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The population dynamics and conservation of the African Black Oystercatcher, Haematopus moquini

Includes bibliographical references.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Loewenthal, Douglas
Other Authors: Hockey, Phil A R
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Biological Sciences 2014
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access_status_str Open Access
author Loewenthal, Douglas
author2 Hockey, Phil A R
author_browse Hockey, Phil A R
Loewenthal, Douglas
author_facet Hockey, Phil A R
Loewenthal, Douglas
author_sort Loewenthal, Douglas
collection Thesis
description Includes bibliographical references.
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/6121
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:33:10.259Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2014
publishDateRange 2014
publishDateSort 2014
publisher Department of Biological Sciences
publisherStr Department of Biological Sciences
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/6121 The population dynamics and conservation of the African Black Oystercatcher, Haematopus moquini Loewenthal, Douglas Hockey, Phil A R Zoology Includes bibliographical references. The African Black Oystercatcher is currently classified as Near-threatened by virtue of the fact that the population size is small «10 000) and numbers have decreased or were previously recorded as decreasing. Aspects considered to be of conservation concern to the species are (a) its inherently low and variable breeding success; (b) its ground-nesting habit, making it vulnerable to numerous direct and indirect impacts of human disturbance; (c) its susceptibility to mass mortalities, particularly of adult birds in high-density breeding populations. Inherent factors which may of benefit to the species' persistence are its considerable longevity and, potentially, a degree of connectivity between local populations, although current evidence suggests that this is very low. However, in addition to these considerations, over the past 25+ years the variety and intensity of potential threats and benefits to the species have also changed and this may have changed the species' conservation status. While human activity has increased in many areas of the species' breeding range, African Black Oystercatcher populations may be benefiting from and increase in the number of Marine Protected Areas as well as an improved food supply in the form of an invasive alien mussel species, Mytilus galloprovincialis. In light of the key factors outlined above and the territorial nature of the species, all of which are considered to be of importance to the species' population dynamics and conservation, the main aims of this study were to: (a) reassess the global population and, where changes have occurred, to provide an explanation for these changes; (b) assess the importance of, and manner in which human disturbance may impact breeding populations; (c) assess levels of natal site philopatry and adult site fidelity in local populations; (d) assess the long-term population viability of the species; and (e) assess the potential importance of territorial behaviour in governing the population dynamics of local oystercatcher populations. 2014-08-13T14:04:43Z 2014-08-13T14:04:43Z 2007 Doctoral Thesis Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6121 eng application/pdf Department of Biological Sciences Faculty of Science University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Zoology
Loewenthal, Douglas
The population dynamics and conservation of the African Black Oystercatcher, Haematopus moquini
thesis_degree_str Doctoral
title The population dynamics and conservation of the African Black Oystercatcher, Haematopus moquini
title_full The population dynamics and conservation of the African Black Oystercatcher, Haematopus moquini
title_fullStr The population dynamics and conservation of the African Black Oystercatcher, Haematopus moquini
title_full_unstemmed The population dynamics and conservation of the African Black Oystercatcher, Haematopus moquini
title_short The population dynamics and conservation of the African Black Oystercatcher, Haematopus moquini
title_sort population dynamics and conservation of the african black oystercatcher haematopus moquini
topic Zoology
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6121
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