Transformation adaptation: developing a framework for donor organisation support of climate change adaptation in resource poor communities
- Authors: Dada, Rehana
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Climatic changes , Human beings -- Effect of climate on , Acclimatization
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/4158 , vital:20560
- Description: Poor communities already face severe challenges in meeting their basic needs, whether because of poor income opportunities, inadequate service delivery, or degraded ecosystems that can no longer support the needs of people. Non profit organisations who provide support for development are also challenged by financial restrictions and social and political structures that prevent or limit project development. Climate change is understood to have the most severe impact on the most vulnerable communities and sectors of communities by reducing the availability and accessibility of basic resources such as water, food and energy, impacting severely on human health and wellbeing, and further reducing the capacity of ecosystems to support livelihoods. This will add a layer of significant new complications to the ability of poor communities to maintain or improve standards of living, and further challenge non profit organisations that support such communitiesAnticipatory adaptation to climate change can reduce some of the impacts of climate change, and also address some key development stresses. This thesis aims to provide a framework that is relevant for supporting adaptation to climate change within the context of resource poor communities in a developing country. Non profit organisations and donor agencies could support success and autonomy in adaptation processes by making provision for locally defined understanding of adaptation, and locally determined processes and programmes. This can be taken further into implementation of programming that addresses local short term development priorities alongside, or as part of long term adaptation work. The research followed a number of steps involving a multitude of techniques including literature review, interviews, a survey, consultation with an expert group, further consultation with stakeholders, and a final electronic review. Its outcome is a strategy that can be used to support climate change adaptation in resource poor communities. A definition for adaptation is proposed as an interpretation of adaptation that is relevant in this context. The intended end goal of adaptation as defined in this research is a better form of development that : supports a harmonious and respectful relationship between humans and their natural resource base; averts further destructive global change or at the very least prevents it from becoming unmanageable; and manages the impacts of past and ongoing destructive change so that there is lowest possible loss of natural, human, or cultural resources. The term transformative adaptation emerged from the research processes to describe adaptation to climate change that concurrently addresses development challenges, is grounded in community development aspirations, integrates programming work across multiple thematic areas and approaches, and addresses the causes of climate change within adaptation interventions. The following broad guidelines are used to inform programming within the framework of transformative adaptation : Human communities are faced with an enormous challenge resulting from global change and sociopolitical injustices; Well planned anticipatory adaptation can limit exposure and vulnerability to at least some of the projected impacts of climate change; Adaptation to climate change incorporates a reduction of vulnerability to underlying development stresses, alongside a reduction of vulnerability to specific climate change stresses; Existing development work forms the foundation for adaptation interventions, acknowledging the interdependence of social, natural and economic systems and the need to maintain their health; Adaptation decision making is community based, and acknowledges that resource poor communities are best placed to establish their own development needs, drive implementation of interventions in own spaces, and identify own limits to adaptation; Adaptation work incorporates mitigation objectives so that the causes of climate change are addressed as part of the strategy for coping with climate change; Adaptation programming acknowledges the strong interlinkages between, and integrates work across, the thematic areas of water security, food sovereignty, energy security, land security, human wellbeing and livelihood diversity; Adaptation uses a broad set of approaches that spans research, knowledge sharing, advocacy, and investment in technology and infrastructure; There is flexibility in project design and implementation to allow room for experimentation with new concepts, and also to change design as knowledge, understanding, and geophysical, biophysical and sociopolitical conditions change.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Dada, Rehana
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Climatic changes , Human beings -- Effect of climate on , Acclimatization
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/4158 , vital:20560
- Description: Poor communities already face severe challenges in meeting their basic needs, whether because of poor income opportunities, inadequate service delivery, or degraded ecosystems that can no longer support the needs of people. Non profit organisations who provide support for development are also challenged by financial restrictions and social and political structures that prevent or limit project development. Climate change is understood to have the most severe impact on the most vulnerable communities and sectors of communities by reducing the availability and accessibility of basic resources such as water, food and energy, impacting severely on human health and wellbeing, and further reducing the capacity of ecosystems to support livelihoods. This will add a layer of significant new complications to the ability of poor communities to maintain or improve standards of living, and further challenge non profit organisations that support such communitiesAnticipatory adaptation to climate change can reduce some of the impacts of climate change, and also address some key development stresses. This thesis aims to provide a framework that is relevant for supporting adaptation to climate change within the context of resource poor communities in a developing country. Non profit organisations and donor agencies could support success and autonomy in adaptation processes by making provision for locally defined understanding of adaptation, and locally determined processes and programmes. This can be taken further into implementation of programming that addresses local short term development priorities alongside, or as part of long term adaptation work. The research followed a number of steps involving a multitude of techniques including literature review, interviews, a survey, consultation with an expert group, further consultation with stakeholders, and a final electronic review. Its outcome is a strategy that can be used to support climate change adaptation in resource poor communities. A definition for adaptation is proposed as an