Sound Matters: Podcasting As A Learning And Teaching Intervention To Enhance Reading And Writing Skills
- Authors: McConnachie, Boudina E , Ntshakaza, Yamkela , McCarthy, H , Mathebula, P , Mavuso, Bonelela L , Makamure, T
- Date: 2024
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/450182 , vital:74890 , ISBN 97819912604689 , https://books.google.co.za/books?id=EtcPEQAAQBAJandprintsec=frontcover#v=onepageandqandf=false
- Description: In this chapter, a group of student-researchers and their lecturer discuss their findings relating to a podcasting intervention which took place in an Ethnomusicology thirdand fourth-year class at Rhodes University in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, South Africa. As part of a larger project, in which the class explored podcasting in general, they experimented with the medium in order to ascertain in what role it could be used as a learning and teaching aid in tertiary pedagogy. Audio recordings of the lecturer discussing journal articles relating to the module were sent to students. They listened to and used them in different scenarios, orchestrated to research their effectiveness in diverse learning and teaching situations. Using a qualitative case study research design methodology, the student researchers and their lecturer present these findings through a participatory lens. They analyse the podcasts’ efficacy and limitations from various perspectives through coding responses. Finally, they discuss future usage of the medium as a way to enhance students’ understanding of academic readings.
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Analysis of South African Media Coverage of the 2022 KZN Floods
- Authors: Aiseng, Kealeboga , Gamede, S
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , conference proceedings
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/455411 , vital:75428 , ISBN , https://tiikmpublishing.com/proceedings/index.php/msdc/article/view/1117
- Description: Literature exists that studies media coverage of natural disasters. The media has the potential to influence how governments react to disasters, how emergency services handle disasters, and how people receive and react to the news of disasters. However, the media sometimes sensationalizes the news about the disasters and focus on other manifestations such as panic, looting, shock, emerging heroes and villains, human conflict, and suffering. This study aims to analyze the media coverage of the 2022 floods in the province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) in South Africa. In particular, the study seeks to evaluate if there was media coverage of the floods and what the contents of the coverage were. The study used content analysis to examine the presence of KZN floods from three selected online newspapers, focusing on whether the floods were covered, and which issues or themes dominated the reporting of the floods. The aim here was to examine the role that the media played during this disaster in South Africa. Content analysis was used to note the number of stories covered during the KZN floods in the media, the key themes that dominated the coverage of the floods and factors that influenced the media coverage of the floods. The selected online newspapers are News24, Independent Online (IOL) and TimesLive. These newspapers were purposively selected because of their wider national readership, the ideology of the newspaper, strong online presence, and type/style of reporting. Based on the above-presented data, we argue that there was sufficient coverage of the KZN floods in South African media. The study also discovered that the following issues or stories dominated the reporting/coverage of floods: disaster management, casualties, relief measures, the role of the government, business interests, the role of opposition parties, destruction of infrastructure, and effects on social life.
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Season and environment modulate aquatic invertebrates’ responses to trout and indigenous fishes in three South African mountain streams
- Authors: Bellingan, Terence A , Hugo, Sanet , Villet, Martin H , Weyl, Olaf L F
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441487 , vital:73893 , https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.1004939
- Description: Introduced organisms are seen as one of the greatest threats to resource sustainability worldwide, and aquatic macroinvertebrates are regarded as good indicators of the health of water resources. To explore these two perspectives, the responses of macroinvertebrate faunas to native and introduced fishes in three headwater tributaries of the Keiskamma River system, South Africa, were examined by comparing potential indicator communities in reaches considered to be fishless, reaches invaded by introduced salmonid species, and reaches containing native fishes. Patterns in the macroinvertebrate faunal assemblage data were driven strongly by season and flow rate, and less strongly by the presence of insectivorous fishes and biotope availability, a finding in parallel with several similar studies from the region. This affirms that aquatic macroinvertebrate faunas are responsive indicators of both environmental and biotic factors and leaves room for further studies to resolve the effects of non-native fish in the Keiskamma River system and other similar systems from South Africa.
