A critical assessment of the Eastern Cape Provincial Government intervention in dysfunctional municipalities : a case study of Sundays River Valley Local Municipality
- Authors: Njikelana, Vuyo Mxolisi
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Intergovernmental cooperation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Municipal services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/2403 , vital:27808
- Description: The research seeks to assess the effectiveness of the provincial intervention in accordance with section 139 of the Constitution, 1996 in dysfunctional municipalities in the Eastern Cape as a viable instrument vis-à-vis the implementation of the continuous support in terms of section 154 of the same Constitution. Both sections are legislative obligations on the part of the national and provincial spheres of government. The two sections are legal instruments of monitoring and support and their implementation in municipalities by the then Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs (now known as Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs) in the Eastern Cape is the focus of the study. However, the two instruments are not achieving their objectives as more municipalities continue remaining dysfunctional despite provincial interventions. The government set out a broad vision of developmental local government. This is essentially a vision that calls on municipalities to find means of confronting the legacy of underdevelopment and poverty in their local areas. Whereas section 154 seeks to ensure support and strengthen capacity of municipalities, section 139 presupposes intervention in areas where a municipality has failed to perform. The latter section is usually invoked when everything else has failed by way of the continuous support provided by section 154. The study examined critical aspects on the implementation of the two instruments by DLGTA, particularly at Sundays River Valley Local Municipality. It looked at the challenges that necessitate the provincial government to intervene in dysfunctional municipalities as well as at implementation challenges. It also looked at the impact of the provincial intervention and checked on the section that is likely to make an impact between the two. In so doing, the municipal functionaries; Mayor/Speaker, Section 56 Managers, departmental officials of DLGTA and stakeholders representing citizens of Sundays River Valley were interviewed. The results of the study reflect challenges in the implementation of the two instruments by the DLGTA and it would be advisable for the DLGTA to consider the findings and recommendations in an attempt to contribute in overcoming the section 139 challenges.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Njikelana, Vuyo Mxolisi
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Intergovernmental cooperation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Local government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Municipal services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/2403 , vital:27808
- Description: The research seeks to assess the effectiveness of the provincial intervention in accordance with section 139 of the Constitution, 1996 in dysfunctional municipalities in the Eastern Cape as a viable instrument vis-à-vis the implementation of the continuous support in terms of section 154 of the same Constitution. Both sections are legislative obligations on the part of the national and provincial spheres of government. The two sections are legal instruments of monitoring and support and their implementation in municipalities by the then Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs (now known as Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs) in the Eastern Cape is the focus of the study. However, the two instruments are not achieving their objectives as more municipalities continue remaining dysfunctional despite provincial interventions. The government set out a broad vision of developmental local government. This is essentially a vision that calls on municipalities to find means of confronting the legacy of underdevelopment and poverty in their local areas. Whereas section 154 seeks to ensure support and strengthen capacity of municipalities, section 139 presupposes intervention in areas where a municipality has failed to perform. The latter section is usually invoked when everything else has failed by way of the continuous support provided by section 154. The study examined critical aspects on the implementation of the two instruments by DLGTA, particularly at Sundays River Valley Local Municipality. It looked at the challenges that necessitate the provincial government to intervene in dysfunctional municipalities as well as at implementation challenges. It also looked at the impact of the provincial intervention and checked on the section that is likely to make an impact between the two. In so doing, the municipal functionaries; Mayor/Speaker, Section 56 Managers, departmental officials of DLGTA and stakeholders representing citizens of Sundays River Valley were interviewed. The results of the study reflect challenges in the implementation of the two instruments by the DLGTA and it would be advisable for the DLGTA to consider the findings and recommendations in an attempt to contribute in overcoming the section 139 challenges.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Meat and its meanings: representations of meat-eating in selected works of South African literature
- Authors: Coetzer, Theo
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3860 , vital:20550
