Tri-locus sequence data reject a Gondwanan origin hypothesis for the African/South Pacific crab genus Hymenosoma
- Teske, Peter R, McLay, Colin L, Sandoval-Castillo, Jonathan, Papadopoulos, Isabelle, Newman, Brent K, Griffiths, Charles L, McQuaid, Christopher D, Barker, Nigel P, Borgonie, Gaetan, Beheregaray, Luciano B
- Authors: Teske, Peter R , McLay, Colin L , Sandoval-Castillo, Jonathan , Papadopoulos, Isabelle , Newman, Brent K , Griffiths, Charles L , McQuaid, Christopher D , Barker, Nigel P , Borgonie, Gaetan , Beheregaray, Luciano B
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6547 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006003
- Description: Crabs of the family Hymenosomatidae are common in coastal and shelf regions throughout much of the southern hemisphere. One of the genera in the family, Hymenosoma, is represented in Africa and the South Pacific (Australia and New Zealand). This distribution can be explained either by vicariance (presence of the genus on the Gondwanan supercontinent and divergence following its break-up) or more recent transoceanic dispersal from one region to the other. We tested these hypotheses by reconstructing phylogenetic relationships among the seven presently-accepted species in the genus, as well as examining their placement among other hymenosomatid crabs, using sequence data from two nuclear markers (Adenine Nucleotide Transporter [ANT] exon 2 and 18S rDNA) and three mitochondrial markers (COI, 12S and 16S rDNA). The five southern African representatives of the genus were recovered as a monophyletic lineage, and another southern African species, Neorhynchoplax bovis, was identified as their sister taxon. The two species of Hymenosoma from the South Pacific neither clustered with their African congeners, nor with each other, and should therefore both be placed into different genera. Molecular dating supports a post-Gondwanan origin of the Hymenosomatidae. While long-distance dispersal cannot be ruled out to explain the presence of the family Hymenosomatidae on the former Gondwanan land-masses and beyond, the evolutionary history of the African species of Hymenosoma indicates that a third means of speciation may be important in this group: gradual along-coast dispersal from tropical towards temperate regions, with range expansions into formerly inhospitable habitat during warm climatic phases, followed by adaptation and speciation during subsequent cooler phases.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Teske, Peter R , McLay, Colin L , Sandoval-Castillo, Jonathan , Papadopoulos, Isabelle , Newman, Brent K , Griffiths, Charles L , McQuaid, Christopher D , Barker, Nigel P , Borgonie, Gaetan , Beheregaray, Luciano B
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6547 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006003
- Description: Crabs of the family Hymenosomatidae are common in coastal and shelf regions throughout much of the southern hemisphere. One of the genera in the family, Hymenosoma, is represented in Africa and the South Pacific (Australia and New Zealand). This distribution can be explained either by vicariance (presence of the genus on the Gondwanan supercontinent and divergence following its break-up) or more recent transoceanic dispersal from one region to the other. We tested these hypotheses by reconstructing phylogenetic relationships among the seven presently-accepted species in the genus, as well as examining their placement among other hymenosomatid crabs, using sequence data from two nuclear markers (Adenine Nucleotide Transporter [ANT] exon 2 and 18S rDNA) and three mitochondrial markers (COI, 12S and 16S rDNA). The five southern African representatives of the genus were recovered as a monophyletic lineage, and another southern African species, Neorhynchoplax bovis, was identified as their sister taxon. The two species of Hymenosoma from the South Pacific neither clustered with their African congeners, nor with each other, and should therefore both be placed into different genera. Molecular dating supports a post-Gondwanan origin of the Hymenosomatidae. While long-distance dispersal cannot be ruled out to explain the presence of the family Hymenosomatidae on the former Gondwanan land-masses and beyond, the evolutionary history of the African species of Hymenosoma indicates that a third means of speciation may be important in this group: gradual along-coast dispersal from tropical towards temperate regions, with range expansions into formerly inhospitable habitat during warm climatic phases, followed by adaptation and speciation during subsequent cooler phases.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Tributes to Comrade Richard Owen Dudley
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: South Africa -- Politics and government , Government, Resistance to -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/36936 , vital:34067 , Bulk File 7
- Description: This is one of many individual publications put out by the New Unity Movement and consists of a number of tributes to Richard Owen Dudley.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2009
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: South Africa -- Politics and government , Government, Resistance to -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/36936 , vital:34067 , Bulk File 7
- Description: This is one of many individual publications put out by the New Unity Movement and consists of a number of tributes to Richard Owen Dudley.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2009
Trophodynamics of carnivorous zooplankton in the region of the subtropical convergence within the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean, with particular emphasis on chaetognaths
- Authors: Sterley, Jessica Anne
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Zooplankton -- Antarctic Ocean , Chaetognatha , Euphausiacea , Amphipoda , Predation (Biology)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5790 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005478 , Zooplankton -- Antarctic Ocean , Chaetognatha , Euphausiacea , Amphipoda , Predation (Biology)
- Description: Trophodynamics of carnivorous zooplankton in the region of the Subtropical Convergence (STC) in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean was investigated during austral autumn (April 2007) as part of the first cruise of the Southern Ocean Ecosystem Variability Study. Within the region of the study, the STC was well defined by the 14°C surface isotherm which separated the Agulhas Return Current and Subtropical water in the north from Sub-Antarctic waters to the south. Total average abundance (3.89 ± 5.46ind 100m-3) and biomass (0.14 ± 0.27mg Dwt 100m-3) of carnivorous zooplankton south of the front were significantly higher than the total average abundance (1.33 ± 1.81ind 100m-3) and biomass (0.03 ± 0.05mg Dwt 100m-3) north of the front (p<0.001). There were no significant correlations between the selected physico-chemical (temperature and salinity) and the biological (mesozooplankton abundance and biomass) variables and the total abundance and biomass of the carnivorous zooplankton during the investigation (p>0.05 in all cases). There was no evidence of enhanced biomass and abundance values at stations occupied in the immediate vicinity of the front. Total average carnivorous zooplankton abundance was dominated by chaetognaths (Eukrohnia hamata Möbius 1875, Sagitta gazellae Ritler-Záhony 1909 and S. zetesios Fowler 1905) and euphausiids (Nematoscelis megalops Sars 1883, Euphausia longirostris Hansen 1908 and E. spinifera Sars 1883), which contributed up to 86.58 ± 32.91% of the total counts. The total average biomass was dominated by euphausiids and amphipods (Themisto gaudichaudii Guérin-Méneville 1825, Phronima sedentaria Forsskål 1775 and Vibilia armata Bovallius 1887) which contributed up to 71.45 ± 34.85% of the total counts. In general the populations of both the euphausiids and amphipods were dominated by females while the chaetognaths were dominated by juveniles. Numerical analysis identified two major zooplankton groupings within the survey area which did not coincide with the water masses within the survey area. The SIMPER procedure of the PRIMER package indicated differences between the groups were mainly attributed to changes in the abundance of the numerically dominant species rather than the presence or absence of individual species. The absence of any significant spatial patterns in the distribution of the carnivorous zooplankton suggests that the STC did not act as a biogeographical barrier during the present study. The mean feeding rates of the chaetognaths E. hamata, S. gazellae and S. zetesios were 1.82 ± 0.85prey d-1, 3.63 ± 2.08prey d-1 and 2.18 ± 0.59prey d-1, respectively. These rates correspond to a combined predation impact equivalent to <5% of the mesozooplankton standing stock or <10% of the mesozooplankton secondary production. Mesozooplankton, comprising mainly copepods was the dominant prey in the guts of the three chaetognath species. Total predation impact of the euphausiids, chaetognaths and amphipods, estimated using published daily ration data, on the mesozooplankton standing stock and secondary production ranged from 0.01% to 1.53% and from 0.03% to 30.54%, respectively. Among the carnivorous zooplankton, chaetognaths were generally identified as the dominant predators of mesozooplankton. Low predation impact of selected carnivorous zooplankton suggested that these organisms contributed little to the vertical carbon flux within the region of investigation during the study.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Sterley, Jessica Anne
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Zooplankton -- Antarctic Ocean , Chaetognatha , Euphausiacea , Amphipoda , Predation (Biology)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5790 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005478 , Zooplankton -- Antarctic Ocean , Chaetognatha , Euphausiacea , Amphipoda , Predation (Biology)
