3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item An analysis of the post 1980s transition from pastoral to game farming in South Africa: a case study of the Marico district(2016-03-07) Zulu, NqobileThis thesis is an analysis of narratives of private game farming in Groot Marico. Through this case study, it argues that the material and symbolic processes of game farming and hunting depict a ‘colonial present’ in their constitution. Part of that ‘colonial present’ stems from ‘white privilege’, a legacy of South African history. A major part comes from the gate-keeping function of in-group beneficiaries represented by associations and networks. Race, class, language and capital are used to maintain the status quo. The situation has been aided by a state whose neo liberal policies support commercialisation more than social justice redress. The thesis traces the historical antecedents and the contemporary socio-economic and political factors that have led to white farmers’ conversion into game farming from domestic livestock production. Continuities of practices, from farm ownership to hunting have been processes that maintain the status quo. Yet white farmers have argued that these continuities are ‘tradition’, whether in hunting or game farming, while being silent on the lack of transformation of the industry. Despite the visibility of a few high-profile black personalities, the industry remains overwhelmingly white. I argue that the game farming community has created a ‘structure’ to which high-profile black figures can belong, not only as examples of transformation but primarily to protect vested interests by their token inclusion. Economic and political status has been the criteria upon which the few black figures have been ‘allowed’ into the group. In spite of the racial demographics, game farming is not homogenous as the Groot Marico case studies reveal. There are cleavages around the position of game farmers within the hierarchy of game farming, and these are informed by class. Trophy-hunters, meat producers, and small, marginal farmers all occupy different spheres within the game farming sector. The trophy hunter and game breeder are at the top of the hierarchy as opposed to the small one man game farmer surviving at the margins. The meat producer deals with the economics of supplying a niche market at a different level from the trophy game farmer and the small one man game farmer. Yet these three are bound together in an increasingly besieged farming community where land reform is a constant reminder of what can be lost. Other bonds of solidarity derive from a shared discourse of conservation that ties it to the maxim ‘if it pays it stays’. This economic tenet, describes the game farming community’s approach to wildlife conservation.Item Landscapes sublime: imperialism, the wilderness ideal and the history of conservation in Tanzania(2009-09-18T10:52:15Z) Butler, Marie-JeanAbstract “LANDSCAPES SUBLIME: IMPERIALISM, THE WILDERNESS IDEAL AND THE HISTORY OF CONSERVATION IN TANZANIA" The aim of this dissertation is to trace the implications that Western views of nature have had for the restructuring of African landscapes through the creation of game reserves and national parks, with a particular focus on Tanzania. I contend that wilderness spaces are the main repositories of a western imaginary that longs for those places where nature is prodigious and untamed, uncontaminated by development and devoid of people. The idealization of landscapes is derived from the aesthetic of the Romantic sublime with its dual impulse: the quest for escape from a fragmenting and morally corrupting capitalist society, and the search for the immutable and the transcendent in landscape 'untouched' by development. In Africa the physical manifestation of the wilderness landscape ideal came to be reflected in real space – the space of the East African national park. To produce a wild landscape in which animals roam free required the reproduction of a certain ideology of nature which may have been inaugurated during the colonial period, but which has been assimilated and even expanded by post-colonial regimes like Tanzania. Why is it, I ask, that the wilderness landscape ideal is so remarkably persistent in the post-colonial, post-socialist Tanzania of today? Taking the approach of scholars like Mitchell, I ask not just what landscape ‘is or ‘means’ but what it does in this context.Item Land-cover change: threats to the grassland biome of South Africa(2008-04-15T06:09:31Z) Matsika, RuwadzanoThe Grassland biome of South Africa has been identified as critically endangered and the biome in South Africa most requiring conservation attention through the implementation of efficient, sustainable systematic conservation plans. The ability to predict where land-cover transformation as well as information on the occurrence and severity of current land cover transformation activities, as threats to biodiversity, is required as part of the systematic conservation planning process. Neke & du Plessis (2004) predicted land cover transformation and the severity of the impact on biodiversity in the Grassland biome. This model was based on potential land use suitability models and land cover information for the 1994/5 season extracted from the National Land Cover database (NLC1994). These predictions were tested by assessing actual land cover change in the Grassland biome using observed differences in grassland land cover between the NLC1994 and NLC2000 databases. Methodology Because of differences in format and land-cover classification between the original datasets, both NLC1994 and NLC2000 had to be modified before any analyses could be carried out. These differences exist because different techniques were used to collate the respective datasets, thus introducing the potential for significant mapping error in the original datasets and more significantly erroneous results with respect to landcover change detection. The implications of this were presented in the