- Description: This thesis is situated within the burgeoning field of literary animal studies. Its aim is to analyse critically the way in which animals-as-meat are represented in South African literature. While meat pervades our lives and literature, there exists very little scholarship that considers literary depictions of meat. The thesis suggests that literary texts can offer useful reflections of the cultural environments in which they are immersed and, furthermore, can encourage what J. M. Coetzee calls the ‘sympathetic imagination’ in relation to animals. The dissertation offers close readings of three primary texts, while also drawing on a broader range of local fiction. Chapter 1 discusses Eben Venter’s Trencherman, with a specific focus on Venter’s use of the plaasroman and literary dystopia. Both genres are important to the novel’s ubiquitous depictions of meat, serving to illustrate some of the destructive, and irreversible, excesses associated with traditional Afrikaner culture in South Africa. Meat consumption is not only depicted as being among these harmful excesses, but also comes to represent them collectively. Chapter 2 offers a reading of Zakes Mda’s The Madonna of Excelsior, paying particular attention to its representation of the intersection between the objectification of women’s bodies and the transformation of animals into meat. In my approach to this text, I make use of Carol J. Adams’ notion of the ‘absent referent’. I suggest that while Mda ostensibly considers the subjugation of both women and animals, the novel does not ultimately demonstrate concern for animals in their own right. The final chapter considers the representation of suffering in Damon Galgut’s The Beautiful Screaming of Pigs. I argue that Galgut’s text is alone among the three primary texts in its attention to the animal suffering inextricably linked to meat production. The novel depicts this suffering as being comparable to human suffering, while simultaneously demonstrating humans’ indifference to their animal fellows. The dissertation concludes that while meat is infused with a range of meanings in South African literature, the most obvious and intrinsic one – the fact of animal death and animal suffering – is the one most often ignored.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Coetzer, Theo
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3860 , vital:20550
- Description: This thesis is situated within the burgeoning field of literary animal studies. Its aim is to analyse critically the way in which animals-as-meat are represented in South African literature. While meat pervades our lives and literature, there exists very little scholarship that considers literary depictions of meat. The thesis suggests that literary texts can offer useful reflections of the cultural environments in which they are immersed and, furthermore, can encourage what J. M. Coetzee calls the ‘sympathetic imagination’ in relation to animals. The dissertation offers close readings of three primary texts, while also drawing on a broader range of local fiction. Chapter 1 discusses Eben Venter’s Trencherman, with a specific focus on Venter’s use of the plaasroman and literary dystopia. Both genres are important to the novel’s ubiquitous depictions of meat, serving to illustrate some of the destructive, and irreversible, excesses associated with traditional Afrikaner culture in South Africa. Meat consumption is not only depicted as being among these harmful excesses, but also comes to represent them collectively. Chapter 2 offers a reading of Zakes Mda’s The Madonna of Excelsior, paying particular attention to its representation of the intersection between the objectification of women’s bodies and the transformation of animals into meat. In my approach to this text, I make use of Carol J. Adams’ notion of the ‘absent referent’. I suggest that while Mda ostensibly considers the subjugation of both women and animals, the novel does not ultimately demonstrate concern for animals in their own right. The final chapter considers the representation of suffering in Damon Galgut’s The Beautiful Screaming of Pigs. I argue that Galgut’s text is alone among the three primary texts in its attention to the animal suffering inextricably linked to meat production. The novel depicts this suffering as being comparable to human suffering, while simultaneously demonstrating humans’ indifference to their animal fellows. The dissertation concludes that while meat is infused with a range of meanings in South African literature, the most obvious and intrinsic one – the fact of animal death and animal suffering – is the one most often ignored.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Movement patterns of Cape stumpnose, Rhabdosargus holubi (Sparidae), in the Kowie Estuary, South Africa
- Authors: Grant, Gareth Neil
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/982 , vital:20010
- Description: Rhabdosargus holubi is an ubiquitous estuary-dependent fishery species endemic to southern Africa. Although aspects of its recruitment dynamics from sea to estuary have received considerable research attention, little is known about its movement behaviour within estuarine systems. Fishery surveys have also revealed that R. holubi is a dominant species in catches within several temperate estuaries in South Africa. Therefore, investigating movement behaviour is fundamental to understanding the ecology of this species and providing a means for implementing effective fisheries management strategies. This study made use of passive acoustic telemetry to quantify the movement patterns of juvenile R. holubi in the Kowie Estuary, in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Previous studies have revealed that surgically implanted transmitters may have adverse effects on the physiology and behaviour of tagged fish. Therefore, due to the small size of juvenile R. holubi, an