- Description: Trophodynamics of carnivorous zooplankton in the region of the Subtropical Convergence (STC) in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean was investigated during austral autumn (April 2007) as part of the first cruise of the Southern Ocean Ecosystem Variability Study. Within the region of the study, the STC was well defined by the 14°C surface isotherm which separated the Agulhas Return Current and Subtropical water in the north from Sub-Antarctic waters to the south. Total average abundance (3.89 ± 5.46ind 100m-3) and biomass (0.14 ± 0.27mg Dwt 100m-3) of carnivorous zooplankton south of the front were significantly higher than the total average abundance (1.33 ± 1.81ind 100m-3) and biomass (0.03 ± 0.05mg Dwt 100m-3) north of the front (p<0.001). There were no significant correlations between the selected physico-chemical (temperature and salinity) and the biological (mesozooplankton abundance and biomass) variables and the total abundance and biomass of the carnivorous zooplankton during the investigation (p>0.05 in all cases). There was no evidence of enhanced biomass and abundance values at stations occupied in the immediate vicinity of the front. Total average carnivorous zooplankton abundance was dominated by chaetognaths (Eukrohnia hamata Möbius 1875, Sagitta gazellae Ritler-Záhony 1909 and S. zetesios Fowler 1905) and euphausiids (Nematoscelis megalops Sars 1883, Euphausia longirostris Hansen 1908 and E. spinifera Sars 1883), which contributed up to 86.58 ± 32.91% of the total counts. The total average biomass was dominated by euphausiids and amphipods (Themisto gaudichaudii Guérin-Méneville 1825, Phronima sedentaria Forsskål 1775 and Vibilia armata Bovallius 1887) which contributed up to 71.45 ± 34.85% of the total counts. In general the populations of both the euphausiids and amphipods were dominated by females while the chaetognaths were dominated by juveniles. Numerical analysis identified two major zooplankton groupings within the survey area which did not coincide with the water masses within the survey area. The SIMPER procedure of the PRIMER package indicated differences between the groups were mainly attributed to changes in the abundance of the numerically dominant species rather than the presence or absence of individual species. The absence of any significant spatial patterns in the distribution of the carnivorous zooplankton suggests that the STC did not act as a biogeographical barrier during the present study. The mean feeding rates of the chaetognaths E. hamata, S. gazellae and S. zetesios were 1.82 ± 0.85prey d-1, 3.63 ± 2.08prey d-1 and 2.18 ± 0.59prey d-1, respectively. These rates correspond to a combined predation impact equivalent to <5% of the mesozooplankton standing stock or <10% of the mesozooplankton secondary production. Mesozooplankton, comprising mainly copepods was the dominant prey in the guts of the three chaetognath species. Total predation impact of the euphausiids, chaetognaths and amphipods, estimated using published daily ration data, on the mesozooplankton standing stock and secondary production ranged from 0.01% to 1.53% and from 0.03% to 30.54%, respectively. Among the carnivorous zooplankton, chaetognaths were generally identified as the dominant predators of mesozooplankton. Low predation impact of selected carnivorous zooplankton suggested that these organisms contributed little to the vertical carbon flux within the region of investigation during the study.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Trophodynamics of mesozooplankton in the the vicinity of the subtropical convergence in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean
- Authors: Daly, Ryan
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Zooplankton -- Antarctic Ocean , Phytoplankton -- Antarctic Ocean
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5791 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005479 , Zooplankton -- Antarctic Ocean , Phytoplankton -- Antarctic Ocean
- Description: The trophodynamics of the numerically dominant mesozooplankton (200-2000 m) in the vicinity of the Subtropical Convergence (STC) in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean during austral autumn (April / May) 2007 were investigated as part of the Southern Ocean Ecosystem Variability Study. The survey consisted of six north-south transects each bisecting the STC between 38º to 43ºS and 38º to 41º45’E. In total, 48 stations situated at 30 nautical mile intervals were occupied over a period of ten days. Hydrographic data revealed a well defined surface and sub-surface expression of the STC, which appeared to meander considerably between 41ºS and 41º15’S. Surface chlorophyll-a (chla) concentrations were low, ranging between 0.08 and 0.68 mg chl-a.m-3 and were generally dominated by the picophytoplankton (<2 m) which made up 66.6% (SD±17.6) of the total pigment. Chl-a concentrations integrated over the top 150m of the water column ranged between 11.97 and 40.07 mg chl-a.m-2 and showed no significant spatial patterns (p>0.05). Total integrated mesozooplankton abundance and biomass during the study ranged between 3934.9 and 308521.4 ind.m-2 (mean = 47198.19; SD±62411.4 ind.m-2) and between 239.8 and 4614.3 mg Dwt.m-2 (mean = 1338.58; SD ±1060.5), respectively. Again, there were no significant spatial patterns in the total mesozooplankton abundance or biomass within the region of study (p>0.05). No significant correlations were found between biological (chlorophyll-a concentrations and zooplankton abundance) and physico-chemical variables (temperature and salinity) (p>0.05). The total mesozooplankton community was numerically dominated by copepods of the genera Pleuromamma, Calanus, Oncaea and Oithona. Other important representatives of the mesozooplankton community included the tunicate, Salpa thompsoni, and the pteropod, Limacina retroversa. At the 40% similarity level, numerical analysis identified five distinct mesozooplankton groupings within the survey area. Differences between the groupings were associated with changes in the relative contribution of numerically dominant species rather than the presence or absence of individual species. No groupings were associated with any specific feature of the front within the survey area. The feeding rates of the six most numerically abundant mesozooplankton species (Calanus simillimus, Limacina retroversa, Pleuromamma abdominalis, Clausocalanus breviceps, Oncaea conifera, Salpa thompsoni) accounting for on average 39% of the total mesozooplankton counts, were investigated using the gut fluorescence technique. For all species, the total gut pigment contents during the night time were significantly higher than the daytime values (p<0.05 for all species). The gut evacuation rates (k) for selected mesozooplankton ranged between 0.14 and 0.81 h-1. The ingestion rates ranged between 147.8 and 5495.4 ng(pigm)ind-1.day-1 which corresponded to a daily ration of between 2.4 and 10.9% body carbon. The combined grazing impact of the selected species on the daily phytoplankton standing stock was highly variable and ranged between 1.2 and 174.1% with an average of 27.3% (SD±38.78%) within the survey area. The highest grazing impact (>60%) was typically associated with those stations where the pteropod, L. retroversa, and the tunicate, S. thompsoni, contributed more than 5% of the total mesozooplankton counts. No significant differences were found in the grazing impact of any or all selected species situated either north, south or in the immediate vicinity of the front (p>0.05 in all cases). The lack of defined spatial patterns in the mesozooplankton abundance and community structure suggests that the STC did not act as a significant biogeographic barrier to the distribution of mesozooplankton during the study. It is presumed that the large scale mixing event caused by a storm prior to this study was responsible for the observed lack of elevated biological activity within the region of the STC.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Daly, Ryan
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Zooplankton -- Antarctic Ocean , Phytoplankton -- Antarctic Ocean
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5791 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005479 , Zooplankton -- Antarctic Ocean , Phytoplankton -- Antarctic Ocean
- Description: The trophodynamics of the numerically dominant mesozooplankton (200-2000 m) in the vicinity of the Subtropical Convergence (STC) in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean during austral autumn (April / May) 2007 were investigated as part of the Southern Ocean Ecosystem Variability Study. The survey consisted of six north-south transects each bisecting the STC between 38º to 43ºS and 38º to 41º45’E. In total, 48 stations situated at 30 nautical mile intervals were occupied over a period of ten days. Hydrographic data revealed a well defined surface and sub-surface expression of the STC, which appeared to meander considerably between 41ºS and 41º15’S. Surface chlorophyll-a (chla) concentrations were low, ranging between 0.08 and 0.68 mg chl-a.m-3 and were generally dominated by the picophytoplankton (<2 m) which made up 66.6% (SD±17.6) of the total pigment. Chl-a concentrations integrated over the top 150m of the water column ranged between 11.97 and 40.07 mg chl-a.m-2 and showed no significant spatial patterns (p>0.05). Total integrated mesozooplankton abundance and biomass during the study ranged between 3934.9 and 308521.4 ind.m-2 (mean = 47198.19; SD±62411.4 ind.m-2) and between 239.8 and 4614.3 mg Dwt.m-2 (mean = 1338.58; SD ±1060.5), respectively. Again, there were no significant spatial patterns in the total mesozooplankton abundance or biomass within the region of study (p>0.05). No significant correlations were found between biological (chlorophyll-a concentrations and zooplankton abundance) and physico-chemical variables (temperature and salinity) (p>0.05). The total mesozooplankton community was numerically dominated by copepods of the genera Pleuromamma, Calanus, Oncaea and Oithona. Other important representatives of the mesozooplankton community included the tunicate, Salpa thompsoni, and the pteropod, Limacina retroversa. At the 40% similarity level, numerical analysis identified five distinct mesozooplankton groupings within the survey area. Differences between the groupings were associated with changes in the relative contribution of numerically dominant species rather than the presence or absence of individual species. No groupings were associated with any specific feature of the front within the survey area. The feeding rates of the six most numerically abundant mesozooplankton species (Calanus simillimus, Limacina retroversa, Pleuromamma abdominalis, Clausocalanus breviceps, Oncaea conifera, Salpa thompsoni) accounting for on average 39% of the total mesozooplankton counts, were investigated using the gut fluorescence technique. For all species, the total gut pigment contents during the night time were significantly higher than the daytime values (p<0.05 for all species). The gut evacuation rates (k) for selected mesozooplankton ranged between 0.14 and 0.81 h-1. The ingestion rates ranged between 147.8 and 5495.4 ng(pigm)ind-1.day-1 which corresponded to a daily ration of between 2.4 and 10.9% body carbon. The combined grazing impact of the selected species on the daily phytoplankton standing stock was highly variable and ranged between 1.2 and 174.1% with an average of 27.3% (SD±38.78%) within the survey area. The highest grazing impact (>60%) was typically associated with those stations where the pteropod, L. retroversa, and the tunicate, S. thompsoni, contributed more than 5% of the total mesozooplankton counts. No significant differences were found in the grazing impact of any or all selected species situated either north, south or in the immediate vicinity of the front (p>0.05 in all cases). The lack of defined spatial patterns in the mesozooplankton abundance and community structure suggests that the STC did not act as a significant biogeographic barrier to the distribution of mesozooplankton during the study. It is presumed that the large scale mixing event caused by a storm prior to this study was responsible for the observed lack of elevated biological activity within the region of the STC.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Umabatha: Zulu play or Shakespeare translation?
