Browsing by Author "Crous, Casparus Johannes"
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- ItemThe mesofilter concept and biodiversity conservation in Afro-montane grasslands(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2013-03) Crous, Casparus Johannes; Samways, Michael J.; Pryke, James S.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of AgriSciences. Dept. of Conservation Ecology and Entomology.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Conservation planners use many traditional biodiversity conservation tools to help alleviate the global biodiversity crisis. However, ongoing biodiversity loss has stimulated the development of new and improved methods for conserving biodiversity. One such new conservation tool is the mesofilter approach. Mesofilters are biotic or abiotic ecosystem elements which are critical to the well-being of many species, and therefore could help to explain spatial heterogeneity in species across a landscape. It is also complementary to more traditionally used concepts such as coarse- and fine-filter conservation concepts. Applying the mesofilter approach in protected area, conservancy, or land-sparing design and management, could optimise biodiversity conservation in a rapidly developing world. For example, the timber industry has been pro-active in its approach to lessen biodiversity loss, by optimising design and management of the plantation matrix through ecological networks. Here, I explore the use of mesofilters within highly threatened remnant Afro-montane grasslands in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, to optimise biodiversity conservation planning for such landscapes. As per anecdotal evidence, I used rockiness in the landscape as a possible driver of species richness and species assemblage variability at the meso-scale, using a multi-taxon and multi-trophic approach. In this montane landscape, I also examined the effect of elevation on spatial heterogeneity of taxa. I further examined the functional responses of taxa to rockiness in the landscape. Rockiness in the landscape significantly influenced the species richness and assemblage structure of three key grassland taxa: flora, butterflies, and grasshoppers. I showed that for plants, this response was due to growth forms such as geophytes and perennial grasses that were more closely associated with rockiness, and therefore the main contributors to observed differences in the dispersion patterns of flora. Grasshoppers were not necessarily responding to higher rock exposure per se, but rather towards the environmental conditions created by rockiness within the landscape, such as lower vegetation density. For butterflies, certain behavioural traits, such as resting, territorial behaviour and/or mate-locating behaviour, were more typical in areas of higher rock exposure. This suggested that rocks are a definite habitat resource to certain butterflies. Overall, this finding where an abiotic surrogate is representative of key taxa in an ecosystem is interesting, as cross-taxon surrogacy has been shown to be stronger than surrogates based on environmental data. Furthermore, taxa responded functionally to rockiness in the landscape. This thesis therefore supports the idea that environmental surrogates are indeed useful for biodiversity conservation planning. Furthermore, ecosystems can potentially have many attributes or features that would be of conservation interest, and delineating a set of mesofilters is a useful way of expressing particular attributes to be used in wildlife conservation evaluation. The concept of the mesofilter as a practical biodiversity conservation tool is therefore validated here. I also argue the importance of habitat heterogeneity for biodiversity conservation planning in this montane grassland landscape. The potential for optimising the design of landscape configurations such as ecological networks, through information obtained from the mesofilter, is emphasised. We can safely add another tool in the biodiversity conservation toolbox of this Afro-montane grassland ecosystem.
- ItemVulnerability of selected native and invasive woody species to streamflow variability in Western Cape fynbos riparian ecotones(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2010-03) Crous, Casparus Johannes; Jacobs, Shayne Martin; Esler, Karen J.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Agrisciences. Dept. of Conservation Ecology and Entomology.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Riparian ecosystems of the Mediterranean south-western Cape region are projected to experience significant decreases in streamflow due to climate change and increased demands for water associated with human demographic trends and increasing living standards. Aggravating this problem are woody invasive alien plants, such as Acacia mearnsii, whose impacts, including those on catchment water yields, have justified extensive eradication programmes such as Working for Water (WfW). WfW has been highly successful in managing invasive alien species in some areas, while at the same time enhancing the quality of life of poor South Africans. Unfortunately, the managers of these eradication initiatives often experience a lack of information on the species- and site-specific ecological properties that may aid in prioritising sites more prone to invasion, essentially inhibiting accurate management output. Knowledge, such as that associated with the possible future distribution of invasive species in a changing environment, may help to optimise eradication initiatives. I therefore determined whether woody plants portray different physiological (vulnerability to cavitation) and wood anatomical traits (wood density, vessel resistance to implosion, vessel lumen and wall diameters) across three prominent riparian zones in the south-western Cape that each differ in streamflow quantity – to gain a mechanistic understanding of how woody species, especially invasive species, adapt their hydraulic strategy across this proxy for water availability. Using factorial ANOVA’s, to distinguish any differences in plant physiological and wood anatomical responses to water availability within and between species, showed Acacia mearnsii having consistently higher drought-tolerance (lower P50 values and denser wood) compared to native species under reduced water availability. These results supported the significant variation in drought-tolerance strategies that exist within and between taxonomically different species across different environments. Water availability thus has a strong selective effect on functional traits of species; however, minimum water potentials were more useful in describing in situ hydrological conditions than streamflow. Additionally, a non-causal relationship between wood anatomical traits and drought-induced cavitation was observed. Therefore, using only wood anatomical measurements to assess drought-tolerance of species might not be accurate across all species. This mechanistic approach to assess the invasive potential of species under projected drier conditions has great practical value. It can be used to improve species selection for restoration initiatives, and is of great value for future use in prioritizing eradication programmes.