interpretation of adaptation that is relevant in this context. The intended end goal of adaptation as defined in this research is a better form of development that : supports a harmonious and respectful relationship between humans and their natural resource base; averts further destructive global change or at the very least prevents it from becoming unmanageable; and manages the impacts of past and ongoing destructive change so that there is lowest possible loss of natural, human, or cultural resources. The term transformative adaptation emerged from the research processes to describe adaptation to climate change that concurrently addresses development challenges, is grounded in community development aspirations, integrates programming work across multiple thematic areas and approaches, and addresses the causes of climate change within adaptation interventions. The following broad guidelines are used to inform programming within the framework of transformative adaptation : Human communities are faced with an enormous challenge resulting from global change and sociopolitical injustices; Well planned anticipatory adaptation can limit exposure and vulnerability to at least some of the projected impacts of climate change; Adaptation to climate change incorporates a reduction of vulnerability to underlying development stresses, alongside a reduction of vulnerability to specific climate change stresses; Existing development work forms the foundation for adaptation interventions, acknowledging the interdependence of social, natural and economic systems and the need to maintain their health; Adaptation decision making is community based, and acknowledges that resource poor communities are best placed to establish their own development needs, drive implementation of interventions in own spaces, and identify own limits to adaptation; Adaptation work incorporates mitigation objectives so that the causes of climate change are addressed as part of the strategy for coping with climate change; Adaptation programming acknowledges the strong interlinkages between, and integrates work across, the thematic areas of water security, food sovereignty, energy security, land security, human wellbeing and livelihood diversity; Adaptation uses a broad set of approaches that spans research, knowledge sharing, advocacy, and investment in technology and infrastructure; There is flexibility in project design and implementation to allow room for experimentation with new concepts, and also to change design as knowledge, understanding, and geophysical, biophysical and sociopolitical conditions change.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Using risk mitigation approaches to define the requirements for software escrow
- Authors: Rode, Karl
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Escrows , Source code (Computer Science)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4714 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017936
- Description: Two or more parties entering into a contract for service or goods may make use of an escrow of the funds for payment to enable trust in the contract. In such an event the documents or financial instruments, the object(s) in escrow, are held in trust by a trusted third party (escrow provider) until the specified conditions are fulfilled. In the scenario of software escrow, the object of escrow is typically the source code, and the specified release conditions usually address potential scenarios wherein the software provider becomes unable to continue providing services (such as due to bankruptcy or a change in services provided, etc.) The subject of software escrow is not well documented in the academic body of work, with the largest information sources, active commentary and supporting papers provided by commercial software escrow providers, both in South Africa and abroad. This work maps the software escrow topic onto the King III compliance framework in South Africa. This is of value since any users of bespoke developed applications may require extended professional assistance to align with the King III guidelines. The supporting risk assessment model developed in this work will serve as a tool to evaluate and motivate for software escrow agreements. It will also provide an overview of the various escrow agreement types and will transfer the focus to the value proposition that they each hold. Initial research has indicated that current awareness of software escrow in industry is still very low. This was evidenced by the significant number of approached specialists that declined to participate in the survey due to their own admitted inexperience in applying the discipline of software escrow within their companies. Moreover, the participants that contributed to the research indicated that they only required software escrow for medium to highly critical applications. This proved the value of assessing the various risk factors that bespoke software development introduces, as well as the risk mitigation options available, through tools such as escrow, to reduce the actual and residual risk to a manageable level.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Rode, Karl
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Escrows , Source code (Computer Science)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4714 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017936
- Description: Two or more parties entering into a contract for service or goods may make use of an escrow of the funds for payment to enable trust in the contract. In such an event the documents or financial instruments, the object(s) in escrow, are held in trust by a trusted third party (escrow provider) until the specified conditions are fulfilled. In the scenario of software escrow, the object of escrow is typically the source code, and the specified release conditions usually address potential scenarios wherein the software provider becomes unable to continue providing services (such as due to bankruptcy or a change in services provided, etc.) The subject of software escrow is not well documented in the academic body of work, with the largest information sources, active commentary and supporting papers provided by commercial software escrow providers, both in South Africa and abroad. This work maps the software escrow topic onto the King III compliance framework in South Africa. This is of value since any users of bespoke developed applications may require extended professional assistance to align with the King III guidelines. The supporting risk assessment model developed in this work will serve as a tool to evaluate and motivate for software escrow agreements. It will also provide an overview of the various escrow agreement types and will transfer the focus to the value proposition that they each hold. Initial research has indicated that current awareness of software escrow in industry is still very low. This was evidenced by the significant number of approached specialists that declined to participate in the survey due to their own admitted inexperience in applying the discipline of software escrow within their companies. Moreover, the participants that contributed to the research indicated that they only required software escrow for medium to highly critical applications. This proved the value of assessing the various risk factors that bespoke software development introduces, as well as the risk mitigation options available, through tools such as escrow, to reduce the actual and residual risk to a manageable level.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Using the larval parasitoid, Agathis bishopi (Nixon) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), for early detection of false codling moth, Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) infested fruit
