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The relative importance of natural and human-induced environmental conditions for species richness distribution patterns in South Africa

Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2010.

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Other Authors: Janse Van Rensburg, Berndt
Format: Thesis
Published: University of Pretoria 2013
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Janse Van Rensburg, Berndt
author_browse Janse Van Rensburg, Berndt
author_facet Janse Van Rensburg, Berndt
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2008 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2010.
format Thesis
id oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/29583
institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:36:19.431Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2013
publishDateRange 2013
publishDateSort 2013
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
record_format dspace
source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/29583 The relative importance of natural and human-induced environmental conditions for species richness distribution patterns in South Africa Janse Van Rensburg, Berndt upetd@up.ac.za Hugo, Sanet Historical spatial distribution of species richnes South african avian species richness UCTD Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2010. I studied the spatial distribution of South African avian species richness from the viewpoint that humans are a substantial modifying force on earth, and have also modified the historical spatial distribution of species richness. The main aim of the thesis is to investigate the way in which humans have modified avian species richness patterns in South Africa at the quarter-degree square (QDS) resolution, which is a phenomenon that has been either overlooked, or not completely clarified, in many previous studies of the same region and data at the same resolution. In particular, I investigated hypotheses that were proposed to explain the maintenance of a positive relationship between native species richness and human population density in the face of negative human impacts. Further, I investigated which of the possible anthropogenic and natural environmental factors determine spatial distribution in exotic bird species. Highlighted from these studies are that substantial positive and negative human influences on bird species richness distribution patterns are observable at the QDS resolution, that there are differences between common native birds and rare native birds with regard to their relationships with anthropogenic environmental conditions and exotic bird species, and that the particular combination of environmental covariates that is important for the spatial distributions of exotic species is taxon- and scale-dependent. Even though these results have contributed much towards our understanding on how human modifications have affected species richness patterns, this thesis leaves some unanswered questions. Finer resolution studies and temporal studies are needed to examine many of these questions. Further, an interdisciplinary approach incorporating politics and economics into ecological studies is needed to enhance our understanding of the factors that modify the distribution of humans and their associated threats and benefits to species richness. Zoology and Entomology unrestricted 2013-09-07T15:59:32Z 2008-11-27 2013-09-07T15:59:32Z 2008-09-03 2010-09-03 2008-11-19 Dissertation Hugo, S 2008, The relative importance of natural and human-induced environmental conditions for species richness distribution patterns in South Africa, MSc dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://hdl.handle.net/2263/29583 > E1231/ag http://hdl.handle.net/2263/29583 http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-11192008-093146/ © 2008 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle Historical spatial distribution of species richnes
South african avian species richness
UCTD
The relative importance of natural and human-induced environmental conditions for species richness distribution patterns in South Africa
title The relative importance of natural and human-induced environmental conditions for species richness distribution patterns in South Africa
title_full The relative importance of natural and human-induced environmental conditions for species richness distribution patterns in South Africa
title_fullStr The relative importance of natural and human-induced environmental conditions for species richness distribution patterns in South Africa
title_full_unstemmed The relative importance of natural and human-induced environmental conditions for species richness distribution patterns in South Africa
title_short The relative importance of natural and human-induced environmental conditions for species richness distribution patterns in South Africa
title_sort relative importance of natural and human induced environmental conditions for species richness distribution patterns in south africa
topic Historical spatial distribution of species richnes
South african avian species richness
UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/29583
http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-11192008-093146/