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Emergent Curriculum and Sustainability Competencies in Environmental Learning
- Authors: Mkhabela, Antonia T , Schudel, Ingrid J
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435112 , vital:73131 , ISBN 9781928502241 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/64082
- Description: This study was influenced by the South African National Diagnostic Report on Learner Performance in the 2012 final examinations, which highlighted learner struggles with ‘higher order thinking skills such as application, problem solving, critical thinking, analysis and evaluation’ (South Africa DBE 2013: 16). These are skills typically associated with essay questions in examinations. Another issue reported in the abovementioned document was poorly answered essay questions on Environmental Studies, ‘giving the impression that this topic, which is scheduled towards the end of the year, was neglected by both teachers and learners’ (p. 121). The problem of weak higher order thinking skills, compounded by difficulty with Environmental Studies, informed part of the research interest for this study: namely, how higher order thinking is engaged when reflecting on environmental issues in Life Sciences classrooms (specifically required for the Environmental Studies topic of ‘human impact’).
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Enhancing Capabilities of Life Sciences Teachers: Professional Development, Conversion Factors and Functionings in Teachers’ Professional Learning Communities
- Authors: Tshiningayamwe, Sirkka , Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/435220 , vital:73139 , ISBN 9781928502241 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/64082
- Description: South Africa is rich in biodiversity and is home to about 95 000 known species (South Africa DEA 2014; SANBI 2019). Yet, compared to other southern African countries, the country has a high number of threatened species (Driver et al. 2012). Approximately 12 million South Africans depend on the natural environment to meet their needs. Among other factors, overharvesting of biological resources is one of the main causes of biodiversity loss in the country (South Africa DEA 2014; SANBI 2019). In line with assessment of biodiversity reports, Unesco (2018) notes that biodiversity loss is a global phenomenon. Emphasis in these reports is that over 7 billion people in the world rely on biodiversity to maintain and enhance their well-being. The realisation of biodiversity conservation as a global concern has resulted in various international conventions, policies, legislation and educational programmes that foreground biodiversity (Shava and Schudel 2013). Aligned with international trends, South Africa also has national policies and legislation aimed at protecting biodiversity. Among these is the National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act which introduces a legal framework for governing sustainable development in the country, and includes a clause for all training and education programmes to integrate education for sustainable development (RSA 1998). Thus, like many other countries in the world, South Africa has incorporated biodiversity components in its ongoing curriculum reforms including in the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS).
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Participatory data collection
- Authors: de Vos, Alta , Preiser, Rika , Masterson, Vanessa A
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433842 , vital:73004 , ISBN 9781000401516 , https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/49560
- Description: Participatory mapping (direct-to-digital participatory mapping, 3D-participatory mapping, participatory GIS), photovoice, transect walks, ranking exercises, focus group discussions, Venn diagrams, matrix scoring, ecograms, timelines, Q-methodology, community mapping, participatory videography, photo elicitation, seasonal calendars, participatory action research, participatory rural appraisal, participant observation, arts-based methods.
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Revision of the Afrotropical genus Fainia Zumpt, 1958, with notes on the morphology of Rhiniidae subfamilies (Diptera, Oestroidea)
- Authors: Thomas-Cabianca, Arianna , Martínez-Sánchez, Anabel , Villet, Martin H , Rojo, Santos
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441446 , vital:73889 , 10.3897/zookeys.1033.58539
- Description: The taxonomy and diversity of Fainia Zumpt, 1958, an exclusive Afrotropical genus, had not been reviewed recently. The genus included six nominal species, but the status of several of them was debated. Identification of most Fainia species depends on characters of the male terminalia; females are poorly known and, in several cases, are not adequately diagnosed. We conducted a taxonomic revision of the genus and generated identification tools. Based on the study of type material and specimens available in entomological collections in Africa and Europe, we recognise here three of the six species as valid (F. albitarsis (Macquart, 1846), F. elongata (Bezzi, 1908) and F. inexpectata Zumpt, 1973). We also provide an identification key to both sexes, redescriptions of the species, updated distribution records and high resolution photographs of males’ and females’ habitus and male terminalia. The description of Fainia kagerana Lehrer, 2007a nom. nud. is an invalid nomenclatural act in terms of ICZN Article 13.1. 1. Based on examinations of their holotypes, F. sambura Lehrer, 2008 syn. nov. is proposed as a junior synonym of F. albitarsis; F. kirinyaga Lehrer, 2007b syn. nov. is proposed as a junior synonym of F. inexpectata; and Fainia giriama Lehrer, 2007b is moved from the genus Fainia to the genus Rhinia Robineau-Desvoidy, as Rhinia giriama (Lehrer, 2007b) comb. nov.. We propose two apomorphies that support the status of the subfamily Rhiniinae.
