Research Articles (Geography and Environmental Studies)
Recent Submissions
-
Spatial variation in school performance, a local analysis of socio-economic factors in Cape Town
(CONSAS Conference, 2014)Poor pass rates of matric learners at secondary schools in South Africa has been a concern for quite some time. Despite large government spending on education, research has shown that the South African schooling system ... -
Do social grants contribute to the jobless population growth in the former South African homelands?
(University of the Free State, 2018)The former homelands and tribal authorities have large populations and high densities with low levels of economic activity and low employment. Population growth in these settlements is in contrast to expectations of ... -
Measuring and modelling evapotranspiration in a South African grassland : comparison of two improved Penman-Monteith formulations
(South African Water Research Commission, 2018)Accurately measuring evapotranspiration (ET) is important in the context of global atmospheric changes and for use with climate models. Direct ET measurement is costly to apply widely and local calibration and validation ... -
The application of an Urban Sprawl Index : comparing towns and cities in the Western Cape Province, South Africa
(CONSAS, 2018)The incidence and effects of urban sprawl have been the subject of a great many academic research mainly as a result of the challenges posed by continued urbanisation, especially in developing countries (see inter alia ... -
Thesium nautimontanum, a new species of Thesiaceae (Santalales) from South Africa
(Pensoft Publishers, 2018)Thesium nautimontanum, a new species of Thesiaceae (Santalales) from South Africa -
Future land cover change scenarios in South African grasslands - implications of altered biophysical drivers on land management
(Elsevier, 2018)Future land cover changes may result in adjustments to biophysical drivers impacting on net ecosystem carbon exchange (NEE), catchment water use through evapotranspiration (ET), and the surface energy balance through a ... -
Fire and life history affect the distribution of plant species in a biodiversity hotspot
(Wiley, 2019)Aim: Species distribution models (SDMs) provide valuable insights into species–environment relationships and potential climate change impacts on diversity. Most SDMs do not account for the role of natural disturbance ... -
Reflections on student tourism research in South Africa
(AfricaJournals, 2017)In South Africa, the tourism system has seen considerable policy attention over the past twenty years. As a consequence, there has been a large body of scholarship tracing its development. Much of this work draws heavily ... -
Extreme 1-day rainfall distributions : analysing change in the Western Cape
(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2017)Severe floods in the Western Cape Province of South Africa have caused significant damage to property and infrastructure over the past decade (2003–2014). The hydrological design criteria for exposed structures and design ... -
Transferability of decision trees for land cover classification in a heterogeneous area
(CONSAS, 2017-04)As the value of accurate land cover becomes more apparent, methods to decrease the costs associated with supervised land cover mapping are investigated. One such method is to use training data captured in one scene and ... -
Are the walls giving way to fences? Is racial integration within Kwadukuza municipality leading to income-based class segregation?
(CONSAS, 2017-10)The racial and development imbalances created by apartheid have made a profound impact on the urban and social landscape in South Africa. Despite it being 20 years into the dawn of a new South Africa, many parts of society ... -
Quantitative risk analysis using vulnerability indicators to assess food insecurity in the Niayes agricultural region of West Senegal
(AOSIS Publishing, 2017)There is an increasing need to develop indicators of vulnerability and adaptive capacity to determine the robustness of response strategies over time and better understand the underlying processes. This study aimed to ... -
Collaborative risk governance in informal urban areas : the case of Wallacedene temporary relocation area
(AOSIS Publishing, 2017)Community-based disaster risk management (CBDRM) is an emancipatory approach that aims to empower local communities in reducing their own risks. A community risk assessment (CRA) is an essential element of CBDRM, incorporating ... -
Coping with drought : the experience of water sensitive urban design (WSUD) in the George Municipality
(Water Research Commission, 2015)This study investigated the extent of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) activities in the George Municipality in the Western Cape Province, South Africa, and its impact on water consumption. The WSUD approach aims to ... -
The use of Landsat and aerial photography for the assessment of coastal erosion and erosion susceptibility in False Bay, South Africa
(CONSAS Conference, 2015-06)Coastal erosion is a worldwide hazard, the consequences of which can only be mitigated via thorough and efficient monitoring of erosion. This study aimed to employ remote sensing techniques on aerial photographs and ... -
Identifying the challenges of creating an optimal dissemination geography for census
(CONSAS Conference, 2015-02)The importance of census data in government and private-sector planning cannot be underestimated. However, the geographic level at which it is made available for different users, is a highly debateable issue. ... -
Change detection of bare areas in the Xolobeni region, South Africa using Landsat NDVI
(CONSAS Conference, 2015-06)Identification and protection of areas that are vulnerable to erosion is essential for the conservation of the sensitive wetlands and estuarine ecosystems along the Xolobeni coastal strip. The forecasting ... -
Remote sensing training in African conservation
(Wiley, 2017-01)The potential of remote sensing (RS) to assist with conservation planning, implementation and monitoring is well described, and particularly relevant in African areas that are inaccessible due to terrain, finances or ... -
Free satellite data key to conservation
(American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2018-07)INTRODUCTION: Biodiversity is in crisis, with extinction rates orders of magnitude higher than background levels (1). Underfunded conservationists need to target their limited resources effectively. Over the past ... -
Development of a composite soil degradation assessment index for cocoa agroecosystems in southwestern Nigeria
(European Geosciences Union, 2017-08-09)Cocoa agroecosystems are a major land-use type in the tropical rainforest belt of West Africa, reportedly associated with several ecological changes, including soil degradation. This study aims to develop a composite soil ...
RSS 1.0