While the comparative phylogeography of European fauna is relatively well understood, with Pleistocene climatic oscillations leading to ‘southern refugia’ for many species, the equivalent pattern has not been determined for North Africa. In this context variation within North African populations of the riverine snake Natrix maura were assessed using mitochondrial DNA sequences. Recent literature regarding North African phylogeographic studies of reptiles was compiled, and several surprising patterns emerged. The most interesting was the extensive movement of species across the Strait of Gibraltar during the Pleistocene. Another is the general pattern of deep genetic divergences between Tunisian and Moroccan populations, often at a level implying the existence of cryptic species. Natrix maura has three distinct lineages in North Africa, however, it apparently did not cross the Strait of Gibraltar during the Pleistocene, but probably did so during the Messinian salinity crisis.

The systematics of the genus Acanthodactylus was classically based on external morphological traits, osteological characters and morphology of the hemipenes. Although the identification of species complexes is relatively easy, the distinction within some groups is difficult due to a high variability of the external morphology. Partial mitochondrial (12S and 16S rRNA) sequences (371 and 499 base pairs, respectively) were analysed from 32 specimens of the A. pardalis group from northern Africa including the described species A. busacki, A. maculatus, A. mechriguensis and A. pardalis. Several highly distinct genetic units were resolved, but with little support for relationships between them. These units did not coincide with current taxonomic units, but showed geographic structuring. Although the A. pardalis group displays significant variation, the present taxonomy of the group must be considered unsatisfactory since it is not supported by genetic evidence. For some forms, such as A. mechriguensis there is no support and it is suggested that it should be synonymized with A. maculatus. More data are clearly needed for other forms. Complex microevolutionary patterns due to the recent contraction/expansion phases of the Sahara Desert probably are related with the phylogenetic patterns observed.

A new family, Dendrochaetidae, and genus, Dendrodus, collected from soil samples from South Africa are diagnosed and described. An identification key separating the families of the superfamily Eupodoidea is presented. A new species, Dendrodus acarus is described and illustrated. The diagnostic morphological features are illustrated to be a combination of the type of setae of the idiosoma and appendages; palpal segmentation; the number and type of setae, rhagidial solenidia and erect solenidia of the palptarsus; presence and distribution of erect solenidia of leg segments; coxal chaetome; differences in the complement of cheliceral setae (cha and chb) and adoral setae (or₁ and or₂) and the number and distribution of dorsal idiosomal setae. The most essential diagnostic features of the new taxon are comparatively discussed for members of Penthaleidae and Pentapalpidae, selected species of Penthalodidae, Eupodidae and Rhagidiidae. Reference to similar features displayed by other prostigmatic mites (not representatives of Eupodoidea) is made.

Using data from an ongoing mark–resight programme at Marion Island, we tested empirically whether southern elephant seals prefer certain terrestrial sites to others during the breeding, moulting and winter haulouts, and whether the pattern of site use is the same for different age and sex groups. Southern elephant seals preferred some sites, while discriminating against other sites, with different age and sex classes using different sites for certain haulout events. Wintering young animals did not show strong site selection. Some popular sites were used for all haulouts by all age and sex groups, and apparently have all the requirements of a good site for terrestrial haulout by southern elephant seals. Site selection becomes more apparent with age, suggesting the role of haulout experience in site selection.

The three known sympatric Biomphalaria species that occur in Lake Albert; B. choanomphala, B. stanleyi and B. sudanica, were studied using both molecular (COI, 16S and ITS) and shell morphometric data. An unidentified sample of 18 Biomphalaria specimens from Lake Albert were divided in three morphotypes according to aperture height and coiling rate and subsequently identified through molecular inferences and morphometry. The 18 specimens were identified as follows; six specimens were identified as B. sudanica, seven species as B. stanleyi, four as B. cf. choanomphala and a single specimen as B. pfeifferi. The latter was inferred with strong molecular support only, since it had similar shell morphology to typical B. stanleyi snails, thus it might be an ecophenotypic form of B. pfeifferi adapted to a lacustrine environment. Biomphalaria stanleyi exists in forms that resemble B. choanomphala, and B. choanomphala has further overlap in morphology with B. smithi. However, the results showed some disagreement between molecular and morphometric identification, hence making it difficult to rely on shell morphology alone in identification. Overall the morphometric analysis divided Biomphalaria in two possible ecophenotypes i.e. a lacustrine type with rapidly increasing whorls and relatively high apertures and a non-lacustrine type (including snails inhabiting lake edges) with slowly increasing whorls and low apertures.