- Authors: Wright, Laurence
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: vital:7062 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007426 , https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781351963381/chapters/10.4324%2F9781315264219-12
- Description: preprint , There can be few recent theatrical productions in greater need of interpretative effort than Welcome Msomi’s Umabatha. From its inception debate has raged over the cultural status of the production: was it an authentic expression of Zulu culture, or a tacky piece of ‘blacksploitation’? – to use Russell Vandenbroucke’s term. Was the production pleasing evidence of Shakespeare’s universality, a gift to the colonies returning joyfully to the motherland with interest accruing? Could it perhaps be a case of Zulu culture triumphing over Shakespeare, native invention swamping and overwhelming a colonially-imposed ‘high culture’? Was the show performing ‘Africa’ for the world and, if so, was this the way Africa ought to be represented in the twentieth century? Or were we perhaps looking at a fetishized theatrical commodity, wrenched from any authentic cultural roots, and circulating aimlessly but profitably through a globalised theatrical cosmopolis? Such speculative questions – and there are many others – have regularly jostled each other in the bulky heritage of Umabatha’s reception history. The central problem underlying this chapter is whether it might not be possible to define a basis for a more objective response to some of them, so that the issues involved no longer rest quite so slackly in the realm of mere critical opinion.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Wright, Laurence
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: vital:7062 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007426 , https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781351963381/chapters/10.4324%2F9781315264219-12
- Description: preprint , There can be few recent theatrical productions in greater need of interpretative effort than Welcome Msomi’s Umabatha. From its inception debate has raged over the cultural status of the production: was it an authentic expression of Zulu culture, or a tacky piece of ‘blacksploitation’? – to use Russell Vandenbroucke’s term. Was the production pleasing evidence of Shakespeare’s universality, a gift to the colonies returning joyfully to the motherland with interest accruing? Could it perhaps be a case of Zulu culture triumphing over Shakespeare, native invention swamping and overwhelming a colonially-imposed ‘high culture’? Was the show performing ‘Africa’ for the world and, if so, was this the way Africa ought to be represented in the twentieth century? Or were we perhaps looking at a fetishized theatrical commodity, wrenched from any authentic cultural roots, and circulating aimlessly but profitably through a globalised theatrical cosmopolis? Such speculative questions – and there are many others – have regularly jostled each other in the bulky heritage of Umabatha’s reception history. The central problem underlying this chapter is whether it might not be possible to define a basis for a more objective response to some of them, so that the issues involved no longer rest quite so slackly in the realm of mere critical opinion.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Understanding form and technique : Andrew Tracey's contribution to knowledge of lamellophone (mbira) music of Southern Africa
- Authors: Gumboreshumba, Laina
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Tracey, Andrew T N Ethnomusicology -- Africa Mbira Mbira music
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2638 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002303
- Description: This thesis interrogates Andrew Tracey’s career as an ethnomusicologist and the significance of his research and publications on lamellophone (mbira) music of the Shona/Sena in Zimbabwe and Mozambique to subsequent scholarship of lamellophones throughout southern Africa. Through a survey of authors who have cited Tracey’s publications, this study assess how his use of the pulse notation transcription method and his theory of form and harmonic structure in mbira music, which he terms ‘the system of the mbira’ (A. Tracey, 1989) have influenced and contributed to the work of ethnomusicologists, musicologists and composers. Further this research evaluates the impact on subsequent publications by other scholars of Tracey's technical analysis of mbira music. Organizing and indexing Andrew Tracey's field collection in the ILAM archive gave direct knowledge of the scope of his work. The thesis consists of six chapters. The first chapter contains a general introduction to the thesis and outlines the goals of the research. Chapter Two presents a biographical sketch of Andrew Tracey. A general introduction to the lamellophone (mbira) family of musical instruments in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in Africa is presented in Chapter Three, which also addresses the social function of lamellophone music. Chapter Four gives a summary of Andrew Tracey’s research on the Shona mbira (his publications, recordings, films etc), and it analyzes his theory - “The system of the mbira” - in which he defines the form and structure of mbira music. Chapter Five examines the impact of Andrew Tracey’s research and publications on mbira music to subsequent scholarship and makes an analysis and evaluation of the significance of his contribution to the body of knowledge of the instrument and its music. In addition I relate my personal experiences with mbira music as a Shona person and mbira player and give my opinions on Tracey’s and subsequent scholars’ theories on mbira music. Chapter Six concludes with a summary of outcomes of this research. Basing on the analyses of presented data, it is deduced that, despite a few shortcomings, Andrew Tracey’s research on mbira music is crucial for it laid the groundwork for subsequent mbira scholarship.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Gumboreshumba, Laina
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Tracey, Andrew T N Ethnomusicology -- Africa Mbira Mbira music
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2638 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002303
- Description: This thesis interrogates Andrew Tracey’s career as an ethnomusicologist and the significance of his research and publications on lamellophone (mbira) music of the Shona/Sena in Zimbabwe and Mozambique to subsequent scholarship of lamellophones throughout southern Africa. Through a survey of authors who have cited Tracey’s publications, this study assess how his use of the pulse notation transcription method and his theory of form and harmonic structure in mbira music, which he terms ‘the system of the mbira’ (A. Tracey, 1989) have influenced and contributed to the work of ethnomusicologists, musicologists and composers. Further this research evaluates the impact on subsequent publications by other scholars of Tracey's technical analysis of mbira music. Organizing and indexing Andrew Tracey's field collection in the ILAM archive gave direct knowledge of the scope of his work. The thesis consists of six chapters. The first chapter contains a general introduction to the thesis and outlines the goals of the research. Chapter Two presents a biographical sketch of Andrew Tracey. A general introduction to the lamellophone (mbira) family of musical instruments in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in Africa is presented in Chapter Three, which also addresses the social function of lamellophone music. Chapter Four gives a summary of Andrew Tracey’s research on the Shona mbira (his publications, recordings, films etc), and it analyzes his theory - “The system of the mbira” - in which he defines the form and structure of mbira music. Chapter Five examines the impact of Andrew Tracey’s research and publications on mbira music to subsequent scholarship and makes an analysis and evaluation of the significance of his contribution to the body of knowledge of the instrument and its music. In addition I relate my personal experiences with mbira music as a Shona person and mbira player and give my opinions on Tracey’s and subsequent scholars’ theories on mbira music. Chapter Six concludes with a summary of outcomes of this research. Basing on the analyses of presented data, it is deduced that, despite a few shortcomings, Andrew Tracey’s research on mbira music is crucial for it laid the groundwork for subsequent mbira scholarship.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Understanding propaganda: Noam Chomsky and the institutional analysis of power
- Authors: Cathey, Paul Eben
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Chomsky, Noam -- Political and social views Propaganda Gramsci, Antonio, 1891-1937 -- Political and social views Social classes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2765 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002975
- Description: This thesis argues that Noam Chomsky’s theory of propaganda is a useful way to understand class domination. The strengths and weaknesses of Chomsky’s theory are examined by means of a comparison with Antonio Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony. Since work that discusses and analyses Chomsky’s theory is sparse, this piece first gives a detailed explanation of his theory. This requires a short clarification of Chomsky’s terminology, focusing on his definitions of indoctrination and class. Thereafter a thorough account of Chomsky’s ideas regarding class structure, the indoctrinating functions of educational and media institutions and the difference between upper and lower class propaganda are discussed. A common criticism of Chomsky’s arguments is that they are conspiratorial. Thus, following the discussion of Chomsky’s theory I present an argument that Chomsky uses an institutional analysis as opposed to conspiracy theory to reach his conclusions. After arguing that Chomsky has a coherent, logical theory of propaganda that is not conspiratorial, this thesis shifts to a comparison of Chomsky and Gramsci’s theory. The elements of Gramsci’s theory that are relevant to Chomsky are discussed, focusing on their overall similarities, in particular, the question of consent. The final chapter consists of a comparison of the two theories, examining each theorist’s ideas on the nature of education, language, consent and the possible ways in which the lower classes can oppose their own oppression.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Cathey, Paul Eben
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Chomsky, Noam -- Political and social views Propaganda Gramsci, Antonio, 1891-1937 -- Political and social views Social classes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2765 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002975
- Description: This thesis argues that Noam Chomsky’s theory of propaganda is a useful way to understand class domination. The strengths and weaknesses of Chomsky’s theory are examined by means of a comparison with Antonio Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony. Since work that discusses and analyses Chomsky’s theory is sparse, this piece first gives a detailed explanation of his theory. This requires a short clarification of Chomsky’s terminology, focusing on his definitions of indoctrination and class. Thereafter a thorough account of Chomsky’s ideas regarding class structure, the indoctrinating functions of educational and media institutions and the difference between upper and lower class propaganda are discussed. A common criticism of Chomsky’s arguments is that they are conspiratorial. Thus, following the discussion of Chomsky’s theory I present an argument that Chomsky uses an institutional analysis as opposed to conspiracy theory to reach his conclusions. After arguing that Chomsky has a coherent, logical theory of propaganda that is not conspiratorial, this thesis shifts to a comparison of Chomsky and Gramsci’s theory. The elements of Gramsci’s theory that are relevant to Chomsky are discussed, focusing on their overall similarities, in particular, the question of consent. The final chapter consists of a comparison of the two theories, examining each theorist’s ideas on the nature of education, language, consent and the possible ways in which the lower classes can oppose their own oppression.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Understanding social learning processes in a citrus farming community of practice
