Research Articles (Conservation Ecology and Entomology)
Recent Submissions
-
Weed species, not mulching, affect web-building spiders and their prey in organic fruit orchards in South Africa
(Wiley Online, 2020)Weed infestation affects economically relevant orchard properties, including tree performance, yield, and fruit quality negatively, and weeds are therefore often controlled by herbicide application in conventional farming. ... -
SIZE ACROSS WEATHER GRADIENTS IN PILL MILLIPEDES (DIPLOPODA): I. FEMALE VOLUME AND PRECIPITATION
(2022-08-29)- Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) was investigated across weather gradients in southern African members of the pill millipede genus Sphaerotherium. Body width was extracted from published material (1928) and used to compare ... -
SIZE ACROSS WEATHER GRADIENTS IN PILL MILLIPEDES (DIPLOPODA): II. FEMALE VOLUME AND LOWEST NUMBER OF DAILY HOURS OF SUNSHINE (AVERAGE)
(2022-08-29)Sexual size dimorphism (SSD) was investigated across weather gradients in southern African members of the pill millipede genus Sphaerotherium. Body width was extracted from published material (1928) and used to compare ... -
Functional traits explain the Hutchinsonian niches of plant species
(Wiley, 2019-11-22)Aim: The Hutchinsonian niche is a foundational concept in ecology and evolutionary biology that describes fundamental characteristics of any species: the global maximum population growth rate (rmax); the niche optimum (the ... -
Scientists warning to humanity on insect extinctions
(2020-02)Here we build on the manifesto 'World Scientists' Warning to Humanity, issued by the Alliance of World Scientists. As a group of conservation biologists deeply concerned about the decline of insect populations, we here ... -
Solutions for humanity on how to conserve insects
(2020-02)The fate of humans and insects intertwine, especially through the medium of plants. Global environmental change, including land transformation and contamination, is causing concerning insect diversity loss, articulated in ... -
Costs of coexistence : understanding the drivers of tolerance towards Asian elephants Elephas maximus in rural Bangladesh
(Fauna & Flora International, 2020)Habitat degradation and fragmentation have heightened the importance of understanding human tolerance towards wildlife, as the fate of wildlife in multi-use landscapes depends on people's capacity for coexistence. We applied ... -
Potential of South African entomopathogenic nematodes to control the leaf miner, Holocacista capensis (Lepidoptera: Heliozelidae)
(MedPharm Publications, 2019)The Cape grapevine leafminer, Holocacista capensis, a sporadic pest of economic importance, is found in South African table and wine grape vineyards. The cocoon casings, constructed by the final instar larvae, can be found ... -
Human dependence on natural resources in rapidly urbanising South African regions
(IOP Publishing, 2019-03-29)Enhancing the governance of social-ecological systems for more equitable and sustainable development is hindered by inadequate knowledge about how different social groups and communities rely on natural resources. We used ... -
Global climate change as a driver of bottom-up and top-down factors in agricultural landscapes and the fate of host-parasitoid interactions
(Frontiers Media, 2019-03-28)The global climate is rapidly changing and the evidence is increasingly manifesting across various biological systems. For arthropods, several studies have demonstrated how changing climates affect their distribution through ... -
Insights on fostering the emergence of robust conservation actions from Zimbabwe's CAMPFIRE program
(Elsevier, 2019)One strategy to address threats to biodiversity in the face of ongoing budget constraints is to create an enabling environment that facilitates individuals, communities and other groups to self-organise to achieve conservation ... -
Building capacities for transformative change towards sustainability: imagination in intergovernmental science-policy scenario processes
(University of California Press, 2019-09-04)Scenario development has been recognized as a potential method to explore future change and stimulate a reflective process that can contribute to more informed decision-making. The assessment process under IPBES (the ... -
A continental-scale validation of ecosystem service models
(Springer, 2019-04-22)Faced with environmental degradation, governments worldwide are developing policies to safeguard ecosystem services (ES). Many ES models exist to support these policies, but they are generally poorly validated, especially ... -
Identifying and categorizing stakeholders for protected area expansion around a national park in Namibia
(Resilience Alliance, 2019)Protected areas and adjacent landscapes are increasingly being viewed as integrated. A more general awareness is emerging of the relevance of collectively managed landscapes for conservation and human well-being. In Namibia, ... -
Exploring the usefulness of scenario archetypes in science-policy processes : experience across IPBES assessments
(Resilience Alliance, 2019)Scenario analyses have been used in multiple science-policy assessments to better understand complex plausible futures. Scenario archetype approaches are based on the fact that many future scenarios have similar underlying ... -
Towards a global DNA barcode reference library for quarantine identifications of lepidopteran stemborers, with an emphasis on sugarcane pests
(2019)Lepidopteran stemborers are among the most damaging agricultural pests worldwide, able to reduce crop yields by up to 40%. Sugarcane is the world’s most prolific crop, and several stemborer species from the families ... -
Niche shift and resource supplementation facilitate an amphibian range expansion
(Wiley, 2019)Aim: To determine whether recent range expansion of small- bodied arboreal frogs, Hyperolius marmoratus Rapp, is accompanied by changes in species–environment re- lationships and whether its historical range was constrained ... -
An overview of mites on grapevine and the discovery of a new phytoseiidae species; typhlodromus (typhlodromus) spiceae
(South African Society for Enology and Viticulture, 2021)The common grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is the main species used for wine making, with South Africa being one of the top wine exporting countries. Grapevine is vulnerable to a range of pests, includingmites. We present ... -
A review of fire management practices in African savanna-protected areas
(AOSIS, 2021)The level of understanding of the ecological effects of fires has improved over the past century, but comprehensive information on the practical application of fire remains restricted to a few well-studied areas, and ... -
Grapevine leaf application of steinernema yirgalemense to control planococcus ficus in semi-field conditions
(South African Society for Enology and Viticulture, 2019)The vine mealybug, Planococcus ficus Signoret (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), is a key insect pest of South African grapevine. The ability of mealybugs to avoid or resist the action of chemical pesticides has led to the ...