Effects of Chromolaena odorata on mammalian biodiversity in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, South Africa

This study investigated the effects of the Triffid weed Chromolaena odorata on small and large mammals in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park. C. odorata is a widespread invasive alien plant that poses threat to the highly maintained natural vegetation in HiP and most other protected areas in KwaZulu-Natal. Following the opinion that the effects of invasive alien plants on all levels of biodiversity need to be recognised for their effective control, we compared small and large mammal species richness and diversity between areas with differing C. odorata invasion durations, areas with differing clearing times and an area with no history of invasion as a control area. Small mammal trapping was done using Sherman live traps and mark-recapture techniques. Track counts were used to estimate large mammal species abundance, richness and diversity. The control area had higher small mammal species richness and diversity than the invaded areas, which suggests that invaded areas were not suitable habitats for small mammals. It was also found that small and large mammal species richness and diversity decreased with the increase in invasion duration, which shows that the more time C. odorata is left to establish the more disturbance it causes to the habitat. We found the uninvaded treatment to have the highest diversity of large mammal species than all the invaded treatments, which suggests that large mammalian species show some degree of avoidance to the invaded areas. We also found that there were significant differences between the treatments with regard to large mammal species diversity indices. Some of the large mammalian species appeared to neither avoid nor prefer invaded areas. It is hypothesized that they use invaded areas to hide away from predators as most of them fall prey to many carnivores. Also, C. odorata invaded areas could provide suitable shelter from climatic extremes. The treatments cleared of C. odorata showed an increase in both small and large mammalian species richness and diversity, suggesting that clearing of this plant helps in rehabilitation of the ecosystem. However, large mammal species composition in the cleared treatments remained different to preinvasion state, which suggests that the habitat may remain changed for a long time after clearing. Managers of conservation areas should therefore prioritise alien plant removal in order to maintain healthy ecosystems.Dissertation (MSc (Wildlife Management))--University of Pretoria, 2009.Animal and Wildlife Sciencesunrestricte

The Gauteng conservation plan : planning for biodiversity in a rapidly urbanising province

BACKGROUND : Gauteng, the smallest of South Africa’s nine provinces, is rich in biodiversity; yet it is also the most densely populated province and thus faces significant development pressures. OBJECTIVE : A project was therefore initiated in 2001 to identify areas of biodiversity importance in the province, using the systematic spatial biodiversity planning approach that has been adopted in South Africa. This article reports on the final version of the provincial conservation plan as completed in 2011. METHOD : Vegetation types and quaternary catchments constituted the coarse filter biodiversity features, while rare and threatened taxa constituted the fine filter features. Ecological processes were captured by a range of landscape features, while planning for climate change primarily involved the design of a corridor network. Planning was undertaken within the ArcView linked C-plan decision support system, where a cost surface preferentially directed the selection of available sites towards low-cost areas. RESULTS : Forty-four per cent of the province is required to achieve targets. Only 8% of features are close to having their targets met or are adequately conserved in the current protected area network of 23 protected areas covering 2.4% of the province, while 73% of features are absent or poorly represented. CONCLUSION : The existing protected area network is inadequate for the conservation of biodiversity in Gauteng. The Gauteng Conservation Plan identifies a set of areas that are required to achieve conservation targets. It is important that identified areas currently not in the protected area network are protected either formally or through legislated land use management processes.http://www.abcjournal.orgam2018Zoology and Entomolog

The effects of an invasive alien plant (Chromolaena odorata) on large African mammals

Alien plants have invaded most ecosystem types (terrestrial, fresh water and marine) and are responsible for the loss of irreplaceable natural services on which humankind relies. They alter food quantity, quality and accessibility, and may result in declines in native species richness, which may ultimately result in extinction. For an effective management of invasive alien plants, it is important to understand the effects that such plants have on all levels of biodiversity. However, the effects that invasive alien plants, such as the Triffid weed (Chromolaena odorata), have on mammalian biodiversity, especially large mammalian species, are not well-known, although they play major ecological roles in areas such as nutrient cycling. Also, little is known about the recovery of the ecosystem following alien plant removal. This study investigated the effects of C. odorata invasion on large mammalian herbivores in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park and whether clearing of this plant helped in rehabilitating the habitat. We used track counts to estimate and compare species richness, diversity and abundance indices for large mammalian species between areas with differing C. odorata invasion durations (ca 2 years, ca 10 years, ca 20 years), areas with differing clearing times (cl < 2 years, cl 3–5 years) and an area without any history of C. odorata invasion as a control. The results from this study show that large mammalian species utilised the uninvaded and the cleared areas more than the invaded areas. Species richness, abundance and diversity decreased with increasing invasion duration and cleared areas showed an increasing species richness and abundance. We conclude that this invasive alien plant modifies habitats and their removal does aid in the restoration of the ecosystem

