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Climatic and edaphic conditions at eragrostis lehmanniana nees sites in Arizona, USA and the cape province, RSA and potential seeding sites in Southern Africa
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: Journal of the Grassland Society of Southern Africa • Authors: JerryR. Cox --- U.S. Department of Agriculture, USA J.L. Stroehlein --- Soil and Water Department, USA J.H. Fourie --- , Republic of South AfricaClimatic and edaphic conditions at Eragrostis lehmanniana Nees sites in southeastern Arizona, USA were compared with those in the Cape Province, RSA to determine a range of conditions under which the species might be expected to establish and persist in... -
Preferential utilization of pans by springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis)
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: Journal of the Grassland Society of Southern Africa • Authors: S.J. Milton --- FitzPatrick Institute, Republic of South Africa W.R.J. Dean --- FitzPatrick Institute, Republic of South Africa C.P. Marincowitz --- , Republic of South AfricaForage utilization by springbok in pans and surrounding habitats was compared at one karroid shrubland site and two desert grassland sites and was found to be greater in pans than on adjacent plains and dunes. Springbok used pan areas for... -
THE COMPOSITION OF WATER COLLECTED FROM THE KUISEB RIVER, NAMIB DESERT, AT GOBABEB
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: Journal of the Limnological Society of Southern Africa • Authors: JohanU Grobbelaar --- , South Africa MaryK Seely --- , South AfricaWater from the Kuiseb River at Gobabeb varied in ionic content. Various ionic dominance orders were recorded from flooding until the pools dried up. The quality was not suitable for irrigation, but would present no problems when used by stock... -
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF WATER-HOLES IN THE KUISEB RIVER CANYON, NAMIB DESERT
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: Journal of the Limnological Society of Southern Africa • Authors: O.B. Kok --- Department of Zoology, South Africa J.U. Grobbelaar --- Department of Zoology, South AfricaFive water-holes in the Kuiseb River Canyon, Namib Desert, were monitored over a three month period during the 1977/78 dry season. Apart from the pronounced dominance of Ca(HCO3)2 in the water taken from a gorra (water-hole excavated by animals), the... -
NOTES ON THE AVAILABILITY AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF WATER FROM THE GRAVEL PLAINS OF THE NAMIB-NAUKLUFT PARK
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: Journal of the Limnological Society of Southern Africa • Authors: O.B. Kok --- Department of Zoology, J.U. Grobbelaar --- Department of Zoology,Data are presented on the occurrence of a surprising number of permanent water sources on the gravel plains of the Namib-Naukluft Park, South West Africa. As a consequence, no game animal is further than ca 25 km away from the... -
An evaluation of diet quality in two desert ungulates exposed to hyper-arid conditions
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: African Journal of Range & Forage Science • Authors: SR Henley D WardDesert-dwelling ungulates are frequently exposed to plant communities of poor nutritional quality and low abundance. We assessed the diet quality of a large-bodied non-ruminant, the Asiatic wild ass (Equus hemionus) and that of a small-bodied ruminant, the dorcas gazelle (Gazella... -
Rates of wood and dung disintegration in arid South African rangelands
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: African Journal of Range & Forage Science • Authors: S.J. Milton --- FitzPatrick Institute, Republic of Soutli Africa W.R.J. Dean --- FitzPatrick Institute, Republic of Soutli AfricaDead shrubs lying on the soil surface in an arid shrubland in the southern Karoo have half‐lives of 9 to 18 years depending on wood density which varies among species. Dung pellets of sheep and springbok can remain intact on... -
The effect of land-use on the vegetation communities along a topo-moisture gradient in the mid-Fish River valley, South Africa
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: African Journal of Range & Forage Science • Authors: N.V. Birch A.M. Avis A.R. PalmerThe objectives of this study were to identify the major physical environmental variables affecting plant community distribution, and to determine whether a shift occurred in plant community position along an environmental gradient of different land-use practises. To achieve these objectives... -
Birds and conservation significance of the Namib Desert's least known coastal wetlands: Baia and Ilha dos Tigres, Angola
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: African Journal of Marine Science • Authors: RE Simmons A Sakko J Paterson A NzuziThe Ilha dos Tigres of Angola is the only sandy island off the coast of the 2 000km-long Namib Desert and it remains the least known coastal wetland on a desert coast rich in shorebirds. Two surveys of the Baia... -
Syndromes of dryland degradation in southern Africa
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: African Journal of Range & Forage Science • Authors: RJ Scholes --- Natural Resources and the Environment, South AfricaDryland degradation (in other words, desertification) is defined for the purposes of this paper as a persistent decrease in the capacity of an arid or semiarid ecosystem to supply a range of services, including (but not restricted to) forage, fuel,... -