- Authors: Zimba, Kennedy Josaya
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Cryptophlebia leucotreta , Citrus -- Diseases and pests -- South Africa , Pests -- Biological control -- South Africa , Cryptophlebia leucotreta -- Detection , Parasitoids -- Hosts , Braconidae
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5919 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017186
- Description: Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is one of the major citrus pests of economic importance for South Africa’s citrus industry. It is endemic to Africa, and therefore a phytosanitary pest with zero tolerance by most export markets. The cryptic nature of T. leucotreta makes visual inspection an inefficient method for detecting neonate larvae in fruit in the packhouse. Therefore, a more accurate method for sorting infested fruit at the packhouse, particularly for newly infested fruit could ensure market access. A recent study showed that fruit infested by T. leucotreta emit a chemical profile different from that of a healthy fruit. Several studies provide evidence that parasitoids locate their hosts feeding on fruit by exploiting the novel chemical profiles produced due to host herbivory. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of using the naturally occurring behaviour of a larval parasitoid Agathis bishopi (Nixon) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) for detection of T. leucotreta infested fruit, by determining which compound in infested fruit is attractive to parasitoids. Ytube olfactometer and flight-tunnel bioassays with healthy and T. leucotreta infested fruit showed a significantly stronger response of A. bishopi female parasitoids to infested fruit. Among the volatile compounds associated with T. leucotreta infested fruit, D-limonene elicited the strongest attraction to A. bishopi female parasitoids. Attraction of mated A. bishopi female parasitoids to T. leucotreta infested fruit and D-limonene significantly increased after oviposition experience. Behavioural responses of A. bishopi female parasitoids that were associated with T. leucotreta infested fruit were investigated to determine which behaviours are distinct and interpretable. Probing and oviposition behaviours were the most noticeable and were only elicited on infested fruit when parasitoids contacted T. leucotreta frass, indicating that chemical compounds in frass are short-range cues used for final host location. Since production of D-limonene by fruit is elevated due to herbivory by different pests including mechanical injury on fruit, response of A. bishopi female parasitoids to compounds in frass offers a more specific and potentially useful mechanism for development of a detection system for T. leucotreta infested fruit. Chemical analysis of T. leucotreta frass and conditioning A. bishopi parasitoids to respond behaviourally to compounds in frass is proposed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Zimba, Kennedy Josaya
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Cryptophlebia leucotreta , Citrus -- Diseases and pests -- South Africa , Pests -- Biological control -- South Africa , Cryptophlebia leucotreta -- Detection , Parasitoids -- Hosts , Braconidae
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5919 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017186
- Description: Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is one of the major citrus pests of economic importance for South Africa’s citrus industry. It is endemic to Africa, and therefore a phytosanitary pest with zero tolerance by most export markets. The cryptic nature of T. leucotreta makes visual inspection an inefficient method for detecting neonate larvae in fruit in the packhouse. Therefore, a more accurate method for sorting infested fruit at the packhouse, particularly for newly infested fruit could ensure market access. A recent study showed that fruit infested by T. leucotreta emit a chemical profile different from that of a healthy fruit. Several studies provide evidence that parasitoids locate their hosts feeding on fruit by exploiting the novel chemical profiles produced due to host herbivory. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of using the naturally occurring behaviour of a larval parasitoid Agathis bishopi (Nixon) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) for detection of T. leucotreta infested fruit, by determining which compound in infested fruit is attractive to parasitoids. Ytube olfactometer and flight-tunnel bioassays with healthy and T. leucotreta infested fruit showed a significantly stronger response of A. bishopi female parasitoids to infested fruit. Among the volatile compounds associated with T. leucotreta infested fruit, D-limonene elicited the strongest attraction to A. bishopi female parasitoids. Attraction of mated A. bishopi female parasitoids to T. leucotreta infested fruit and D-limonene significantly increased after oviposition experience. Behavioural responses of A. bishopi female parasitoids that were associated with T. leucotreta infested fruit were investigated to determine which behaviours are distinct and interpretable. Probing and oviposition behaviours were the most noticeable and were only elicited on infested fruit when parasitoids contacted T. leucotreta frass, indicating that chemical compounds in frass are short-range cues used for final host location. Since production of D-limonene by fruit is elevated due to herbivory by different pests including mechanical injury on fruit, response of A. bishopi female parasitoids to compounds in frass offers a more specific and potentially useful mechanism for development of a detection system for T. leucotreta infested fruit. Chemical analysis of T. leucotreta frass and conditioning A. bishopi parasitoids to respond behaviourally to compounds in frass is proposed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Variation in breeding systems, floral morphology and nectar properties in three co-occurring Erica species with contrasting pollination syndromes
- Authors: Lombardi, Giorgio Colombo
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Ericas -- South Africa -- Western Cape , Ericas -- Morphology , Ericas -- Reproduction , Ericas -- Pollination , Pollination by animals , Pollination by insects , Nectar
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4273 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018567
