Inkcubeko Nendalo: a bio-cultural diversity schools education project in South Africa and its implications for inclusive Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) Sustainability.
- Cocks, Michelle L, Alexander, Jamie K, Dold, Anthony P
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Alexander, Jamie K , Dold, Anthony P
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141187 , vital:37951 , DOI: 10.1177/0973408212475232
- Description: South Africa is currently the world’s third most biodiverse country, with one of the highest concentrations of threatened biodiversity in the world. Emerging research reveals the increasing pressure on this biodiversity with many wild resources continuing to be utilised for livelihood purposes even within urban environments. The Rio conventions, particularly the CBD, call for an integrated approach to conservation that incorporates local environmental knowledge and practices. In a bid to market itself as globally competitive, South Africa’s Curriculum 2005 (C 2005) is primarily focused on Western-based scientific knowledge, which sidelines the contribution of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) and ignores the holistic nature of indigenous worldviews. The Inkcubeko Nendalo programme is designed to revitalise cultural identity, showing children the value of local indigenous knowledge and cultural environmental values.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Alexander, Jamie K , Dold, Anthony P
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141187 , vital:37951 , DOI: 10.1177/0973408212475232
- Description: South Africa is currently the world’s third most biodiverse country, with one of the highest concentrations of threatened biodiversity in the world. Emerging research reveals the increasing pressure on this biodiversity with many wild resources continuing to be utilised for livelihood purposes even within urban environments. The Rio conventions, particularly the CBD, call for an integrated approach to conservation that incorporates local environmental knowledge and practices. In a bid to market itself as globally competitive, South Africa’s Curriculum 2005 (C 2005) is primarily focused on Western-based scientific knowledge, which sidelines the contribution of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) and ignores the holistic nature of indigenous worldviews. The Inkcubeko Nendalo programme is designed to revitalise cultural identity, showing children the value of local indigenous knowledge and cultural environmental values.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Nanostructured β-cyclodextrin-hyperbranched polyethyleneimine (β-CD-HPEI) embedded in polysulfone membrane for the removal of humic acid from water
- Malinga, S P, Arotiba, O A, Mapolie, S F, Diallo, M S, Mamba, Bhekie B, Krause, Rui W M
- Authors: Malinga, S P , Arotiba, O A , Mapolie, S F , Diallo, M S , Mamba, Bhekie B , Krause, Rui W M
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/125119 , vital:35732 , https://doi.org/10.1080/01496395.2013.809108
- Description: The synthesis of a new β-cyclodextrin-hyperbranched polyethyleneimine (β-CD-HPEI)/polysulfone (PSf) membranes via interfacial polymerization of trimesoyl chloride and β-CD-HPEI is described in this paper. The membranes were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), high resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM) and contact-angle measurements. Water permeability and rejection data were obtained using a cross-flow filtration system at 0.69 MPa. The membranes were hydrophilic (25° to 63°), showed high humic acid rejection (>amp;80%), and maintained a constant flux throughout the filtration. The modified membranes were rougher than the pristine PSf membranes but they exhibited better antifouling properties due to the hydrophilic surface which acted as a barrier against humic acid deposition. The modification of PSf with β-CD-HPEI resulted in enhanced hydrophilicity and water permeability while still maintaining high humic acid rejection. Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Separation Science & Technology to view the supplemental file.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Malinga, S P , Arotiba, O A , Mapolie, S F , Diallo, M S , Mamba, Bhekie B , Krause, Rui W M
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/125119 , vital:35732 , https://doi.org/10.1080/01496395.2013.809108
- Description: The synthesis of a new β-cyclodextrin-hyperbranched polyethyleneimine (β-CD-HPEI)/polysulfone (PSf) membranes via interfacial polymerization of trimesoyl chloride and β-CD-HPEI is described in this paper. The membranes were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), high resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM) and contact-angle measurements. Water permeability and rejection data were obtained using a cross-flow filtration system at 0.69 MPa. The membranes were hydrophilic (25° to 63°), showed high humic acid rejection (>amp;80%), and maintained a constant flux throughout the filtration. The modified membranes were rougher than the pristine PSf membranes but they exhibited better antifouling properties due to the hydrophilic surface which acted as a barrier against humic acid deposition. The modification of PSf with β-CD-HPEI resulted in enhanced hydrophilicity and water permeability while still maintaining high humic acid rejection. Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Separation Science & Technology to view the supplemental file.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Politics of the strange: revisiting Pieter Hugo's Nollywood
- Authors: Makhubu, Nomusa
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147582 , vital:38651 , https://doi.org/10.1162/AFAR_a_00044