- Authors: Downsborough, Linda
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/386949 , vital:68191 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122819"
- Description: This paper focuses on what would traditionally be termed ‘non-formal’ learning processes in the context of a case study examining how citrus farming communities in the Patensie Valley in the Eastern Cape in South Africa were learning conservation practices. Communities of Practice theory was used to provide a conceptual framework for researching these learning interactions. Through historical and other qualitative research methods, I was able to establish that farmers in this community of practice learned mainly through responding to change and uncertainty, through forming and drawing on networks and community structures, through intergenerational learning, and through various interactions with each other. The historical research also pointed to the significance of policy and market-based changes in farmer learning, and their attachment to the land, which is shaped through historical associations with the land, and through embedded relations in farming practice cultures. The paper provides an example of how Communities of Practice theory, complemented by historical research, can be used to understand non-formal learning.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Downsborough, Linda
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/386949 , vital:68191 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122819"
- Description: This paper focuses on what would traditionally be termed ‘non-formal’ learning processes in the context of a case study examining how citrus farming communities in the Patensie Valley in the Eastern Cape in South Africa were learning conservation practices. Communities of Practice theory was used to provide a conceptual framework for researching these learning interactions. Through historical and other qualitative research methods, I was able to establish that farmers in this community of practice learned mainly through responding to change and uncertainty, through forming and drawing on networks and community structures, through intergenerational learning, and through various interactions with each other. The historical research also pointed to the significance of policy and market-based changes in farmer learning, and their attachment to the land, which is shaped through historical associations with the land, and through embedded relations in farming practice cultures. The paper provides an example of how Communities of Practice theory, complemented by historical research, can be used to understand non-formal learning.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Understanding the complexity of metabolic regulatory systems an investigation into the regulation of hydantoin-hydrolysis in Pseudomonas putida RU-KM3s
- Authors: De la Mare, Jo-Anne
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Pseudomonas , Hydantoin , Hydrolysis , Enzymes -- Regulation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:3993 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004053 , Pseudomonas , Hydantoin , Hydrolysis , Enzymes -- Regulation
- Description: It has been well-established that Pseudomonas species possess extremely versatile metabolic systems allowing them to utilise a wide range of nutrient sources and, furthermore, that the regulation of these enzyme systems involves highly evolved and sophisticated regulatory machinery. This study examined the complexity of metabolic regulation in Pseudomonas using the hydantoin-hydrolysing system of the environmental isolate, Pseudomonas putida RU-KM3s. In this system, the genes encoding dihydropyrimidinase and β-ureidopropionase (dhp and bup) are arranged divergently on the chromosome, separated by a 616 bp intergenic region involved in the transcriptional regulation of these genes. The focus was on the transcriptional regulation of dhp expression. DHP activity was found to be sensitive to several environmental signals including growth phase, carbon catabolite repression (CCR), substrate induction and quorum sensing (QS). Bioinformatic analysis of the intergenic region upstream of dhp revealed a number of putative binding sites for transcriptional regulators, including recognition sequences for the alternate sigma factors σ54 and σ38, as well as for the global regulators Anr (for anaerobic regulator) and Vfr (for virulence factor regulator). The targeted disruption of the genes encoding the transcriptional regulators, Vfr and the major CCR protein, Crc, resulted in a partial relief from repression for the vfr- mutant under quorum sensing conditions and a general decrease in activity in the crc- mutant. This data suggested that both Vfr and Crc were involved in regulating DHP activity. Mutational analysis of the dhp promoter revealed that at least two sites were involved in regulating transcriptional activity, one which mediated activation and the other repression. These sites were designated as a putative Anr box, situated 232 bp from the start codon of dhp, and a CRP-like binding site, at a position 213 bp upstream of dhp. Taken together, this data shows the involvement of several global regulatory factors in controlling the expression of dhp. A complex synergistic model was proposed for the transcriptional regulation of dhp, involving alternate sigma factors in addition to both global and specific regulators and responding to a number of environmental signals associated with growth phase, including nutrient availability, cell density and oxygen status.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: De la Mare, Jo-Anne
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Pseudomonas , Hydantoin , Hydrolysis , Enzymes -- Regulation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:3993 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004053 , Pseudomonas , Hydantoin , Hydrolysis , Enzymes -- Regulation
- Description: It has been well-established that Pseudomonas species possess extremely versatile metabolic systems allowing them to utilise a wide range of nutrient sources and, furthermore, that the regulation of these enzyme systems involves highly evolved and sophisticated regulatory machinery. This study examined the complexity of metabolic regulation in Pseudomonas using the hydantoin-hydrolysing system of the environmental isolate, Pseudomonas putida RU-KM3s. In this system, the genes encoding dihydropyrimidinase and β-ureidopropionase (dhp and bup) are arranged divergently on the chromosome, separated by a 616 bp intergenic region involved in the transcriptional regulation of these genes. The focus was on the transcriptional regulation of dhp expression. DHP activity was found to be sensitive to several environmental signals including growth phase, carbon catabolite repression (CCR), substrate induction and quorum sensing (QS). Bioinformatic analysis of the intergenic region upstream of dhp revealed a number of putative binding sites for transcriptional regulators, including recognition sequences for the alternate sigma factors σ54 and σ38, as well as for the global regulators Anr (for anaerobic regulator) and Vfr (for virulence factor regulator). The targeted disruption of the genes encoding the transcriptional regulators, Vfr and the major CCR protein, Crc, resulted in a partial relief from repression for the vfr- mutant under quorum sensing conditions and a general decrease in activity in the crc- mutant. This data suggested that both Vfr and Crc were involved in regulating DHP activity. Mutational analysis of the dhp promoter revealed that at least two sites were involved in regulating transcriptional activity, one which mediated activation and the other repression. These sites were designated as a putative Anr box, situated 232 bp from the start codon of dhp, and a CRP-like binding site, at a position 213 bp upstream of dhp. Taken together, this data shows the involvement of several global regulatory factors in controlling the expression of dhp. A complex synergistic model was proposed for the transcriptional regulation of dhp, involving alternate sigma factors in addition to both global and specific regulators and responding to a number of environmental signals associated with growth phase, including nutrient availability, cell density and oxygen status.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Understanding the differences in marking performance of JSC mathematics markers in Namibia : a case study
- Authors: Mutuku, Elizabeth
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Educational change -- Namibia , Mathematics -- Namibia -- Examinations -- Case studies , Mathematics -- Study and teaching -- Namibia -- Case studies , Grading and marking (Students) -- Namibia -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1999 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015223
- Description: Education reform in Namibia brought about changes to mathematics education since independence. This has put pressure on the government to provide both resources and qualified mathematics teachers to help drive the reform process in all teaching and learning activities. This included availing reliable and valid national examination results which is a measure of whether the newly introduced programmes are working or not. For the Ministry of Education this meant training more mathematics teachers and ensuring that competent and reliable teachers are appointed for marking national examination every year. The teachers' training process however, has not been going as fast as it was expected and year after year the Directorate of National Examinations and Assessment experienced problems in obtaining competent teachers for the marking of national examination. The purpose of the study was to understand the differences in marking performances of the JSC mathematics national examination markers. Particularly the study was to create a clear and detailed understanding of different factors that could possibly affect the marking performance of different markers. In addition, the study was to investigate the effect the mathematical content knowledge of the markers has on their marking performance. It was evident from the findings that their mathematical content knowledge had influenced their marking performance. Moreover the research findings also gave a strong indication that there are other factors that were influencing the markers marking performance. These were the markers' knowledge of the assessment and marking process, the markers' marking experience, the markers' socioeconomic background. The difference in their moderators' input has emerged as the other factors that have influenced their performance in marking and consequently contributed to the differences in their marking performances.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Mutuku, Elizabeth