- Description: The genus Erica is the most species rich in the Cape Floristic Kingdom, yet there are limited data on the various flower-pollinator interactions and breeding systems for the majority of these species. Until recently research has focussed on predictive floral traits, including flower shape, length of corolla and corolla opening to identify likely pollinators in this genus. Field observations provide an empirical test of such predictions. This study investigated three species of Erica and compared their pollination and breeding systems and floral biology. Research, including field experiments and pollinator observations was undertaken in the Vogelgat Private Nature Reserve, Maanschynkop Nature Reserve and Boskloof farm in the vicinity of Hermanus in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Field observations were conducted to determine what flower- visitor interactions occurred, while nectar volumes and sugar concentrations were measured to determine the value of the reward to the different visitors. Selective exclusion and breeding system experiments were carried out to determine whether these Erica species were capable of autonomous self-fertilization or whether they are pollinator dependent for breeding success. The unusual morphology of Erica lanuginosa suggested rodent-pollination. Field observations, including photographs of visits to plants in the field, the presence of pollen in scat sample and selective exclusion and breeding system experiments identified rodents, primarily Acomys subspinosus to be the primary pollinator. Long-proboscid flies of the family Nemestrinidae were found, on the basis of field observations to be responsible for pollination of the endemic Erica aristata. This was supported by with nectar volume and sugar concentration samples which are consistent with other long-proboscid fly-pollinated plant species. Selective exclusion and breeding system experiments undertaken confirmed that Erica aristata required a pollinator to set seed. Observations and breeding trials revealed bird-pollination in Erica sessiliflora. Nectar volume and sugar concentrations in Erica sessiliflora were in line with other sunbird-pollinated plant species, providing the necessary rewards for sunbirds visiting this species. Specialised pollination by single pollinators was found in all three species and results from breeding system experiments show that out-crossing is important. Further research into pollinator-flower interactions in the genus Erica is necessary, not least to understand more fully the conservation importance of specific pollinators.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Lombardi, Giorgio Colombo
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Ericas -- South Africa -- Western Cape , Ericas -- Morphology , Ericas -- Reproduction , Ericas -- Pollination , Pollination by animals , Pollination by insects , Nectar
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4273 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018567
- Description: The genus Erica is the most species rich in the Cape Floristic Kingdom, yet there are limited data on the various flower-pollinator interactions and breeding systems for the majority of these species. Until recently research has focussed on predictive floral traits, including flower shape, length of corolla and corolla opening to identify likely pollinators in this genus. Field observations provide an empirical test of such predictions. This study investigated three species of Erica and compared their pollination and breeding systems and floral biology. Research, including field experiments and pollinator observations was undertaken in the Vogelgat Private Nature Reserve, Maanschynkop Nature Reserve and Boskloof farm in the vicinity of Hermanus in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Field observations were conducted to determine what flower- visitor interactions occurred, while nectar volumes and sugar concentrations were measured to determine the value of the reward to the different visitors. Selective exclusion and breeding system experiments were carried out to determine whether these Erica species were capable of autonomous self-fertilization or whether they are pollinator dependent for breeding success. The unusual morphology of Erica lanuginosa suggested rodent-pollination. Field observations, including photographs of visits to plants in the field, the presence of pollen in scat sample and selective exclusion and breeding system experiments identified rodents, primarily Acomys subspinosus to be the primary pollinator. Long-proboscid flies of the family Nemestrinidae were found, on the basis of field observations to be responsible for pollination of the endemic Erica aristata. This was supported by with nectar volume and sugar concentration samples which are consistent with other long-proboscid fly-pollinated plant species. Selective exclusion and breeding system experiments undertaken confirmed that Erica aristata required a pollinator to set seed. Observations and breeding trials revealed bird-pollination in Erica sessiliflora. Nectar volume and sugar concentrations in Erica sessiliflora were in line with other sunbird-pollinated plant species, providing the necessary rewards for sunbirds visiting this species. Specialised pollination by single pollinators was found in all three species and results from breeding system experiments show that out-crossing is important. Further research into pollinator-flower interactions in the genus Erica is necessary, not least to understand more fully the conservation importance of specific pollinators.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Visualisation of PF firewall logs using open source
- Authors: Coetzee, Dirk
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Open source software -- South Africa , Firewalls (Computer security) -- South Africa , Data logging -- South Africa , Data integrity -- South Africa , Data protection -- South Africa , Computer crimes -- South Africa , Hacktivism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4719 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018552
- Description: If you cannot measure, you cannot manage. This is an age old saying, but still very true, especially within the current South African cybercrime scene and the ever-growing Internet footprint. Due to the significant increase in cybercrime across the globe, information security specialists are starting to see the intrinsic value of logs that can ‘tell a story’. Logs do not only tell a story, but also provide a tool to measure a normally dark force within an organisation. The collection of current logs from installed systems, operating systems and devices is imperative in the event of a hacking attempt, data leak or even data theft, whether the attempt is successful or unsuccessful. No logs mean no evidence, and in many cases not even the opportunity to find the mistake or fault in the organisation’s defence systems. Historically, it remains difficult to choose what logs are required by your organization. A number of questions should be considered: should a centralised or decentralised approach for collecting these logs be followed or a combination of both? How many events will be collected, how much additional bandwidth will be required and will the log collection be near real time? How long must the logs be saved and what if any hashing and encryption (integrity of data) should be used? Lastly, what system must be used to correlate, analyse, and make alerts and reports available? This thesis will address these myriad questions, examining the current lack of log analysis, practical implementations in modern organisation, and also how a need for the latter can be fulfilled by means of a basic approach. South African organizations must use technology that is at hand in order to know what electronic data are sent in and out of their organizations network. Concentrating only on FreeBSD PF firewall logs, it is demonstrated within this thesis the excellent results are possible when logs are collected to obtain a visual display of what data is traversing the corporate network and which parts of this data are posing a threat to the corporate network. This threat is easily determined via a visual interpretation of statistical outliers. This thesis aims to show that in the field of corporate data protection, if you can measure, you can manage.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Coetzee, Dirk