Tourists' willingness to pay to view otters along the Wild Coast, South Africa

CITATION: Dumalisile, L. et al. 2005. Tourists' willingness to pay to view otters along the Wild Coast, South Africa. Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa, 1(1):a304, doi:10.4102/td.v1i1.304.The original publication is available at https://td-sa.netThis article reports on tourists’ willingness to pay to view Cape clawless otters Aonyx capensis along the Eastern Cape Wild Coast, South Africa. We collected data from a survey carried out using a structured, selfadministered questionnaire. We analyzed 67 completed questionnaires, of which 60 respondents (89.5%) indicated that they would be interested in viewing otters and would be prepared to pay an extra fee, over and above the normal entrance fees, for a trained guide to show them otters. The remaining 7 (10.4%) respondents indicated that they would reconsider and pay if this would create jobs for members of the local community. Most (98.4% and 91.8%) of the respondents also indicated that they would still pay even if there was only a 50% or 25% chance of seeing otters. Most of the respondents were willing to pay either less than R50.00 (ca US$8.00) or R50.00-R100.00 to view otters regardless of the chances of seeing them. We conclude from our results that otters do have the potential to increase ecotourism in the area, and also to contribute financially to the poverty stricken local Dwesa community.https://td-sa.net/index.php/td/article/view/304Publisher's versio

Tourists’ willingness to pay to view otters along the Wild Coast, South Africa: a potential for increased ecotourism

This article reports on tourists’ willingness to pay to view Cape clawless otters Aonyx capensis along the Eastern Cape Wild Coast, South Africa. We collected data from a survey carried out using a structured, selfadministered questionnaire. We analyzed 67 completed questionnaires, of which 60 respondents (89.5%) indicated that they would be interested in viewing otters and would be prepared to pay an extra fee, over and above the normal entrance fees, for a trained guide to show them otters. The remaining 7 (10.4%) respondents indicated that they would reconsider and pay if this would create jobs for members of the local community. Most (98.4% and 91.8%) of the respondents also indicated that they would still pay even if there was only a 50% or 25% chance of seeing otters. Most of the respondents were willing to pay either less than R50.00 (ca US$8.00) or R50.00-R100.00 to view otters regardless of the chances of seeing them. We conclude from our results that otters do have the potential to increase ecotourism in the area, and also to contribute financially to the poverty stricken local Dwesa community

The Gauteng Conservation Plan: Planning for biodiversity in a rapidly urbanising province

Background: Gauteng, the smallest of South Africa’s nine provinces, is rich in biodiversity; yet it is also the most densely populated province and thus faces significant development pressures. Objective: A project was therefore initiated in 2001 to identify areas of biodiversity importance in the province, using the systematic spatial biodiversity planning approach that has been adopted in South Africa. This article reports on the final version of the provincial conservation plan as completed in 2011. Method: Vegetation types and quaternary catchments constituted the coarse filter biodiversity features, while rare and threatened taxa constituted the fine filter features. Ecological processes were captured by a range of landscape features, while planning for climate change primarily involved the design of a corridor network. Planning was undertaken within the ArcView linked C-plan decision support system, where a cost surface preferentially directed the selection of available sites towards low-cost areas. Results: Forty-four per cent of the province is required to achieve targets. Only 8% of features are close to having their targets met or are adequately conserved in the current protected area network of 23 protected areas covering 2.4% of the province, while 73% of features are absent or poorly represented. Conclusion: The existing protected area network is inadequate for the conservation of biodiversity in Gauteng. The Gauteng Conservation Plan identifies a set of areas that are required to achieve conservation targets. It is important that identified areas currently not in the protected area network are protected either formally or through legislated land use management processes