Ecological impacts of biological invasions on native birds in Africa

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dc.contributor.advisorHockey, Phil A Ren_ZA
dc.contributor.authorGichohi, Nathan Wen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-07-31T07:56:11Z
dc.date.available2014-07-31T07:56:11Z
dc.date.issued2010en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThe impacts of biological invasions on native avian diversity have been the subject of many studies in Africa. However, a holistic synthesis of available information from different taxa and their impacts on native birds is lacking. From published information, I analysed the negative and positive effects of biological invaders on native African birds from five taxa: plants, invertebrates, fish, mammals and birds. In order to assess functional gains and losses, native birds were categorized into their functional guilds defined by their primary diet. I limited my scope to mainland Africa at the biome level. ArcView GIS 3.3 software was used to map locational data of impacts within the major biomes. The results indicate that a minimum of 572 native birds are negatively impacted by invasive species from the five taxa. This represents ca 29% of all the bird species in Africa. In contrast, only 191 species of native birds benefited from such invasions. Birds whose diet was primarily insects were disproportionally impacted. The majority of the impacts were caused by invasive plants. At the biome level, the greatest numbers of native birds impacted were in the Montane grassland and shrubland biome. It is predicted that native birds will continue to lose more than they gain from biological invasions in the continent.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationGichohi, N. W. (2010). <i>Ecological impacts of biological invasions on native birds in Africa</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/4747en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationGichohi, Nathan W. <i>"Ecological impacts of biological invasions on native birds in Africa."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/4747en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationGichohi, N. 2010. Ecological impacts of biological invasions on native birds in Africa. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Gichohi, Nathan W AB - The impacts of biological invasions on native avian diversity have been the subject of many studies in Africa. However, a holistic synthesis of available information from different taxa and their impacts on native birds is lacking. From published information, I analysed the negative and positive effects of biological invaders on native African birds from five taxa: plants, invertebrates, fish, mammals and birds. In order to assess functional gains and losses, native birds were categorized into their functional guilds defined by their primary diet. I limited my scope to mainland Africa at the biome level. ArcView GIS 3.3 software was used to map locational data of impacts within the major biomes. The results indicate that a minimum of 572 native birds are negatively impacted by invasive species from the five taxa. This represents ca 29% of all the bird species in Africa. In contrast, only 191 species of native birds benefited from such invasions. Birds whose diet was primarily insects were disproportionally impacted. The majority of the impacts were caused by invasive plants. At the biome level, the greatest numbers of native birds impacted were in the Montane grassland and shrubland biome. It is predicted that native birds will continue to lose more than they gain from biological invasions in the continent. DA - 2010 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2010 T1 - Ecological impacts of biological invasions on native birds in Africa TI - Ecological impacts of biological invasions on native birds in Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/4747 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/4747
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationGichohi NW. Ecological impacts of biological invasions on native birds in Africa. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, 2010 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/4747en_ZA
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.departmentPercy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithologyen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherConservation Biologyen_ZA
dc.titleEcological impacts of biological invasions on native birds in Africaen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMScen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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