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Open source software -- South Africa , Firewalls (Computer security) -- South Africa , Data logging -- South Africa , Data integrity -- South Africa , Data protection -- South Africa , Computer crimes -- South Africa , Hacktivism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4719 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018552
- Description: If you cannot measure, you cannot manage. This is an age old saying, but still very true, especially within the current South African cybercrime scene and the ever-growing Internet footprint. Due to the significant increase in cybercrime across the globe, information security specialists are starting to see the intrinsic value of logs that can ‘tell a story’. Logs do not only tell a story, but also provide a tool to measure a normally dark force within an organisation. The collection of current logs from installed systems, operating systems and devices is imperative in the event of a hacking attempt, data leak or even data theft, whether the attempt is successful or unsuccessful. No logs mean no evidence, and in many cases not even the opportunity to find the mistake or fault in the organisation’s defence systems. Historically, it remains difficult to choose what logs are required by your organization. A number of questions should be considered: should a centralised or decentralised approach for collecting these logs be followed or a combination of both? How many events will be collected, how much additional bandwidth will be required and will the log collection be near real time? How long must the logs be saved and what if any hashing and encryption (integrity of data) should be used? Lastly, what system must be used to correlate, analyse, and make alerts and reports available? This thesis will address these myriad questions, examining the current lack of log analysis, practical implementations in modern organisation, and also how a need for the latter can be fulfilled by means of a basic approach. South African organizations must use technology that is at hand in order to know what electronic data are sent in and out of their organizations network. Concentrating only on FreeBSD PF firewall logs, it is demonstrated within this thesis the excellent results are possible when logs are collected to obtain a visual display of what data is traversing the corporate network and which parts of this data are posing a threat to the corporate network. This threat is easily determined via a visual interpretation of statistical outliers. This thesis aims to show that in the field of corporate data protection, if you can measure, you can manage.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Visualising M-learning system usage data
- Authors: Kamuhanda, Dany
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Database management Information visualization
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/11015 , vital:26876
- Description: Data storage is an important practice for organisations that want to track their progress. The evolution of data storage technologies from manual methods of storing data on paper or in spreadsheets, to the automated methods of using computers to automatically log data into databases or text files has brought an amount of data that is beyond the level of human interpretation and comprehension. One way of addressing this issue of interpreting large amounts of data is data visualisation, which aims to convert abstract data into images that are easy to interpret. However, people often have difficulty in selecting an appropriate visualisation tool and visualisation techniques that can effectively visualise their data. This research proposes the processes that can be followed to effectively visualise data. Data logged from a mobile learning system is visualised as a proof of concept to show how the proposed processes can be followed during data visualisation. These processes are summarised into a model that consists of three main components: the data, the visualisation techniques and the visualisation tool. There are two main contributions in this research: the model to visualise mobile learning usage data and the visualisation of the usage data logged from a mobile learning system. The mobile learning system usage data was visualised to demonstrate how students used the mobile learning system. Visualisation of the usage data helped to convert the data into images (charts and graphs) that were easy to interpret. The evaluation results indicated that the proposed process and resulting visualisation techniques and tool assisted users in effectively and efficiently interpreting large volumes of mobile learning system usage data.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Kamuhanda, Dany
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Database management Information visualization
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/11015 , vital:26876
- Description: Data storage is an important practice for organisations that want to track their progress. The evolution of data storage technologies from manual methods of storing data on paper or in spreadsheets, to the automated methods of using computers to automatically log data into databases or text files has brought an amount of data that is beyond the level of human interpretation and comprehension. One way of addressing this issue of interpreting large amounts of data is data visualisation, which aims to convert abstract data into images that are easy to interpret. However, people often have difficulty in selecting an appropriate visualisation tool and visualisation techniques that can effectively visualise their data. This research proposes the processes that can be followed to effectively visualise data. Data logged from a mobile learning system is visualised as a proof of concept to show how the proposed processes can be followed during data visualisation. These processes are summarised into a model that consists of three main components: the data, the visualisation techniques and the visualisation tool. There are two main contributions in this research: the model to visualise mobile learning usage data and the visualisation of the usage data logged from a mobile learning system. The mobile learning system usage data was visualised to demonstrate how students used the mobile learning system. Visualisation of the usage data helped to convert the data into images (charts and graphs) that were easy to interpret. The evaluation results indicated that the proposed process and resulting visualisation techniques and tool assisted users in effectively and efficiently interpreting large volumes of mobile learning system usage data.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
