Research Articles (Conservation Ecology and Entomology)
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Determining the diet of an African mesocarnivore, the caracal: scat or GPS cluster analysis?
(Nordic Council for Wildlife Research, 2019)The caracal Caracal caracal is the largest of Africa's small felids (<20 kg). Across much of Africa, particularly where larger predators have been extirpated, caracal are one of the main carnivores contributing to livestock ... -
Honeybush (Cyclopia spp.) phenology and associated arthropod diversity in the Overberg region, South Africa
(AOSIS, 2019)Background: Cyclopia is endemic to regions of the Cape Floristic Region across the Eastern and Western Cape provinces of South Africa and is commonly known as honeybush. Honeybush has historically been used as an herbal ... -
Laboratory bioassays on the susceptibility of trimen’s false tiger moth, agoma trimenii (lepidoptera : agaristidae), to entomopathogenic nematodes and fungi
(South African Society for Enology and Viticulture, 2020)Trimen’s false tiger moth, Agoma trimenii (Lepidoptera: Agaristidae), recently developed as a pest of grapevine in the Northern Cape and Limpopo (Groblersdal area) provinces of South Africa. Little is known about the biology ... -
A review of trimen’s false tiger moth, agoma trimenii (lepidoptera: agaristidae) : seasonal biology, potential monitoring and control techniques
(South African Society for Enology and Viticulture, 2020)Trimen’s false tiger moth, Agoma trimenii (Lepidoptera: Agaristidae), has recently been found to occur in vineyards in the Northern Cape and Limpopo (Groblersdal area) provinces of South Africa. As little is known about ... -
IMA Genome - F13 : Draft genome sequences of Ambrosiella cleistominuta, Cercospora brassicicola, C. citrullina, Physcia stellaris, and Teratosphaeria pseudoeucalypti
(BMC (part of Springer Nature), 2020-09-24)Draft genomes of the fungal species Ambrosiella cleistominuta, Cercospora brassicicola, C. citrullina, Physcia stellaris, and Teratosphaeria pseudoeucalypti are presented. Physcia stellaris is an important lichen forming ... -
Effectiveness of private land conservation areas in maintaining natural land cover and biodiversity intactness
(Elsevier, 2020)Private land conservation areas (PLCAs) are increasingly looked to for meeting the deficit left by state-owned protected areas in reaching global conservation targets. However, despite the increasing extent and recognition ... -
Private rhino conservation : diverse strategies adopted in response to the poaching crisis
(Wiley Open Access, 2020)Private landowners in South Africa conserve roughly 40% of white rhinos globally. Given concerns that escalating poaching has caused private‐rhino owners to disinvest, we used a national survey to assess 171 private‐rhino ... -
Phylogeography, genetic diversity, and population structure of Nile crocodile populations at the fringes of the southern African distribution
(Public Library of Science, 2018)Nile crocodiles are apex predators widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa that have been viewed and managed as a single species. A complex picture of broad and fine-scale phylogeographic patterns that includes the ... -
Is cattle grazing more important than landscape heterogeneity for grasshoppers in Afromontane grassland?
(Pensoft Publishers, 2018-06-12)Overgrazing is a major driver of habitat degradation, especially in southern Africa. Although grasshoppers are adapted to and benefit from natural disturbances, such as grazing by indigenous game and burning, we do not ... -
Mature larval dispersal and adult emergence of the economically significant pest, Scirtothrips aurantii Faure (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), in commercial citrus
(Oxford University Press, 2018)Scirtothrips aurantii Faure (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) is a major pest of citrus fruit in subtropical southern Africa. Population monitoring is an important aspect of S. aurantii control, but additional information is ... -
Sciarid pests (Diptera: Sciaridae) from undercover crop production in South Africa
(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2020-03-26)Fungus gnats (sciarids) are among the most important pests in undercover crop production. They cause direct physical damage to plant roots, transfer fungal pathogens and create entry points for soil-borne plant pathogens. ... -
Repression of sex4 and like sex four2 orthologs in potato increases tuber starch bound phosphate with concomitant alterations in starch properties physical
(Frontiers Media, 2018-07-23)To examine the roles of starch phosphatases in potatoes, transgenic lines were produced where orthologs of SEX4 and LIKE SEX FOUR2 (LSF2) were repressed using RNAi constructs. Although repression of either SEX4 or LSF2 ... -
Geographic variation and plasticity in climate stress resistance among southern African populations of Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae)
(Nature Research, 2018-06-29)Traits of thermal sensitivity or performance are typically the focus of species distribution modelling. Among-population trait variation, trait plasticity, population connectedness and the possible climatic covariation ... -
Biocultural diversity : a Mongolian case study
(Resilience Alliance, 2019)Although conceptual frameworks describing biodiversity and cultural keystone species have been widely accepted over the past 15 years, there remains a need for an overarching framework that covers the various components ... -
Effectiveness of private land conservation areas in maintaining natural land cover and biodiversity intactness
(Elsevier, 2020)Private land conservation areas (PLCAs) are increasingly looked to for meeting the deficit left by state-owned protected areas in reaching global conservation targets. However, despite the increasing extent and recognition ... -
Alien plants have greater impact than habitat fragmentation on native insect flower visitation networks
(Wiley, 2018)Aim: Habitat fragmentation and alien species are among the leading causes of biodiversity loss. In an attempt to reduce the impact of forestry on natural systems, networks of natural corridors and patches of natural habitat ... -
Moving from representation to persistence : the capacity of Australia’s National Reserve System to support viable populations of mammals
(Wiley, 2018)Aim: Species require sufficiently large and connected areas of suitable habitat to support populations that can persist through change. With extensive alteration of unprotected natural habitat, there is increasing risk ... -
Species turnover in plants does not predict turnover in flower-visiting insects
(PeerJ, 2018)Congruence between plant and insect diversity is considered possibly useful in conservation planning, as the better known plants could be surrogates for the lesser known insects. There has been little quantification of ... -
Range expansion of the economically important Asiatic blue tick, Rhipicephalus microplus, in South Africa
(AOSIS, 2017-12-08)The Asiatic blue tick, Rhipicephalus microplus, a known vector of bovine babesiosis and bovine anaplasmosis, is of great concern in the cattle industry. For this reason, detailed knowledge of the distribution of R. microplus ... -
Why do models of insect respiratory patterns fail?
(Company of Biologists, 2018)Insects exchange respiratory gases using an astonishing diversity of patterns. Of these, discontinuous gas exchange cycles (DGCs) have received the most study, but there are many other patterns exhibited intraspecifically ...
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