Department of Geography, Environmental & Tourism Studies (GETS)

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Browsing by Author "Carolissen, Mandy"

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    Coping with Weather in Cape Town: use, adaptation & challenges in an informal settlement
    (2013) Tabi, Kris Agbor; Peberdy, Sally; Carolissen, Mandy
    The concern that weather variability and climate change has raised nowadays puts every society or community on the alert. This is arguably the most persistent environmental threat to global stability in vulnerable communities in recent times. City dwellers are now experiencing increased variable weather episodes such as frequent flooding, heat waves and drought with increased wind and storm activities. Unfortunately, the aftermath of these weather irregularities are felt most severely by vulnerable urban poor residents with the least mechanisms to cope. This study focused on the residents of Enkanini in Makhaza, an informal settlement in the greater Khayelitsha Township of Cape Town, South Africa. It documented the challenges they encounter with respect to weather, seeking to understand their adaptive strategies. Emphasis was also placed on the vulnerable nature of their dwellings and their ingenuity in coping with the variable weather pattern in Cape Town. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyse field data, using codes derived from themes and SPSS respectively. Ethnographic methodology guided the researcher to participate overtly in the activities of the community over an extended period, watching what happened, listening to what was said and asking questions pertaining to their vulnerability to the vicissitudes of the prevailing weather in the informal settlement. Findings from the study revealed that over 62% of the dwellings do not conform to the City?s Disaster Risk Management Centre and Fire & Rescue safety regulations and that over 80% of the residents do not adapt very well to weather-related episodes. It also identifies the most challenging weather episodes to be floods during winter and shack fires during summer; amidst other health concerns that occur all year round.
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    Perceptions of wetland ecosystem services in a region of climatic variability
    (University of the Western Cape, 2018) Williams, Samantha; Grenfell, Suzanne; Carolissen, Mandy
    Wetlands provide various ecosystem services such as provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services which may be directly or indirectly beneficial to humans. The manner in which such wetlands are managed is partly determined by human perceptions of their value. However, climatic variability and climate change put the continued provision of such ecosystems under stress. The result is that certain ecosystem services may be provided to differing extents during anomalously wet or dry years. There is thus uncertainty as to the values ascribed to wetlands by people during varying climatic phases. This thesis focuses on understanding how people perceive the functioning of wetlands within our current climate against a background of climatic variability and climate change. This study explores people�s perceptions regarding the functioning of wetlands and ecosystem services provided during dry and wet years, as an indication of how climatic variability and climate change impact peoples� perceptions. The data was collected in the wetlands of the Agulhas Plain in the Nuwejaars Catchment. Five wetlands classified and scored using the WETEcoServices tool. In addition, five semi-structured interviews and three participatory mapping exercises with landowners were also undertaken. The study reports on the landowners� awareness of wetland ecosystems, ecosystem services and climatic variability and climate change. Provisioning, supporting, and cultural ecosystem services are frequently used by landowners, which can be impacted by climatic variability and climate change. The WETEcoService benefits and landowners perceptions of ecosystem services varies, as the WETEcoService direct and indirect ecosystem services are either effective or ineffective in dry and wet years. In contrast to landowners perceptions emphasising the importance of ecosystem services directly beneficial to them. The study recommends that the ecosystem services landowners perceive as important is linked to their interest to guarantee their participation in catchment management. WET-EcoService benefits can inform landowners and managers about ecosystem services degradation and whether their conservation methods are either positively or negatively impacting wetlands.
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    Reptiles of the Soutpansberg: Biogeography, distribution and communities
    (University of the Western Cape, 2022) van Huyssteen, Ryan; Carolissen, Mandy
    Globally, reptiles, like all terrestrial vertebrates, are currently facing human induced population declines at an unprecedented level. However, from a South African perspective, it is unclear how human pressures are affecting reptiles. One of the reasons this is so, is due to a scarcity of community level baseline information, thus hindering our ability to adequately monitor fluctuations in species and populations. This thesis aims to critically evaluate and map the current state of knowledge concerning reptile communities in South Africa.
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    Response of wetlands to impacts from agricultural land-use practices: Implications for conservation, management, and rehabilitation in the Nuwejaars Catchment, Western Cape.
    (University of the Western Cape, 2021) Sampson, Shae-Lynn; Carolissen, Mandy
    Wetlands occupy about 6% of the world�s surface and are fragile ecosystems that support a diversity of plants and animals. Wetlands are increasingly recognised for their role in the provision of ecosystem services and contribution to global biodiversity. Despite this, more than half of the world�s wetlands have vanished or been degraded, primarily due to agriculture. Wetlands are constantly adjusting to disturbances occurring within them and within their surrounding landscape. It is important to recognise to what extent various disturbances affect wetlands when assessing disturbance and impact, and when considering wetland protection options. The benefit of the detailed characterisation of the sub-catchments of the Nuwejaars catchment is deepened understanding of how different combinations of land-uses and soils impact catchment hydrology, and ultimately, the wetlands within the catchment