A general and increasing biodiversity loss has been observed since the 20th century. Faced with the extreme rapidity of population declines, conservation biologists seek to understand the limiting and regulating factors driving changes in animal populations. This is particularly important for rare species as small population size increases extinction risk. Birds are amongst the most studied animals in this context. As a group that occupies a high trophic level, raptors are particularly vulnerable to external changes and are generally regarded as useful indicators of ecological change. The Black Harrier Circus maurus is an avian predator endemic to southern Africa, which breeds essentially along the South African coast within the Fynbos biome, and inland within the Karoo biome. Its population size has been estimated at less than 1,000 breeding birds, and the species is currently considered as Endangered in South Africa, Namibia and Lesotho. Although some studies have been conducted on Black Harriers in the last four decades, the reasons for its scarcity currently remain little known and insufficiently explored. Filling this knowledge gap is therefore essential for its conservation. In this context, the main goal of this thesis is to develop an overall comprehension of how various environmental factors may affect the breeding and health of this Endangered species, at both population and individual levels. I conducted my fieldwork during the 2012-2015 breeding seasons in two contrasting geographical regions: one along the west coast in the Western Cape Province, and the second one inland in the surroundings of Nieuwoudtville in the Northern Cape Province. For some chapters (Chapters 1-3), I analysed historical data collected by Dr. R. E. Simmons during 2000-2011 breeding seasons.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/25054 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | García-Heras, Marie-Sophie |
| Contributors | Simmons, Robert E, Arroyo, Beatriz, Mougeot, François, Amar, Arjun |
| Publisher | University of Cape Town, Faculty of Science, Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Doctoral Thesis, Doctoral, PhD |
| Format | application/pdf |
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