- Description: In a photographic essay accomplished between 2008 and 2009, South African photographer Pieter Hugo depicts ambiguous images of “supernatural” characters in Nigeria’s Nollywood.1 The majority of these photographs were taken in Enugu. Hugo’s Nollywood (2008/2009) has been exhibited widely in South Africa and in European, Australian, and American cities such as Rome, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Terragona, New York, Los Angeles, Sydney, and Adelaide as well as Auckland, New Zealand. Each portrait illustrates the grotesque in Nollywood.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Makhubu, Nomusa
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147582 , vital:38651 , https://doi.org/10.1162/AFAR_a_00044
- Description: In a photographic essay accomplished between 2008 and 2009, South African photographer Pieter Hugo depicts ambiguous images of “supernatural” characters in Nigeria’s Nollywood.1 The majority of these photographs were taken in Enugu. Hugo’s Nollywood (2008/2009) has been exhibited widely in South Africa and in European, Australian, and American cities such as Rome, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Terragona, New York, Los Angeles, Sydney, and Adelaide as well as Auckland, New Zealand. Each portrait illustrates the grotesque in Nollywood.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Rules of attraction: the role of bait in small mammal sampling at high altitude in South Africa
- Kok, Armand D, Parker, Daniel M, Barker, Nigel P
- Authors: Kok, Armand D , Parker, Daniel M , Barker, Nigel P
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/443936 , vital:74173 , https://doi.org/10.1080/15627020.2013.11407571
- Description: Baits or lures are commonly used for surveying small mammal communities, not only because they attract large numbers of these animals, but also because they provide sustenance for trapped individuals. In this study we used Sherman live traps with five bait treatments to sample small mammal populations at three high-altitude sites (>1700 m) in the Sneeuberg Mountain Complex of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.We investigated the influence of bait treatment on three parameters commonly recorded in small mammal surveys. In addition, we investigated how different bait treatments vary in measuring species richness using the Chao 2 species richness estimator together with rarefaction curves. Overall, 12 small mammal species were sampled. A combination of birdseed and banana captured the highest number of species (11) but the most successful bait overall was peanut butter and oats (greatest number of captures, recaptures, number of individuals and highest Shannon diversity). The Chao 2 richness estimator indicated that four of the five bait treatments reached their sampling capacity. Rarefaction curves indicated that all bait treatments are similar with regard to species accumulation. This could possibly be explained by odours left behind in traps as even un-baited traps (i.e. controls) captured seven different small mammal species. We conclude that the most suitable bait for surveying small mammals at high altitude in South Africa is peanut butter and oats. However, using peanut butter and oats in combination with other bait treatments will improve estimates of diversity when surveying small mammal communities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Kok, Armand D , Parker, Daniel M , Barker, Nigel P
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/443936 , vital:74173 , https://doi.org/10.1080/15627020.2013.11407571
- Description: Baits or lures are commonly used for surveying small mammal communities, not only because they attract large numbers of these animals, but also because they provide sustenance for trapped individuals. In this study we used Sherman live traps with five bait treatments to sample small mammal populations at three high-altitude sites (>1700 m) in the Sneeuberg Mountain Complex of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.We investigated the influence of bait treatment on three parameters commonly recorded in small mammal surveys. In addition, we investigated how different bait treatments vary in measuring species richness using the Chao 2 species richness estimator together with rarefaction curves. Overall, 12 small mammal species were sampled. A combination of birdseed and banana captured the highest number of species (11) but the most successful bait overall was peanut butter and oats (greatest number of captures, recaptures, number of individuals and highest Shannon diversity). The Chao 2 richness estimator indicated that four of the five bait treatments reached their sampling capacity. Rarefaction curves indicated that all bait treatments are similar with regard to species accumulation. This could possibly be explained by odours left behind in traps as even un-baited traps (i.e. controls) captured seven different small mammal species. We conclude that the most suitable bait for surveying small mammals at high altitude in South Africa is peanut butter and oats. However, using peanut butter and oats in combination with other bait treatments will improve estimates of diversity when surveying small mammal communities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Stable isotope analysis indicates a lack of inter-and intra-specific dietary redundancy among ecologically important coral reef fishes
- Plass-Johnson, Jeremiah G, McQuaid, Christopher D, Hill, Jaclyn M
- Authors: Plass-Johnson, Jeremiah G , McQuaid, Christopher D , Hill, Jaclyn M
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/444611 , vital:74254 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-012-0988-7
