Browsing Masters Degrees (Zoology) by Title
Now showing items 8-27 of 94
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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 ... -
A critical assessment of the dendrochirotid subfamilies, sclerodactylinae and thyoninae, with the taxonomic management of the "supergenus" thyone (echinodermata : holothuroidea)
(2011)The key character separating the dendrochirotid families Sclerodactylidae (sensu Pawson & Fell, 1965) and the Phyllophoridae (sensu Pawson & Fell, 1965), i.e. entire or undivided radial processes to the calcareous ring ... -
Designing a dragonfly trail in the National Botanical Gardens, Pietermaritzburg.
(1999)Dragonfly assemblages and their biotope preferences in the National Botanical Gardens, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa were investigated. The information served as background for increasing public awareness and education ... -
Determinants of elephant spatial use, habitat selection and daily movement patterns in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park.
(2011)The ecological role of large herbivores is increasingly recognized due to their ability to influence ecosystem functioning and their impacts on faunal and floral assemblages. Knowledge on the determinants of spatial ... -
Diet, home range and movement patterns of serval on farmland in Natal.
(1990)Servals (Felis serval) are rare cats occurring in the Natal midlands farmland, Drakensberg mountains and in game reserves in Zululand. They are thought to be extremely uncommon on farmland, yet are sometimes caught and ... -
The distribution and abundance of the humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) along the Natal coast, South Africa.
(1994)Populations of the humpback dolphin in Natal, South Africa, are subject to increasing pressures including capture in the shark nets and habitat degradation, and concern has been raised about the status of the population. ... -
Drivers of bat fly diversity and prevalence of six Rhinolophus bat species in southern Africa.
(2016)Demographic and ecological characteristics render obligate cave roosting bats highly susceptible to infestation by ectoparasites. However, the patterns and factors of ectoparasite loads among bat host species are understudied, ... -
Eavesdropping : how do vervet monkeys perceive the alarm calls of other species?.
(2013)Perceived predation risk has a large impact on how prey species utilise landscapes. In an effort to reduce predation risk, individuals tend to utilise safer areas more than unsafe areas. How perceived predation risk affects ...