discussion. Both datasets were spatially resampled and class-standardised and it was felt that this would significantly reduce any the impact of any such existing errords in the original datasets. Thereafter landcover information for the Grassland biome was be extracted and the comparative landcover analyses executed. The analyses carried out included: • Landcover change per landcover class within the Grassland biome with emphasis on the Grassland landclass losses and gains • An assessment and comparison of the relative fragmentation of the remaining grassland patches in both datasets • An assessment of current grassland habitat degradation • The comparison of the predicted land cover change as given by Neke & du Plessis (2004) against the observed grassland changes • The creation of a new Grassland Transformation threat map reflecting current land cover change threats, and including information pertaining to the threats to Grassland biodiversity posed by invasive alien plants, road effects, urban areas and soil erosion hazards. Results and Discussion 25% of the remaining grassland patches underwent transformation to other land classes. Grassland clearing for cultivation, bush encroachment and bushland vegetation regeneration were the main causal factors behind the observed grassland losses. However, grassland vegetation regeneration on formerly cultivated land, bush clearing and reclassification of degraded lands as grasslands in the NLC2000 dataset contributed to a net 2% gain in area of the grassland land class. The remaining grassland patches are more fragmented than they were in NLC1994, the average patch size (NLC2000) is three times smaller and the total number of grassland patches has increased (also by a factor of 3) and the remaining grassland patches are more isolated. The largest, least fragmented grassland patches occur along and to the west of the Great Escarpment as it traverses the Grassland biome. Most of the predictions of grassland transformation were realised, however the model used by Neke & du Plessis (2004) consistently underestimated and in some cases failed to predict the occurrence of grassland transformation in the central interior of the Grassland biome. Current, measurable human activities that act as grassland transformation agents were incorporated to create a threat map showing the extent and severity of land-cover transformation activities within the biome; grassland bird species richness information was then incorporated into this map to create biodiversity transformation threat map. This map was used to show the location and severity of the impacts of human transformation activities on grassland biodiversity. Both transformation threat map reflect the current situation across the biome today and were compared against the Potential transformation threat map produced by Neke & du Plessis (2004). The human transformation threat map confirmed the inability of the Neke & du Plessis model to make correct predictions of land cover change away from the eastern, 7 high altitude boundary of the biome. Given that the biome is defined by its climatic characteristics, the incorporation of global climate change effects would further refine the results gained, and perhaps provide more accurate predictions. As aforementioned, there are however factors existing within the original datasets used in this analysis that may have affected the accuracy of the landcover change analyses. These factors are centred on the potential effects of mapping errors within either of the NLC datasets. The delineation of landclass boundaries in the NLC1994 dataset is one such factor- placing a line over what is in reality a gradient of changing vegetation, is a subjective exercise and depends entirely on the technician involved this in itself may have introduced a fair amount of error in the mapping process. When coupled with the automated classification techniques used, for the most part, for the NLC2000 dataset, it becomes apparent that it is highly unlikely that even in the absence of actual landcover change the same boundaries would be drawn between two landclasses in the same area. This would provide false positive results for landcover change where in fact this is as a result of mapping errors. This is acknowledged and included in the interpretation of the results and it is felt that in spite of this, all possible steps were taken to minimize the impact of these effects on the reslults. The analysis allowed the identification of the current land cover transformations leading to grassland loss. However, land-cover change is only the physical expression of the complex interactions between socio-economic factors. To create effective and sustainable conservation plan for the Grassland biome, with an aim to reducing habitat loss requires an action plan to address these factors as the ultimate drivers of land cover change.Item Assessment of Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) population and habitat in Kwitanga Forest, western Tanzania.(2008-04-11T06:17:46Z) Ndimuligo, Sood A.This study examined three aspects: estimation of chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) population size using nest density as a proxy, description of the plant community and assessment of human impacts to chimpanzee habitat in Kwitanga forest, western Tanzania. The overall estimated mean chimpanzee population density was 0.69(0.31–1.54) individuals per km2 and a mean population size of 15(7-34) weaned individual chimpanzees in the forest. The natural vegetation in Kwitanga consists mainly of miombo woodland, dominated by Brachystegia-Julbernadia tree species, poorly developed riverine forest, cultivated land and oil palm plantation. Assessment of the abundance of nesting trees in the landscape revealed that tree species composition along transects were significantly different to nesting sites (trees surrounding the actual tree that contains a nest) (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test: KSa = 2.0148; D = 0.3934: