Overview and status of estuarine microphytobenthos ecological research in South Africa
- Dalu, Tatenda, Adams, Janine B, Taylor, Jonathan C, Bate, G C, Nunes, M, Froneman, P William, Wasserman, Ryan J
- Authors: Dalu, Tatenda , Adams, Janine B , Taylor, Jonathan C , Bate, G C , Nunes, M , Froneman, P William , Wasserman, Ryan J
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/479308 , vital:78285 , https://doi.org/10.2989/1814232X.2018.1431309
- Description: This article presents a historical overview of estuarine microphytobenthos (MPB) research in South Africa published over the period 1950 to the present, highlighting major milestones, challenges and estuarine management problems, as well as future research needs within the South African context. The studies that were covered comprise peer-reviewed books and journal articles on relevant research conducted in any estuarine environment during the period reviewed. There was a general increase in MPB research outputs over the decades, from only two publications in the 1950s, to over 20 outputs between 2010 and the present. Whereas the MPB studies in South Africa cover a broad spectrum of themes, the research priorities in these works have changed from taxonomically biased studies to those of ecologically based research. Research in the 1950s and 1960s was exclusively taxonomic in nature, with the first ecological investigation incorporating MPB being produced in the 1970s. By the 1980s, ecological studies dominated the research outputs and this trend has persisted to the present. The 1990s and 2000s saw the rise of research into the role of fresh water as a driver of MPB dynamics, whereas the period 2010 to the present saw an increase in more diverse ecological themes, ranging from an autecological investigation to food-web studies and the assessment of multiple drivers of MPB dynamics. However, the majority of studies have focused on either diatoms or estimates of overall MPB biomass. Moreover, there is a regional underrepresentation that runs broadly along biogeographic lines, with the bulk of the work having been conducted in the warm-temperate and subtropical zones of South Africa. Challenges and future research needs for the region are outlined, as is the need to expand MPB research to include other aspects of the biology and ecology of this flora.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Dalu, Tatenda , Adams, Janine B , Taylor, Jonathan C , Bate, G C , Nunes, M , Froneman, P William , Wasserman, Ryan J
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/479308 , vital:78285 , https://doi.org/10.2989/1814232X.2018.1431309
- Description: This article presents a historical overview of estuarine microphytobenthos (MPB) research in South Africa published over the period 1950 to the present, highlighting major milestones, challenges and estuarine management problems, as well as future research needs within the South African context. The studies that were covered comprise peer-reviewed books and journal articles on relevant research conducted in any estuarine environment during the period reviewed. There was a general increase in MPB research outputs over the decades, from only two publications in the 1950s, to over 20 outputs between 2010 and the present. Whereas the MPB studies in South Africa cover a broad spectrum of themes, the research priorities in these works have changed from taxonomically biased studies to those of ecologically based research. Research in the 1950s and 1960s was exclusively taxonomic in nature, with the first ecological investigation incorporating MPB being produced in the 1970s. By the 1980s, ecological studies dominated the research outputs and this trend has persisted to the present. The 1990s and 2000s saw the rise of research into the role of fresh water as a driver of MPB dynamics, whereas the period 2010 to the present saw an increase in more diverse ecological themes, ranging from an autecological investigation to food-web studies and the assessment of multiple drivers of MPB dynamics. However, the majority of studies have focused on either diatoms or estimates of overall MPB biomass. Moreover, there is a regional underrepresentation that runs broadly along biogeographic lines, with the bulk of the work having been conducted in the warm-temperate and subtropical zones of South Africa. Challenges and future research needs for the region are outlined, as is the need to expand MPB research to include other aspects of the biology and ecology of this flora.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
Sacrificial males the potential role of copulation and predation in contributing to copepod sex-skewed ratios
- Wasserman, Ryan J, Weston, Mark, Weyl, Olaf, L F, Froneman, P William, Welch, Rebecca J, Vink, Tim J F, Dalu, Tatenda
- Authors: Wasserman, Ryan J , Weston, Mark , Weyl, Olaf, L F , Froneman, P William , Welch, Rebecca J , Vink, Tim J F , Dalu, Tatenda
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/467233 , vital:76843 , https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.04832
- Description: Predation is thought to play a selective role in the emergence of behavioural traits in prey. Differences in behaviour between prey demographics may, therefore, be driven by predation with select components of the population being less vulnerable to predators. While under controlled conditions prey demography has been shown to have consequences for predation success, investigations linking these implications to natural prey population demographics are scarce. Here we assess predator–prey dynamics between notonectid predators (backswimmers) and Lovenula raynerae (Copepoda), key faunal groups in temperate ephemeral pond ecosystems. Using a combination of field and experimental approaches we test for the development and mechanism of predation‐induced sex‐skewed ratios. A natural population of L. raynerae was tracked over time in relation to their predator (notonectid) and prey (Cladocera) numbers. In the laboratory, L. raynerae sex ratios were also assessed over time but in the absence of predation pressure.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Wasserman, Ryan J , Weston, Mark , Weyl, Olaf, L F , Froneman, P William , Welch, Rebecca J , Vink, Tim J F , Dalu, Tatenda
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/467233 , vital:76843 , https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.04832
- Description: Predation is thought to play a selective role in the emergence of behavioural traits in prey. Differences in behaviour between prey demographics may, therefore, be driven by predation with select components of the population being less vulnerable to predators. While under controlled conditions prey demography has been shown to have consequences for predation success, investigations linking these implications to natural prey population demographics are scarce. Here we assess predator–prey dynamics between notonectid predators (backswimmers) and Lovenula raynerae (Copepoda), key faunal groups in temperate ephemeral pond ecosystems. Using a combination of field and experimental approaches we test for the development and mechanism of predation‐induced sex‐skewed ratios. A natural population of L. raynerae was tracked over time in relation to their predator (notonectid) and prey (Cladocera) numbers. In the laboratory, L. raynerae sex ratios were also assessed over time but in the absence of predation pressure.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2018
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