Effects of water temperature on life history traits of selected South African Aquatic insects: implications for the ecological reserve

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dc.contributor.advisorDallas, Helen Fionaen_ZA
dc.contributor.advisorDay, Jennyen_ZA
dc.contributor.advisorPicker, Mikeen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorRoss-Gillespie, Vereen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-11-11T07:01:56Z
dc.date.available2014-11-11T07:01:56Z
dc.date.issued2014en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractLife-history studies have informed all areas of aquatic ecological research, whilst also providing information relevant for conservation and management of aquatic systems. Given the large research gap that has existed in this regard for Southern Hemisphere lotic systems, there has been an urgent need to gather such data if effective management policies are to be implemented regionally, especially in the face of ongoing development, anthropogenic impacts, and global climate change. Furthermore, there has been a growing awareness of the need to incorporate thermal guidelines into legislation regarding environmental flows and associated water management plans. In South Africa radical new legislation introduced in 1996 resulted in rivers and aquatic ecosystems being given a right to water of their own- essentially environmental flows, required to protect the aquatic ecosystems associated with the water resource, that are determined separately for all or part of any significant water resource. This water, including both the quantity and quality, is referred to as the "Ecological Reserve." Baseline information on the relationship between temperature and life-history patterns of aquatic insects is required to inform the incorporation of thermal guidelines in the Ecological Reserve determination process. Assuming such information can be gathered, a problem arises as to how the data can be interpreted and incorporated into management guidelines. For instance if representatives of widespread species occurring throughout a country are collected from a single location (say perhaps a single province in South Africa) and then analysed in terms of their thermal limits for growth – would these limits hold true for that same species where it occurs elsewhere? Intra-specific variability, cryptic species and broader phylogenetic constraints all influence the thermal limits of species and need to be considered when examining thermal influences on life-history patterns. This thesis aimed to test the overarching hypothesis that while the life-history traits of aquatic insects could be constrained to some degree by their evolutionary history, they would also be impacted by thermal and hydrological regimes, inducing a degree of plasticity in their life cycles. This hypothesis was tested by examining the key life-history traits of three representative taxa of aquatic insect, namely Lestagella penicillata (Ephemeroptera), Aphanicercella spp. (Plecoptera) and Chimarra ambulans (Trichoptera), and how they are driven by environmental and genetic factors in six rivers situated in the south-western Cape Province of South Africa.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationRoss-Gillespie, V. (2014). <i>Effects of water temperature on life history traits of selected South African Aquatic insects: implications for the ecological reserve</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Biological Sciences. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9540en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationRoss-Gillespie, Vere. <i>"Effects of water temperature on life history traits of selected South African Aquatic insects: implications for the ecological reserve."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Biological Sciences, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9540en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationRoss-Gillespie, V. 2014. Effects of water temperature on life history traits of selected South African Aquatic insects: implications for the ecological reserve. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Ross-Gillespie, Vere AB - Life-history studies have informed all areas of aquatic ecological research, whilst also providing information relevant for conservation and management of aquatic systems. Given the large research gap that has existed in this regard for Southern Hemisphere lotic systems, there has been an urgent need to gather such data if effective management policies are to be implemented regionally, especially in the face of ongoing development, anthropogenic impacts, and global climate change. Furthermore, there has been a growing awareness of the need to incorporate thermal guidelines into legislation regarding environmental flows and associated water management plans. In South Africa radical new legislation introduced in 1996 resulted in rivers and aquatic ecosystems being given a right to water of their own- essentially environmental flows, required to protect the aquatic ecosystems associated with the water resource, that are determined separately for all or part of any significant water resource. This water, including both the quantity and quality, is referred to as the "Ecological Reserve." Baseline information on the relationship between temperature and life-history patterns of aquatic insects is required to inform the incorporation of thermal guidelines in the Ecological Reserve determination process. Assuming such information can be gathered, a problem arises as to how the data can be interpreted and incorporated into management guidelines. For instance if representatives of widespread species occurring throughout a country are collected from a single location (say perhaps a single province in South Africa) and then analysed in terms of their thermal limits for growth – would these limits hold true for that same species where it occurs elsewhere? Intra-specific variability, cryptic species and broader phylogenetic constraints all influence the thermal limits of species and need to be considered when examining thermal influences on life-history patterns. This thesis aimed to test the overarching hypothesis that while the life-history traits of aquatic insects could be constrained to some degree by their evolutionary history, they would also be impacted by thermal and hydrological regimes, inducing a degree of plasticity in their life cycles. This hypothesis was tested by examining the key life-history traits of three representative taxa of aquatic insect, namely Lestagella penicillata (Ephemeroptera), Aphanicercella spp. (Plecoptera) and Chimarra ambulans (Trichoptera), and how they are driven by environmental and genetic factors in six rivers situated in the south-western Cape Province of South Africa. DA - 2014 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2014 T1 - Effects of water temperature on life history traits of selected South African Aquatic insects: implications for the ecological reserve TI - Effects of water temperature on life history traits of selected South African Aquatic insects: implications for the ecological reserve UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9540 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/9540
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationRoss-Gillespie V. Effects of water temperature on life history traits of selected South African Aquatic insects: implications for the ecological reserve. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Biological Sciences, 2014 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9540en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Biological Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.titleEffects of water temperature on life history traits of selected South African Aquatic insects: implications for the ecological reserveen_ZA
dc.typeDoctoral Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoral
dc.type.qualificationnamePhDen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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