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Educational change -- Namibia , Mathematics -- Namibia -- Examinations -- Case studies , Mathematics -- Study and teaching -- Namibia -- Case studies , Grading and marking (Students) -- Namibia -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1999 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015223
- Description: Education reform in Namibia brought about changes to mathematics education since independence. This has put pressure on the government to provide both resources and qualified mathematics teachers to help drive the reform process in all teaching and learning activities. This included availing reliable and valid national examination results which is a measure of whether the newly introduced programmes are working or not. For the Ministry of Education this meant training more mathematics teachers and ensuring that competent and reliable teachers are appointed for marking national examination every year. The teachers' training process however, has not been going as fast as it was expected and year after year the Directorate of National Examinations and Assessment experienced problems in obtaining competent teachers for the marking of national examination. The purpose of the study was to understand the differences in marking performances of the JSC mathematics national examination markers. Particularly the study was to create a clear and detailed understanding of different factors that could possibly affect the marking performance of different markers. In addition, the study was to investigate the effect the mathematical content knowledge of the markers has on their marking performance. It was evident from the findings that their mathematical content knowledge had influenced their marking performance. Moreover the research findings also gave a strong indication that there are other factors that were influencing the markers marking performance. These were the markers' knowledge of the assessment and marking process, the markers' marking experience, the markers' socioeconomic background. The difference in their moderators' input has emerged as the other factors that have influenced their performance in marking and consequently contributed to the differences in their marking performances.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Unearthed : personifications of widowhood and acts of memory : volume 1 and 2
- Authors: Arbi, Linda Margaret
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Widowhood -- Social aspects -- South Africa Widowhood -- Social aspects -- Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) Widows in art -- South Africa Widows in art -- Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) Memory in art -- South Africa Memory in art -- Cape of Good Hope (South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MFA
- Identifier: vital:2428 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002225
- Description: By researching visual traditions of representing widows in relation to a social role, I explore how these may be related to processes of mourning and memory. My study begins with an historical reading and, along with an analysis of Renaissance widow portraiture, I trace the experiences of widows in the Cape of Good Hope. For the purposes of this thesis, I have selected images of widows to investigate memory-work particularly when speaking of loss. I re-view these memory processes through recent historical and art historical discourse with reference to contemporary South African artworks in order to understand how public memory is formed by way of visual documentation. These narratives around widowhood have informed the subject matter for my Master’s exhibition and shed light on my own experience as a widow. The interaction between objects and memory are of particular interest and manifest in my studio art practice.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Arbi, Linda Margaret
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Widowhood -- Social aspects -- South Africa Widowhood -- Social aspects -- Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) Widows in art -- South Africa Widows in art -- Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) Memory in art -- South Africa Memory in art -- Cape of Good Hope (South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MFA
- Identifier: vital:2428 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002225
- Description: By researching visual traditions of representing widows in relation to a social role, I explore how these may be related to processes of mourning and memory. My study begins with an historical reading and, along with an analysis of Renaissance widow portraiture, I trace the experiences of widows in the Cape of Good Hope. For the purposes of this thesis, I have selected images of widows to investigate memory-work particularly when speaking of loss. I re-view these memory processes through recent historical and art historical discourse with reference to contemporary South African artworks in order to understand how public memory is formed by way of visual documentation. These narratives around widowhood have informed the subject matter for my Master’s exhibition and shed light on my own experience as a widow. The interaction between objects and memory are of particular interest and manifest in my studio art practice.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Universal digital inclusion: Beyond connectivity, affordability and capability
- Thinyane, Mamello, Terzoli, Alfredo
- Authors: Thinyane, Mamello , Terzoli, Alfredo
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/430876 , vital:72724 , https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/5338911
- Description: Traditionally digital marginalization and exclusion were understood to be a factor of connectivity to the Internet, affordability of the technology, and the capability of the communities to utilize the technology. ICT for development (ICT4D) interventions have been undertaken that address these specific factors of marginalization, however, it remains that com-munities are still excluded from the global knowledge society. In this paper we argue that key factors towards reaching greater inclusion and participation of the digitally marginalized communities, are the knowledge-centricity and context-sensitivity of the undertaken interven-tions. The solutions developed, and the services deployed, must intrin-sically encapsulate the local knowledge within the community of de-ployment. Based on this premise we have developed an architectural framework, named PIASK, that formalizes the contextualization of the developed applications within the socio-technical environment and po-sitions them within the local knowledge system of the community. We highlight the components of this architecture and discuss its implemen-tation through a knowledge platform for a community in South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Thinyane, Mamello , Terzoli, Alfredo
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/430876 , vital:72724 , https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/5338911
- Description: Traditionally digital marginalization and exclusion were understood to be a factor of connectivity to the Internet, affordability of the technology, and the capability of the communities to utilize the technology. ICT for development (ICT4D) interventions have been undertaken that address these specific factors of marginalization, however, it remains that com-munities are still excluded from the global knowledge society. In this paper we argue that key factors towards reaching greater inclusion and participation of the digitally marginalized communities, are the knowledge-centricity and context-sensitivity of the undertaken interven-tions. The solutions developed, and the services deployed, must intrin-sically encapsulate the local knowledge within the community of de-ployment. Based on this premise we have developed an architectural framework, named PIASK, that formalizes the contextualization of the developed applications within the socio-technical environment and po-sitions them within the local knowledge system of the community. We highlight the components of this architecture and discuss its implemen-tation through a knowledge platform for a community in South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Urban community development: an understanding of social change and identity in a social housing estate in post-apartheid South Africa
- Authors: Packery, Rajendra
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Communities , Social change , Community development -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc
- Identifier: vital:11967 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/241 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1001312 , Communities , Social change , Community development -- South Africa
- Description: This study focuses on the lives of people living in a social housing estate which was a joint venture between the Housing Association of South Africa (HASA), a Netherlands based foundation and the Buffalo City Municipality. This type of social housing estate is a relatively new concept in post-apartheid South Africa and a first for the City of East London. Apartheid spawned the separation of different groups of people into racial enclaves. It also created barriers between races, advantaged certain races over others and created fear, hatred and general distrust among different racial groups in South Africa. The dislocation of apartheid was accompanied by rapid urbanization and ‘reconstruction’ of infrastructure and inter-racial relationships. The opening up of the country’s borders in compliance with Globalisation made South Africa a melting pot to people of different cultures. South African cities became fragmented and fear and strangeness was everywhere. Housing or the lack of it has been a constant problem that the new post apartheid government has grappled with. The solution of building RDP housing estates has not solved this burgeoning problem. But even more importantly it has failed to reorganize urban life in South Africa. In approaching this study I look at how these new social housing estates have reorganized urban life. I explore the concepts of community, home, generation, gender, material culture and ‘new’ urbanization to provide a framework for my study. This study is a qualitative study based in the city of East London in the Eastern Cape. It is a community study which attempts to go inside the home to unlock some of the intricacies of urban life. Ethnography is the research key used to unlock these intricacies.In conclusion, this study attempts to examine a non-western narrative of community life. Are these housing estates a solution to South Africa’s housing problem? Do they conform only to western narratives of urban life? What kind of citizens do these housing estates produce? These are some of the questions that this study hopes to answer.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Packery, Rajendra
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Communities , Social change , Community development -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc
- Identifier: vital:11967 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/241 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1001312 , Communities , Social change , Community development -- South Africa
