Browsing Research Articles (Botany and Zoology) by Title
Now showing items 1-20 of 257
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‘African dinosaurs’ : permanent new exhibition at the South African Museum
(AOSIS OpenJournals, 2010-08)The new ‘African dinosaurs’ exhibit at the Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town capitalises on a fascination that almost every person – old and (especially) young – has with dinosaurs. A highway into the human ... -
African medicinal flora in the limelight
(AOSIS OpenJournals, 2011-10)In the past few years, African medicinal plants have received considerable attention, and it has been lamented that the documentation of the continent’s species that are used in traditional medicine lags behind China and ... -
Alien plant invasions and native plant extinctions : a six-threshold framework
(Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company, 2016-07-15)Biological invasions are widely acknowledged as a major threat to global biodiversity. Species from all major taxonomic groups have become invasive. The range of impacts of invasive taxa and the overall magnitude of the ... -
Alien reptiles and amphibians in South Africa : towards a pragmatic management strategy
(Academy of Science of South Africa -ASSAf, 2008-02)Biological invasions are a growing problem in South Africa. Many alien species have been introduced for various reasons and through multiple pathways over the past few centuries. Invasive alien reptiles and amphibians ... -
Alien species in South Africa’s national parks
(AOSIS OpenJournals, 2011-08)Invasive alien species (IAS) are one of the major threats to biodiversity in protected areas and pose a significant management challenge (see Allen, Brown & Stohlgren 2009; Pyšek, Jarošík & Kučera 2002). One of the first ... -
Antarctic marine biodiversity and deep-sea hydrothermal vents
(Public Library of Science -- PLOS, 2012-01)The diversity of many marine benthic groups is unlike that of most other taxa. Rather than declining from the tropics to the poles, much of the benthos shows high diversity in the Southern Ocean. Moreover, many species are ... -
Antibacterial, antioxidant and tyrosinase-inhibition activities of pomegranate fruit peel methanolic extract
(BioMed Central, 2012-10)Abstract Background This study evaluated, using in vitro assays, the antibacterial, antioxidant, and tyrosinase-inhibition activities of methanolic extracts from peels of seven ... -
An approach to the development of a national strategy for controlling invasive alien plant species : the case of Parthenium hysterophorus in South Africa
(AOSIS Publishing, 2016)Invasive alien species require co-ordinated strategic management if negative impacts are to be effectively avoided. Here we describe a strategy for the management of Parthenium hysterophorus L. (Asteraceae) in South Africa. ... -
Arbuscular mycorrhizal colonisation modifies the water relations of young transplanted grapevines (vitis)
(South African Society for Enology and Viticulture, 2004)The effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) colonisation on the alleviation of transplantation shock in young grapevines was investigated. One-year-old grapevines (Sauvignon blanc on Richter 99), colonised with Glomus ... -
Are invasive populations characterized by a broader diet than native populations?
(PeerJ, 2017)Background. Invasive species are among the most significant threats to biodiversity. The diet of invasive animal populations is a crucial factor that must be considered in the context of biological invasions. A broad ... -
Assessing the effectiveness of invasive alien plant management in a large fynbos protected area
(AOSIS Publishing, 2017)Background: Concern has been expressed about the effectiveness of invasive alien plant (IAP) control operations carried out by Working for Water (WfW). South African legislation now also requires reporting on the ... -
Assessing the effects of climate change on distributions of Cape Floristic Region amphibians
(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2015)Climatic changes have had profound impacts on species distributions throughout time. In response, species have shifted ranges, adapted genetically and behaviourally or become extinct. Using species distribution models, ... -
Assessing the status of biological control as a management tool for suppression of invasive alien plants in South Africa
(AOSIS Publishing, 2017)Background: Biological control of invasive alien plants (IAPs) using introduced natural enemies contributes significantly to sustained, cost-effective management of natural resources in South Africa. The status of, and ... -
An assessment of climate, weather, and fuel factors influencing a large, destructive wildfire in the Knysna region, South Africa
(SpringerOpen, 2018-08-30)Background: In June 2017, wildfires burned 15 000 ha around the town of Knysna in the Western Cape, destroying > 800 buildings, > 5000 ha of forest plantations, and claiming the lives of seven people. We examined the ... -
An assessment of the evolution, costs and effectiveness of alien plant control operations in Kruger National Park, South Africa
(Pensoft Publishers, 2017-06-02)Alien plants were first recorded in 1937 in the 2 million ha Kruger National Park (KNP, a savanna protected area in South Africa), and attempts to control them began in the mid-1950s. The invasive alien plant control ... -
An assessment of the information content of South African alien species databases
(http://www.aosis.co.za/, 2015-05)National alien species databases indicate the state of a country’s biodiversity and provide useful data for research on invasion biology and the management of invasions. In South Africa there are several different published ... -
The balance of trade in alien species between South Africa and the rest of Africa
(AOSIS Publishing, 2017)Background: Alien organisms are not only introduced from one biogeographical region to another but also spread within regions. As South Africa shares land borders with six countries, multiple opportunities exist for the ... -
Basal metabolic rate of the black-faced sheathbill (chionis minor) : intraspecific variation in a phylogenetically distinct island endemic
(University of Chicago Press Journals, 2016)Metabolic rate is a fundamental characteristic of all organisms. It covaries most significantly with activity, body mass, seasonality, and temperature. Nonetheless, substantial additional variation in metabolic rate, ... -
The behavior-physiology nexus : behavioral and physiological compensation are relied on to different extents between seasons
(University of Chicago Press Journals, 2015)Environmental variability occurring at different timescales can significantly reduce performance, resulting in evolutionary fitness costs. Shifts in thermoregulatory behavior, metabolism, and water loss via phenotypic ... -
Behavioural and chemical evidence for multiple colonisation of the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, in the Western Cape, South Africa
(BioMed Central, 2011-02)Abstract: Background: The Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, is a widespread invasive ant species that has successfully established in nearly all continents across the globe. Argentine ants are characterised by a social ...