- Description: Parrotfish are critical consumers on coral reefs, mediating the balance between algae and corals, and are often categorised into three functional groups based on adult morphology and feeding behaviour. We used stable isotope analysis (δ13C, δ15N) to investigate size-related ontogenetic dietary changes in multiple species of parrotfish on coral reefs around Zanzibar. We compared signatures among species and functional groups (scrapers, excavators and browsers) as well as ontogenetic stages (immature, initial and terminal phase) within species. Stable isotope analysis suggests that ontogenetic dietary shifts occurred in seven of the nine species examined; larger individuals had enriched δ13C values, with no relationship between size and δ15N. The relationship between fish length and δ13C signature was maintained when species were categorised as scrapers and excavators, but was more pronounced for scrapers than excavators, indicating stronger ontogenetic changes. Isotopic mixing models classified the initial phase of both the most abundant excavator (Chlorurus sordidus) as a scraper and the immature stage of the scraper Scarus ghobban (the largest species) as an excavator, indicating that diet relates to size rather than taxonomy. The results indicate that parrotfish may show similar intra-group changes in diet with length, but that their trophic ecology is more complex than suggested by morphology alone. Stable isotope analyses indicate that feeding ecology may differ among species within functional groups, and according to ontogenetic stage within a species.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Plass-Johnson, Jeremiah G , McQuaid, Christopher D , Hill, Jaclyn M
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/444611 , vital:74254 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-012-0988-7
- Description: Parrotfish are critical consumers on coral reefs, mediating the balance between algae and corals, and are often categorised into three functional groups based on adult morphology and feeding behaviour. We used stable isotope analysis (δ13C, δ15N) to investigate size-related ontogenetic dietary changes in multiple species of parrotfish on coral reefs around Zanzibar. We compared signatures among species and functional groups (scrapers, excavators and browsers) as well as ontogenetic stages (immature, initial and terminal phase) within species. Stable isotope analysis suggests that ontogenetic dietary shifts occurred in seven of the nine species examined; larger individuals had enriched δ13C values, with no relationship between size and δ15N. The relationship between fish length and δ13C signature was maintained when species were categorised as scrapers and excavators, but was more pronounced for scrapers than excavators, indicating stronger ontogenetic changes. Isotopic mixing models classified the initial phase of both the most abundant excavator (Chlorurus sordidus) as a scraper and the immature stage of the scraper Scarus ghobban (the largest species) as an excavator, indicating that diet relates to size rather than taxonomy. The results indicate that parrotfish may show similar intra-group changes in diet with length, but that their trophic ecology is more complex than suggested by morphology alone. Stable isotope analyses indicate that feeding ecology may differ among species within functional groups, and according to ontogenetic stage within a species.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
The South African Art Centre: a bygone ideology of Critical Selfhood?
- Authors: Lochner, Eben
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147615 , vital:38654 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1080/09528822.2013.795697
- Description: The political posters produced by art centres are their most celebrated contribution to the struggle to end Apartheid. However art centres made another valuable contribution by encouraging a form of critical selfhood. This type of internal struggle against inferiority was formulated by the Black Consciousness Movement and is an important element in transformation. However with the end of Apartheid this contribution seems to have been dismissed, alongside poster production, as irrelevant to the new nation. The author investigates how the art centre functioned as a vehicle for critical selfhood and argues for its contemporary relevance.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Lochner, Eben
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147615 , vital:38654 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1080/09528822.2013.795697
- Description: The political posters produced by art centres are their most celebrated contribution to the struggle to end Apartheid. However art centres made another valuable contribution by encouraging a form of critical selfhood. This type of internal struggle against inferiority was formulated by the Black Consciousness Movement and is an important element in transformation. However with the end of Apartheid this contribution seems to have been dismissed, alongside poster production, as irrelevant to the new nation. The author investigates how the art centre functioned as a vehicle for critical selfhood and argues for its contemporary relevance.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
The supernatural detective: witchcraft crime narratives in the Daily Sun
- Authors: Boshoff, Priscilla A
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/143447 , vital:38247 , DOI: 10.1080/1013929X.2013.833420
- Description: Reports of witchcraft crimes are a staple feature in the South African tabloid newspaper, the Daily Sun. Instead of dismissing these sensational and seemingly implausible narratives, this paper examines them as ‘fictions’ through the lens of theory developed for the analysis of detective fiction. It draws on Huhn's (1987) model of the readerly relationships established by the narrative forms of the classical detective story and the hard-boiled novel in order to show how the reportage, together with its expected reception, reveals subliminal tensions within working-class black culture. Ironically, such a reading illustrates how the brazen and emotive nature of the tabloid text, which signals for some its untrustworthiness, perhaps comes closer to telling a ‘truth’ about contemporary South African society than the most ‘objective’ reports.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Boshoff, Priscilla A
