p>Participation in recreational and formal sports can play a vital role in enhancing adolescents&rsquo / wellbeing. Research indicates that involvement in different forms of recreation and physical activities offer beneficial effects on the physical and mental health status of individuals. Sports participation has also been associated with lowered obesity, multiple risk behaviours, smoking and substance abuse. In South Africa rural and urban areas are increasingly affected by violence and a range of psychosocial problems such as youth crime, substance abuse and alcohol abuse. The aim of this research project was to explore the perceptions of community leaders of the role of sports participation in dealing with psychosocial problems amongst adolescents in a rural area. A qualitative approach was adopted to explore the perceptions of community leaders. Purposeful sampling was used to select participants according to the criteria set by researcher. The data was collected through the process of 10 indepth, semi-structured interviews with Afrikaans speaking community leaders, male and female from the two rural towns in the Cederberg region namely, Lamberts Bay and Clanwilliam. The semi-structured interview schedule consisted of five open-ended questions. A thematic content analysis was used to interpret the information. The study revealed that community leaders perceived sports participation as a protective factor against psychosocial problems within the community. They discussed sports benefits under three broad themes namely, health benefits, societal benefits and emotional benefits. The study further revealed poor financial resources, transport and poor facilities to be the major constraints for sports participation in their area. Future studies which explore the role of sports participation should include more information from a female&rsquo / s perspective, to enrich and understand the benefits of sports participation amongst females in the community.</p>

Urban open spaces are of strategic importance to the quality of life of our increasingly urbanized society. Trees and related vegetation are planted and managed within the communities and cities to create or add value to the busy lives of the city dwellers. Trees in towns and cities form an important part of complex urban ecosystems and provide significant ecosystem services and benefits for urban dwellers, for example: reducing particulate pollution, carbon sequestration, decreasing air temperature, decreasing water runoff, aesthetic value and an increase in human health. Trees are solarpowered technology that can help restore balance to dysfunctional urban ecosystems. Trees form strands in the urban fabric that connect people to nature and to each other. The urban environment puts tremendous strain on trees by trenching, limited space for root growth and emission of pollutants into the atmosphere, water and soil. The problem is that the real impact of the urban environment on the trees within our community is unknown. The aim of this investigation was to assess the overall anthropogenic and environmental impacts on urban trees by measuring the tree vitality of Acacia karroo using chlorophyll fluorescence kinetics (JIP-test) and the leaf water potential using a pressure chamber. Tree vitality was quantified as the chlorophyll fluorescence-based performance index (PIABS)T. ree vitality measurements were also correlated with soil physical and chemical data. In the comparative study, an urbanization gradient approach was followed in which results of trees in rural areas were regarded as controls. The gradient approach is used worldwide and provides a background for questions of ecological structure and function. The urbanization gradient was quantified using the V-I-S model, based on % cover of vegetation, impervious surface and soil. Additionally, a model to determine the monetary value of trees in urban environments (SATAM) was tested. All this information could eventually contribute to develop an urban tree management program for Potchefstroom. It was evident from the current study that urbanization has a negative impact on tree vitality. The leaf water potential of a tree was, however, not necessarily negatively impacted upon. Although trees in urban environments did not always have a high vitality (PIABS)t, hey still played a major role in the urban environment. According to the tree appraisal method (SATAM), some of these trees have a value of R60 000. / Thesis (M. Environmental Science (Ecological Remediation and Sustainable Utilisation))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Caption "Trunk of Acacia karoo, with root exposed by erosion in kloof of Mt. Zebra Nat. Park, Cradock. Feb. 1963.”

Caption "Silhouette of Acacia Karoo on old golf course King Williams Town. Aug. 1958.”

Caption "Thorntree canopy. King Wms Town. 1959.”

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / Participation in recreational and formal sports can play a vital role in enhancing adolescents' wellbeing. Research indicates that involvement in different forms of recreation and physical activities offer beneficial effects on the physical and mental health status of individuals. Sports participation has also been associated with lowered obesity, multiple risk behaviours, smoking and substance abuse. In South Africa rural and urban areas are increasingly affected by violence and a range of psychosocial problems such as youth crime, substance abuse and alcohol abuse. The aim of this research project was to explore the perceptions of community leaders of the role of sports participation in dealing with psychosocial problems amongst adolescents in a rural area. A qualitative approach was adopted to explore the perceptions of community leaders. Purposeful sampling was used to select participants according to the criteria set by researcher. The data was collected through the process of 10 indepth, semi-structured interviews with Afrikaans speaking community leaders, male and female from the two rural towns in the Cederberg region namely, Lamberts Bay and Clanwilliam. The semi-structured interview schedule consisted of five open-ended questions. A thematic content analysis was used to interpret the information. The study revealed that community leaders perceived sports participation as a protective factor against psychosocial problems within the community. They discussed sports benefits under three broad themes namely, health benefits, societal benefits and emotional benefits. The study further revealed poor financial resources, transport and poor facilities to be the major constraints for sports participation in their area. Future studies which explore the role of sports participation should include more information from a female's perspective, to enrich and understand the benefits of sports participation amongst females in the community. / South Africa