What limits an invasive biotic and abiotic effects on the distribution of the invasive mussel mytilus galloprovincialis on the South African coastline
- Authors: Hall, Madison
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Perna , Mytilus galloprovincialis , Mussels -- South Africa , Introduced organisms -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5927 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017805
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Hall, Madison
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Perna , Mytilus galloprovincialis , Mussels -- South Africa , Introduced organisms -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5927 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017805
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Woody encroachment and plant-root soil interactions in a semi-arid savanna
- Authors: Gusha, Bukho
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Pastures -- Management Weeds Invasive plants
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/12139 , vital:39174
- Description: Savannas occupy 1/8 of the global land surface, support a large proportion of the world’s human population and the majority of its rangeland and livestock. Woody encroachment has been reported as the major challenge in these landscapes. This study describes the differences between three contrasting tree density classes in a semi- arid savanna with the view to developing an improved understanding of woody encroachment which is prevalent in this region. The study attempted to determine if there was a relationship between lateral root distributions at varying soil depths with increasing levels of woody encroachment, and to compare species composition and soil water profiles in these rangelands. Three homogeneous vegetation units, namely: sparsely encroached (HVU1), grassland (HVU2) and Albany thicket (HVU3) were identified for the study sites. A Trench method was used determine root biomass and a step point method was used to determine herbaceous species composition in all the HVUs. The results showed that more Decreaser species (especially Themeda triandra) were recorded in a sparsely encroached site (HVU1) and grassland site (HVU2), while Cynodon dactylon was mostly recorded in the thicket site (HVU3). Acacia karroo was mostly recorded in HVU1 while in HVU2 other woody species such as Coddia rudis and Grewia occidentalis were also recoded. HVU3 had the poorest basal cover (point to tuft distance) (22.60 cm) while HVU1 (9.93 cm) and HVU2 (7.73 cm) had moderate basal cover. The herbaceous standing biomass was significantly different across the HVUs. HVU3 was higher (1206.15 kg ha-1) than HVU1 (942.43 kg ha-1) and HVU2 (677.10 kg ha-1). The soil moisture content was significantly different between the HVUs, but was not significantly different between the depths (p< 0.05). High soil moisture content was recorded in HVU3 compared to other HVUs. The results of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed that soil depth and the type of homogenous vegetation unit (HVU) had significant effects (p<0.01) on root biomass. The pair wise t-test showed that there were no significant difference in root biomass between sparsely encroached (HVU1) and grassland (HVU2) sites (p>0.05), but there were significant differences in root biomass between grassland (HVU2) and thicket (HVU3) site (p<0.05). The mean for total root biomass found in the study was 2.66 kg m-2. In all the trenches most of the root biomass was found in depth 1 (0-30 cm) which was 2.43 kg m-2followed by 1.32 kg m-2 in depth 2 (30-60 cm) and 0.49 kg m-2 in depth 3 (60-90 cm). According to the results on species composition, herbaceous biomass, basal cover, soil moisture content and the root biomass, Kwezana communal rangeland has a potential of running a sustainable livestock production enterprise if proper management practices can be implemented. To improve the rangelands of Kwezana communal rangelands, management such as proper resting, burning, proper stocking rates and physically clearing of bushes should be considered.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Gusha, Bukho
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Pastures -- Management Weeds Invasive plants
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/12139 , vital:39174
- Description: Savannas occupy 1/8 of the global land surface, support a large proportion of the world’s human population and the majority of its rangeland and livestock. Woody encroachment has been reported as the major challenge in these landscapes. This study describes the differences between three contrasting tree density classes in a semi- arid savanna with the view to developing an improved understanding of woody encroachment which is prevalent in this region. The study attempted to determine if there was a relationship between lateral root distributions at varying soil depths with increasing levels of woody encroachment, and to compare species composition and soil water profiles in these rangelands. Three homogeneous vegetation units, namely: sparsely encroached (HVU1), grassland (HVU2) and Albany thicket (HVU3) were identified for the study sites. A Trench method was used determine root biomass and a step point method was used to determine herbaceous species composition in all the HVUs. The results showed that more Decreaser species (especially Themeda triandra) were recorded in a sparsely encroached site (HVU1) and grassland site (HVU2), while Cynodon dactylon was mostly recorded in the thicket site (HVU3). Acacia karroo was mostly recorded in HVU1 while in HVU2 other woody species such as Coddia rudis and Grewia occidentalis were also recoded. HVU3 had the poorest basal cover (point to tuft distance) (22.60 cm) while HVU1 (9.93 cm) and HVU2 (7.73 cm) had moderate basal cover. The herbaceous standing biomass was significantly different across the HVUs. HVU3 was higher (1206.15 kg ha-1) than HVU1 (942.43 kg ha-1) and HVU2 (677.10 kg ha-1). The soil moisture content was significantly different between the HVUs, but was not significantly different between the depths (p< 0.05). High soil moisture content was recorded in HVU3 compared to other HVUs. The results of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed that soil depth and the type of homogenous vegetation unit (HVU) had significant effects (p<0.01) on root biomass. The pair wise t-test showed that there were no significant difference in root biomass between sparsely encroached (HVU1) and grassland (HVU2) sites (p>0.05), but there were significant differences in root biomass between grassland (HVU2) and thicket (HVU3) site (p<0.05). The mean for total root biomass found in the study was 2.66 kg m-2. In all the trenches most of the root biomass was found in depth 1 (0-30 cm) which was 2.43 kg m-2followed by 1.32 kg m-2 in depth 2 (30-60 cm) and 0.49 kg m-2 in depth 3 (60-90 cm). According to the results on species composition, herbaceous biomass, basal cover, soil moisture content and the root biomass, Kwezana communal rangeland has a potential of running a sustainable livestock production enterprise if proper management practices can be implemented. To improve the rangelands of Kwezana communal rangelands, management such as proper resting, burning, proper stocking rates and physically clearing of bushes should be considered.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Woody encroachment and plant-root soil interactions in a semi-arid savanna