Several studies have investigated the response of small mammal populations to fire, but few have investigated behavioural responses to habitat modification. In this study we investigated the impact of fire on home range, habitat use and activity patterns of the short-snouted elephant shrew (Elephantulus brachyrhynchus) by radio-tracking individuals before and after a fire event. All animals survived the passage of fire in termite mound refugia. Before the fire, grassland was used more than thickets, but habitat utilization shifted to thickets after fire had removed the grass cover. Thickets were an important refuge both pre- and post-fire, but the proportion of thicket within the home range was greater post-fire. We conclude that fire-induced habitat modification resulted in a restriction of E. brachyrhynchus movements to patches of unburned vegetation. This may be a behavioural response to an increase in predation pressure associated with a reduction in cover, rather than a lack of food. This study highlights the importance of considering the landscape mosaic in fire management and allowing sufficient island patches to remain post-fire ensures the persistence of the small mammal fauna.

Physa marmorata, originally described from the Lesser Antilles, was introduced into Africa before 1900 and has previously been reported from Bénin, Togo, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa. Here we show that it is also common in temporary ponds, fish ponds, dams and streams in the La Mé and Agnéby basins, southern Ivory Coast. Population dynamics were studied in one river in Agboville and in one permanent pond in Attinguié. Fortnightly sampling carried out throughout 2005 at the two sites revealed two main periods of recruitment: during the first rainy season in July and during the second rainy season in October. In the Agboville river, a positive association was found between P. marmorata densities and percentage cover of the aquatic plants Ipomea aquatica and Pistia stratiotes. Similar associations were found between P. marmorata densities and both high water redox potential and rainfall values. However in the Attinguié pond, a negative association was observed between Melanoides tuberculata and P. marmorata densities. We discuss the timing, status and potential consequences of the invasion of this snail species into the Ivory Coast and the African continent.

Five specimens of a small cucumariid holothuroid collected between 18–32 m, from off St. Helena Bay on the west coast of Western Cape Province, South Africa, are new to science and here described. The presence of unequal tentacles, naked interambulacra, smooth prolonged handle of some body wall plates and the form of the tentacle and introvert deposits, in combination, sets the new species strongly apart from its congeners.

This study investigated whether the activity of soil organisms in a vineyard soil in the Western Cape, South Africa, was affected differently by different management practices. The influences of organic and conventional treatments were compared in two vineyard blocks, one previously organically and the other conventionally managed. In each block, experimental plots received either full chemical weed control or ‘organic’ treatment, as recommended by the Organic Standards of the British Soil Association. Pest and disease control practices followed in the conventionally treated vineyard block included the use of various pesticides. The bait-lamina test was used to assess feeding activity of soil organisms. The feeding activity in the previously organically managed block, subsequently receiving conventional surface chemical treatment, decreased over time as the soil moisture content decreased. A comparison of feeding activity and moisture content on the previously organically managed block after both types of treatments, indicated that the activity was substantially higher in the organically treated plots compared to the conventionally treated ones, while the soil moisture contents were very similar. This indicated that the organic treatment favoured soil biological activity directly or indirectly. The treatment contributed to the preservation of more favourable moisture conditions for soil biological activity. A microcosm study to determine feeding activity of fauna in soil from both vineyard blocks, each subjected to both a conventional and organic treatment under controlled conditions in the laboratory, showed a statistically significantly (P < 0.05) higher feeding activity in the soil that was organically treated and provided further indications that organic management practices, as used here, may result in higher soil faunal feeding activity over the short term compared to conventional practices.

The means by which populations are regulated form a central theme in conservation biology, and much debate has revolved around density dependence as a mechanism driving population change. Marion Island (46°54′S, 37°45′E) is host to a relatively small breeding population of southern elephant seals, which like its counterparts in the southern Indian and southern Pacific Oceans, have declined precipitously over the past few decades. An intensive mark–recapture study, which commenced in 1983, has yielded a long time-series of resight data on this population. We used the program MARK to estimate adult female survival in this population from resight data collected over the period 1986–1999. Including concurrent population counts as covariates significantly improved our mark–recapture models and suggests density dependent population regulation to be operational in the population. Although predation may have been involved, it is far more likely that density dependent regulation has been based on a limited food supply. A significant increase in adult female survival was evident which is likely to have given rise to recent changes in population growth.