a priori transmitter-effect experiment was undertaken. This experiment revealed that juvenile R. holubi (146-217 mm fork length) were not adversely affected by the surgical implantation of acoustic transmitters (7 mm Ø, 1.6 g out of water) and hence acoustic telemetry was well suited to monitoring the movements of this species. A 4-month telemetry study evaluated the movement patterns of 21 juveniles (140-190 mm fork length) tagged in three equal batches along the length of the estuary. Specific aspects of their movement included space use patterns, habitat connectivity, and the influences of geophysical cycles and environmental variables. Tagged fish exhibited high residency, which varied between each release site area. The mean length of estuary used was greater for the upper batch (15.65 ± 6.49 km) than the middle and lower batches (7.36 ± 3.68 and 2.67 ± 2 km, respectively). In terms of habitat connectivity, once the tagged fish left the estuary, they generally did not return. Tagged R. holubi spent the majority (83%) of their monitoring periods within the estuarine environment, with the sea (16%) and riverine (1%) environments being utilised to a lesser extent. Diel and tidal cycles influenced the movement patterns of juvenile R. holubi. However, the high levels of residency meant that fine-scale movements were difficult to detect due to the acoustic receiver deployment configuration (i.e. receivers moored one kilometer apart). The influence of environmental variables on the movement of individuals, modelled with general linear mixed models (GLMMs), revealed that the effects of river inflow and water temperature were greatest. Increased river inflow caused individuals to use larger portions of the estuary. Increased water temperature, particularly river temperature, caused individuals to shift their distributions downstream (towards the mouth of the estuary). This study highlighted the importance of estuarine nursery habitats to R. holubi, suggesting that a loss or reduction of healthy estuarine habitats may lead to significant declines in the abundance of this species. Furthermore, extreme resident behaviour suggests that no-take area closures (estuarine protected areas) would be an effective management strategy for this important fishery species.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Grant, Gareth Neil
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/982 , vital:20010
- Description: Rhabdosargus holubi is an ubiquitous estuary-dependent fishery species endemic to southern Africa. Although aspects of its recruitment dynamics from sea to estuary have received considerable research attention, little is known about its movement behaviour within estuarine systems. Fishery surveys have also revealed that R. holubi is a dominant species in catches within several temperate estuaries in South Africa. Therefore, investigating movement behaviour is fundamental to understanding the ecology of this species and providing a means for implementing effective fisheries management strategies. This study made use of passive acoustic telemetry to quantify the movement patterns of juvenile R. holubi in the Kowie Estuary, in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Previous studies have revealed that surgically implanted transmitters may have adverse effects on the physiology and behaviour of tagged fish. Therefore, due to the small size of juvenile R. holubi, an a priori transmitter-effect experiment was undertaken. This experiment revealed that juvenile R. holubi (146-217 mm fork length) were not adversely affected by the surgical implantation of acoustic transmitters (7 mm Ø, 1.6 g out of water) and hence acoustic telemetry was well suited to monitoring the movements of this species. A 4-month telemetry study evaluated the movement patterns of 21 juveniles (140-190 mm fork length) tagged in three equal batches along the length of the estuary. Specific aspects of their movement included space use patterns, habitat connectivity, and the influences of geophysical cycles and environmental variables. Tagged fish exhibited high residency, which varied between each release site area. The mean length of estuary used was greater for the upper batch (15.65 ± 6.49 km) than the middle and lower batches (7.36 ± 3.68 and 2.67 ± 2 km, respectively). In terms of habitat connectivity, once the tagged fish left the estuary, they generally did not return. Tagged R. holubi spent the majority (83%) of their monitoring periods within the estuarine environment, with the sea (16%) and riverine (1%) environments being utilised to a lesser extent. Diel and tidal cycles influenced the movement patterns of juvenile R. holubi. However, the high levels of residency meant that fine-scale movements were difficult to detect due to the acoustic receiver deployment configuration (i.e. receivers moored one kilometer apart). The influence of environmental variables on the movement of individuals, modelled with general linear mixed models (GLMMs), revealed that the effects of river inflow and water temperature were greatest. Increased river inflow caused individuals to use larger portions of the estuary. Increased water temperature, particularly river temperature, caused individuals to shift their distributions downstream (towards the mouth of the estuary). This study highlighted the importance of estuarine nursery habitats to R. holubi, suggesting that a loss or reduction of healthy estuarine habitats may lead to significant declines in the abundance of this species. Furthermore, extreme resident behaviour suggests that no-take area closures (estuarine protected areas) would be an effective management strategy for this important fishery species.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