A conceptual tool for improving rangeland management decision-making at grassroots level: the local-level monitoring approach
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: African Journal of Range & Forage Science • Authors: K Kellner --- School of Environmental Sciences and Development, South Africa AS Moussa --- School of Environmental Sciences and Development, South AfricaFor many years, rangeland monitoring has mainly been the field of scientists, academics and extension workers trying to fine-tune methods to assess the condition of rangelands. Frameworks and monitoring systems developed with their associated indicators are often complex and inaccessible... -
Institutions for sustainable land management: reflections on institutional aspects of implementing the UNCCD in South Africa
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: African Journal of Range & Forage Science • Authors: G von Maltitz --- Natural Resources and the Environment, South AfricaBy its nature, combating desertification is a complex, multidisciplinary activity that requires coordinated responses at a multitude of levels spanning both scientific disciplines and government departments. In the final analysis, it is at the level of the land user where... -
A test of five mechanisms of species coexistence between rodents in a southern African savanna
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: African Zoology • Authors: M.R. Perrin --- School of Biological and Conservation Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa B.P. Kotler --- Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, IsraelThe operation of five different mechanisms of species coexistence in a community of rodents was examined in a semi-arid Kalahari savanna in southern Africa. The two most common species were Tatera leucogaster (bushveld gerbil) and Rhabdomys pumilio (striped mouse). The... -
Home range and seasonal movement of elephants in the Kunene Region, northwestern Namibia
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: African Zoology • Authors: Keith E.A. Leggett --- Namibian Elephant and Giraffe Trust, NamibiaThis paper examines the home ranges and seasonal movements of eight GPS-collared elephants (two females and six males) in the northwestern Kunene region of Namibia. Minimum convex polygon (MCP) and the fixed kernel density estimation (FKDE) methods were used to... -
Knowledge, treatment-seeking behaviour and socio-economic impact of malaria in the desert of Rajasthan, India
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: Southern African Journal of Epidemiology and Infection • Authors: S.P. Yadav --- , S. Yadav P. Kuma --- Desert Medicine Research Centre, India S. Yadav --- National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, IndiaClimate change has resulted in water mismanagement, increased population, urbanisation, industrialisation, poor sanitation and other developmental activities in the desert of Rajasthan. As a consequence, malariagenic conditions have developed and malaria is now a major public health problem in this... -
Late Pleistocene potential distribution of the North African sengi or elephant-shrew Elephantulus rozeti (Mammalia: Macroscelidea)
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: African Zoology • Authors: Árpád S. Nyári --- Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, U.S.A. Townsend A. Peterson&yg --- Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, U.S.A. Galen B. Rathbun --- Department of Ornithology and Mammalogy, California Academy of Sciences, U.S.A.The Sahara Desert was recently proposed as the agent of vicariant speciation in the North African elephant-shrew (order Macroscelidea, Elephantulus rozeti). Based on evidence from molecular dating, however, this speciation event was estimated as having occurred in the Miocene, an... -
Intraspecific behavioural variation in the lacertid lizard Meroles cuneirostris (Strauch, 1867) (Sauria:Lacertidae)
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: African Journal of Herpetology • Authors: Jackie L. Childers --- , , USA Douglas A. Eifler --- , USAWe characterised behavioural variation between adult male, adult female and juvenile Meroles cuneirostris, a diurnal lacertid lizard endemic to the Namib Desert. Variation in microhabitat preference was significant between age classes, as adults spent more time underneath vegetative cover than... -
The development of reforestation options for dryland farmland in south-western Australia: a review
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: Southern Forests: a Journal of Forest Science • Authors: Richard J Harper --- School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Australia Stanley J Sochacki --- School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Australia John F McGrath --- School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, AustraliaCurrent forest industries in south-western Australia are based on regrowth natural eucalypt forests and Pinus and Eucalyptus spp. plantations, and restricted to areas with >600 mm y−1 annual rainfall. Dryland farming systems have been developed across 20 million ha in... -
Distribution and breeding ecology of the Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca in Algeria
