RESEARCH: Foord, S
Recent Submissions
-
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 ... -
Response of instream animal communities to a short-term extreme event and to longer-term cumulative impacts in a strategic water resource area, South Africa
(NISC (Pty) Ltd and Taylor & Francis, 2016)Disturbance plays an integral part in generating heterogeneity required for ecosystem persistence, but the increased amplitude and duration of disturbances linked to drivers of global change could result in ecosystem shifts ... -
South African National Survey of Arachnida (SANSA): review of current knowledge, constraints and future needs for documenting spider diversity (Arachnida: Araneae)
(Taylor & Francis, 2015-10-07)Biodiversity is one of the most important concepts in contemporary biology, with a broad range of applications. In November 1995, South Africa ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Signatories are obligated ... -
The life and times of Africa’s First Lady of Arachnology, Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman
(Council of the KwaZulu-Natal Museum, 2015)Anna Sophia Dippenaar-Schoeman (Ansie) was born in 1948 in Roodepoort, Gauteng, where her parents were shop owners. She is the middle child of three, the siblings being an older sister and a younger brother. Her parents ... -
A review of three Tusitala (Araneae: Salticidae) species from southern Africa, with a new synonymy and description of a new species from Botswana
(Council of the KwaZulu-Natal Museum, 2015)Two species of Tusitala Peckham & Peckham, 1902, largely sympatric throughout southern Africa, T. barbata Peckham & Peckham, 1902 and T. hirsuta Peckham & Peckham, 1902, are redescribed. One subspecies, T. barbata longipalpis ... -
Effects of aspect and altitude on scorpion diversity along an environmental gradient in the Soutpansberg, South Africa
(Elsevier, 2015)Landforms with steep environmental gradients provide natural laboratories for studying regional dynamics of diversity. The Soutpansberg range in South Africa presents contrasting habitats and climatic conditions on its ... -
A revision of the Afrotropical species of Festucula Simon, 1901 (Araneae: Salticidae)
(KwaZulu-Natal Museum, 2014-12-03)The Afrotropical species of the jumping spider genus Festucula Simon, 1901 are revised. The genus now contains eight species. Three new species, F. haddadi sp. n. (♂♀ from South Africa), F. leroyae sp. n. (♂♀ from South ... -
An inventory of epigeal ants of the western Soutpansberg Mountain Range, South Africa
(AOSIS OpenJournals, 2015)The distribution, abundance and sensitivity of invertebrates to habitat change are largely unknown. Long-term monitoring of ecological gradients with standardised and comparable protocols can form the basis of a better ... -
Temporal patterns of ant diversity across a mountain with climatically contrasting aspects in the tropics of Africa
(Public Library of Science, 2015)Factors that drive species richness over space and time are still poorly understood and are often context specific. Identifying these drivers for ant diversity has become particularly relevant within the context of ... -
Redescriptions of poorly known species of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) from South Africa and Namibia
(Magnolia Press, 2013-07-11)The following seven species of southern African Salticidae, known only from type specimens or one sex, and last described in the early 20th century, are redescribed: Baryphas ahenus Simon, 1902, Brancus muticus Simon, ... -
Die diversiteit van Suid-Afrikaanse spinnekoppe (Arachnida: Araneae): Dokumentering van 'n nasionale opname
(AOSIS OpenJournals, 2013-04-19)Die Suid-Afrikaanse Nasionale Opname van Arachnida (SANSA) is in 1997 deur die Landbounavorsingsraad (LNR) geïnisieer met die primêre doelwit om die Arachnidafauna van Suid-Afrika op nasionale vlak te dokumenteer. Tydens ... -
Surrogates of spider diversity, leveraging the conservation of a poorly known group in the Savanna Biome of South Africa
(Elsevier Ltd/, 2013-02-14)The inclusion of spiders in conservation planning initiatives is confounded by several factors. Surrogates could facilitate their incorporation. In this paper we investigate the performance of a number of surrogate measures, ...
RSS 1.0