RESEARCH: Foord, S
Recent Submissions
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Repeated surveying over 6 years reveals that fine-scale habitat variables are key to tropical mountain ant assemblage composition and functional diversity
(2021)High-altitude-adapted ectotherms can escape competition from dominant species by tolerating low temperatures at cooler elevations, but climate change is eroding such advantages. Studies evaluating broad-scale impacts of ... -
Tarantulas (Araneae: Theraphosidae) in the pet trade in South Africa
(2020)Many alien species have been introduced around the world as part of the pet trade, and some have escaped captivity and become invasive. In South Africa, many species of tarantula (Theraphosidae) are kept as pets. It is not ... -
Revision of the Afrotropical crab-spider genus Parabomis Kulczyński, 1901 (Araneae: Thomisidae)
(2020)The Afrotropical spider genus Parabomis Kulczyński, 1901 is revised. Members of Parabomis are some of the smallest thomisids known, and occur from Eritrea in the north of Africa to South Africa in the south, but are absent ... -
Regional invertebrate cross-and within-taxon surrogacy are scale and taxon dependent
(2020)This study measured within- and cross-taxon congruence in the diversity of epigeal invertebrates (spiders, beetles and millipedes) and woody vegetation sampled at small spatial grains (0.25 ha) across a large area (30 000 ... -
The role of hydro-environmental factors in Mayfly (Ephemeroptera, Insecta) community structure: Identifying threshold responses
(2020)Freshwater organisms are threatened by changes in stream flow and water temperature regimes due to global climate change and anthropogenic activities. Threats include the disappearance of narrow-tolerance species and loss ... -
The South African National Red List of spiders: patterns, threats, and conservation
(2020)Triage in conservation biology necessitates the prioritization of species and ecosystems for conservation. Although highly diverse, ecologically important, and charismatic, spiders are rarely considered. With 2,253 known ... -
New records of Cladomelea from South Africa, including the first records of C. longipes (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1877) (Araneae, Araneidae) outside its type locality
(2019)We present the first records of the bolas spider, Cladomelea longipes (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1877), beyond its type locality, resulting in a considerable extension of its geographic range in Africa. We compare C. longipes ... -
Spider checklist for the Blouberg, in the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, South Africa
(2019)Background: The north-eastern mountainous region of South Africa has been identified as a spider diversity hotspot and centre of endemisim. The Blouberg is an isolated inselberg that forms part of the Soutpansberg geological ... -
A review of the impacts of roads on wildlife in semi-arid regions
(2019)Roads now penetrate even the most remote parts of much of the world, but the majority of research on the effects of roads on biota has been in less remote temperate environments. The impacts of roads in semi-arid and arid ... -
Stability of Afromontane ant diversity decreases across an elevation gradient
(Elsevier B.V., 2019)As the need to better understand the ecology of hotspots of endemism intensifies, the insurance hypothesis is drawing increasing attention from policy-makers and scenario-planners. The hypothesis states that biodiversity ... -
Thermoregulatory traits combine with range shifts to alter the future of montane ant assemblages
(John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2019)Predicting and understanding the biological response to future climate change is a pressing challenge for humanity. In the 21st century, many species will move into higher latitudes and higher elevations as the climate ... -
Habitats and cardinal directions are key variables structuring spider leaf litter assemblages under Searsia lancea
(Elsevier GmbH, 2019)Spiders are a prominent component of leaf litter assemblages, where they function as critical predators of other invertebrates. We investigated the influence of habitat, cardinal directions and position on Searsia lancea ... -
Pollination limitation despite managed honeybees in South African macadamia orchards
(Elsevier B.V., 2018)There is growing demand for pollination services in agricultural production, which contrasts with declines of wild and managed pollinator populations. Macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia) is a mass-flowering crop that depends ... -
Animal taxa contrast in their scale-dependent responses to land use change in rural Africa
(Public Library of Science, 2018)Human-dominated landscapes comprise the bulk of the world's terrestrial surface and Africa is predicted to experience the largest relative increase over the next century. A multi-scale approach is required to identify ... -
Restoration of riparian systems through clearing of invasive plant species improves functional diversity of Odonate assemblages.
(Elsevier Ltd., 2017)Riparian systems are threatened globally, but contribute disproportionately to biodiversity and ecosystem function. Restoration to reverse their loss is costly, and requires careful monitoring and evaluation. Odonates are ... -
The effect of infrastructure on the invasion of a generalist predator: Pied crows in southern Africa as a case-study
(Elsevier Ltd, 2017)Corridors can favour range expansion of generalists. Specifically, roads have been suspected of facilitating invasion. In southern Africa, pied crows (Corvus alba) have either colonised or increased in abundance, perhaps ... -
South African National Survey of Arachnida: A checklist of the spiders(Arachnida, Araneae) of the Lekgalameetse Nature Reserve, Limpopo province, South Africa
(AOSIS, 2016)The aim of the South African National Survey of Arachnida (SANSA) is to document the Arachnida fauna of South Africa. One of the focus areas of SANSA is to survey protected areas to obtain species-specific information, ... -
Microclimates mitigate against hot temperatures in dryland ecosystems: termite mounds as an example
(Ecological Society of America, 2016)Termite mounds have recently been shown to protect against drought by providing refuges for plants and foci for revegetation, but whether mounds modulate temperature remains untested. Organisms tend to experience climate ... -
The effect of elevation and time on mountain spider diversity: a view of two aspects in the Cederberg mountains of South Africa
(John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2016)Aim Our aim is to test if long-term patterns in α alpha and ß beta diversity along an elevational transect on two aspects of a mountain are consistent through time using spiders as model organisms, quantify the role of ... -
Ant assemblages have darker and larger members in cold environments
(John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2016)Aim In ectotherms, the colour of an individual’s cuticle may have important thermoregulatory and protective consequences. In cool environments, ectotherms should be darker, to maximize heat gain, and larger, to minimize ...
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