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The first record of Omosita nearctica Kirejtshuk (Coleoptera, Nitidulidae) in South Africa, with the first description of its mature larva
- Authors: Williams, Kirstin A , Clitheroe, Crystal-Leigh , Villet, Martin H , Midgley, John M
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/440640 , vital:73799 , https://africaninvertebrates.pensoft.net/article/58842/
- Description: Sap beetles of the genus Omosita Erichson are stored-product pests that are also associated with carrion, potentially making them biosecurity risks and forensic tools. The discovery of a specimen of the Nearctic species Omosita nearctica Kirejtshuk in South Africa prompted an investigation a decade later to determine if this species had established itself in the country, which was confirmed by the collection of further breeding specimens that also facilitated the first description of mature larvae of O. nearctica. A new key to adults of all Omosita species is presented.
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A Critical Evaluation of Validation Practices in the Forensic Acquisition of Digital Evidence in South Africa
- Authors: Jordaan, Jason , Bradshaw, Karen L
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/440174 , vital:73754 , ISBN 9783030660390 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66039-0_9
- Description: Accepted digital forensics practice requires the tools used in the forensic acquisition of digital evidence to be validated, meaning that the tools perform as intended. In terms of Sect. 15 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 in South Africa, validation would contribute to the reliability of the digital evidence. A sample of digital forensic practitioners from South Africa was studied to determine to what extent they make use of validated forensic tools during the acquisition process, and how these tools are proven to be validated. The research identified significant concerns, with no validation done, or no proof of validation done, bringing into question the reliability of the digital evidence in court. It is concerning that the justice system itself is not picking this up, meaning that potentially unreliable digital evidence is used in court.
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Bat species richness and community composition along a mega-transect in the Okavango river basin:
- Authors: Weier, Sina M , Keith, Mark , Neef, Götz G , Parker, Daniel M , Taylor, Peter J
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/149264 , vital:38820 , https://doi.org/10.3390/d12050188
- Description: The Okavango River Basin is a hotspot of bat diversity that requires urgent and adequate protection. To advise future conservation strategies, we investigated the relative importance of a range of potential environmental drivers of bat species richness and functional community composition in the Okavango River Basin. During annual canoe transects along the major rivers, originating in the central Angolan highlands, we recorded more than 25,000 bat echolocation calls from 2015 to 2018. We corrected for possible biases in sampling design and effort.
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Conclusion: The diversity of contemporary African foreign policy: Selecting Signifiers to explain Agency
- Authors: Bischoff, Paul, 1954-
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/161681 , vital:40654 , ISBN 9780367348281 , https://www.routledge.com/African-Foreign-Policies-Selecting-Signifiers-to-Explain-Agency/Bischoff/p/book/9780367348281
- Description: This book explores, at a time when several powers have become serious players on the continent, aspects of African agency, past and present, by African writers on foreign policy, representative of geography, language and state size.
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Dragonfly (Odonata) community structure in the Eastern Highlands Biodiversity Hotspot of Zimbabwe: potential threats of land use changes on freshwater invertebrates
- Authors: Mafuwe, Kudzai , Moyo, Sydney
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/158265 , vital:40167 , https://doi.org/10.1080/13887890.2020.1768156
- Description: We examined the diversity and potential drivers of dragonfly distribution in a biodiversity hotspot of Southern Africa (Eastern Highlands, Zimbabwe) by surveying 30 sites (13 lentic and 17 lotic habitats) located within this region. Additionally, we identified the anthropogenic factors that may threaten Odonata diversity and abundance.
