scholarly journals Biogeographical Principles in Horticulture

Author(s):  
Anthony Hitchcock

With more than 780 species, Erica is the largest genus in the Core Cape Subregion, once referred to as the Cape Floristic Region (CFR), in South Africa. The redevelopment of the Erica Display Garden at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden to fulfil aesthetic, conservation and educational purposes is described. The author draws on decades of field work in the CFR to open a window for botanic garden visitors and schoolchildren who have not had the privilege of experiencing the unique flora of the CFR. An explanation for the extraordinary diversity of the CFR is explored. The challenge of engaging with visitors and at the same time highlighting the diversity of ericas and fynbos while overcoming the difficulties of growing wild species out of their natural and niche habitats is explained. The most effective way to display South African ericas and fynbos is discussed. The use of phytogeographical themes is preferred as a suitable method to display diversity in botanic garden horticulture. Nine planting beds totalling 8,000 m2 were redeveloped to represent six distinct phytogeographic regions identified in Plants of the Greater Cape Floristic Region (Manning & Goldblatt, 2012). Nineteen of the twenty largest families and genera of the Cape flora are also represented in these displays. Interpretation was created to provide information on the defining features of each region. The phytogeographic theme was used to emulate typical natural floristic features of each and to bring the concept of geographically driven plant diversity to the attention of the visiting public and students.

Derrida Today ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-36
Author(s):  
Grant Farred

‘The Final “Thank You”’ uses the work of Jacques Derrida and Friedrich Nietzsche to think the occasion of the 1995 rugby World Cup, hosted by the newly democratic South Africa. This paper deploys Nietzsche's Zarathustra to critique how a figure such as Nelson Mandela is understood as a ‘Superman’ or an ‘Overhuman’ in the moment of political transition. The philosophical focus of the paper, however, turns on the ‘thank yous’ exchanged by the white South African rugby captain, François Pienaar, and the black president at the event of the Springbok victory. It is the value, and the proximity and negation, of the ‘thank yous’ – the relation of one to the other – that constitutes the core of the article. 1


Author(s):  
Riaz Ismail ◽  
Clarence Itumeleng Tshoose

The main objective of this article is to analyse the issue of onus emanating from the enforcement of unilateral changes to conditions of employment. At the heart of the controversy that has faced the Labour Appeal Court was how to interpret dismissals that appear to be based on operational requirements, and yet at the same time, such dismissals also appear to have the effect of compelling an employee to accept a demand in respect of a matter of mutual interest between the employer and the employee. The core section in the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 relating to disputes of this nature is section 187(1)(c) of the Act, and the central enquiry to such disputes is whether they are automatically unfair or operationally justifiable. The fine line that determines whether a dismissal is acceptable or not merits an analysis of the overall onus that faces an employer and employee. This analysis is the focus of the article, which deals predominantly with procedural issues. The issue relating to the promotion of collective bargaining will be assessed against the right to dismiss, based on an analysis of the situation in South Africa, and a brief comparison with the situations in the United Kingdom and Canada. Thereafter, recommendations are made to the South African legislature.


1999 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Abrahams ◽  
K. F. Mauer

The primary aims of the study were to determine whether the scores of the 16PF (SA92) are comparable in a crosscultural setting in South Africa, and also to investigate the influence of the gender of the research participants on the scores of the 16PF (SA92). The sample consisted of 983 students who were enrolled at different universities at the time of the field work. The statistical methods involved the application of descriptive statistics as well as methods to determine the comparability of the constructs. The results showed that although race exercised a considerable influence on the findings, this was not necessarily the case as far as gender was concerned. The presence of problems relating to the construct comparability of the test were also identified, as significant differences in means were found between the different race groups. Some of the implications of persisting with the use of the 16PF (SA92) in the South African context are outlined against the background of recently promulgated labour legislation. Opsomming Die primere doelstellings met die onderhawige studie was om die toepaslikheid van die 16PF (SA92) in Suid Afrikaanse konteks met sy diversiteit van kultuurgroepe te evalueer. Die invloed van die geslag van die navorsingsdeelnembers op die resultate is ook nagevors. Die deelnemergroep het bestaan uit 983 studente wat ten tye van die veldwerk aan verskillende universiteite gestudeer het. Benewens normale beskrywende statistiek, is daar ook gebruik gemaak van metodes om konstrukvergelykbaarheid te evalueer. Die bevindings het daarop gedui dat alhoewel ras 'n belangrike invloede op die toetsfaktore uitoefen, dit nie die geval is in soverre dit geslag betref nie. Die teenwoordigheid van probleme het ook ten opsigte van konstrukvergelykbaarheid na vore getree, aangesien betekenis voile verskille tussen gemiddeldes gevind is. Sommige van die implikasies van die volgehoue gebruik van die 16PF (SA92) in Suid Afrika word ook in die lig van die resente arbeidswetgewing bespreek.


