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The effects of environment and niche on the distributions of dwarf chameleons, present and future
Includes bibliographical references.
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| Main Author: | |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Statistical Sciences
2014
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| _version_ | 1867613293185597440 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Houniet, Darren |
| author2 | Underhill, Les |
| author_browse | Houniet, Darren Underhill, Les |
| author_facet | Underhill, Les Houniet, Darren |
| author_sort | Houniet, Darren |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Includes bibliographical references. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/7472 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:33:49.949Z |
| 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 Statistical Sciences |
| publisherStr | Department of Statistical Sciences |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/7472 The effects of environment and niche on the distributions of dwarf chameleons, present and future Houniet, Darren Underhill, Les Thuiller, Wilfried Tolley, Krystal A Midgley, Guy Statistical Sciences Includes bibliographical references. The niche and niche breadth of Dwarf Chameleons, Bradypodion, was assessed in terms of broad scale climatic factors. A niche-based modelling method was then used to construct present and future habitat suitability maps for 2050 and 2080, for species in the genus. Additionally, the relationship between environment and morphology was analysed for a representative Bradypodion species, the Cape Dwarf Chameleon, B. pumilum. The niche and niche breadth of species and phylogenetic clades were analysed and described via an ordination technique, the outlying mean index (OMI) analysis. Maxent (v2.3), a presence only niche modelling method, proved very useful in the construction of present and future habitat suitability maps for species within the genus. For analysis of the correspondence between environment and morphology for B. pumilum, regression trees were employed. Rainfall seasonality and maximum annual temperatures were shown to strongly effect the current distributions of the genus Bradypodion at both the species and clade level. Additionally, as closely related species inhabited similar environmental niches, the genus was shown to display a degree of niche conservatism. All species and clades were shown to respond to climate change scenarios for 2050 and 2080, but responses were individualistic. However, most demonstrated range contractions under predicted climate scenarios. Additionally, a strong correlation (p < 0.05) was found between the morphology of B. pumilum and its environment. Environmental factors explained over 40% of the variation in snout-vent length and tail length, and over 20% of the variation in head width and head height, thus supporting the hypothesis of a correspondence between vegetation and morphology in Bradypodion. These results have provided an understanding of the relationship between Bradypodion and their environments that could provide valuable information regarding their ecology. Additionally, the habitat suitability maps for 2050 and 2080 could prove useful in the construction of any future conservation plans for these species. Furthermore, the results support the hypothesis of a correspondence between environmental factors and morphological traits within the genus Bradypodion. 2014-09-15T07:29:24Z 2014-09-15T07:29:24Z 2007 Master Thesis Masters MSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7472 eng application/pdf Department of Statistical Sciences Faculty of Science University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Statistical Sciences Houniet, Darren The effects of environment and niche on the distributions of dwarf chameleons, present and future |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | The effects of environment and niche on the distributions of dwarf chameleons, present and future |
| title_full | The effects of environment and niche on the distributions of dwarf chameleons, present and future |
| title_fullStr | The effects of environment and niche on the distributions of dwarf chameleons, present and future |
| title_full_unstemmed | The effects of environment and niche on the distributions of dwarf chameleons, present and future |
| title_short | The effects of environment and niche on the distributions of dwarf chameleons, present and future |
| title_sort | effects of environment and niche on the distributions of dwarf chameleons present and future |
| topic | Statistical Sciences |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7472 |
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