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Conservation Biology Coursework MastersExternal/ContractuallecturersProf. Sue Galatowitsch(University of Minnesota)Prof. Eric Harley (ChemicalPathology Department, UCT)Dr John Hoffman (ZoologyDepartment, UCT)Prof. Timm Hoffman (Institutefor Plant Conservation, UCT)Andrew Knight (TERU,University of Port Elizabeth)Rainer Krug (University ofStellenbosch)Prof. Sue Milton (University ofStellenbosch)Prof. Norman Myers (OxfordUniversity)Dr Colleen O'Ryan (Molecularand Cell Biology Department,UCT)Dr Dave Richardson (Institutefor Plant Conservation, UCT)Dr Tony Starfield (University ofMinnesota)Prof. Christian Wissel(University of Leipzig)Prof. Nik van der Merwe(Archaeology Department, UCT)Conservation Biology Masters OverviewCourse co-ordinatorsDr Peter RyanProf. Tim CroweAssistant to the course co-ordinatorsSharon BosmaConservation Biology MSc class and staff of 2003. Photo: Chris ToblerThe 11th cohort of Conservation Biology students graduated in June 2003, with 9 ofthe 11 students in the 2002/2003 class graduating. One of the two remainingstudents, David Maphisa, is working on a project on Rudd’s Lark for BirdLife SouthAfrica, and should submit his project shortly before embarking on a second fieldseason working on this enigmatic and highly threatened bird. Sadly, the otherremaining student, Nir Peleg, has been dogged by ill-health, but still plans to completehis project as soon as possible. Conrad Savy was the top student and recipient of theDr H.E. Joosub Award. The individual research projects spanned a wide range oftopics, from community management of buchu resources in the Western Cape fynbosto the impacts of human activities on the diversity of forest trees and birds in SierraLeone.The current covey of 13 CB students continues the tradition of strength throughdiversity, with no fewer than 10 countries represented. They have had anexceptionally long course work component due to the inclusion of an additionalmodule in restoration ecology to take advantage of the visit of Prof. Sue Galatowitschto the Institute for Plant Conservation. Sue was a Fullbright Fellow at the Lesley HillInstitute for Plant Conservation during her sabbatical from Minneosta, and made agreat impact on the CB students during her two-week module.This year (2003) sees the end of our five-year grant from the MacArthur Foundationto fund the participation of students from specific countries in Africa on the CBProgramme. Because of changes in MacArthur funding policy, it is unlikely that thegrant will be renewed. It will have a significant impact on our ability to build capacityamong students from African countries. However, the slack has been taken up tosome extent by the news that the Tropical Biology Association (TBA) will fund threestudents from their cadre of graduands to attend the CB programme in 2004.Conservation Biology Masters Overview 31
We are extremely grateful to the many people who contributeto the ongoing success of the programme. Foremost amongthese are the module leaders, many of whom are basedoutside the Fitztitute: Eric Harley, John Hoffman, TimmHoffman, Andrew Knight, Rainer Krug, Sue Milton, NormanMyers, Colleen O’Ryan, Dave Richardson, Tony Starfield, Nikvan der Merwe and Christian Wissel. Many other peoplecontribute through guest lectures or practicals. The programmealso couldn’t run without the sterling support of the Fitz andZoology support staff, especially Meg Ledeboer who handlesumpteen queries from potential students.Conservation Biology Projects: 2002Bragg, Christy (commenced 2000): Porcupine-geophyteinteractions in a hotspot of geophyte diversitySupervisor: P. RyanDe Ponte, Marta: Is buchu harvesting sustainable? Effects ofcurrent harvesting practices on biomass, reproduction andmortalitySupervisor: M.T. HoffmanKaleme, Prince: Regional differences in the long-termpopulation dynamics of a succulent tree, Aloe dichotoma inthe semi-arid Karoo, South Africa as revealed by repeatphotographySupervisor: M.T. HoffmanKnox, David: Requirements for assessing the conservationimportance of estuarine intertidal invertebrate communities: Acase study of warm temperate estuaries in South AfricaSupervisors: J. Turpie & B. ClarkMachange, Ronald: Eagles as indicators of ecosystem health:correlating the distribution of Martial Eagle nests in the Karoowith simple indices of rangeland qualitySupervisors: A. Jenkins & M. du