2019 ◽  
Vol 104 (4) ◽  
pp. 515-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon L. Magoswana ◽  
James S. Boatwright ◽  
Anthony R. Magee ◽  
John C. Manning

Othonna L. (Asteraceae: Senecioneae: Othonninae) is a genus of some 120 species concentrated in the Greater Cape Floristic Region (GCFR) of South Africa, with a few species extending into southern Namibia, Angola, and Zimbabwe. The South African species of Othonna were last revised more than a century ago, and many species, particularly from the southern African winter rainfall region, remain poorly understood. This study focused on the geophytic species comprising the O. bulbosa group, distinguished by their tuberous rootstock and annual, leafy, aerial stems. A comprehensive taxonomic treatment is presented, including descriptions, complete nomenclature and typification, illustrations, and geographical distribution. Twenty-five species are recognized, of which four are newly described (O. lilacina Magoswana & J. C. Manning, O. nigromontana Magoswana & J. C. Manning, O. revoluta Magoswana & J. C. Manning, and O. sinuata Magoswana & J. C. Manning), and 18 names are reduced to synonymy. The species differ in habit, shape and incision of foliage, capitulum type (radiate vs. disciform), number of involucral bracts, pappus length, and cypselae (myxogenic vs. nonmyxogenic). We place the species into four morphologically diagnosable series (series Heterophyllae Magoswana & J. C. Manning, series Disciformes Magoswana & J. C. Manning, series Perfoliatae Magoswana & J. C. Manning, and series Undulosae Magoswana & J. C. Manning) based on habit and capitulum type.


1994 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-29
Author(s):  
Saths Cooper

A meaningful understanding of the causes of political violence in South Africa and youth’s role in its dénouement must consider some of the historical background to the national struggle for human rights and youth’s specific involvement thereof. The phenomenon of adolescent marchers and activists who characterized the resistance to Apartheid over the last decade has had sequelae and antecedents that reflect the core of the South African dilemma.


1927 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-293
Author(s):  
A. Ingram

During the carrying out of field work in connection with the investigation of plague in the Union of South Africa, certain fleas which appeared to be new were taken in the nests of water rats and on a golden rock mouse in the Karroo.Whilst resembling Chiastopsylla, Rosthsch., morphologically, the fleas from the Karroo rats differ from that genus in the absence of tooth-like spines at the genal margin of the head, and the flea taken on the rock mouse differs in possessing no pronotal comb, in addition to the absence of spines at the genal margin of the head. It was thought that these differences would require the erection of new genera for the reception of these fleas ; two specimens, however, of one of the species showed an incomplete set of genal spines, and Dr. Jordan, who kindly examined the material, considers that all the fleas described below belong to the genus Chiastopsylla. Apparently, if one may judge from the presence of genal spines in the two specimens found, certain species of this genus have been recently evolved.


Author(s):  
Camilla Marion Sperling Pickles

Government of the Republic of Namibia v LM [2014] NASC 19 (hereafter the LM case) concerns the involuntary sterilisation of women during childbirth. The Supreme Court of Namibia found that obtaining consent during the height of labour is inappropriate because labouring women lack the capacity to consent because of the intensity of their labour pains. This article recognises that the LM case may make its way into current litigation strategies against involuntary sterilisations in South Africa and for this reason I evaluate the soundness of the court's reasoning in the LM case. I argue that the court relied on the harmful gender stereotype that labouring women lack the capacity to make decisions, I expose this stereotype as baseless and demonstrate the harmful consequences of its perpetuation. Finally, I demonstrate why the reasoning in the LM case is particularly problematic in the South African context, and I conclude that the adoption of this sort of reasoning will result in many women facing serious injustices, because it strikes at the core of a woman's agency during childbirth.    