The design of an internet sever facility in central, Port Elizabeth
- Authors: Binda, Mathew Ryan
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: City planning -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth Urban renewal -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Land use, Urban -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth Central places -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/18762 , vital:28720
- Description: The concepts underlying this treatise develop from an observation of contemporary society’s inherent reliance on technology, its growing popularity as an information exchange mechanism and Africa’s lack of connection to it’s foundation, the internet. Human interaction with digital technology, supported by the internet, has created a new social culture which manifests meaning through visual and virtual cues. These make reference to place and are experienced as real and individual, relating to theories such as Heidegger’s imagined place (Heidegger 1971). In order to enhance Southern Africa’s connection with the global network of the internet, the design of an Internet Server Facility will bridge previously under-utilized international lines into the country at Port Elizabeth engaging with the existing infrastructural system. At this point of connection the infrastructural zone impedes the extension of a public environment. The design seeks to challenge the conception of the highway infrastructure in Port Elizabeth as objects that dehumanise space. It intends to emphasise structure and building as a set of processes or systems able to work together to enable not only the functional aspects of data infrastructure, but also respond to the urban fabric providing a multitude of spatial environments that engage with everyday human activity. Investigations of the previous impact of infrastructure which has been layered onto the edge of Port Elizabeth’s historical core, reveal the stripping of it’s place-making qualities over time, resulting in an urban wasteland. In considering the placement of an infrastructural system, an existing vacant space that forms part of the current infrastructure is more appropriate than using up other urban spaces. In its response, the system would need to respond to its urban environment in a way that infrastructure has previously failed to do in this area, due to its position adjacent to the CBD. For this reason the design is concerned with the urban rejuvenation of the scarred landscape and a design strategy for the development of a contemporary digital infrastructural system, capable of not only being a non-evasive to the urban environment but also a catalyst in the creation of physical and digital place-making in the public realm.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Binda, Mathew Ryan
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: City planning -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth Urban renewal -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Land use, Urban -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth Central places -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/18762 , vital:28720
- Description: The concepts underlying this treatise develop from an observation of contemporary society’s inherent reliance on technology, its growing popularity as an information exchange mechanism and Africa’s lack of connection to it’s foundation, the internet. Human interaction with digital technology, supported by the internet, has created a new social culture which manifests meaning through visual and virtual cues. These make reference to place and are experienced as real and individual, relating to theories such as Heidegger’s imagined place (Heidegger 1971). In order to enhance Southern Africa’s connection with the global network of the internet, the design of an Internet Server Facility will bridge previously under-utilized international lines into the country at Port Elizabeth engaging with the existing infrastructural system. At this point of connection the infrastructural zone impedes the extension of a public environment. The design seeks to challenge the conception of the highway infrastructure in Port Elizabeth as objects that dehumanise space. It intends to emphasise structure and building as a set of processes or systems able to work together to enable not only the functional aspects of data infrastructure, but also respond to the urban fabric providing a multitude of spatial environments that engage with everyday human activity. Investigations of the previous impact of infrastructure which has been layered onto the edge of Port Elizabeth’s historical core, reveal the stripping of it’s place-making qualities over time, resulting in an urban wasteland. In considering the placement of an infrastructural system, an existing vacant space that forms part of the current infrastructure is more appropriate than using up other urban spaces. In its response, the system would need to respond to its urban environment in a way that infrastructure has previously failed to do in this area, due to its position adjacent to the CBD. For this reason the design is concerned with the urban rejuvenation of the scarred landscape and a design strategy for the development of a contemporary digital infrastructural system, capable of not only being a non-evasive to the urban environment but also a catalyst in the creation of physical and digital place-making in the public realm.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
The past in the present: race, gender and transnationalism in Zoë Wicomb’s October and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah
- Authors: Nthunya, Manosa
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3939 , vital:20559