P < 0.05). Thirteen tree species were used for nests; the most used species were B. bussei, B. utilis, B. mirophylla, J. globiflora and P. tinctorius. The assessment on scarcity of nesting tree species in the landscape revealed that such species were abundant by proportion (KSa = 0.5883; D = 0.2308; P > 0.05), and species-specific density (Wilcoxon Z-test: Z = - 1.0265; U1= U2 = 13; p > 0.05). Trees in size classes between 10 cm and 40 cm diameter dominated the forest. The study on size suitability showed that there were significant differences (using ANOVA with Tukey’s HSD post hoc test) in tree diameter size among the three groups: transects, nesting sites, and nesting trees. Nesting trees were unique in size to the other two groups. The mean size of nesting trees was larger compared to both nesting sites and transects (27 ± 1.1 cm; 23 ± 0.7 cm and 18 ± 0.5 cm) respectively. Similar differences existed in tree densities between nesting sites and transects (Wilcoxon test: Z = 1.8104; U1 = 46, U2 = 61: P< 0.05), with nesting sites presenting higher tree density. These results indicated scarcity in trees of a size suitable for nesting, and nesting materials.. Nesting tree species occur in the landscape, though their sizes and higher tree species density at nesting sites determined nesting location choice and specific nesting tree selection. Tree felling indicated by stumps was the major threat to the availability of suitable nesting trees, with a higher encounter rate of seven (7) stumps per km and contributed 48 % of total human disturbance, followed by established fields in the forest. The analysis on the direction of the major threat to the habitat revealed that, the main road cutting through the forest is a key to tree felling. Encountered stumps declined with increased distance from the main road towards the forest edge, with more stumps in between 0 -100 m (P< 0.05; log (Y) = 1.7017 - 0.0007(X); R2 = 0.6705). Such findings implied that the prison inside the forest is a iii major cause of habitat decline. At least 30 tree species constituted the group of stumps. Julbernadia globiflora and Uapaca kirkiana were the most felled tree species. High human disturbances implied by higher human activities encounter rates, and overlapping tree size classes between felled and standing trees were the major threats to chimpanzee habitat in Kwitanga forest. High chimpanzee density and population size estimates in Kwitanga forest renders this area a potential for conservation in the Greater Gombe Ecosystem Program. Kwitanga being the largest remaining natural forest near Gombe National Park, it will increase habitat size to allow chimpanzee dispersal and feeding area. Such movements across heterogeneous landscapes would allow long-term survival through reduced competition, increased genetic diversity and ability to absorb minimal environmental shocksItem Population structure, genetic diversity and conservation of selected species of Barleria(2006-11-17T07:20:05Z) Makholela, Tshepang MiriamBarleria argillicola and B. greenii are two rare endemics restricted to the midlands of KwaZulu Natal at Estcourt. They were studied for allozyme variation and differentiation, pollination biology, management strategies and red data re-assessment. The population genetic structure of these endemics was compared using allozymes with that of a related more widespread species (B. saxatilis) in order determine the baseline genetic data for conservation management of the rare species, and to test current theory regarding population genetics of rare species. The endemics are sympatric although ecologically separated in different habitats. Their populations occur in areas with different fire and grazing regimes; a two year burning cycle on privately owned land and four year burning cycle in the Weenen Game Reserve. Livestock grazes on the privately owned land but stocking rates are very low in the Nature Reserve. The proposed Gongolo Reserve will include most populations currently in the privately owned land. Allozyme variation and differentiation was studied using starch gel electrophoresis. The relationship between the observed levels of allozyme diversity and plant mating systems is discussed. The effects of the management regimes B. greenii were studied in eight 15m by 15m quadrats from three populations in the four year burning cycle, three populations in the two year burning cycle and one population from the annual burn. In B. argillicola, three populations from eroded areas and two from non-eroded flat areas were studied. Results for B. argillicola showed low allozyme diversity, low reproductive effort, an IUCN rating of Critically Endangered, short flowering season, high within-flower pollen transfer and habitat loss through erosion and road maintenance. Barleria greenii also merits high conservation priority but is not as threatened as B. argillicola. It is locally abundant with an IUCN rating of Vulnerable. Fire is the major disturbance in B. greenii. Both endemics are self-compatible, facultative breeding system and set fruits when pollinators are excluded but B. argillicola has also shown reduced demographic reliance on seeds through vegetative growth of genets (branching of the vegetative body in the sporophyte through clonal growth of roots). The management regime that favours the two species is different: a two year burning cycle with moderate grazing favours B. greenii but a four year burning cycle with light grazing favours B. argillicola. It is recommended that the two endemics be managed differently through block burning. Comparison of population genetic structure using allozyme data between the two endemics and their widespread congener (B. saxatilis) revealed very low genetic diversity in the widespread congener. It is possible that cleistogamy in this species facilitates its widespread distribution. Low levels of allozyme variability could not be associated with the rarity of the endemics but rather with their mating systems that favour inbreeding.