PlessisMatilya, Godlisten: Does the African Ant Lepisiota incisadisplace the introduced invasive Argentine Ant Linepithemahumile (Mayr) in the urban environment of Cape Town, SouthAfrica?Supervisors: M. Picker & H. RobertsonMills, Michael: The impact of sex- and age-biased longlinefishing mortality on procellariiforms: An individual-basedmodel approachSupervisors: P.G. Ryan & C.L. MoloneyNalwanga, Dianah: Nest site selection and partitioning in thebreeding bird community at Koeberg Nature ReserveSupervisors: M. du Plessis & P. LloydOkoni-Williams, Arnold: Anthropogenic effects on thediversity and spatial patterns of birds, trees and shrubs of thepeninsula forest, Sierra LeoneSupervisors: P. Ryan & A.B. KarimRandrianasolo, Harison: Birds in West Coast Renosterveldfragments: Implications for a threatened habitat.Supervisor: P. RyanSavy, Conrad: Conserving Wattled Crane (Grus Carunculatus)on private land in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: attitudes,economics and potential incentivesSupervisors: M. du Plessis, J. Turpie & M. BothaThe Journal Club - CB 2003 Class Representative,Mark BidwellAs has been the case for the last several years, this year's CBclass organised a weekly journal club to review the recentconservation biology literature. Many of the articles wediscussed were chosen from the journals ConservationBiology, Biological Conservation and Biodiversity andConservation but this year we also chose conservation-relatedpapers from Ecology, Ecological Applications, Journal ofWildlife Management, Nature, Science, Oryx, and otherjournals.Each week two CB students were responsible for choosingone or two articles, introducing them to the class and guiding aone-hour discussion. Topics discussed ranged from theinternational trade in wildlife species, to the design andimplementation of marine reserves, to ethical issues involved inthe study of wild animal populations. Many of the articleshighlighted the links between the various disciplines associatedwith conservation biology and with other areas of study.On several occasions we chose articles to complement themodule we were engaged in at the time and invited the moduleinstructor to attend these special journal clubs. Christian Wisselsuggested papers for and attended a journal club on ecologicalmodelling and Sue Galatowitsch did the same for a discussionon ecological restoration. In both cases the discussion allowedus to go beyond what we learned in class and question someof the ideas and assumptions we'd picked up along the way.One of our later journal clubs focused on the training ofconservation biologists and was based on letters toConservation Biology by Morné du Plessis and Tim Crowe, andan editorial on the subject by Reed Noss. We engaged in athought-provoking discussion on the postgraduate education ofconservation biologists in general and the FitzPatrick Institute'sprogram in specific. With encouragement from Morné we mayturn some of these ideas into a short piece for publication inConservation Biology.32 Percy FitzPatrick Institute Annual Report: July 2002 - June 2003
Page 3 and 4: ContentsIntroduction 1Personnel 3Bo
Page 5 and 6: The success of the Conservation Bio
Page 7 and 8: Muntifering, J. BA (St Johns) Janua
Page 9 and 10: Mission StatementTo promote and und
Page 11 and 12: doctoral research there. To this en
Page 13 and 14: continue to decrease unless local c
Page 15 and 16: equivalent latitudes in Australia.
Page 17 and 18: affinities. They have been using a
Page 19 and 20: StudentsM.Tech. student Helen Prins
Page 21 and 22: Islands.• Release of the National
Page 23 and 24: conductors, where they are unlikely
Page 25 and 26: Nature Reserve management plan and
Page 27 and 28: PhD student Colleen Seymour is work
Page 29 and 30: of different farming methods in the
Page 31 and 32: the Cederberg Conservation Group at
Page 33: iotic communities across South Afri
Page 37 and 38: on the interaction with a wide rang
Page 39 and 40: taken over the production and maint
Page 41 and 42: New Books: A policy of purchasing o
Page 43 and 44: Mexico 1 (0), Morocco 1(0), Namibia
Page 45 and 46: stressed? Journal of Thermal Biolog
Page 47 and 48: NUNN, G.B., TARR, C.L., ROBERTSON,
Page 49 and 50: DU PLESSIS, M.A. 2002. Masjiengewee
Page 51 and 52: 48 Percy FitzPatrick Institute Annu
Page 53 and 54: links among young conservation scie

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