- Authors: Gusha, Bukho
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Pastures -- Management Weeds Invasive plants
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/12053 , vital:39131
- Description: Savannas occupy 1/8 of the global land surface, support a large proportion of the world’s human population and the majority of its rangeland and livestock. Woody encroachment has been reported as the major challenge in these landscapes. This study describes the differences between three contrasting tree density classes in a semi- arid savanna with the view to developing an improved understanding of woody encroachment which is prevalent in this region. The study attempted to determine if there was a relationship between lateral root distributions at varying soil depths with increasing levels of woody encroachment, and to compare species composition and soil water profiles in these rangelands. Three homogeneous vegetation units, namely: sparsely encroached (HVU1), grassland (HVU2) and Albany thicket (HVU3) were identified for the study sites. A Trench method was used determine root biomass and a step point method was used to determine herbaceousspecies composition in all the HVUs. The results showed that more Decreaser species (especially Themeda triandra) were recorded in a sparsely encroached site (HVU1) and grassland site (HVU2), while Cynodon dactylon was mostly recorded in the thicket site (HVU3). Acacia karroo was mostly recorded in HVU1 while in HVU2 other woody species such as Coddia rudis and Grewia occidentalis were also recoded. HVU3 had the poorest basal cover (point to tuft distance) (22.60 cm) while HVU1 (9.93 cm) and HVU2 (7.73 cm) had moderate basal cover. The herbaceous standing biomass was significantly different across the HVUs. HVU3 was higher (1206.15 kg ha-1) than HVU1 (942.43 kg ha-1) and HVU2 (677.10 kg ha-1). The soil moisture content was significantly different between the HVUs, but was not significantly different between the depths (p< 0.05). High soil moisture content was recorded in HVU3 compared to other HVUs. The results of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed that soil depth and the type of homogenous vegetation unit (HVU) had significant effects (p<0.01) on root biomass. The pair wise t-test showed that there were no significant difference in root biomass between sparsely encroached (HVU1) and grassland (HVU2) sites (p>0.05), but there were significant differences in root biomass between grassland (HVU2) and thicket (HVU3) site (p<0.05). The mean for total root biomass found in the study was 2.66 kg m-2. In all the trenches most of the root biomass was found in depth 1 (0-30 cm) which was 2.43 kg m-2followed by 1.32 kg m-2 in depth 2 (30-60 cm) and 0.49 kg m-2 in depth 3 (60-90 cm). According to the results on species composition, herbaceous biomass, basal cover, soil moisture content and the root biomass, Kwezana communal rangeland has a potential of running a sustainable livestock production enterprise if proper management practices can be implemented. To improve the rangelands of Kwezana communal rangelands management such as proper resting, burning, proper stocking rates and physically clearing of bushes should be considered.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Gusha, Bukho
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Pastures -- Management Weeds Invasive plants
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/12053 , vital:39131
- Description: Savannas occupy 1/8 of the global land surface, support a large proportion of the world’s human population and the majority of its rangeland and livestock. Woody encroachment has been reported as the major challenge in these landscapes. This study describes the differences between three contrasting tree density classes in a semi- arid savanna with the view to developing an improved understanding of woody encroachment which is prevalent in this region. The study attempted to determine if there was a relationship between lateral root distributions at varying soil depths with increasing levels of woody encroachment, and to compare species composition and soil water profiles in these rangelands. Three homogeneous vegetation units, namely: sparsely encroached (HVU1), grassland (HVU2) and Albany thicket (HVU3) were identified for the study sites. A Trench method was used determine root biomass and a step point method was used to determine herbaceousspecies composition in all the HVUs. The results showed that more Decreaser species (especially Themeda triandra) were recorded in a sparsely encroached site (HVU1) and grassland site (HVU2), while Cynodon dactylon was mostly recorded in the thicket site (HVU3). Acacia karroo was mostly recorded in HVU1 while in HVU2 other woody species such as Coddia rudis and Grewia occidentalis were also recoded. HVU3 had the poorest basal cover (point to tuft distance) (22.60 cm) while HVU1 (9.93 cm) and HVU2 (7.73 cm) had moderate basal cover. The herbaceous standing biomass was significantly different across the HVUs. HVU3 was higher (1206.15 kg ha-1) than HVU1 (942.43 kg ha-1) and HVU2 (677.10 kg ha-1). The soil moisture content was significantly different between the HVUs, but was not significantly different between the depths (p< 0.05). High soil moisture content was recorded in HVU3 compared to other HVUs. The results of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) showed that soil depth and the type of homogenous vegetation unit (HVU) had significant effects (p<0.01) on root biomass. The pair wise t-test showed that there were no significant difference in root biomass between sparsely encroached (HVU1) and grassland (HVU2) sites (p>0.05), but there were significant differences in root biomass between grassland (HVU2) and thicket (HVU3) site (p<0.05). The mean for total root biomass found in the study was 2.66 kg m-2. In all the trenches most of the root biomass was found in depth 1 (0-30 cm) which was 2.43 kg m-2followed by 1.32 kg m-2 in depth 2 (30-60 cm) and 0.49 kg m-2 in depth 3 (60-90 cm). According to the results on species composition, herbaceous biomass, basal cover, soil moisture content and the root biomass, Kwezana communal rangeland has a potential of running a sustainable livestock production enterprise if proper management practices can be implemented. To improve the rangelands of Kwezana communal rangelands management such as proper resting, burning, proper stocking rates and physically clearing of bushes should be considered.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Woody species composition and congregant appreciation of the cultural and spiritual services provided by cemeteries and church gardens in Grahamstown, South Africa
- Authors: De Lacy, Peter James Gerard
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Plants -- Religious aspects , Cemeteries -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Woody plants -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Church gardens -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4783 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016401
