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Avian Distribution and Diversity
Biological atlases had their precedent made when Perring and Walters (1962) published the Atlas of the British Flora. Using a 10 kIn by 10 kIn gridded map, plant distributions were plotted on a presence/absence basis. This pointed the way for similar comprehensive and equally objective mapping of the breeding birds of Britain (Sharrock, 1976). This British tradition in naturalist field biology was adopted during the 1970s in South Africa by the Natal Bird Club. They developed a project whose aim was to map the distributions, by presence/absence per month, of all bird species occurring in KwaZulu-Natal during the decade 1970-79 (with emphasis on 1975-79), using the national quarter-degree grid (15 min x 15 min; -24 kIn x 28 kIn, hereafter referred to as a grid cell). Each of these grid cells represents one of the maps in the 1:50 000 topocadastral map series produced by the South African Surveyor General (Figure 1.5).
The objectives were to present occurrences of birds in KwaZulu-Natal, against which future changes in the avifauna could be measured. Data collection was conducted by means of fieldcards submitted by club members, Natal Parks Board, and the authors of the atlas. In 1980, Cyrus and Robson published the Bird Atlas of Natal, which represented a thorough account of the bird found in the province during the 1970s.
Starting in 1987, the Southern African Bird Atlas project (Harrison, 1992) was initiated by the Avian Demography Unit (ADU), University of Cape Town. The aims of their project were the same as for the Cyrus and Robson (1980) survey, but designed to cover the entire Southern African sub-region (South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe).
The same procedures as used by Cyrus and Robson were adhered to (Nigel Robson was appointed as a science steering committee member), along with the continued use of the grid cell. The presence/absence of species was recorded during 1987-1992 (see Underhill et aI., 1991; Harrison, 1992; Harrison et aI., 1997 for details).
In the original forward to Cyrus and Robson (1980), Gordon Maclean (author of Robert’s Book of South African Birds, 1984) explained that the greatest apparent shortcoming of any biological atlas is that it is out of date even as it comes off the press. This is as it should be, because it illustrates the dynamic nature of biological systems, especially in the face of anthropogenic impact. Therefore, an atlas becomes increasingly valuable as it highlights the changes that are constantly occurring. Baselines for future comparisons become more necessary every day, so an atlas of distribution in time and space becomes an invaluable tool in the hands of planners, geographers, and conservation biologists. KwaZulu-Natal forms less than one percent of the Afrotropical Region (Africa south of the Sahara), yet its economy in the late 1970s may have been the largest per unit area, and its rate of progress close to the highest on the whole continent. Maclean made note, at that time, that a measure of the natural resources of KwaZulu- Natal had become more critical than ever.
1. Introduction
1.1. Current Biodiversity Conservation Strategies
1.2. Biodiversity Conservation Strategies in the Modem African Context .
1.3. Methodological Background
1.3.1. Study Site
1.3.2. Data Sets Used in Study
1.3.2.1. Potential Vegetation
1.3.2.2. Topography
1.3.2.3. Climate
1.3.2.4. Avian Distribution and Diversity
1.3.2.5. Land-cover/Land-use Database
1.3.2.6. Road Effects Database
1.3.2.7. Socio-economic Indicators
1.3.2.8. Provincial Protected Areas Database
1.4. Differing Aspects of this Study
1.5. Format
2. Developing of a Co-evolutionary Landscape Ecology Framework to Address Sustainable Biodiversity Conservation
2.1. Sustainability and Resilience »
2.2. Biodiversity Protection Strategies
2.3. Critique and Reconstruction of Problems
2.4. Evolutionary Pathways
2.4.1. Co-evolutionary Framework
2.4.2. Non-linear Dynamics
2.4.3. Landscape Socio-ecodynamics
2.5. Landscape Ecology Principles to Ensure Sustainability .
2.5.1. Hierarchy, Scale, and Landscape Metrics
2.5 .2. Measuring the Ecological Effects of Landscape Pattern .
2.6. Socio-Ecosystem Interaction .
2.7. Co-evolutionary Implications for Sustainable Biodiversity Conservation ,
3. Identifying Regional Landscapes for Conservation Planning. ‘ »
3.1. Methods
3.1.1. Explanatory variables
3.1.2. Approach
3.1.2.1. Landscape Conservation Analysis .
3.2. Results
3.2.1. Landscape Classification
3.2.2. Validation
3.2.3. Landscape Conservation Analysis
3.3. Discussion
3.3.1. Landscape Scale and Structure
3.3.2. Landscapes as an Element of Biodiversity for use in Prioritisation Procedures
3.4. Summary
4. Species and Environment Representation: Selecting Reserves for the Retention of Avian
4.1. Methods
4.1.1. Ordination ‘ »
4.1.2. Spatial Autocorrelation Analysis: Local Indicators of Spatial Association
4.1.3. Conservation Area Selection
4.2. Results
4.2.1. Ordination Analysis
4.2.2. Spatial Autocorrelation Analysis
4.2.3. Priority Conservation Areas
4.3. Discussion
4.3 .1. Evaluation of the Techniques
4.3.2. Practical Area Selection for Improved Conservation
4.4. Summary
5. Human-Ecosystem Co-evolution: Analysis of Bird Diversity and Structure with Human Land Transformation
5.1. Factors Associated with Regional Variation in Speci Composition
5.2. Influence of Geographical Extent and Location
5.3. Biological Indicators and Monitoring
5.4. Methods
5.4.1. Diversity-evenness and Human Transformation Patterns
5.4.2. Geostatisical Analysis of Spatial Variation and Extent in Ecological Pattern
5.4.3. Pattern and Process Measurement from Ordination Analysis
5.4.4. Assessing Multi-species Temporal Distributional Changes
5.5. Results l
5.5.1. South African level
5.5 .1.1. Correlation Results
5.5.1.2. Semi-variogram Results .
5.5.2. KwaZulu-Natal Level
5.5.2.1. Ordination Results
5.5.2.1.1. Associations of Local and Regional Factors with Species Gradient
5.5.2.2. Correlation Results
5.5.2.3. Semi-variogram Results
5.5.204. Association Analysis Results .
5.6. Discussion
5.6.1. Scope and Limitations .
5.7. Summary
6. Analyzing Human Factors that Affect Biodiversity Conservation: The Co-evolutionary Model
7. Conclusions .
References .