- Date: 2013
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/143447 , vital:38247 , DOI: 10.1080/1013929X.2013.833420
- Description: Reports of witchcraft crimes are a staple feature in the South African tabloid newspaper, the Daily Sun. Instead of dismissing these sensational and seemingly implausible narratives, this paper examines them as ‘fictions’ through the lens of theory developed for the analysis of detective fiction. It draws on Huhn's (1987) model of the readerly relationships established by the narrative forms of the classical detective story and the hard-boiled novel in order to show how the reportage, together with its expected reception, reveals subliminal tensions within working-class black culture. Ironically, such a reading illustrates how the brazen and emotive nature of the tabloid text, which signals for some its untrustworthiness, perhaps comes closer to telling a ‘truth’ about contemporary South African society than the most ‘objective’ reports.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Traditions and new niches: An overview of environmental education curriculum and learning research
- Lotz-Sisitka, Heila, Fien, John, Ketlhoilwe, Mphemelang
- Authors: Lotz-Sisitka, Heila , Fien, John , Ketlhoilwe, Mphemelang
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/437323 , vital:73370 , ISBN 9780203813331 , https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203813331-26/traditions-new-niches-heila-lotz-sisitka-john-fien-mphemelang-ketlhoilwe
- Description: In this chapter we consider the traditions of environmental ed-ucation curriculum and learning research, their relationship to wider education research traditions, and point to new niches for curriculum and learning research, as opened up (in part) 1 through the contributions in this section of the IRHEE. The chapter points to the fact that environmental education re-search seems to primarily be seeking to fulfill a “cultural inno-vation role” in the wider education research landscape, carving out niches and spaces that speak to educational innova-tion/transformation and change. This may in part be due to its “youthfulness” within the more established and traditional edu-cation research landscape and trajectory, but also to its trans-formative intent. Environmental education researchers such as Stevenson (2007) continue to lament the “marginal” or “perma-nently peripheral” status of environmental education and envi-ronmental education research, noting that it is almost impossi-ble to situate effectively within modernist educational para-digms oriented mostly toward reproduction of existing cultures and practices, traditions which continue to characterize formal education institutional settings.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Lotz-Sisitka, Heila , Fien, John , Ketlhoilwe, Mphemelang
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/437323 , vital:73370 , ISBN 9780203813331 , https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203813331-26/traditions-new-niches-heila-lotz-sisitka-john-fien-mphemelang-ketlhoilwe
- Description: In this chapter we consider the traditions of environmental ed-ucation curriculum and learning research, their relationship to wider education research traditions, and point to new niches for curriculum and learning research, as opened up (in part) 1 through the contributions in this section of the IRHEE. The chapter points to the fact that environmental education re-search seems to primarily be seeking to fulfill a “cultural inno-vation role” in the wider education research landscape, carving out niches and spaces that speak to educational innova-tion/transformation and change. This may in part be due to its “youthfulness” within the more established and traditional edu-cation research landscape and trajectory, but also to its trans-formative intent. Environmental education researchers such as Stevenson (2007) continue to lament the “marginal” or “perma-nently peripheral” status of environmental education and envi-ronmental education research, noting that it is almost impossi-ble to situate effectively within modernist educational para-digms oriented mostly toward reproduction of existing cultures and practices, traditions which continue to characterize formal education institutional settings.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Econometric Techniques: ECO 513
- Authors: Zeketha, T Z , Nel, H
- Date: 2012-02
- Subjects: Econometrics
- Language: English
- Type: Examination paper
- Identifier: vital:18082 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1010757
- Description: Econometric Techniques: ECO 513, special examination February 2012.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2012-02
- Authors: Zeketha, T Z , Nel, H
- Date: 2012-02
- Subjects: Econometrics
- Language: English
- Type: Examination paper
- Identifier: vital:18082 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1010757
- Description: Econometric Techniques: ECO 513, special examination February 2012.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2012-02
Civil society and state-centred struggles
- Authors: Helliker, Kirk D
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/71231 , vital:29821 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02589001.2012.641723
- Description: This article is about civil society and state-centred struggles in contemporary Zimbabwe. I first identify and outline three current understandings of civil society. Two understandings (one Liberal, one Radical) are state-centric and exist firmly within the logic of state discourses and state politics. A third understanding, also Radical, is society-centric and speaks about politics existing at a distance from the state and possibly beyond the boundaries of civil society. This civil society-state discussion frames the second section of the article, which looks specifically at Zimbabwe. It details civil society as contested terrain (from the late 1990s onwards) within the context of a scholarly debate about agrarian transformation and political change. This debate, which reproduces (in theoretical garb) the key political society (or party) fault-lines within Zimbabwean society, has taken place primarily within the restricted confines of state-centred discourses.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Helliker, Kirk D