- Description: Urbanization has increased rapidly throughout the world. The densification of urban areas has greatly reduced the number of natural areas occurring within the urban environment as well as impacting the ecosystem services that these areas provide. Urban greening and sustainable practices have been advocated as a means to once again provide the urban population with ecosystem services. Sacred natural areas that occur in surrounding forest, temple and cemetery sites have been known harbour a variety of biological diversity, as well as provide people with a number of cultural and spiritual benefits. Much of the literature on sacred natural sites comes from rural or eastern countries, leaving a large gap in the knowledge pertaining to information on these sites in both developed nations as well as urban areas. The aim of this study was to determine the abundance and composition of woody species, as well as the spiritual and cultural significance of sacred natural sites in Grahamstown. This study defined a sacred urban area as any form of garden surrounding a church, temple or mosque, as well as cemeteries. It looked at a total of 28 church gardens, one Hindu garden, one Mosque garden and five cemeteries in Grahamstown, South Africa. For each site the area was calculated and a tree and shrub inventory was done for all individuals above 1.5 m tall. Church/cemetery age, denomination and appearance were recorded as well as soil samples collected. An ordination of the data was done to summarize the community data, relating the community variation to environmental gradients. Questionnaires were completed by congregants who attended a religious building with a garden, as well as those that were not surrounded by a garden. These questionnaires were used to determine the cultural, spiritual and aesthetic value of trees and the sacred area, as well as the perceived and felt benefits that these areas provide. Those that were completed by congregants without gardens looked to find out whether or not it was believed that these areas would improve their experiences. There was an average plant density of 106.1 woody plants per hectare, with a total of 139 different species encountered. Of these, 56 percent were exotic species. This is slightly lower than that of studies done elsewhere in the world, but may be due to the omission of non-woody ornamentals and lawn species in this study. Of the top 11 most frequently occurring species, only two were indigenous. There was generally low similarity between plant assemblages found at the different sites. A significantly positive relationship was found between site size and woody plant basal area as well as the total number of woody plants. Site age and religious denomination had little influence on woody plant density, basal area, species richness or woody plant abundance. Congregants stated that a garden surrounding a religious building improved both their spiritual and aesthetic experiences. Stated spiritual and aesthetic experience was significantly influenced by basal area, while abundance significantly influenced stated aesthetic experience. Greenery was therefore important to many of the congregants, however, the species that were present were less influential. A greater sample size from a variety of religions and sacred areas within urban environments throughout the world would prove to be an interesting comparison for future research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: De Lacy, Peter James Gerard
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Plants -- Religious aspects , Cemeteries -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Woody plants -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Church gardens -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4783 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016401
- Description: Urbanization has increased rapidly throughout the world. The densification of urban areas has greatly reduced the number of natural areas occurring within the urban environment as well as impacting the ecosystem services that these areas provide. Urban greening and sustainable practices have been advocated as a means to once again provide the urban population with ecosystem services. Sacred natural areas that occur in surrounding forest, temple and cemetery sites have been known harbour a variety of biological diversity, as well as provide people with a number of cultural and spiritual benefits. Much of the literature on sacred natural sites comes from rural or eastern countries, leaving a large gap in the knowledge pertaining to information on these sites in both developed nations as well as urban areas. The aim of this study was to determine the abundance and composition of woody species, as well as the spiritual and cultural significance of sacred natural sites in Grahamstown. This study defined a sacred urban area as any form of garden surrounding a church, temple or mosque, as well as cemeteries. It looked at a total of 28 church gardens, one Hindu garden, one Mosque garden and five cemeteries in Grahamstown, South Africa. For each site the area was calculated and a tree and shrub inventory was done for all individuals above 1.5 m tall. Church/cemetery age, denomination and appearance were recorded as well as soil samples collected. An ordination of the data was done to summarize the community data, relating the community variation to environmental gradients. Questionnaires were completed by congregants who attended a religious building with a garden, as well as those that were not surrounded by a garden. These questionnaires were used to determine the cultural, spiritual and aesthetic value of trees and the sacred area, as well as the perceived and felt benefits that these areas provide. Those that were completed by congregants without gardens looked to find out whether or not it was believed that these areas would improve their experiences. There was an average plant density of 106.1 woody plants per hectare, with a total of 139 different species encountered. Of these, 56 percent were exotic species. This is slightly lower than that of studies done elsewhere in the world, but may be due to the omission of non-woody ornamentals and lawn species in this study. Of the top 11 most frequently occurring species, only two were indigenous. There was generally low similarity between plant assemblages found at the different sites. A significantly positive relationship was found between site size and woody plant basal area as well as the total number of woody plants. Site age and religious denomination had little influence on woody plant density, basal area, species richness or woody plant abundance. Congregants stated that a garden surrounding a religious building improved both their spiritual and aesthetic experiences. Stated spiritual and aesthetic experience was significantly influenced by basal area, while abundance significantly influenced stated aesthetic experience. Greenery was therefore important to many of the congregants, however, the species that were present were less influential. A greater sample size from a variety of religions and sacred areas within urban environments throughout the world would prove to be an interesting comparison for future research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015