Browsing Masters Degrees (Zoology) by Title
Now showing items 1-20 of 94
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Aplexa marmorata (Guilding, 1828)(Basommatophora : Physidae) : an invasive freshwater snail in South Africa.
(2000)Invasions of ecosystems by alien species is a worldwide problem. Man, with his constant travelling, introduces organisms to places they have never occurred in before. The introductions may be accidental or deliberate. Some ... -
Arthropod diversity associated with fallen logs and woody litter on the forest floor on a small Seychelles island.
(2001)Cousine Island, Seychelles, is of major conservation significance as it is relatively pristine, and apparently the only tropical island over 20 ha with no alien invasive mammals. Such mammals, especially rodents, can ... -
Aspects of digestion and physiology in Wahlberg's epauletted fruit bat (Epomophorus wahlbergi)
(2012)Degradation of forest environments in South Africa have greatly affected both the plants and animals that interact with these plants. It is therefore important to understand plant-animal interactions in forest ecosystems ... -
Aspects of nocturnal physiology and behaviour in malachite sunbirds (Nectarina famosa).
(2007)Although sleep forms an important part of an animal’s life, there is a paucity of knowledge about sleep behaviour. The function of sleep in birds is poorly understood, even though birds spend a large part of their lives ... -
Aspects of the biology of the caracal (Felis caracal Schreber, 1776) in the Cape Province, South Africa.
(1982)Felis caracal, despite heavy hunting pressure, is common and widespread throughout the Cape Province. Caracal are considered to be the principal wild predator of domestic livestock (goats and sheep) by most farmers ... -
Aspects of the conservation of oribi (Ourebia ourebi) in KwaZulu-Natal.
(2006)The oribi Ourebia ourebi is probably South Africa's most endangered antelope. As a specialist grazer, it is extremely susceptible to habitat loss and the transformation of habitat by development. Another major threat to ... -
Avian fruit selection and sugar preferences.
(2010)It has been suggested that fruit features such as nutrient content, size and colour have co-evolved with dispersal agent behaviour, physiology and morphology. Avian nectarivore feeding ecology is relatively well studied; ... -
Biodiversity of spiders (Araneae) in a savanna ecosystem and the processes that influence their distribution.
(2000)I describe the spider biodiversity for a savanna ecosystem, assess sampling techniques, investigate surrogate measures of species richness and measure the biotic and abiotic processes affecting spider diversity. Spiders ... -
The biogeography of forest birds in the Limpopo Province, South Africa.
(2003)Forest assemblage composition is determined by local ecological (e.g. patch area, species interactions), landscape (e.g. patch connectivity) and regional (e.g. historical change in forest distribution) processes. I ... -
Biology of the Grey-headed gull Larus cirrocephalus in South Africa.
(2006)The biology of the Grey-headed Gull was studied between 2004 and 2005 in South Africa's Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Northern Cape provinces. Grey-headed Gulls have a widespread but patchy distribution in South Africa, occurring ... -
Biology of the greyheaded parrot Poicephalus fuscicollis suahelicus Reichnow.
(2001)This study was conducted to investigate the biology of the Greyheaded Parrot Poicephalus fuscicollis suahelicus in the wild. Field work was conducted in north-east South Africa in the southern limit of the range of the ... -
Bird community ecology and composition in afrotemperate forests of the Drakensberg Mountains, South Africa.
(2009)Recent research has emphasized the importance of understanding the consequences of species loss, not just for biodiversity per se, but also for ecosystem resilience and functioning. Firstly, a baseline analysis of the ... -
Bird community structure and convergence in Afromontane forest patches of the Karkloof/Balgowan range, KwaZulu-Natal.
(2001)Forest fragmentation is caused by the clearing of patches of indigenous vegetation for agriculture, urban development, and other human land uses. Such action results in patches of remnant natural vegetation being surrounded ... -
The breeding and reproductive biology of the vlei rat Otomys irroratus.
(1990)The breeding and reproductive biology of the vlei rat Otomys irroratus representing three allopatric populations (Committee's Drift, Hogsback and Karkloof) have been studied in the laboratory. The study attempted to establish ... -
Bushbuck ecology and management at Shongweni Dam and Game Reserve.
(2003)Msinsi Holdings (Pty) Ltd are considering the introduction of nyala to Shongweni Dam and Game Reserve in KZN. This reserve has a naturally resident population of bushbuck and is located beyond the natural distribution of ... -
Characterising microsatellite loci in the blue crane (Grus paradisea)
(2007)The blue crane (Grus paradisea) is endemic to southern Africa and has the smallest geographical range of the 15 crane species occurring world-wide. Although this species is still found throughout most of its historic ... -
Comparative aspects of the thermal biology of African and Australian parrots.
(2006)Deserticolous birds inhabit an environment characterised by high ambient temperatures and low rainfall that has low primary productivity. The combination of these factors may lead to the evolution of adaptations that ... -
A comparative study of agonistic behaviour in hairy-footed gerbils of the genus Gerbillurus (Shortridge, 1942)
(1990)Agonistic behaviour was investigated by means of staged encounters in three species and two subspecies of deserticolous rodents of the genus Gerbillurus Indiviuals of the species G.paeba paeba, G.paeba exilis, G. tytonis, ... -
Complementarity between two metrics which use invertebrates to assess riparian conditions of rivers.
(2005)Conservation of streams involves an understanding of their physical , chemical and biological entities. SASS5 is a biomonitoring method developed to monitor the habitat quality of a water body. It is based on differential ... -
Conservation of the great white pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus) and the pink-backed pelican (P. rufescens) in south eastern Africa.
(2006)Of the seven pelican species found world wide, only the Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus) and the Pink-backed Pelican (P. rufescens) are found in Africa. The KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa supports only ...