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/71231 , vital:29821 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02589001.2012.641723
- Description: This article is about civil society and state-centred struggles in contemporary Zimbabwe. I first identify and outline three current understandings of civil society. Two understandings (one Liberal, one Radical) are state-centric and exist firmly within the logic of state discourses and state politics. A third understanding, also Radical, is society-centric and speaks about politics existing at a distance from the state and possibly beyond the boundaries of civil society. This civil society-state discussion frames the second section of the article, which looks specifically at Zimbabwe. It details civil society as contested terrain (from the late 1990s onwards) within the context of a scholarly debate about agrarian transformation and political change. This debate, which reproduces (in theoretical garb) the key political society (or party) fault-lines within Zimbabwean society, has taken place primarily within the restricted confines of state-centred discourses.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Forty years of historical research in South Africa: some general trends and personal recollections
- Authors: Maylam, Paul
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:590 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019739
- Description: Vice Chancellor's Distinguished Research Award Lecture, Rhodes University, 15 October 2012
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Maylam, Paul
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:590 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019739
- Description: Vice Chancellor's Distinguished Research Award Lecture, Rhodes University, 15 October 2012
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Love thy neighbour : group properties of gaping behaviour in mussel aggregations
- Nicastro, Katy R, Zardi, Gerardo I, McQuaid, Christopher D, Pearson, Gareth A, Serrão, Ester A
- Authors: Nicastro, Katy R , Zardi, Gerardo I , McQuaid, Christopher D , Pearson, Gareth A , Serrão, Ester A
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6841 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010991
- Description: By associating closely with others to form a group, an animal can benefit from a number of advantages including reduced risk of predation, amelioration of environmental conditions, and increased reproductive success, but at the price of reduced resources. Although made up of individual members, an aggregation often displays novel effects that do not manifest at the level of the individual organism. Here we show that very simple behaviour in intertidal mussels shows new effects in dense aggregations but not in isolated individuals. Perna perna and Mytilus galloprovincialis are gaping (periodic valve movement during emersion) and non-gaping mussels respectively. P. perna gaping behaviour had no effect on body temperatures of isolated individuals, while it led to increased humidity and decreased temperatures in dense groups (beds). Gaping resulted in cooler body temperatures for P. perna than M. galloprovincialis when in aggregations, while solitary individuals exhibited the highest temperatures. Gradients of increasing body temperature were detected from the center to edges of beds, but M. galloprovincialis at the edge had the same temperature as isolated individuals. Furthermore, a field study showed that during periods of severe heat stress, mortality rates of mussels within beds of the gaping P. perna were lower than those of isolated individuals or within beds of M. galloprovincialis, highlighting the determinant role of gaping on fitness and group functioning. We demonstrate that new effects of very simple individual behaviour lead to amelioration of abiotic conditions at the aggregation level and that these effects increase mussel resistance to thermal stress.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Nicastro, Katy R , Zardi, Gerardo I , McQuaid, Christopher D , Pearson, Gareth A , Serrão, Ester A
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6841 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010991
- Description: By associating closely with others to form a group, an animal can benefit from a number of advantages including reduced risk of predation, amelioration of environmental conditions, and increased reproductive success, but at the price of reduced resources. Although made up of individual members, an aggregation often displays novel effects that do not manifest at the level of the individual organism. Here we show that very simple behaviour in intertidal mussels shows new effects in dense aggregations but not in isolated individuals. Perna perna and Mytilus galloprovincialis are gaping (periodic valve movement during emersion) and non-gaping mussels respectively. P. perna gaping behaviour had no effect on body temperatures of isolated individuals, while it led to increased humidity and decreased temperatures in dense groups (beds). Gaping resulted in cooler body temperatures for P. perna than M. galloprovincialis when in aggregations, while solitary individuals exhibited the highest temperatures. Gradients of increasing body temperature were detected from the center to edges of beds, but M. galloprovincialis at the edge had the same temperature as isolated individuals. Furthermore, a field study showed that during periods of severe heat stress, mortality rates of mussels within beds of the gaping P. perna were lower than those of isolated individuals or within beds of M. galloprovincialis, highlighting the determinant role of gaping on fitness and group functioning. We demonstrate that new effects of very simple individual behaviour lead to amelioration of abiotic conditions at the aggregation level and that these effects increase mussel resistance to thermal stress.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Rhodes University Library Annual Report 2011 : acting Library Director’s Review
