A5055505941- Spider Taxonomy and Behavior Studies
- Lepidoptera: Biology and Taxonomy
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior
- Genetic diversity and population structure
- Plant and animal studies
- Orthoptera Research and Taxonomy
- Species Distribution and Climate Change
- Fish Ecology and Management Studies
- Hymenoptera taxonomy and phylogeny
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Freshwater macroinvertebrate diversity and ecology
- Wildlife-Road Interactions and Conservation
- Diptera species taxonomy and behavior
- Hydrology and Sediment Transport Processes
- Climate change impacts on agriculture
- Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies
- Fossil Insects in Amber
- Aquatic Invertebrate Ecology and Behavior
- Forest Ecology and Biodiversity Studies
- Hemiptera Insect Studies
- Insect and Pesticide Research
- Coleoptera Taxonomy and Distribution
- Beetle Biology and Toxicology Studies
- Irrigation Practices and Water Management
University of Venda
2015-2024
Advanced Neural Dynamics (United States)
2023
Stellenbosch University
2019-2020
Statistics Finland
2019
University of Nottingham
2018
Universidad Nacional de Colombia
2018
University College London
2018
Finland University
2018
University of Wisconsin–Green Bay
2018
Harvard University
2018
ABSTRACT Aim In ectotherms, the colour of an individual's cuticle may have important thermoregulatory and protective consequences. cool environments, ectotherms should be darker, to maximize heat gain, larger, minimize loss. Dark colours also predominate under high UV‐B conditions because melanin offers protection. We test these predictions in ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) across space through time based on a new, spatially temporally explicit, global‐scale combination assemblage‐level...
The Afrotropical spider genus Parabomis Kulczyński, 1901 is revised. Members of are some the smallest thomisids known, and occur from Eritrea in north Africa to South south, but absent Madagascar. Prior this study, three species were namely P. levanderi (Eritrea, ♂), martini Lessert, 1919 (Tanzania, ♂♀) anabensis Lawrence, 1928 (Namibia, ♀). sp. nov. here recognized as a junior synonym four new described: elsae (♂♀), megae Zimbabwe pilosus Botswana (♂♀) wandae Ghana (♂♀). A key six provided....
Biodiversity is one of the most important concepts in contemporary biology, with a broad range applications. In November 1995, South Africa ratified Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Signatories are obligated to develop strategic plan for conservation and sustainable use biodiversity. To meet requirements CBD, African National Survey Arachnida (SANSA) was initiated 1997. This national project has several aims: document describe arachnid fauna Africa; consolidate all available data...
Water quality testing is dictated by microbial agents found at the time of sampling in reference to their acceptable risk levels. Human activities might contaminate valuable water resources and add load present bodies. Therefore, effects human on rivers collected from twelve catchments Vhembe District South Africa were investigated, with samples analyzed for total coliform (TC) Eschericha coli (E. coli) contents.Physical parameters various recorded each site. The Quanti-Tray(®) method was...
A checklist of 2265 spider species and subspecies, 495 genera 71 families is provided. Data were extracted from the South African National Survey Arachnida database over 200 taxonomic revisions, ending December 2022. Global distributions, endemicity conservation assessment using IUCN Criteria are provided for each species. total 1325 spp. endemic to Africa (58.5%), 126 (5.6%) special concern 693 (30.6%) Deficient (DD), while 15 described without exact locality data. Most (1444 spp., 63.8%)...
Factors that drive species richness over space and time are still poorly understood often context specific. Identifying these drivers for ant diversity has become particularly relevant within the of contemporary global change events. We report on a long-term bi-annual (wet dry seasons), standardized sampling epigeal ants five year period mesic arid aspects an inselberg (Soutpansberg Mountain Range) in tropics Africa. detail seasonal, annual trends density, test relative contribution...
Due to global climate change, droughts are likely become more frequent and severe in many regions such as South Africa. In Limpopo, observed high variability projected future change will increase maize production risks. This paper evaluates drought patterns Limpopo at two representative sites. We studied how under climatic conditions an important step identifying adaptation measures (e.g., breeding ideotypes resilient conditions). Thirty-year time horizons were analyzed, considering three...
Coarse-scale studies that focus on species distributions and richness neglect heterogeneity may be present at finer scales. Studies of arthropod assemblage structure fine (1 × 1 km) scales are rare, but important, because these the spatial levels which real world applications viable. Here we investigate fine-scale variation in spider assemblages, comparing five representative vegetation types western Soutpansberg, Limpopo Province, South Africa. We assess terms their family composition, as...
Abstract Termite mounds have recently been shown to protect against drought by providing refuges for plants and foci revegetation, but whether modulate temperature remains untested. Organisms tend experience climate at finer scales than those captured models predicting how distributions alter with global change, so microclimates represent important “climate refuges.” Using data we collected from African savanna sites, generalized linear mixed‐effects quantile regression analysis confirm the...
Abstract Aim Our aim is to test if long‐term patterns in α alpha and β beta diversity along an elevational transect on two aspects of a mountain are consistent through time using spiders as model organisms, quantify the role elevation (seasonal inter‐annual) explaining these partition relative contribution nestedness, species turnover loss patterns. Location The across Cederberg mountains Cape Floristic Kingdom, Western Cape, South Africa constituted by 17 sites with range 1900 m (east...
A semi-quantitative inventory of spider diversity was done in the Blouberg Nature Reserve (BNR) and Western Soutpansberg Conservancy (WSC) situated Savanna Biome Limpopo Province, South Africa. Two hundred ninety-six samples one person-hour work each, comprised five methods (vegetation beating, sweep netting, aerial hand collecting, ground collecting leaf litter sifting) were divided between four relatively homogenous sites (plant communities) within a vegetation type BNR WSC, respectively,...
Invertebrates include more than 80% of all animals, yet they are severely under-represented in studies southern African diversity. Site biodiversity estimates that ignore invertebrates, not only omit the greatest part what attempting to measure, but also neglect major contributors essential ecosystem processes. All available information on spider species distribution South Savanna Biome was compiled. This is largest biome country, occupying over one third surface area. A total 23 739 records...
Theory on intraguild killing (IGK) is central to mammalian carnivore community ecology and top-down ecosystem regulation. Yet, the cryptic nature of IGK hinders empirical evaluations. Using a novel data source - online photographs interspecific aggression between African carnivores we revisited existing predictions about extent drivers IGK. Compared with seminal reviews, our constructed network yielded 10 more species nearly twice as many interactions. The interactions increased 37% when...
Temperature is the most influential condition affecting insect development and population dynamics. Understanding its impact other important factors, such as diet, could provide fine-scale predictions of species abundance distribution in space time. The two-spotted stink bug, Bathycoelia distincta Distant (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), a significant pest macadamia South Africa for which limited information on developmental biology exists. Here, first time, variations key parameters B. were...
Spider species distribution in the Cape Floristic Kingdom (CFK) was compiled as part of South African National Survey Arachnida (SANSA), whose main aim to create a relational database for country's arachnid fauna. Data from CFK extracted taxonomic and faunistic published papers, well unpublished survey data national collections. A total 11 500 records 130 localities were recorded until end 2023, representing 62 families, 334 genera 960 species, with two further families (Synotaxidae...