Browsing by Author "Fuggle, R"

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    An investigation into the feasibility of using birds as indicators of disturbance at De Hoop nature reserve
    (1988) Taylor, Murray; Fuggle, R
    The origins of this study are found in the perceived conflict of land uses that arose with the announcement in 1983 that the South African Armaments Development Corporation (Armscor) intended building a missile test range on the southern Cape coast. The issues of conflict resolution and multiple land-use management, therefore, bear importantly on this investigation. Both are encapsulated in the functions of ecological monitoring. The primary objective of this study was to assess the feasibility of developing an ecological monitoring programme for the terrestrial ecosystems of this subregion. Towards this end a number of subsidiary objectives were formulated, namely: 1) To introduce the concept of ecological monitoring and provide an understanding of its potential and limitations; 2) To test assess the the sensitivity of birds to disturbance and feasibility of their incorporation into a fullscale monitoring programme; 3) To address some of the problems associated with a diverse and dynamic environment that limit the wider applicability of ecological monitoring; 4) To test a range of analytical techniques for their ability to detect ecosystem stress from ecological data. A 12 month, side-by-side experimental plots was Southcoast Strandveld comparative study of control and conducted in Milkweed Thicket, and Lowland Limestone Fynbos. Experimental plots were subjected to existing disturbances within the De Hoop Nature Reserve, the severity and nature of which apprpximated those anticipated at the Overberg Missile Range. Bird populations in each plot were censused four times per month throughout the study period and. assessed for their ability to discriminate between disturbid and undisturbed plots.
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    Factors associated with the development of positive student attitudes and aesthetic response towards a South African natural environment
    (1990) Opie, Frank William James; Fuggle, R; Ballantyne, R; Rochford, K
    This empirical study was concerned primarily with eighteen factors that appreciably influence an individual's perceptions, aesthetic awareness and response to a natural environment - specifically that of a forest plantation. Its purpose was to identify statistically significant variables that influence aesthetic valuing within three cultures of Cape Town scholars and students and, by appropriate educational · intervention treatments, to recommend effective education strategies shown to enhance aesthetic. environmental response, ultimately contributing to a more positive attitude towards nature. An extensive search confirmed the lack of a widely recognised comprehensive theoretical model of aesthetic response to natural environments. This necessitated the blending of two existing holistic models to permit the integration of all factors identified in the literature. An instrument, consisting of seven scales based on the theories of Zuckerman, Eysenck, Feingold, Wilson, Wuthnow, Kohlberg and Maslow, was developed. The weighted significances of the various components of the adapted model were then determined for a forest context. The instruments scales were repeatedly refined, with emphasis on construct validity, retest reliability and internal consistency through five phases of pilot testing. Environmental judges and a range of scholars and students [N = 151] from differing socio-economic backgrounds were used in the pilot trials. A three-phase pre-test/post-test/postposMest administration design was adopted, and the final programme was executed in 1990 over a two month period with students from three cultures from fourteen local educational institutions. The stratified sample [N = 759} was randomly subdivided into three parallel experimental intervention fieldtrips. Two of these fieldtrips were sensory directed, focusing on visual and multi-sensory inputs respectively, and two control groups remained in the classroom, one being exposed to a televised forest trip and one serving as a non-intervention control group. The data analysis allowed the identification of a High Aesthetic Response Group of students and a Low Aesthetic Response Group within the sample as a whole. Decisively significant differences occurred between these groups in terms of the independent variables identified, namely, environmental sensitivity, environmental perception, socio-economic status [crowding in home and holiday experience] and subjective pressure from significant others. Education, age, home language, gender, urban experience, family car accessibility, television viewing time, centrality of attitude object and moral development achieved a lower level of significant difference. Field trip methods were shown to be particularly effective in enhancing the response of the Low Aesthetic Response Group students from all three cultures. When the initial low environmental sensitivity of these students is taken into account a case can be made for including tried and tested sensory directed fieldtrip activities as a fundamental part of aesthetic environmental education.