A new genus and species of gnathiid isopod, Afrignathia multicavea gen. et sp. n., is described from material collected during the 1960s and 1970s in False Bay, offshore between Still Bay and Mossel Bay, and off Cape Point. This gnathiid does not conform to any other known species, having morphological characteristics not seen in the other 11 recognized genera. Features making the genus unique include a pylopod consisting of only one article, a mandible with two rows of unequal teeth on the blade and apex, and cephalosome appendages that could be maxillae 1 (maxillules), which are usually absent in all known male gnathiids. This species is also characterized by clusters of sensory pits scattered over the cephalosome and pereon.

Habitat change, mainly through the actions of humans, poses a threat to great white (Pelecanus onocrotalus) and pink-backed (P. rufescens) pelicans in northeastern KwaZulu-Natal, the southernmost distributions of these species on Africa's eastern seaboard. This study assessed the relative importance and state of the potential pelican habitat in the northeastern KwaZulu-Natal region, focusing particularly on Lake St Lucia and the Phongolo River floodplain. Great white pelicans breed on islands in Lake St Lucia. Should these islands be lost through falling water levels or their becoming joined to mainland by deposits of silt, or by flooding, no suitable habitat for their breeding will remain in the region. By contrast, the pink-backed pelican nests in trees, and there appears to be plentiful alternative habitat. Lake St Lucia and, to a lesser extent, the Phongolo River floodplain, are important foraging areas for both pelican species. The hydrology of both these systems has been affected by human activities.

In the Katavi-Rukwa ecosystem of western Tanzania, aerial censuses carried out between 1988 and 2002 show that populations of several large ungulate species had declined. Five competing factors that could be responsible for these changes were investigated. (i) Rainfall increased slightly over 25 years and (ii) no obvious outbreaks of disease were witnessed, suggesting that populations are not suffering food shortages or disease. (iii) Large predators live at low densities and are not increasing, and estimates suggest that that predation is unlikely to impact larger prey species. (iv) Some assessments of illegal hunting indicate little influence on herbivore populations but one measure points to giraffe, hippopotamus, warthog and perhaps other species being adversely affected. (v) Tourist hunting quotas of lions and greater kudu in hunting blocks appear high and there are indications that both may be declining. Preliminary data, approximate calculations and elimination of hypotheses point to anthropogenic factors being partly responsible for changes in this ecosystem and constructive recommendations are made to alter these. More generally, this study highlights the importance of monitoring in conjunction with collecting diverse data when trying to stop population declines before they become too serious.

A preliminary investigation of the diversity and density of small mammals in four structurally distinct habitat types in an actively-utilized farming landscape was carried out. We sought to understand how diversity and density are influenced by landscape structure, habitat structure and management decisions. Farmers in the area believe small mammals provide a service as an alternative food source, other than sheep, for predators. We assessed the validity of this reported ecosystem service. A total of 10 species and 219 individuals were recorded during this survey of 3600 trap-nights, with a total trap success rate of 6.1%. Significantly more individuals were caught during the winter than in summer. Vegetation transformation had a negative impact on small mammal diversity. Density, diversity and distribution were correlated with vegetation and landscape structural diversity. Management decisions that reduce vegetation structure and cover will have a negative impact on small mammal density and diversity. Ensuring the conservation of small mammals may have the benefit of providing an alternative food source to predators, a valuable ecosystem service to farmers.

Climate has been proposed as an explanation for the present-day distribution of closely-related melanistic and non-melanistic cordylid species in the southwestern Cape of South Africa. However, diet may also contribute towards shaping geographic distributions. We present preliminary data on diet composition based on analyses of faecal pellets of Cordylus cordylus (non-melanistic), C. niger (melanistic) and C. oelofseni (melanistic). Coleoptera were the most common prey ingested both in summer and early spring for all species, followed by Hymenoptera for all species in summer. The overlap in other arthropod taxa ingested was low across species and seasons, suggesting an opportunistic component to their foraging behaviour. We distinguished plant matter in faecal samples of all species in all seasons, reflecting either voluntary or accidental ingestion. The results of this study suggest that the generalist diets of these cordylid species should not constrain their distributions despite the common preference for coleopterans.