Coupled with irreversible shifts, climate-driven disturbance of ecosystems will probably be the largest impact of climate change on humans. With higher rainfall variability and more intense events, separated by extended ...
Pollination of flowering plants is mostly facilitated by insects. However, there is a global decline in the pollination services caused by invasive alien plants (IAPs), excessive use of pesticides, habitat loss, and ...
Water availability plays an important role in the habitat requirements of bats. Previous studies have shown that water bodies (both natural and artificial) are used by bats and other animals for drinking water and foraging. ...
A general introduction about the need for studying forest dwelling primate populations in fragmented landscapes and more specifically in the Soutpansberg is given in Chapter 1. Forests affected by fragmentation are at ...
Stream flow and water temperature regimes are master variables driving river ecosystems, which determine the spatial and temporal dynamics of plant, benthic and other taxonomic groups in streams. Stream flow and water ...
Pangolins are medium-sized mammals, characterised by keratinous scales covering their entire body. There are currently eight species of pangolins left in the world with four occurring in Africa and four in Asia. All species ...
Mopane worm (Gonimbrasia belina Westwood) is an indigenous edible insect that periodically has population eruptions in Mopane tree (Colosphermum mopane) dominated vegetation. This insect is a valuable source of food and ...
An ever growing human population and accelerating land use change is associated with the
loss of species and their ecosystem services. Agricultural intensification has led to a
worldwide threat of extinction to about one ...
The order Rodentia is the most speciose group of mammals with muroids being the most diverse superfamily. Since they are represented in arboreal, semiaquatic, subterranean and terrestrial niches, rodents may exhibit ...
Invertebrate diversity is often neglected in conservation planning initiatives. There are also very
few large-scale diversity studies in Africa, with most studies being restricted to single properties
and spatial extents ...
Ecosystem services and disservices are important features in agro-ecosystems and both can have relevant economic impacts on farmers. While there has been much research on the value of ecosystem services, especially that ...
Many chemicals released into the environment are believed to disrupt normal endocrine functions in humans and animals. These endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) affect reproductive health and development. A major group ...
The adverse ecological effects of landscape modification by humans are well known and continue to be studied. Habitat disturbances arising from such modifications result in various levels of biodiversity loss. Amongst ...
The concept of taxonomic diversity has been widely used to investigate diversity patterns and the mechanism underlying community assembly. However, functional and trait diversity can further explain the factors driving ...