https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Index en-us 5 https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:70527 Thu 30 May 2024 16:50:59 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72233 Sun 02 Jun 2024 19:45:01 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72234 Sun 02 Jun 2024 19:23:41 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72235 Sun 02 Jun 2024 19:02:36 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72218 Sun 02 Jun 2024 18:34:35 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72886 Sun 02 Jun 2024 18:00:13 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72885 Sun 02 Jun 2024 16:42:53 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:70521 Sun 02 Jun 2024 14:16:07 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72882 Sun 02 Jun 2024 13:54:34 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:70523 Sun 02 Jun 2024 13:40:36 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72881 Sun 02 Jun 2024 13:40:35 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72880 Sun 02 Jun 2024 13:06:20 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72879 Sun 02 Jun 2024 12:43:01 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72878 Sun 02 Jun 2024 12:17:20 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72860 Sun 02 Jun 2024 12:16:35 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72877 Sun 02 Jun 2024 10:21:02 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72876 Sun 02 Jun 2024 10:09:50 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72875 Sun 02 Jun 2024 09:57:19 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72874 Sun 02 Jun 2024 09:31:48 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72873 Sun 02 Jun 2024 09:29:13 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72872 Sun 02 Jun 2024 09:14:49 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72871 Sun 02 Jun 2024 09:00:35 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72870 Sun 02 Jun 2024 08:46:34 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72869 Sun 02 Jun 2024 08:29:35 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72868 Sun 02 Jun 2024 08:17:39 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72867 Sat 01 Jun 2024 20:44:21 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72866 Sat 01 Jun 2024 20:37:20 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72865 Sat 01 Jun 2024 20:28:07 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72864 Sat 01 Jun 2024 20:14:38 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72863 Sat 01 Jun 2024 20:03:32 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72862 Sat 01 Jun 2024 19:46:29 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72861 Sat 01 Jun 2024 19:34:23 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72859 Sat 01 Jun 2024 18:19:04 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72858 Sat 01 Jun 2024 18:07:33 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72044 Sat 01 Jun 2024 16:52:14 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72857 Sat 01 Jun 2024 16:51:55 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:39135 Sat 01 Jun 2024 16:48:39 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72856 Sat 01 Jun 2024 16:38:40 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72855 3 Log10 CFU.mL−1 values. The dyes also exhibit moderate activities toward the S. aureus and E. coli biofilm cells, which are lower than for the planktonic cells, as shown by their lower Log10 reduction values. The data demonstrate that the low symmetry corrole, chlorin, and N-confused porphyrin complexes that absorb light strongly within the therapeutic window have significantly enhanced PDT and PACT activities relative to their porphyrin analogs.]]> Sat 01 Jun 2024 16:20:32 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72854 Sat 01 Jun 2024 16:16:17 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72853 Sat 01 Jun 2024 15:48:41 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72852 Sat 01 Jun 2024 12:46:58 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72851 Sat 01 Jun 2024 12:33:20 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72850 Sat 01 Jun 2024 12:24:46 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72849 Sat 01 Jun 2024 12:19:18 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72848 Sat 01 Jun 2024 12:09:38 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72847 Sat 01 Jun 2024 11:55:55 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72846 Sat 01 Jun 2024 11:50:04 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72229 Mon 03 Jun 2024 18:17:44 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72230 Mon 03 Jun 2024 18:03:44 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72231 Mon 03 Jun 2024 17:42:39 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72232 Mon 03 Jun 2024 15:57:44 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72933 Mon 03 Jun 2024 15:51:46 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72932 Mon 03 Jun 2024 15:36:53 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72931 200 m depth) are challenging to access and remain poorly studied globally. Epifaunal invertebrates comprise a critical trophic level in benthic ecosystems and can serve as indicators of the overall health and functioning. There is limited knowledge of South Africa’s offshore marine environment and benthic ecosystem functioning due to limitations in funding, resources, and the lack of suitable science-based monitoring tools which are vital for sustainable management into the future. The aim of this research was to improve the understanding of epifaunal functioning as well as their potential physical drivers in 13 South African offshore biogeographic ecotypes. The objectives of this study were threefold: 1) to investigate the functional composition of benthic epifauna from 13 biogeographic ecotypes, 2) to quantify the Functional Diversity (FD) associated with epifaunal traits between the different assemblages (i.e. biogeographic ecotypes), and 3) to evaluate the relationship between physical variables and epifaunal functional traits at the biogeographic ecotype level. Biological trait-based approaches were applied to a subset of 80 benthic epifaunal species collected from 909 offshore stations along the west and south coasts of South Africa. Nine biological traits (associated with life history, morphology and behavioural characteristics exhibited by each species) were classified into 39 modalities and weighted with biomass. Community Weighted Means (CWMs) were used to evaluate the benthic epifaunal functional trait composition of the 13 biogeographic ecotypes. Functional composition across the 13 ecotype assemblages on the west and south coast appeared to be dominated by species with similar trait compositions, such as large, long-lived, surface crawling/burrowing/filter-feeding epifauna with medium to no mobility, however, their percentage of contribution to trait expression (CWMs) was higher on the west coast. Functional diversity indices (alpha