- Description: This thesis will interrogate the ways in which the most recent novels of Zoë Wicomb and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (namely October and Americanah) explore race, gender and transnational issues. Wicomb and Adichie share an interest in representing the lives of people who have been historically marginalised by racial and gender classifications. This thesis will argue that historical and stereotypical ways of looking at people, particularly African people, are still prevalent in the twenty-first century. Wicomb’s interest is in the coloured community and the impact that apartheid ideology has had on it. She shows, as this thesis will argue, that notions of shame and respectability still influence the coloured community, post-1994, in the same ways they did under apartheid. Furthermore, the thesis will show that religion, which was used to justify apartheid, has been instrumental in maintaining racist and sexist norms in the coloured community in post-apartheid South Africa. Adichie’s novel, on the other hand, shows the impact of gender norms in Nigeria on her female characters. Unlike characters in Wicomb’s novel, Adichie’s mostly experience racial bias when they move to Western countries. This thesis will argue that many Western countries, which were the main beneficiaries of colonialism, continue to ‘other’ Africans, in spite of their claims to respect all human beings. Wicomb’s and Adichie’s novels depict characters that are moving between different continents, along with the impact that this has on them. In the twenty-first century, more people are moving between different spaces and, as a result, interacting with different cultures. These migrations, as this thesis will show, give rise to paradoxical circumstances: people are still being judged according to their race and gender, in spite of the freedom that these moves are supposed to lead to. Of central importance to both novels then is the question of home and belonging. Since people are moving between different continents, is it still possible to belong to one place? Is it in fact possible to belong at all? These are some of the questions that will be raised and answered in this thesis. Lastly, the thesis will look at the thematic representations of reading and writing in the novels under consideration. This is most evident in Adichie’s novel where her main character starts blogging as a way to express her dissatisfaction with the racist and sexist environment she encounters in the United States of America. The thesis will explore how Adichie examines blogging as a mode of communication that is unique to the twenty-first century. It will argue that it is perhaps through new media that historically subjugated subjects, such as African people and women, will be able to express themselves. Less hackneyed modes of communication might provide the necessary channels for those who have historically been denied voice to finally find it.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Nthunya, Manosa
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3939 , vital:20559
- Description: This thesis will interrogate the ways in which the most recent novels of Zoë Wicomb and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (namely October and Americanah) explore race, gender and transnational issues. Wicomb and Adichie share an interest in representing the lives of people who have been historically marginalised by racial and gender classifications. This thesis will argue that historical and stereotypical ways of looking at people, particularly African people, are still prevalent in the twenty-first century. Wicomb’s interest is in the coloured community and the impact that apartheid ideology has had on it. She shows, as this thesis will argue, that notions of shame and respectability still influence the coloured community, post-1994, in the same ways they did under apartheid. Furthermore, the thesis will show that religion, which was used to justify apartheid, has been instrumental in maintaining racist and sexist norms in the coloured community in post-apartheid South Africa. Adichie’s novel, on the other hand, shows the impact of gender norms in Nigeria on her female characters. Unlike characters in Wicomb’s novel, Adichie’s mostly experience racial bias when they move to Western countries. This thesis will argue that many Western countries, which were the main beneficiaries of colonialism, continue to ‘other’ Africans, in spite of their claims to respect all human beings. Wicomb’s and Adichie’s novels depict characters that are moving between different continents, along with the impact that this has on them. In the twenty-first century, more people are moving between different spaces and, as a result, interacting with different cultures. These migrations, as this thesis will show, give rise to paradoxical circumstances: people are still being judged according to their race and gender, in spite of the freedom that these moves are supposed to lead to. Of central importance to both novels then is the question of home and belonging. Since people are moving between different continents, is it still possible to belong to one place? Is it in fact possible to belong at all? These are some of the questions that will be raised and answered in this thesis. Lastly, the thesis will look at the thematic representations of reading and writing in the novels under consideration. This is most evident in Adichie’s novel where her main character starts blogging as a way to express her dissatisfaction with the racist and sexist environment she encounters in the United States of America. The thesis will explore how Adichie examines blogging as a mode of communication that is unique to the twenty-first century. It will argue that it is perhaps through new media that historically subjugated subjects, such as African people and women, will be able to express themselves. Less hackneyed modes of communication might provide the necessary channels for those who have historically been denied voice to finally find it.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