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Incorporating geomorphic knowledge in the management of wetlands in Africa’s drylands: a rapid assessment of the Kafue Wetland
- Authors: Lidzhegu, Z , Ellery, William F N , Mantel, Sukhmani
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/157108 , vital:40087 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-019-01172-9
- Description: Limited knowledge of wetland geomorphic processes often results in poor wetland management. This study aims to illustrate the importance of incorporating geomorphic knowledge of wetland origin in their management. The geomorphic origin and dynamics of the Kafue wetland were determined from the analysis of remotely sensed and geological data. The wetland is a remnant of a paleo-lake that was captured by the tributary of the middle Zambezi River. At the point of capture, resistant Muva Group metavolcanic rocks dominate narrow valleys characterised by straight channels. The resistant lithology prevents the lower Kafue River to cut into the wetland thus maintaining wetland conditions upstream. Sedimentation regime through overbank and bed deposits shaped the wetland’s structure, ecological diversity, and hydrological functioning. The operation of the Itezhi-tezhi dam has negatively impacted the wetland’s hydrological and sedimentological regime. The dam starves the system of sediment needed for promoting levee and channel bed aggradation. Regulated discharge with reduced sediment load can lead to channel incision and therefore reduce flood frequency, which may ultimately lead to wetland desiccation.
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Social circumstances and cultural beliefs influence maternal nutrition, breastfeeding and child feeding practices in South Africa:
- Authors: Chakona, Gamuchirai
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148627 , vital:38757 , https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12937-020-00566-4
- Description: Maternal and child undernutrition remain prevalent in developing countries with 45 and 11% of child deaths linked to poor nutrition and suboptimal breastfeeding, respectively. This also has adverse effects on child growth and development. The study determined maternal dietary diversity, breastfeeding and, infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices and identified reasons for such behavior in five rural communities in South Africa, in the context of cultural beliefs and social aspects.
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Synthesis, characterization and biological activity of some Dithiourea Derivatives:
- Authors: Odame, Felix , Hosten, Eric C , Krause, Jason , Isaacs, Michelle , Hoppe, Heinrich C , Khanye, Setshaba D , Sayed, Yasien , Frost, Carminita L , Lobb, Kevin A , Tshentu, Zenixole R
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/163046 , vital:41007 , DOI: 10.17344/acsi.2019.5689
- Description: Novel dithiourea derivatives have been designed as HIV-1 protease inhibitors using Autodock 4.2, synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic methods and microanalysis.
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‘Nothing so practical as good theory’: Legitimation Code Theory in higher education
- Authors: Winberg, Christine , McKenna, Sioux , Wilmot, Kirsten
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/445850 , vital:74437 , ISBN 9781003028215 , https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003028215-1/nothing-practical-good-theory-christine-winberg-sioux-mckenna-kirstin-wilmot
- Description: Universities are grappling with multiple shifts that have made the processes of supporting student learning and enabling the professional development of academic staff ever more challenging. Common sense approaches abound but do little to address the complexities of the issues being faced in our institutions. This book brings together a rich collection of studies that uses a powerful common framework, Legitimation Code Theory, to attend to these concerns about higher education studies. The chapters provide specific real world examples of how this framework acts as conceptual lenses, analytical tools and as teaching resources to open conversations about how it is we come to know and what it is that is deemed worth knowing. In Part I ‘Student Learning across the Disciplinary Map’, the authors explore ways of understanding and supporting student achievement across different disciplinary contexts – from STEM disciplines and fields to the Arts and Humanities – and at different levels – from introductory higher education courses to doctoral-level studies. Part II, ‘Professional Learning in Higher Education’, takes an in-depth look at academic staff development in higher education. Each chapter in the book focuses on pertinent issues in higher education practice, from how to support an increasingly diverse student body, to how to support university teachers in contexts of rapid change and growth. This chapter provides an introduction to the conversation and offers an entry into the LCT tools used in this collection: Specialization, Semantics and Autonomy.
