A5046943896- Ichthyology and Marine Biology
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Marine animal studies overview
- Coastal and Marine Management
- Species Distribution and Climate Change
- African Botany and Ecology Studies
- Marine and fisheries research
- International Maritime Law Issues
- Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock
- Advanced Chemical Sensor Technologies
- Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology
- Central Venous Catheters and Hemodialysis
- Biological Control of Invasive Species
- Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics
- Rangeland and Wildlife Management
- Fire effects on ecosystems
- Genetic diversity and population structure
- Bayesian Methods and Mixture Models
- Wildlife-Road Interactions and Conservation
- COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies
- Land Use and Ecosystem Services
- Animal Diversity and Health Studies
- Mediterranean and Iberian flora and fauna
Nelson Mandela University
2015-2023
South African Environmental Observation Network
2014-2015
Royal Hallamshire Hospital
2012
ABSTRACT Air temperatures have increased globally over the past decades, while rainfall changes been more variable, but are taking place. In South Africa, substantial climate‐related impacts predicted, and protected area management agencies will need to respond actively impacts. It is critical for understand way in which climate changing locally predict appropriately. Here, first time, we quantify observable temperature African national parks five ten decades. Our results show significant...
Abstract Daily activity schedules and time budgets reveal how animals cope with changing environmental conditions in securing food evading enemies. Theory suggests that populations limited by availability should be energy maximizers their foraging allocation, while those regulated predation minimize mobile levels. We compared daily seasonal variation states among three species of grazing ungulates coexisting the same region K ruger N ational P ark, S outh A frica, for one these between...
Despite the size of informal small-scale farming sector and its livestock holdings in South Africa, there has been little detailed work to assess how populations are affected by drought. Africa experienced a major drought 2015–2016. We analysed goat cattle census data from Msinga area KwaZulu-Natal, which represent some 3 000 households. Cattle farmers study lost 43% herd, compared with 29% for goats, Three years after drought, numbers remained depressed, whereas had recovered. Larger herds...
To support sustainable growth of ocean-based economies, many countries are engaging in marine spatial planning (MSP) processes, which require robust decision-support tools. Systematic conservation (SCP) is commonly used decision-making to guide spatially efficient protected area expansion. Here we contend that SCP can also be streamline MSP negotiations by developing a coherent, integrated portfolio sites for multiple sectors depend on biodiversity being maintained good state, as...
Abstract With a focus on oceans, we collaborated across ecological, social and legal disciplines to respond the United Nations call for transformation in ‘2030 Agenda Sustainable Development’. We developed set of 13 principles that strategically critically connect transformative ocean research governance (complementing UN Decade Ocean Science). used rigorous, iterative transparent consensus-building approach define principles, which can interact supporting, neutral or sometimes conflicting...
Human activities in the oceans increase extinction risk of marine megafauna. Interventions require an understanding movement patterns and spatiotemporal overlap with threats. We analysed 33 white sharks ( Carcharodon carcharias ) satellite-tagged South Africa between 2012 2014 to investigate influence size, sex season on spatial temporal longline gillnet fisheries protected areas (MPAs). used a hidden Markov model identify ‘resident’ ‘transient’ states effect covariates transition...
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that over a third all chondrichthyan species (sharks, rays and chimaeras) are threatened with extinction, primarily by overfishing (as target or bycatch species). Owing to the wide-ranging distributions many chondrichthyans, they often overlooked in marine protected area (MPA) design. South Africa is biodiversity hotspot diversity, improve conservation status these country's continental exclusive economic zone (EEZ), we...
Abstract The size structure of a plant population provides snapshot potential trend and weak inference on past history. Size 24 tree species was sampled in savanna reserve order to assess their vulnerability local extirpation following the reintroduction elephants. Regression number per class based an expected reverse‐J for healthy undertaken classify each species. On account realism this semi‐arid environments, log‐normal mixture models were also fitted individual observations identify...
Context Direct observations of animals are the most reliable way to define their behavioural characteristics; however, obtain these is costly and often logistically challenging. GPS tracking allows finer-scale interpretation animal responses by measuring movement patterns; true behaviour during period observation seldom known. Aims The aim our research was draw inferences for a lioness with hidden Markov model validate predicted latent-state sequence field lion pride. Methods We used models...
This research provides the first detailed assessment of Cistus ladanifer, a woody, perennial shrub native to Mediterranean, as an invasive species in South Africa. Three small naturalising populations (all less than 0.1 ha) this were discovered 2012 heathland vegetation ("Fynbos") Western Cape Province Prior discovery, C. ladanifer had not previously been recorded or recognised It poses significant threat local endemic vegetation, largely due its pre-adaptation similar environmental...
Remote sensing provides a valuable tool for monitoring land cover across large areas of land. A simple yet popular method classification is Maximum Likelihood Classification (MLC), which assumes single normal distribution the samples per class in feature space. Mixture Discriminant Analysis (MDA) natural extension MLC can be used with varying distributions and multiple class, simplifies process tremendously. We compare accuracies MDA (using Gaussian t-distribution) as number training points...
Abstract With a focus on the ocean, we collaborated across social, ecological and legal disciplines to respond United Nations call for transformation in ‘2030 Agenda Sustainable Development’ by developing set of 13 principles transformative ocean governance. These can be used help chart course action that responds many calls reform current ocean-use practices based economic growth models have perpetuated inequities fuelled conflict environmental decline. We use rigorous, iterative...
Climate variability and resilience remain gaps in tree research, challenged by the interacting factors climate change, long-term influence of evolutionary legacy effects. In a multidisciplinary approach using 90-year (1930–2020) climate-growth data, we investigated dynamics on growth tropical African baobab ( Adansonia digitata) at range edge climate-variable, southeast Africa. The main driver variability, ENSO (El Niño-Southern Oscillation), triggered 83% droughts exacerbated positive...
Abstract The likelihood of success a marine protected area (MPA) is strongly dependent on stakeholders’ support. A concern often raised by local fishers their lack involvement in the design or management MPA and loss income owing to lost fishing grounds. We used Algoa Bay, South Africa, as case study analyse fisher’s fish-processing factory managers’ concerns perceived economic losses from closures using structured interviews. Since 2009, 20 km-radius purse-seine fishing-exclusion zone has...