The trophic ecology of waterbirds in a small temperate estuary: a stable isotope and lipid tracer approach
- Authors: Hean, Jeffrey William
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/54356 , vital:26557
- Description: Waterbirds are often overlooked as predators in aquatic ecosystems, despite the fact that waterbirds congregate in great numbers in and around waterways, notably estuaries. To fully appreciate the effect that aquatic feeding waterbird species may have on aquatic prey communities and the role that they play in estuarine food webs, stable isotopes and fatty acid profiles were employed to examine the seasonal diet of selected waterbirds in the Kowie Estuary, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Population counts were conducted every month for four seasons to examine the demography of waterbirds in the lower reaches of the estuary. The mean monthly energy consumption, along with dry matter intake of all waterbird species observed, were calculated and compared to similar estuaries in South Africa and elsewhere. Three duck species, one migrant sandpiper and one piscivore were selected for more detailed investigation at several temporal scales. This thesis has revealed that stable isotope analysis of waterbird tissues provides more informative data than fatty acid analysis for investigating waterbird diet and basal resource-tertiary consumer nutrient coupling. Stable δ15N and δ13C isotopes from several body tissues, in conjunction with SIAR models, were used to determine the seasonal diet of each waterbird species, while fatty acid profiles were investigated to examine the trophic transfer of fatty acids from basal resources to waterbird predators via the benthic fauna. Stable isotopes revealed that Cape Shoveller, Cape Teal and Yellow-Billed Duck shifted their diet over both long and short temporal scales, while the migratory Ruff and piscivorous Little Egret maintained a relatively consistent diet over time. Isopods, amphipods, copepods and Mysidacea were the main foods of all three duck species and the Ruff (>30%). Little Egret fed mainly on flathead mullet throughout the year. Fatty acid analysis revealed evidence for trophic transfer of specific fatty acids from basal resources to waterbirds in the Kowie Estuary but provided little information on seasonal diet of waterbirds. Waterbirds foraging in the Kowie Estuary appeared to shift their diet to coincide with resource abundance pulses, but also displayed seasonal dietary overlap. This study highlights the role that waterbirds play in aquatic food webs. The subject requires more attention so that we can better understand all the predatory drivers on aquatic communities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Hean, Jeffrey William
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/54356 , vital:26557
- Description: Waterbirds are often overlooked as predators in aquatic ecosystems, despite the fact that waterbirds congregate in great numbers in and around waterways, notably estuaries. To fully appreciate the effect that aquatic feeding waterbird species may have on aquatic prey communities and the role that they play in estuarine food webs, stable isotopes and fatty acid profiles were employed to examine the seasonal diet of selected waterbirds in the Kowie Estuary, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Population counts were conducted every month for four seasons to examine the demography of waterbirds in the lower reaches of the estuary. The mean monthly energy consumption, along with dry matter intake of all waterbird species observed, were calculated and compared to similar estuaries in South Africa and elsewhere. Three duck species, one migrant sandpiper and one piscivore were selected for more detailed investigation at several temporal scales. This thesis has revealed that stable isotope analysis of waterbird tissues provides more informative data than fatty acid analysis for investigating waterbird diet and basal resource-tertiary consumer nutrient coupling. Stable δ15N and δ13C isotopes from several body tissues, in conjunction with SIAR models, were used to determine the seasonal diet of each waterbird species, while fatty acid profiles were investigated to examine the trophic transfer of fatty acids from basal resources to waterbird predators via the benthic fauna. Stable isotopes revealed that Cape Shoveller, Cape Teal and Yellow-Billed Duck shifted their diet over both long and short temporal scales, while the migratory Ruff and piscivorous Little Egret maintained a relatively consistent diet over time. Isopods, amphipods, copepods and Mysidacea were the main foods of all three duck species and the Ruff (>30%). Little Egret fed mainly on flathead mullet throughout the year. Fatty acid analysis revealed evidence for trophic transfer of specific fatty acids from basal resources to waterbirds in the Kowie Estuary but provided little information on seasonal diet of waterbirds. Waterbirds foraging in the Kowie Estuary appeared to shift their diet to coincide with resource abundance pulses, but also displayed seasonal dietary overlap. This study highlights the role that waterbirds play in aquatic food webs. The subject requires more attention so that we can better understand all the predatory drivers on aquatic communities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
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