and beta) showed higher overall FD for west coast ecotypes, with most ecotypes on the continental shelf (except slopes and canyons) being significantly different (p<0.05) from ecotypes on the south coast. The global RLQ (three-table co-inertia) test did not reveal a significant relationship between biomass and physical variables or between biomass and traits (p>0.05). The fourth-corner method was used to test the significance of individual traitenvironment relationships. The fourth-corner results were similar overall to the RLQ analysis, revealing that three physical variables (temperature, depth, and fluorescence) were significantly correlated to two trait modalities belonging to the feeding mode filter-feeders (FM1) and scavengers (FM5). Scavengers were positively correlated with depth and negatively with temperature, while filter-feeders were positively correlated with fluorescence levels. This indicated that the presence of scavenging epifauna increased with a decrease in temperature and an increase in depth. While a positive significant correlation between filter-feeders and fluorescence suggested their potential tolerance or preference for environmental conditions with high levels of fluorescence. This research was the first such study to explore the functional composition and diversity of benthic epifauna and their relationship with potential physical drivers in offshore west and south coast benthic biogeographic ecotypes of South Africa. The application of new tools to quantify the functional diversity of epifauna as indicators of ecosystem health, and their potential physical drivers. This provided a platform on which to advance our understanding of benthic communities and the roles they play in ecosystem functioning under changing environments. Functional trait-based approaches such as those applied in this study can provide us with vital information on the relationship between biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and physical drivers. Environmental stressors and changing climate patterns threaten to impact marine ecosystems and their functioning. Benthic epifauna are especially sensitive to changes in their environment and these fluctuations could potentially lead to the loss of certain benthic functionality, altering the thresholds these ecosystems have to response to disturbances. This undermines the stability of these ecosystems which can have ripple effects on the health of these ecosystems and their ability to provide the ecosystem services humans dependent on. Having suitable tools to track current and predict future changes will therefore be vital to inform management and conservation strategies for sustainable ocean utilisation.]]> Mon 03 Jun 2024 15:17:03 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72925 Mon 03 Jun 2024 14:40:41 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72929 Mon 03 Jun 2024 14:40:25 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72928 Mon 03 Jun 2024 14:37:34 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72927 Mon 03 Jun 2024 14:34:15 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72924 Mon 03 Jun 2024 14:27:34 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72923 Mon 03 Jun 2024 14:23:59 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72922 Mon 03 Jun 2024 14:20:10 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72920 Mon 03 Jun 2024 14:12:08 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72919 Mon 03 Jun 2024 14:09:04 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72916 Mon 03 Jun 2024 14:01:55 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72914 Mon 03 Jun 2024 13:51:32 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72912 Mon 03 Jun 2024 13:47:30 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72913 Mon 03 Jun 2024 13:38:56 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72911 Mon 03 Jun 2024 13:31:54 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72910 Mon 03 Jun 2024 13:26:29 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72909 Mon 03 Jun 2024 13:16:58 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72908 Mon 03 Jun 2024 13:08:20 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72907 Mon 03 Jun 2024 12:33:03 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72887 Mon 03 Jun 2024 12:06:31 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72906 Mon 03 Jun 2024 11:17:32 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72904 Mon 03 Jun 2024 09:54:53 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72899 100 years) and harbours forest species, many of which were vertical growers. The second unit, thicket, is exposed to moderate levels of fire frequency (50-100 years) and is dominated by lateral spreaders. The last unit, fynbos-thicket, is exposed to high levels of fire frequency (10-50 years) and here hedge-forming shrubs dominate the canopy cover. Forest-thicket and fynbos-thicket had a diverse set of shrub species with many being restricted to their respective vegetation type, whereas thicket had a lower diversity with no unique shrub species.]]> Mon 03 Jun 2024 09:44:46 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72903 Mon 03 Jun 2024 09:40:17 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72902 Mon 03 Jun 2024 09:33:25 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72901 Mon 03 Jun 2024 09:28:38 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72900 Mon 03 Jun 2024 09:21:29 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72898 Mon 03 Jun 2024 09:14:03 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72897 Mon 03 Jun 2024 09:04:01 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72896 Mon 03 Jun 2024 08:57:42 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72895 Mon 03 Jun 2024 08:51:25 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72894 Mon 03 Jun 2024 08:46:14 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72893 Mon 03 Jun 2024 08:39:36 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72892 Mon 03 Jun 2024 08:34:28 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72891 Mon 03 Jun 2024 08:27:34 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72890 Mon 03 Jun 2024 08:20:27 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72889 Mon 03 Jun 2024 08:14:14 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72888 Mon 03 Jun 2024 08:08:32 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:70525 Fri 31 May 2024 16:16:13 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72828 Fri 31 May 2024 14:09:47 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72827 Fri 31 May 2024 13:48:47 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72826 Fri 31 May 2024 13:20:48 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72825 Fri 31 May 2024 12:52:54 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72824 Fri 31 May 2024 10:41:16 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72823 Fri 31 May 2024 10:32:54 SAST ]]> https://commons.ru.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:72822 Fri 31 May 2024 10:11:48 SAST ]]>