- Description: This study focuses on the lives of people living in a social housing estate which was a joint venture between the Housing Association of South Africa (HASA), a Netherlands based foundation and the Buffalo City Municipality. This type of social housing estate is a relatively new concept in post-apartheid South Africa and a first for the City of East London. Apartheid spawned the separation of different groups of people into racial enclaves. It also created barriers between races, advantaged certain races over others and created fear, hatred and general distrust among different racial groups in South Africa. The dislocation of apartheid was accompanied by rapid urbanization and ‘reconstruction’ of infrastructure and inter-racial relationships. The opening up of the country’s borders in compliance with Globalisation made South Africa a melting pot to people of different cultures. South African cities became fragmented and fear and strangeness was everywhere. Housing or the lack of it has been a constant problem that the new post apartheid government has grappled with. The solution of building RDP housing estates has not solved this burgeoning problem. But even more importantly it has failed to reorganize urban life in South Africa. In approaching this study I look at how these new social housing estates have reorganized urban life. I explore the concepts of community, home, generation, gender, material culture and ‘new’ urbanization to provide a framework for my study. This study is a qualitative study based in the city of East London in the Eastern Cape. It is a community study which attempts to go inside the home to unlock some of the intricacies of urban life. Ethnography is the research key used to unlock these intricacies.In conclusion, this study attempts to examine a non-western narrative of community life. Are these housing estates a solution to South Africa’s housing problem? Do they conform only to western narratives of urban life? What kind of citizens do these housing estates produce? These are some of the questions that this study hopes to answer.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Usefulness of the neo PI-R personality profiles in the selection of psychology master's applicants
- Authors: Hurter, Kim
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: NEO Personality Inventory , Dregrees, Academic -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9907 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1009640 , NEO Personality Inventory , Dregrees, Academic -- South Africa
- Description: Each year, psychology departments across South Africa are faced with the arduous task of selecting the most suitable candidates to fill their Clinical, Counselling, Educational, and Industrial Psychology master’s coursework programmes. Although various criteria are considered in this process, personality has long been considered an important variable in the screening and selection of master’s psychology applicants, and some sort of personality assessment is commonly utilized by selection committees as part of the screening and selection procedures. While there are many different theoretical perspectives on personality and various personality assessment measures available, the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality has gained considerable attention over the last decade as a comprehensive and universal conceptualization of a broad trait structure for human personality. Currently, the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) is considered to be one of the best commercially available measures of the personality traits proposed by this model. The NEO PI-R provides a comprehensive measure of adult personality, has been extensively researched, and has demonstrated its utility across many different cultures, languages, and contexts. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the personality profiles of short-listed master’s psychology applicants at a higher education institution in South Africa, using the NEO PI-R, in an effort to explore the use of NEO PI-R profiles in the selection of master’s psychology applicants. The study was exploratory descriptive in nature and employed a quantitative research method. The sample of 247 participants was selected according to non-probability convenience sampling and was sourced from an archival research database. As part of the application process at the higher education institution, applicants were required to complete various tests, tasks, and questionnaires. The questionnaires selected for this study included a biographical questionnaire, used to describe the biographical variables of the sample, and the NEO PI-R (Costa & McCrae, 1992), used as a measure of personality. The NEO PI-R has been found to have good validity and reliability, with reliability in particular having being established in the South African context. Descriptive and inferential statistics, including correlations, cluster xiv analysis, and multivariate analysis of variance (ANOVA), were utilized to analyze the data. Key findings revealed that overall, the group of short-listed master’s psychology applicants could be described as being emotionally well-adjusted and sociable, which is in line with previous national and international research. In addition, a cluster analysis revealed three significantly different personality subgroups within the total sample, thus highlighting the heterogeneous nature of this sample of applicants. Each of the three personality subgroups exhibited significantly different personality traits which were judged to be more or less suitable for potential psychologists-in-training. Clusters 1 and 2 exhibited the most desirable personality characteristics in relation to selection into a master’s psychology programme, while Cluster 3 exhibited the least desirable traits. Various classification functions were derived which classified applicants into “selected” and “not selected” groups as well as the three personality subgroups, which could aid selection committees in the future to screen out potentially unsuitable candidates earlier in the selection process. It was concluded that the use of NEO PI-R personality profiles could aid the screening and selection of short-listed master’s psychology applicants.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Hurter, Kim
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: NEO Personality Inventory , Dregrees, Academic -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9907 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1009640 , NEO Personality Inventory , Dregrees, Academic -- South Africa
- Description: Each year, psychology departments across South Africa are faced with the arduous task of selecting the most suitable candidates to fill their Clinical, Counselling, Educational, and Industrial Psychology master’s coursework programmes. Although various criteria are considered in this process, personality has long been considered an important variable in the screening and selection of master’s psychology applicants, and some sort of personality assessment is commonly utilized by selection committees as part of the screening and selection procedures. While there are many different theoretical perspectives on personality and various personality assessment measures available, the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality has gained considerable attention over the last decade as a comprehensive and universal conceptualization of a broad trait structure for human personality. Currently, the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) is considered to be one of the best commercially available measures of the personality traits proposed by this model. The NEO PI-R provides a comprehensive measure of adult personality, has been extensively researched, and has demonstrated its utility across many different cultures, languages, and contexts. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the personality profiles of short-listed master’s psychology applicants at a higher education institution in South Africa, using the NEO PI-R, in an effort to explore the use of NEO PI-R profiles in the selection of master’s psychology applicants. The study was exploratory descriptive in nature and employed a quantitative research method. The sample of 247 participants was selected according to non-probability convenience sampling and was sourced from an archival research database. As part of the application process at the higher education institution, applicants were required to complete various tests, tasks, and questionnaires. The questionnaires selected for this study included a biographical questionnaire, used to describe the biographical variables of the sample, and the NEO PI-R (Costa & McCrae, 1992), used as a measure of personality. The NEO PI-R has been found to have good validity and reliability, with reliability in particular having being established in the South African context. Descriptive and inferential statistics, including correlations, cluster xiv analysis, and multivariate analysis of variance (ANOVA), were utilized to analyze the data. Key findings revealed that overall, the group of short-listed master’s psychology applicants could be described as being emotionally well-adjusted and sociable, which is in line with previous national and international research. In addition, a cluster analysis revealed three significantly different personality subgroups within the total sample, thus highlighting the heterogeneous nature of this sample of applicants. Each of the three personality subgroups exhibited significantly different personality traits which were judged to be more or less suitable for potential psychologists-in-training. Clusters 1 and 2 exhibited the most desirable personality characteristics in relation to selection into a master’s psychology programme, while Cluster 3 exhibited the least desirable traits. Various classification functions were derived which classified applicants into “selected” and “not selected” groups as well as the three personality subgroups, which could aid selection committees in the future to screen out potentially unsuitable candidates earlier in the selection process. It was concluded that the use of NEO PI-R personality profiles could aid the screening and selection of short-listed master’s psychology applicants.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Using a transdisciplinary framework to examine mathematics classroom talk taking place in and through a second language
- Graven, Mellony, Robertson, Sally-Ann
- Authors: Graven, Mellony , Robertson, Sally-Ann
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/69838 , vital:29586 , https://DOI: 10.1007/s11858-018-0952-2
- Description: This paper proposes a transdisciplinary framework to allow for a multifocal exploration of classroom talk practices. It draws on data from a broader study of talk in South African Grade 4 mathematics classrooms where the language of teaching and learning (English) was the home language for neither the teachers nor their students. Lesson transcript data from one teacher’s lessons on fractions are used to demonstrate how working with three strands of conceptual insight from the disciplines of psychology, sociology and linguistics conduces to a potentially richer understanding of a teacher’s use of classroom talk in mediating her students’ mathematical understanding. By drawing on elements of Vygotsky’s sociocultural psychology, we make visible in the lesson data the ways in which this teacher used the ‘everyday’ in trying to navigate her students’ towards more ‘scientific’ conceptualizations of unit fractions. By then taking up aspects of Bernstein’s sociological work, we articulate, and make visible, how societal circumstances impinge on students’ access to exploratory mathematical discourse needed for epistemological access to abstract and generalized mathematical concepts. Finally, through Halliday’s work on the power of particular linguistic registers for meaning-making, we highlight challenges in learning mathematics in and through a second language and reveal the constraints placed on students’ opportunity to maximally exploit the distinct forms of meaning contained within the mathematics register.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Graven, Mellony , Robertson, Sally-Ann