- Authors: Berger, Jeanne
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:7944 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011891
- Description: [From the Introduction] 2011 saw the consolidation of a number of changes to Library services implemented in 2010 as a result of the 2009 Review of the Library Services Division. These include: 1) Collection development operating as a collaborative effort between Library staff and the academic community. The Collection Development Policy also underwent a major revision and was approved by Senate in October as the “Collection Development and Management Policy and Guidelines”. 2) The Faculty Liaison Service – the librarians in these teams are now proactively liaising with academics, for example, playing a crucial role in collection development for the departments, ensuring that they spend their information resources grants, creating awareness of appropriate online information resources and offering information literacy workshops.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Berger, Jeanne
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:7944 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011891
- Description: [From the Introduction] 2011 saw the consolidation of a number of changes to Library services implemented in 2010 as a result of the 2009 Review of the Library Services Division. These include: 1) Collection development operating as a collaborative effort between Library staff and the academic community. The Collection Development Policy also underwent a major revision and was approved by Senate in October as the “Collection Development and Management Policy and Guidelines”. 2) The Faculty Liaison Service – the librarians in these teams are now proactively liaising with academics, for example, playing a crucial role in collection development for the departments, ensuring that they spend their information resources grants, creating awareness of appropriate online information resources and offering information literacy workshops.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Welcome Address of the Vice‐Chancellor of Rhodes University, Dr Saleem Badat, to First‐Year students
- Authors: Badat, Saleem
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: vital:7592 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006583
- Description: From introduction: Our first purpose is to produce knowledge, so that we can better understand our natural and social worlds and also enrich our scientific and cultural heritage. The second purpose of a university is to disseminate knowledge and to develop critical and creative minds. Our goals, yours and ours, must be for you to think imaginatively, ‘effectively and critically;’ to ‘achieve depth in some field of knowledge;’ to appreciate how we ‘gain knowledge and understanding of the universe, of society, and of ourselves;’ to have ‘a broad knowledge of other cultures and other times;’ to critique ideas and views and construct alternatives, and to communicate cogently, orally and in writing. Our final purpose as a university is to undertake community engagement, whether this is as part of academic courses or your voluntary participation in community projects organized by our Community Engagement Office.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Welcome Address of the Vice‐Chancellor of Rhodes University, Dr Saleem Badat, to First‐Year students
- Authors: Badat, Saleem
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: vital:7592 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006583
- Description: From introduction: Our first purpose is to produce knowledge, so that we can better understand our natural and social worlds and also enrich our scientific and cultural heritage. The second purpose of a university is to disseminate knowledge and to develop critical and creative minds. Our goals, yours and ours, must be for you to think imaginatively, ‘effectively and critically;’ to ‘achieve depth in some field of knowledge;’ to appreciate how we ‘gain knowledge and understanding of the universe, of society, and of ourselves;’ to have ‘a broad knowledge of other cultures and other times;’ to critique ideas and views and construct alternatives, and to communicate cogently, orally and in writing. Our final purpose as a university is to undertake community engagement, whether this is as part of academic courses or your voluntary participation in community projects organized by our Community Engagement Office.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Financial Management: BEC 311
- Authors: Fatoki, O O , Tait, M
- Date: 2012-01
- Subjects: Financial risk management
- Language: English
- Type: Examination paper
- Identifier: vital:17439 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1010250
- Description: Financial Management: BEC 311, Special examination January 2012.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2012-01
- Authors: Fatoki, O O , Tait, M
- Date: 2012-01
- Subjects: Financial risk management
- Language: English
- Type: Examination paper
- Identifier: vital:17439 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1010250
- Description: Financial Management: BEC 311, Special examination January 2012.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2012-01
Advanced English Language and General Literature: ECL 310