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: Ostrich: Journal of African Ornithology • Authors: Assia Djelailia --- Laboratoire de Conservation des Zones Humides, Algeria Nasser Baaziz --- Department of Animal Biology, Algeria Farrah Samraoui --- Laboratoire de Conservation des Zones Humides, Algeria Ahmed H Alfarhan --- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Saudi Arabia Boudjéma Samraoui --- Laboratoire de Conservation des Zones Humides, AlgeriaWe conducted a survey of the distribution of Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca across Algeria and analysed the influence of nest-site characteristics on nesting success at a Ramsar site, Lake Tonga. The species was found to occupy different wetlands (freshwater lakes,... -
Long-term changes in land use, land cover and vegetation in the Karoo drylands of South Africa: implications for degradation monitoring
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: African Journal of Range & Forage Science • Authors: M Timm Hoffman --- Department of Biological Sciences, South Africa Andrew Skowno --- South African National Biodiversity Institute, South Africa Wesley Bell --- Department of Biological Sciences, South Africa Samukele Mashele --- Department of Biological Sciences, South AfricaWe used several large data sets at a range of temporal and spatial scales to document the land-use/land-cover change (LULCC) dynamics of the semi-arid Succulent Karoo and Nama-Karoo biomes of South Africa. More than 95% of the Karoo is comprised... -
Links between introduced fish and zooplanktonic and zoobenthic food sources in the food webs of two reservoirs of a semi-arid zone in Algeria
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: African Journal of Aquatic Science • Authors: M Djezzar --- , Algeria JM Mortillaro --- , Madagascar SE Doumandji --- , Algeria T Meziane --- , FranceFew studies have focused on the trophic functioning of the reservoirs in Algeria. The study of the gut contents of fish species, as well as the analysis of the stable isotopes of 13C and 15N in the environment, were carried... -
Psychosocial coping mechanisms among uncircumcised Pokot women in North-Eastern Uganda
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: Journal of Psychology in Africa • Authors: Noah Kalengo --- Makerere University, Uganda Alone Isabirye --- Kyambogo University, Uganda John Bukusuba --- Makerere University, Uganda Laban K Musinguzi --- Makerere University, Uganda Janestic Mwende Twikirize --- Makerere University, UgandaUncircumcised women continue to be stigmatised with their rights and social status contested in communities where the practice is cherished. This study explored the circumcision refusal coping skills of women from the Pokot community, North-Eastern Uganda. Informants were 25 uncircumcised... -
Cranial osteology of the African gerrhosaurid Angolosaurus skoogi (Squamata; Gerrhosauridae)
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: The Journal of the Herpetological Association of Africa • Authors: HollyA. Nance --- The University of Texas, USAPhylogenetic relationships both within and between the scincomorph families Gerrhosauridae and Cordylidae are in need of re‐examination. Currently the basal gerrhosaurid is unknown, although Angolosaurus skoogi previously was proposed as the sister taxon to mainland African gerrhosaurids. Many details of... -
Living in a desert: examining scorpion beta diversity in Egyptian drylands from a macroecological perspective
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: African Zoology • Authors: André FA Lira --- Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, Brazil Stênio ÍA Foerster --- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Estonia Ahmed Badry --- Al-Azhar University, EgyptDrylands correspond to ca. 40% of the world’s land surface. Because of their ecological importance, these areas are regularly considered for agricultural purposes. Scorpion assemblages often exhibit higher levels of species diversity in dry habitats and are beneficial indicators in... -
Population status of the range-restricted Red Lark Calendulauda burra in a conservation area stronghold
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: Ostrich: Journal of African Ornithology • Authors: Ryno Kemp --- DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence at the FitzPatrick Institute, South Africa Robin Colyn --- BirdLife South Africa, Science and Innovation Programme, South Africa Marc T Freeman --- DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence at the FitzPatrick Institute, South Africa Andrew E McKechnie --- DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence at the FitzPatrick Institute, South AfricaMany desert birds are vulnerable to anthropogenic global warming and landscape transformation, particularly in the case of range-restricted species. We quantified suitable habitat and the current population of Red Larks Calendulauda burra (family Alaudidae), a range-restricted southern African species, in... -
The importance of Dakhla (Western Sahara) as a wintering site for Ospreys Pandion haliaetus: first systematic census
Item type: Journal Article • Journal: Ostrich: Journal of African Ornithology • Authors: Carlos A Torralvo --- CIMA, Spain Jorge García-Macía --- CIMA, Spain Miguel Ferrer --- CSIC, Spain Virginia Morandini --- National Museum of Natural Sciences of Madrid, CSIC, SpainThe Osprey Pandion haliaetus is a large piscivorous raptor with a world-wide distribution. European populations are often long-distance migrators, overwintering in different regions of Africa and the Mediterranean basin. Until now, citizen science and occasional reports suggested that the Dahkla...