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/69838 , vital:29586 , https://DOI: 10.1007/s11858-018-0952-2
- Description: This paper proposes a transdisciplinary framework to allow for a multifocal exploration of classroom talk practices. It draws on data from a broader study of talk in South African Grade 4 mathematics classrooms where the language of teaching and learning (English) was the home language for neither the teachers nor their students. Lesson transcript data from one teacher’s lessons on fractions are used to demonstrate how working with three strands of conceptual insight from the disciplines of psychology, sociology and linguistics conduces to a potentially richer understanding of a teacher’s use of classroom talk in mediating her students’ mathematical understanding. By drawing on elements of Vygotsky’s sociocultural psychology, we make visible in the lesson data the ways in which this teacher used the ‘everyday’ in trying to navigate her students’ towards more ‘scientific’ conceptualizations of unit fractions. By then taking up aspects of Bernstein’s sociological work, we articulate, and make visible, how societal circumstances impinge on students’ access to exploratory mathematical discourse needed for epistemological access to abstract and generalized mathematical concepts. Finally, through Halliday’s work on the power of particular linguistic registers for meaning-making, we highlight challenges in learning mathematics in and through a second language and reveal the constraints placed on students’ opportunity to maximally exploit the distinct forms of meaning contained within the mathematics register.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Using pictograms in a patient information leaflet to communicate antiretroviral medicines information to HIV/AIDS patients in rural South Africa:
- Authors: Dowse, Roslind
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/156817 , vital:40053 , ISBN
- Description: The objectives were to design a simple, illustrated patient information leaflet for the antiretroviral regimen of stavudine, lamivudine and efavirenz and to evaluate its readability and acceptability in the local Xhosa population. In order to achieve this, a further objective was to design and evaluate illustrations to include in the patient information leaflet which were culturally acceptable and well interpreted. Illustrations or pictograms were designed to illustrate selected instructions appearing in the patient information leaflet and were individually tested in 30 Xhosa participants who had a maximum of 8 years of formal schooling. Results were used to improve the pictograms for inclusion in the patient information leaflet. The patient information leaflet was designed and tested in sixty Xhosa participants with varied levels of education who had stated they could read. Demographic data were collected and they were then asked to read the patient information leaflet, available in both English and isiXhosa, and a series of questions was asked to assess its comprehension and acceptability. The overall average rate of understanding was 95. Six of the 20 questions were located and understood by all participants, and only two questions resulted in less than an 85 correct response. Physical appearance and quantity of information were highly rated and all participants were enthusiastic about the inclusion of pictograms.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Dowse, Roslind
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/156817 , vital:40053 , ISBN
- Description: The objectives were to design a simple, illustrated patient information leaflet for the antiretroviral regimen of stavudine, lamivudine and efavirenz and to evaluate its readability and acceptability in the local Xhosa population. In order to achieve this, a further objective was to design and evaluate illustrations to include in the patient information leaflet which were culturally acceptable and well interpreted. Illustrations or pictograms were designed to illustrate selected instructions appearing in the patient information leaflet and were individually tested in 30 Xhosa participants who had a maximum of 8 years of formal schooling. Results were used to improve the pictograms for inclusion in the patient information leaflet. The patient information leaflet was designed and tested in sixty Xhosa participants with varied levels of education who had stated they could read. Demographic data were collected and they were then asked to read the patient information leaflet, available in both English and isiXhosa, and a series of questions was asked to assess its comprehension and acceptability. The overall average rate of understanding was 95. Six of the 20 questions were located and understood by all participants, and only two questions resulted in less than an 85 correct response. Physical appearance and quantity of information were highly rated and all participants were enthusiastic about the inclusion of pictograms.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Using semantic knowledge to improve compression on log files
- Authors: Otten, Frederick John
- Date: 2009 , 2008-11-19
- Subjects: Computer networks , Data compression (Computer science) , Semantics--Data processing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4650 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006619 , Computer networks , Data compression (Computer science) , Semantics--Data processing
- Description: With the move towards global and multi-national companies, information technology infrastructure requirements are increasing. As the size of these computer networks increases, it becomes more and more difficult to monitor, control, and secure them. Networks consist of a number of diverse devices, sensors, and gateways which are often spread over large geographical areas. Each of these devices produce log files which need to be analysed and monitored to provide network security and satisfy regulations. Data compression programs such as gzip and bzip2 are commonly used to reduce the quantity of data for archival purposes after the log files have been rotated. However, there are many other compression programs which exist - each with their own advantages and disadvantages. These programs each use a different amount of memory and take different compression and decompression times to achieve different compression ratios. System log files also contain redundancy which is not necessarily exploited by standard compression programs. Log messages usually use a similar format with a defined syntax. In the log files, all the ASCII characters are not used and the messages contain certain "phrases" which often repeated. This thesis investigates the use of compression as a means of data reduction and how the use of semantic knowledge can improve data compression (also applying results to different scenarios that can occur in a distributed computing environment). It presents the results of a series of tests performed on different log files. It also examines the semantic knowledge which exists in maillog files and how it can be exploited to improve the compression results. The results from a series of text preprocessors which exploit this knowledge are presented and evaluated. These preprocessors include: one which replaces the timestamps and IP addresses with their binary equivalents and one which replaces words from a dictionary with unused ASCII characters. In this thesis, data compression is shown to be an effective method of data reduction producing up to 98 percent reduction in filesize on a corpus of log files. The use of preprocessors which exploit semantic knowledge results in up to 56 percent improvement in overall compression time and up to 32 percent reduction in compressed size. , TeX , pdfTeX-1.40.3
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Otten, Frederick John
- Date: 2009 , 2008-11-19
- Subjects: Computer networks , Data compression (Computer science) , Semantics--Data processing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4650 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006619 , Computer networks , Data compression (Computer science) , Semantics--Data processing
- Description: With the move towards global and multi-national companies, information technology infrastructure requirements are increasing. As the size of these computer networks increases, it becomes more and more difficult to monitor, control, and secure them. Networks consist of a number of diverse devices, sensors, and gateways which are often spread over large geographical areas. Each of these devices produce log files which need to be analysed and monitored to provide network security and satisfy regulations. Data compression programs such as gzip and bzip2 are commonly used to reduce the quantity of data for archival purposes after the log files have been rotated. However, there are many other compression programs which exist - each with their own advantages and disadvantages. These programs each use a different amount of memory and take different compression and decompression times to achieve different compression ratios. System log files also contain redundancy which is not necessarily exploited by standard compression programs. Log messages usually use a similar format with a defined syntax. In the log files, all the ASCII characters are not used and the messages contain certain "phrases" which often repeated. This thesis investigates the use of compression as a means of data reduction and how the use of semantic knowledge can improve data compression (also applying results to different scenarios that can occur in a distributed computing environment). It presents the results of a series of tests performed on different log files. It also examines the semantic knowledge which exists in maillog files and how it can be exploited to improve the compression results. The results from a series of text preprocessors which exploit this knowledge are presented and evaluated. These preprocessors include: one which replaces the timestamps and IP addresses with their binary equivalents and one which replaces words from a dictionary with unused ASCII characters. In this thesis, data compression is shown to be an effective method of data reduction producing up to 98 percent reduction in filesize on a corpus of log files. The use of preprocessors which exploit semantic knowledge results in up to 56 percent improvement in overall compression time and up to 32 percent reduction in compressed size. , TeX , pdfTeX-1.40.3
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Using the van Hiele theory to analyse geometrical conceptualisation in grade 12 students: a Namibian perspective
- Authors: Mateya, Muhongo
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Hiele, Pierre M. van Hiele-Geldof, Dina van Geometry -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1820 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003706