- Tshotsho, B P, Morkel, N, Blatchford, M, Scott, R, Mndebele, T, Sherzinger, K, Mpepo, V N
- Authors: Tshotsho, B P , Morkel, N , Blatchford, M , Scott, R , Mndebele, T , Sherzinger, K , Mpepo, V N
- Date: 2011-06
- Language: English
- Type: Examination paper
- Identifier: vital:18310 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1011420
- Description: Advanced English Language and General Literature: ECL 310, degree examination June 2011.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2011-06
- Authors: Tshotsho, B P , Morkel, N , Blatchford, M , Scott, R , Mndebele, T , Sherzinger, K , Mpepo, V N
- Date: 2011-06
- Language: English
- Type: Examination paper
- Identifier: vital:18310 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1011420
- Description: Advanced English Language and General Literature: ECL 310, degree examination June 2011.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2011-06
Advanced English Language and General Literature: ECL 310
- Tshotsho, B P, Morkel, N, Blatchford, M, Scott, R, Mndebele, T, Scherzinger, K, Mpepo, V M
- Authors: Tshotsho, B P , Morkel, N , Blatchford, M , Scott, R , Mndebele, T , Scherzinger, K , Mpepo, V M
- Date: 2011-06
- Language: English
- Type: Examination paper
- Identifier: vital:18309 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1011419
- Description: Advanced English Language and General Literature: ECL 310, degree examination June 2011.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2011-06
- Authors: Tshotsho, B P , Morkel, N , Blatchford, M , Scott, R , Mndebele, T , Scherzinger, K , Mpepo, V M
- Date: 2011-06
- Language: English
- Type: Examination paper
- Identifier: vital:18309 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1011419
- Description: Advanced English Language and General Literature: ECL 310, degree examination June 2011.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2011-06
Age validation, growth, mortality, and demographic modeling of spotted gully shark (Triakis megalopterus) from the southeast coast of South Africa
- Booth, Anthony J, Foulis, Alan J, Smale, Malcolm J
- Authors: Booth, Anthony J , Foulis, Alan J , Smale, Malcolm J
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123630 , vital:35466 , https://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/pdf-content/2011/1091/booth.pdf
- Description: This study documents validation of vertebral band-pair formation in spotted gully shark (Triakis megalopterus) with the use of f luorochrome injection and tagging of captive and wild sharks over a 21-year period. Growth and mortality rates of T. megalopterus were also estimated and a demographic analysis of the species was conducted. Of the 23 OTC (oxytetracycline) -marked vertebrae examined (12 from captive and 11 from wild sharks), seven vertebrae (three from captive and four from wild sharks) exhibited chelation of the OTC and f luoresced under ultraviolet light. It was concluded that a single opaque and translucent band pair was deposited annually up to at least 25 years of age, the maximum age recorded. Reader precision was assessed by using an index of average percent error calculated at 5%. No significant differences were found between male and female growth patterns (P>0.05), and von Bertalanffy growth model parameters for combined sexes were estimated to be L∞=1711.07 mm TL, k=0.11/yr and t0= –2.43 yr (n=86). Natural mortality was estimated at 0.17/yr. Age at maturity was estimated at 11 years for males and 15 years for females. Results of the demographic analysis showed that the population, in the absence of fishing mortality, was stable and not significantly different from zero and particularly sensitive to overfishing. At the current age at first capture and natural mortality rate, the fishing mortality rate required to result in negative population growth was low at F>0.004/ yr. Elasticity analysis revealed that juvenile survival was the principal factor in explaining variability in population growth rate.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Booth, Anthony J , Foulis, Alan J , Smale, Malcolm J
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123630 , vital:35466 , https://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/pdf-content/2011/1091/booth.pdf
- Description: This study documents validation of vertebral band-pair formation in spotted gully shark (Triakis megalopterus) with the use of f luorochrome injection and tagging of captive and wild sharks over a 21-year period. Growth and mortality rates of T. megalopterus were also estimated and a demographic analysis of the species was conducted. Of the 23 OTC (oxytetracycline) -marked vertebrae examined (12 from captive and 11 from wild sharks), seven vertebrae (three from captive and four from wild sharks) exhibited chelation of the OTC and f luoresced under ultraviolet light. It was concluded that a single opaque and translucent band pair was deposited annually up to at least 25 years of age, the maximum age recorded. Reader precision was assessed by using an index of average percent error calculated at 5%. No significant differences were found between male and female growth patterns (P>0.05), and von Bertalanffy growth model parameters for combined sexes were estimated to be L∞=1711.07 mm TL, k=0.11/yr and t0= –2.43 yr (n=86). Natural mortality was estimated at 0.17/yr. Age at maturity was estimated at 11 years for males and 15 years for females. Results of the demographic analysis showed that the population, in the absence of fishing mortality, was stable and not significantly different from zero and particularly sensitive to overfishing. At the current age at first capture and natural mortality rate, the fishing mortality rate required to result in negative population growth was low at F>0.004/ yr. Elasticity analysis revealed that juvenile survival was the principal factor in explaining variability in population growth rate.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