Monospecific stands of Acacia karroo establish naturally on disturbed coastal dunes in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. While the A. karroo successional pathway is successful in rehabilitating mined dunes at the Richards Bay Minerals mining company (RBM), the same pathway has become arrested in the coastal dune forest at Cape Vidal in the Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park. This study examines the efficacy of the A. karroo successional pathway for restoring disturbed coastal dune forests. Dispersal of seeds and successful recruitment of seedlings are essential for habitat restoration. Seed and seedling banks were compared between previously disturbed A. karroo stands and adjacent forest at Cape Vidal. Different seed bank composition and higher seed bank richness in the forest suggest that seed dispersal into A. karroo stands is limited. Protected seed banks in A. karroo stands had increased seedling richness, indicating that dispersal limitation does not fully explain the lack of seedling establishment. At RBM, the seed bank richness of A. karroo stands increased with age since mining. While cumulative species richness of the seed bank of the oldest A. karroo stand at RBM was marginally lower than that at Cape Vidal, successful rehabilitation at RBM is associated with low seedling mortality. Consequently, forest tree species richness is high at RBM in the A. karroo stands and is converging on natural forest richness and composition. Although seed dispersal is reduced, it does not totally limit establishment of forest tree species in A. karroo stands at Cape Vidal, which implicates a post-establishment factor. Soil fertility potentially reduces seed germination and seedling growth. Soil nutrients in A. karroo stands at Cape Vidal were similar to those in the adjacent forest, and total nitrogen levels in A. karroo stands at Cape Vidal were higher than at RBM. Thus, soil conditions were unlikely to be limiting tree regeneration in A. karroo stands. Total nitrogen accumulated in the oldest stand at RBM at a rate of 10.0 g.m2.y(1 and a similarly rapid rate occurred at Cape Vidal. Therefore the A. karroo stands were not nitrogen limited. Nitrogen supplementation experiments at Cape Vidal demonstrated that a range of forest tree species establish in A. karroo stands regardless of nitrogen level, but there is low survival of seedlings. Thus, nitrogen availability is not arresting succession at Cape Vidal. Herbivory can also inhibit seedling recruitment. Selective feeding may enhance the persistence of species with defences against herbivory, such as A. karroo, ultimately altering the tree community composition. Browsing and trampling by large mammalian herbivores in A. karroo stands at Cape Vidal decreased survival and growth of forest tree seedlings. Large herbivores such as kudu, waterbuck, bushbuck and red duiker preferentially used the A. karroo stands as they offer abundant food and their topography allowed easy movement. This topdown pressure reduced recruitment, growth, and survival of seedlings of undefended species. Few wild herbivores occur at RBM, which allowed succession to proceed unhindered, ultimately restoring coastal dune forest at this site. Despite successful rehabilitation of coastal dune forest on mined dunes at RBM, limited seed dispersal and high levels of herb ivory have arrested succession at Cape Vidal. Thus, the A. karroo successional pathway must be implemented only after careful consideration of site-specific factors such as distance to a source of propagules and the intensity of herbivory in the system. In areas where herbivore densities are high, management interventions focusing on reducing herb ivory and encouraging visitation by seed dispersers are necessary for the successful use of this successional pathway. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Animal Nutrition)) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / Refer to document

MSc (Botany) / Department of Botany / Plant populations are determined by many elements that impose demographic filters. Following disturbance, in African savanna woodland trees regenerate both sexually and vegetatively. Vachellia karroo (Hayne) Banfi and Galasso, family Fabaceae and sub family Mimosideae, commonly known as “sweet thorn” or “soetdoring” (Afrikaans), is a leguminous shrub common throughout Southern Africa. Its distribution range is from the Southwestern Cape northwards into Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is a pioneer species and has the ability to encroach rapidly into grassland grazing areas. Therefore, V. karroo is considered the most important woody invader of grasslands in South Africa. This study aimed at investigating the population biology and ecology of V. karroo in the clay waterlogged site of the Nylsvley Nature Reserve. Plant height, stem circumference, canopy cover, distance between individuals were measured and disturbance levels on individuals of V. karroo were estimated during sampling. The results showed that the population of V. karroo display an adequate growth curve thus implying that the population of V. karroo in the Nylsvley Nature Reserve is healthy and viable. More mature healthy individuals were found in September and December, than during June and July; this is obviously because early summer season, and in September most of the savanna plant species were starting to actively recover from the winter dry season. This is confirmation enough that the population of V. karroo is expanding in the clay waterlogged areas of Nylsvley Nature Reserve.