Author(s):  
Thomas Groenewald ◽  
Willem Schurink

Organisational talent is internationally regarded a key success factor in a competitive world and is continuously challenged. In South Africa, the Apartheid heritage further presents major challenges regarding developmental opportunities of talented people. Co-operative education presents, as structured educational strategy that progressively integrates academic study with learning through productive work experiences, itself as a means to grow the talent of the South African people. As result of the inadequate practice of co-operative education and a fair amount of associated resistance, ‘classical’ literature is reviewed. The literature review further identifies the core properties of co-operative education and the study has attempted to distil the core principles of a phenomenological research design. The specific ‘phenomena’ which the research focused on are existing joint ventures between Higher Education institutions and business enterprises aimed at educating people and growing talent. Selections of the voices of the research participants are presented in this article. Although the present study identifies several shortcomings regarding the practice of co-operative education, it pioneers the notion that the growing of talent can be enhanced through a co-operative education strategy. OpsommingOrganisatoriese talent word internasionaal beskou as ’n sleutelfaktor in ’n kompeterende wêreld en word dus voortdurend aan uitdagings onderwerp. In Suid Afrika stel die nagevolge van Apartheid grootskaalse uitdagings ten opsigte van die ontwikkelings moontlikhede van talentvolle mense. Koöperatiewe onderwys bied, as gestruktureerde opvoedkundige strategie wat progressief akademiese leer met produktiewe werkservaring integreer, ’n geleentheid om die talent van Suid-Afrikaners op te bou. ‘Klasieke’ literatuur word weegegee ten einde die ontoereikende beoefening van koöperatiewe onderwys en ’n gepaartgaande redelike mate van weerstand aan te spreek. Die literatuurstudie identifiseer verder die kerneienskappe van koöperatiewe onderwys en probeer om die vernaamste eienskappe van ’n fenomenologiese studie raak te vat. Die spesifieke ‘fenomene’ waarop die studie fokus, is die bestaande samewerking tussen tersiêre instellings en besigheidsondernemings om mense op te lei en hul talent te ontwikkel. Geselekteerde uitsprake van die deelnemers aan die studie word weergegee en alhoewel daar verskeie tekortkominge rakende die beoefening van koöperatiewe onderwys geïdentifiseer is, verteenwoordig die studie baanbrekerswerk op die terrein van die rol van koöperatiewe onderwys in die ontwikkeling van talent.


Author(s):  
Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman ◽  
Almie Van den Berg ◽  
Robin Lyle ◽  
Charles Haddad ◽  
Stefan Foord ◽  
...  

The South African National Survey of Arachnida (SANSA) was initiated in 1997 by the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), with the main aim of documenting the Arachnid fauna of South Africa at a national level. Through their Endangered Species Programme, the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) came on board for the project’s second phase, called SANSA II, from 2006 to 2010, in partnership with the ARC. During this four-year project an attempt was made to consolidate all available data on South African spiders into one database. This data was used to determine the spatial coverage of the already available data, and to determine where ‘gaps’ in the data lie to identify priority areas for focused field work. Due to extensive collecting done by SANSA field work managers, specimen bycatches from other research projects, student projects, and through public participation in collecting specimens, more than 40 degree square grids were sampled in previously poorly sampled areas. This effort has provided valuable material that has improved our knowledge of the distribution of species, and provided specimens for future taxonomic studies. All this data was used to compile the First Atlas of the Spider Species of South Africa, including georeferenced locality data, distribution maps and information on the level of endemicity of each species. Following SANSA II, 71 spider families, 471 genera and 2028 species are presently known in South Africa. The third phase of SANSA started in 2011 and several actions, such as Red Listing of species, a handbook series for all the biomes, publication of the atlas, and description of new species are underway.


Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4582 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
ZINGISILE MBO ◽  
CHARLES R. HADDAD

The genus Drassodella Hewitt, 1916 is one of four Afrotropical genera of Gallieniellidae, and is presently represented by seven species, all endemic to South Africa. The type material of six of the described species was studied and they are redescribed from both sexes: D. melana Tucker, 1923, D. quinquelabecula Tucker, 1923, D. salisburyi Hewitt, 1916, D. septemmaculata (Strand, 1909), D. tenebrosa Lawrence, 1938 and D. vasivulva Tucker, 1923. Of these, the males of D. melana, D. tenebrosa and D. vasivulva are described for the first time. Recent field work yielded additional females of D. purcelli Tucker, 1923 from the vicinity of the type locality, and this sex is redescribed; the male remains unknown. A further 12 new species are recognized: D. amatola sp. nov. (♀ ♂), D. aurostriata sp. nov. (♀ ♂), D. baviaans sp. nov. (♂), D. flava sp. nov. (♀ ♂), D. guttata sp. nov. (♀ ♂), D. lotzi sp. nov. (♀), D. maculata sp. nov. (♀), D. montana sp. nov. (♀ ♂), D. tolkieni sp. nov. (♀ ♂), D. trilineata sp. nov. (♀), D. transversa sp. nov. (♀ ♂) and D. venda sp. nov. (♀ ♂). Based on the genitalic structures, there appear to be two distinct species groups. The D. melana species group, which includes D. melana, D. tenebrosa and eight new species mainly distributed in eastern and northern South Africa, is characterised by very conservative genitalic morphology in both sexes. The D. salisburyi species group, with considerable variation in the structure of the copulatory organs and distributed in the southern half of South Africa, includes the remaining nine species, of which four are new. Although D. tenebrosa represents an intermediate between the two groups, with palpal morphology more typical of the D. melana species group and epigynal morphology typical of the D. salisburyi group, it is placed in the former species group based on its distribution in eastern South Africa. The biology, habitat preferences and biogeography of Drassodella are briefly discussed. 


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document