Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

A study of the ecology of the Namaqua Sandgrouse and other arid-zone birds

Bibliography: leaves [148]-164.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lloyd, Penn
Other Authors: Crowe, Timothy M
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology 2014
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613143027417088
access_status_str Open Access
author Lloyd, Penn
author2 Crowe, Timothy M
author_browse Crowe, Timothy M
Lloyd, Penn
author_facet Crowe, Timothy M
Lloyd, Penn
author_sort Lloyd, Penn
collection Thesis
description Bibliography: leaves [148]-164.
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/9680
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:31:26.417Z
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 Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology
publisherStr Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/9680 A study of the ecology of the Namaqua Sandgrouse and other arid-zone birds Lloyd, Penn Crowe, Timothy M Zoology Bibliography: leaves [148]-164. This field study set out to identify the key ecological factors influencing the population dynamics of the Namaqua Sandgrouse Pterocles namaqua, through an investigation of diet and the nutritional demands during different stages of the annual cycle, the timing of breeding seasons and movements in relation to patterns of rainfall-dependent food availability, breeding success and the factors limiting productivity. In addition, the nesting habits and success of 11 coexisting arid-zone bird species were examined to test a variety of hypotheses regarding the relationship between nest-predation rate and nest site, nest density, predator-avoidance behaviour, stage of the nesting cycle and season, and degree of residency. Furthermore, the importance of rainfall as a breeding stimulus and its effects on clutch size were investigated for several species. The Namaqua Sandgrouse is an obligate granivore at all times, feeding on the seeds of annual plants, primarily of the family Fabaceae. Even while breeding, energy is the first-limiting nutrient in the foods of adults. Growing chicks have a proportionally greater protein demand, and are more dependent than adults on protein-rich legume seeds to satisfy first-limiting amino acid requirements. The chick growth phase was identified as the most nutritionally demanding stage in the annual cycle. The breeding season was found to be unexpectedly variable, and not consistently correlated with periods of peak food availability. 2014-11-16T20:00:06Z 2014-11-16T20:00:06Z 1998 Doctoral Thesis Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9680 eng application/pdf Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology Faculty of Science University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Zoology
Lloyd, Penn
A study of the ecology of the Namaqua Sandgrouse and other arid-zone birds
thesis_degree_str Doctoral
title A study of the ecology of the Namaqua Sandgrouse and other arid-zone birds
title_full A study of the ecology of the Namaqua Sandgrouse and other arid-zone birds
title_fullStr A study of the ecology of the Namaqua Sandgrouse and other arid-zone birds
title_full_unstemmed A study of the ecology of the Namaqua Sandgrouse and other arid-zone birds
title_short A study of the ecology of the Namaqua Sandgrouse and other arid-zone birds
title_sort study of the ecology of the namaqua sandgrouse and other arid zone birds
topic Zoology
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9680
work_keys_str_mv AT lloydpenn astudyoftheecologyofthenamaquasandgrouseandotheraridzonebirds
AT lloydpenn studyoftheecologyofthenamaquasandgrouseandotheraridzonebirds