Comparative structural bioinformatics analysis of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens chemotaxis proteins within Bacillus subtilis group
- Yssel, Anna, Reva, Oleg, Tastan Bishop, Özlem
- Authors: Yssel, Anna , Reva, Oleg , Tastan Bishop, Özlem
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123966 , vital:35521 , https://doi.10.1007/s00253-011-3582-y
- Description: Chemotaxis is a process in which bacteria sense their chemical environment and move towards more favorable conditions. Since plant colonization by bacteria is a multifaceted process which requires a response to the complex chemical environment, a finely tuned and sensitive chemotaxis system is needed. Members of the Bacillus subtilis group including Bacillus amyloliquefaciens are industrially important, for example, as bio-pesticides. The group exhibits plant growth-promoting characteristics, with different specificity towards certain host plants. Therefore, we hypothesize that while the principal molecular mechanisms of bacterial chemotaxis may be conserved, the bacterial chemotaxis system may need an evolutionary tweaking to adapt it to specific requirements, particularly in the process of evolution of free-living soil organisms, towards plant colonization behaviour. To date, almost nothing is known about what parts of the chemotaxis proteins are subjected to positive amino acid substitutions, involved in adjusting the chemotaxis system of bacteria during speciation. In this novel study, positively selected and purified sites of chemotaxis proteins were calculated, and these residues were mapped onto homology models that were built for the chemotaxis proteins, in an attempt to understand the spatial evolution of the chemotaxis proteins. Various positively selected amino acids were identified in semi-conserved regions of the proteins away from the known active sites.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Yssel, Anna , Reva, Oleg , Tastan Bishop, Özlem
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123966 , vital:35521 , https://doi.10.1007/s00253-011-3582-y
- Description: Chemotaxis is a process in which bacteria sense their chemical environment and move towards more favorable conditions. Since plant colonization by bacteria is a multifaceted process which requires a response to the complex chemical environment, a finely tuned and sensitive chemotaxis system is needed. Members of the Bacillus subtilis group including Bacillus amyloliquefaciens are industrially important, for example, as bio-pesticides. The group exhibits plant growth-promoting characteristics, with different specificity towards certain host plants. Therefore, we hypothesize that while the principal molecular mechanisms of bacterial chemotaxis may be conserved, the bacterial chemotaxis system may need an evolutionary tweaking to adapt it to specific requirements, particularly in the process of evolution of free-living soil organisms, towards plant colonization behaviour. To date, almost nothing is known about what parts of the chemotaxis proteins are subjected to positive amino acid substitutions, involved in adjusting the chemotaxis system of bacteria during speciation. In this novel study, positively selected and purified sites of chemotaxis proteins were calculated, and these residues were mapped onto homology models that were built for the chemotaxis proteins, in an attempt to understand the spatial evolution of the chemotaxis proteins. Various positively selected amino acids were identified in semi-conserved regions of the proteins away from the known active sites.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
Cultural importance of non-timber forest products: opportunities they pose for bio-cultural diversity in dynamic societies
- Cocks, Michelle L, López, Citlalli, Dold, Anthony P
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , López, Citlalli , Dold, Anthony P
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141453 , vital:37973 , ISBN 9783642179822 , DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-17983-9_5
- Description: There is an increasing awareness that monetary value does not fully represent the complete value and significance of NTFPs. Consequently, there is growing interest in the cultural dimensions of biodiversity and the role that it plays in human well-being. This chapter presents two case studies, one on traditional brooms in South Africa, and the other on amate paper in Mexico, to demonstrate the importance of cultural values on driving demand for NTFPs. Because cultural values are so deeply embedded, the demand for culturally valued NTFPs continue across the rural-urban divide, and are maintained even by modernising urban communities. This poses particular challenges, not only for conservation of the NTFPs, but also to sustain cultural diversity in a rapidly changing world.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , López, Citlalli , Dold, Anthony P
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141453 , vital:37973 , ISBN 9783642179822 , DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-17983-9_5
- Description: There is an increasing awareness that monetary value does not fully represent the complete value and significance of NTFPs. Consequently, there is growing interest in the cultural dimensions of biodiversity and the role that it plays in human well-being. This chapter presents two case studies, one on traditional brooms in South Africa, and the other on amate paper in Mexico, to demonstrate the importance of cultural values on driving demand for NTFPs. Because cultural values are so deeply embedded, the demand for culturally valued NTFPs continue across the rural-urban divide, and are maintained even by modernising urban communities. This poses particular challenges, not only for conservation of the NTFPs, but also to sustain cultural diversity in a rapidly changing world.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011