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Framing learning needs assessments for sustainability policy practices
- Authors: Rosenberg, Eureta
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436016 , vital:73220 , ISBN 9780429279362 , https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429279362-13/synthesis-elaboration-critical-realist-methodology-green-skills-research-eureta-rosenberg
- Description: A common (green) skills planning objective is to identify the learning needs of workers in particular sectors, programmes or organisations, in order to provide them with appropriate learn-ing opportunities. This chapter describes a design and concep-tual framing for learning needs assessments focused on sus-tainability or green economy policy practitioners. Measures for achieving credible results include design features for building consensus around the findings, but also a sound conceptual framing of learning needs. The chapter provides pointers for working critically with the notion of competencies, exploring both the value and the limitations of the concept, and framing it as relational transformational agency entailing technical, rela-tional and ethical affordances among collectives involved in sustainability policy-practice. The chapter draws on the Green Economy Learning Assessment for South Africa, which exlored the learning needs of sustainability practitioners in pol-icy contexts related to sustainable transport, renewable energy procurement and water resource management, among others. The chapter shares examples of competencies identified in these contexts, and concludes with a few curriculum pointers, in anticipation of the next chapter’s focus on the educational provider’s perspective. A common (green) skills planning objective is to identify the learning needs of workers in particular sectors, programmes or organisations, in order to provide them with appropriate learn-ing opportunities. This chapter describes a design and concep-tual framing for learning needs assessments focused on sus-tainability or green economy policy practitioners. Measures for achieving credible results include design features for building consensus around the findings, but also a sound conceptual framing of learning needs. The chapter provides pointers for working critically with the notion of competencies, exploring both the value and the limitations of the concept, and framing it as relational transformational agency entailing technical, rela-tional and ethical affordances among collectives involved in sustainability policy-practice. The chapter draws on the Green Economy Learning Assessment for South Africa, which exlored the learning needs of sustainability practitioners in pol-icy contexts related to sustainable transport, renewable energy procurement and water resource management, among others. The chapter shares examples of competencies identified in these contexts, and concludes with a few curriculum pointers, in anticipation of the next chapter’s focus on the educational provider’s perspective.
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Indigenous polycentric and nested customary sea-tenure (CST) institutions: a Solomon Islands case study
- Authors: Aswani, Shankar
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/178964 , vital:40100 , ISBN 9780429628283
- Description: In one volume, this book brings together a diversity of approaches, theory and frameworks that can be used to analyse the governance of renewable natural resources. Renewable natural resources are under pressure, with over-exploitation and degradation raising concern globally. Understanding governance systems and practice is essential for developing effective and fair solutions. This book introduces readers to key concepts and issues concerned with the governance of renewable natural resources and illustrates the diversity of approaches, theories and frameworks that have been used to analyse governance systems and practice. Each chapter provides an introduction to an area of literature and theory and demonstrates application through a case study. The book covers a range of geographical locations, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries, and several types of natural resources. The approaches and theories introduced include common property theory, political ecology, institutional analysis, the social -ecological systems framework and social network analysis. Findings from across the chapters support an analytical focus on institutions and local context and a practical focus on diverse, flexible and inclusive governance solutions. The book serves as an essential introduction to the governance of renewable natural resources for students, researchers and practitioners.
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Is contemporary art postdevelopmental?: a study of ‘art as NGO’
- Authors: Tello, Verónica
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/146365 , vital:38519 , ISBN 9780429959981
- Description: Book abstract. Postdevelopment in Practice critically engages with recent trends in postdevelopment and critical development studies that have destabilised the concept of development, challenging its assumptions and exposing areas where it has failed in its objectives, whilst also pushing beyond theory to uncover alternatives in practice.
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Multi-directional effects of warming temperatures on the reproductive success of a threatened alpine-endemic bird, and implications for conservation management
- Authors: Oswald, Krista N , Lee, Alan T K , Diener, John P , Diener, Elizabeth F , Cunningham, Susan J , Smit, Ben
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441624 , vital:73902 , https://eco.confex.com/eco/2019/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/78223
- Description: Mitigating the current biodiversity crisis requires a better understanding of how species will respond to future climate change and human impacts on habi-tat. Decreased reproductive capability, due to changes in phenology, output, and success, is one of the main indicators of species’ vulnerability. For terres-trial ground-nesting birds, overall reproductive success is often related to nest-site selection (e.g. increased nest concealment), and weather changes (e.g. higher air temperatures alter nest success). We investigated the reproductive success of Cape Rockjumpers (Chaetops frenatus; “Rockjumpers”), a ground-nesting alpine bird, endemic to the Fynbos biome of South Africa, whose popu-lation decline correlates to warmer temperatures. We predicted that breeding success would be positively correlated with increased nest concealment, and negatively correlated with increasing temperature. We collected data over three years, including two full breeding seasons, from 2016 to 2018 (n=5, n=20 and n=43 respectively), which included nest-site selection variables (i.e. vege-tative cover, rock cover, time since fire in years), success or failure (whether nest resulted in ≥ fledgling), and cause if nest failed (i.e. predation events, weather). We tested the overall success in relation to nest-site selection varia-bles, and then examined how nest failure (specifically snake predation) was correlated with air temperature.
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