- Description: The study reported here utilised a theory of levels of geometric thinking. This theory was proposed and developed by two Dutch mathematics educators, Pierre van Hiele and his wife, Dina van Hiele-Geldof. The van Hiele theory enables investigations into why many students experience difficulties in learning geometry. In many nations, such as the UK, the USA, Netherlands, the USSR and to a certain extent, Nigeria and South Africa, research evidence has indicated that the overall students’ mathematical competencies are linked to their geometric thinking levels. This study is the first of its kind to apply the van Hiele theory of geometric thinking in the Namibian context to analyse geometrical conceptualisation in Grade 12 mathematics students. In all, 50 Grade 12 students (20 from School A and 30 from School B) were involved in this study. These students wrote a van Hiele Geometry Test adapted from the Cognitive Development and Achievement in Secondary School Geometry test items. Thereafter, a clinical interview with the aid of manipulatives was conducted. The results from this study indicated that many of the School A and School B students who participated in the research have a weak conceptual understanding of geometric concepts: 35% of the School A and 40% of the School B subsamples were at the prerecognition level. 25% and 30% of the School A, and 20% and 23.3% of the School B students were at van Hiele levels 1 and 2 respectively. An equal number of students but different in percentages, 2 (10%) in School A and 2 (6.7%) in School B, were at van Hiele level 3. Only one student from School B attained van Hiele level 4. These results were found to be consistent with those of previous similar studies in UK, USA, Nigeria and South Africa. The findings of this study also highlight issues of how the Namibian Grade 12 geometry syllabus should be aligned with the van Hiele levels of geometric thinking as well as the use of appropriate and correct language in geometrical thinking and problem solving.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Mateya, Muhongo
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Hiele, Pierre M. van Hiele-Geldof, Dina van Geometry -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1820 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003706
- Description: The study reported here utilised a theory of levels of geometric thinking. This theory was proposed and developed by two Dutch mathematics educators, Pierre van Hiele and his wife, Dina van Hiele-Geldof. The van Hiele theory enables investigations into why many students experience difficulties in learning geometry. In many nations, such as the UK, the USA, Netherlands, the USSR and to a certain extent, Nigeria and South Africa, research evidence has indicated that the overall students’ mathematical competencies are linked to their geometric thinking levels. This study is the first of its kind to apply the van Hiele theory of geometric thinking in the Namibian context to analyse geometrical conceptualisation in Grade 12 mathematics students. In all, 50 Grade 12 students (20 from School A and 30 from School B) were involved in this study. These students wrote a van Hiele Geometry Test adapted from the Cognitive Development and Achievement in Secondary School Geometry test items. Thereafter, a clinical interview with the aid of manipulatives was conducted. The results from this study indicated that many of the School A and School B students who participated in the research have a weak conceptual understanding of geometric concepts: 35% of the School A and 40% of the School B subsamples were at the prerecognition level. 25% and 30% of the School A, and 20% and 23.3% of the School B students were at van Hiele levels 1 and 2 respectively. An equal number of students but different in percentages, 2 (10%) in School A and 2 (6.7%) in School B, were at van Hiele level 3. Only one student from School B attained van Hiele level 4. These results were found to be consistent with those of previous similar studies in UK, USA, Nigeria and South Africa. The findings of this study also highlight issues of how the Namibian Grade 12 geometry syllabus should be aligned with the van Hiele levels of geometric thinking as well as the use of appropriate and correct language in geometrical thinking and problem solving.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Utopianism and educational processes in the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
- Authors: Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/184756 , vital:44269 , xlink:href="https://cjee.lakeheadu.ca/article/view/866"
- Description: Recent international policy literature on Education for Sustainable Development puts forward utopian concepts of sustainable development and transformed learning as objects for educational thinking and practice. This paper, drawing on three illustrative educational investigations with youth in a South African context, critically examines how we might engage with utopian concepts such as those put forward in the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. It incorporates an engagement with other related utopian concepts such as democracy and social justice, which feature strongly in post-apartheid societal reconstruction in South Africa. The paper argues that if we are to avoid valuable utopian concepts such as democracy, sustainability, and social justice from becoming doxic knowledge, a reflexive realist orientation might best guide our educational engagements with such concepts. Such an approach to utopianism would take account of contextual realities and situated learning processes, and foster a creativity of action that is constructivist in nature, but not relativist.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/184756 , vital:44269 , xlink:href="https://cjee.lakeheadu.ca/article/view/866"
- Description: Recent international policy literature on Education for Sustainable Development puts forward utopian concepts of sustainable development and transformed learning as objects for educational thinking and practice. This paper, drawing on three illustrative educational investigations with youth in a South African context, critically examines how we might engage with utopian concepts such as those put forward in the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. It incorporates an engagement with other related utopian concepts such as democracy and social justice, which feature strongly in post-apartheid societal reconstruction in South Africa. The paper argues that if we are to avoid valuable utopian concepts such as democracy, sustainability, and social justice from becoming doxic knowledge, a reflexive realist orientation might best guide our educational engagements with such concepts. Such an approach to utopianism would take account of contextual realities and situated learning processes, and foster a creativity of action that is constructivist in nature, but not relativist.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Valuing preferences for freshwater inflows into five Eastern Cape and Kwazulu-Natal estuaries
- Authors: Chege, Jedidah
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Estuarine ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Estuarine ecology -- South Africa -- Kwazulu-Natal , Freshwater ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Estuaries -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Estuaries -- Management -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:8990 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/932 , Estuarine ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Estuarine ecology -- South Africa -- Kwazulu-Natal , Freshwater ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Estuaries -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Estuaries -- Management -- South Africa
- Description: An estuary, according to the National Water Act of 1998, is a partially or fully enclosed body of water which is open periodically or permanently to the sea within which the sea water can be diluted, to an extent that is measurable with freshwater from inland. Estuaries and the lands surrounding them are places of transition from land to sea, and from freshwater to saltwater. Although influenced by the tides, estuaries are protected from the full force of ocean waves, winds, and storms by the reefs, barrier islands, or fingers of land, mud, or sand that surround them. South Africa’s estuaries are important and irreplaceable habitats, especially for prawns, fish, wading birds and mangroves. They are home to numerous plants and animals that live in water that is partly fresh and partly salty. Estuaries are also homes to growing coastal communities as increasing number of people occupy watersheds. However, estuaries are also threatened. One of the threats is reduced river water inflow. This study applies the contingent valuation method (CVM) to elicit user’s willingness to pay to mitigate the negative impacts of reduced freshwater inflow into selected five Eastern Cape and Kwazulu-Natal estuaries: the Sundays, Gamtoos, Mdloti, Mgeni and Mvoti estuaries. In addition to the contingent valuation method, the travel cost method was used to generate comparative values. The contingent valuation method is a technique to establish the value of a good (or service) that is not bought or sold in an actual market. The CVM establishes the economic value of the good by asking the users of an environmental good to state their willingness to pay (WTP) for a hypothetical project to prevent, or bring about, a change in the current condition of the environmental good. The users’ WTP is aggregated to establish a total willingness to pay (TWTP) for the population of the users of the environmental good.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Chege, Jedidah
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Estuarine ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Estuarine ecology -- South Africa -- Kwazulu-Natal , Freshwater ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Estuaries -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Estuaries -- Management -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:8990 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/932 , Estuarine ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Estuarine ecology -- South Africa -- Kwazulu-Natal , Freshwater ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Estuaries -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Estuaries -- Management -- South Africa
- Description: An estuary, according to the National Water Act of 1998, is a partially or fully enclosed body of water which is open periodically or permanently to the sea within which the sea water can be diluted, to an extent that is measurable with freshwater from inland. Estuaries and the lands surrounding them are places of transition from land to sea, and from freshwater to saltwater. Although influenced by the tides, estuaries are protected from the full force of ocean waves, winds, and storms by the reefs, barrier islands, or fingers of land, mud, or sand that surround them. South Africa’s estuaries are important and irreplaceable habitats, especially for prawns, fish, wading birds and mangroves. They are home to numerous plants and animals that live in water that is partly fresh and partly salty. Estuaries are also homes to growing coastal communities as increasing number of people occupy watersheds. However, estuaries are also threatened. One of the threats is reduced river water inflow. This study applies the contingent valuation method (CVM) to elicit user’s willingness to pay to mitigate the negative impacts of reduced freshwater inflow into selected five Eastern Cape and Kwazulu-Natal estuaries: the Sundays, Gamtoos, Mdloti, Mgeni and Mvoti estuaries. In addition to the contingent valuation method, the travel cost method was used to generate comparative values. The contingent valuation method is a technique to establish the value of a good (or service) that is not bought or sold in an actual market. The CVM establishes the economic value of the good by asking the users of an environmental good to state their willingness to pay (WTP) for a hypothetical project to prevent, or bring about, a change in the current condition of the environmental good. The users’ WTP is aggregated to establish a total willingness to pay (TWTP) for the population of the users of the environmental good.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009