Drones as a tool to study and monitor endangered Grey Crowned Cranes (): Behavioural responses and recommended guidelines.

Crane populations are declining worldwide, with anthropogenically exacerbated habitat loss emerging as the primary causal threat. The endangered Grey Crowned Crane () is the least studied of the three crane species that reside in southern Africa. This data paucity hinders essential conservation planning and is primarily due to ineffective monitoring methods and this species' use of inaccessible habitats.

The bii4africa dataset of faunal and floral population intactness estimates across Africa's major land uses.

Sub-Saharan Africa is under-represented in global biodiversity datasets, particularly regarding the impact of land use on species' population abundances. Drawing on recent advances in expert elicitation to ensure data consistency, 200 experts were convened using a modified-Delphi process to estimate 'intactness scores': the remaining proportion of an 'intact' reference population of a species group in a particular land use, on a scale from 0 (no remaining individuals) to 1 (same abundance as the reference) and, in rare cases, to 2 (populations that thrive in human-modified landscapes). The resulting bii4africa dataset contains intactness scores representing terrestrial vertebrates (tetrapods: ±5,400 amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals) and vascular plants (±45,000 forbs, graminoids, trees, shrubs) in sub-Saharan Africa across the region's major land uses (urban, cropland, rangeland, plantation, protected, etc.

Latrine site selection by African clawless otters, , and their behavior during latrine visitations.

Latrine sites are used as areas for the deposition of scent-containing excretions and play important roles in intraspecific olfactory communication, territoriality, sexual attraction, and defense behaviors of many mammals. African clawless otters () likely use latrine sites as primary areas for scent marking and scent communication but no studies to date have investigated their potential role or site selection. We assessed latrine site selection at 2 spatial scales (micro- and macroscale) and recorded behaviors via camera trap recordings.

Mammal road-type associations in Kruger National Park, South Africa: Common mammals do not avoid tar roads more than dirt roads.

The majority of Africa's parks and conservation areas have a vast road network, facilitating motorized vehicle game viewing. These roads have an influence that is both road type- and species-specific, on the surrounding ecosystem. Due to their higher traffic volumes, we hypothesized that tar roads and their immediate surrounds within the Kruger National Park, South Africa, are avoided to a greater extent by medium-to-large mammals than comparable dirt roads in the park.

Antarctic ecosystems in transition - life between stresses and opportunities.

Important findings from the second decade of the 21st century on the impact of environmental change on biological processes in the Antarctic were synthesised by 26 international experts. Ten key messages emerged that have stakeholder-relevance and/or a high impact for the scientific community. They address (i) altered biogeochemical cycles, (ii) ocean acidification, (iii) climate change hotspots, (iv) unexpected dynamism in seabed-dwelling populations, (v) spatial range shifts, (vi) adaptation and thermal resilience, (vii) sea ice related biological fluctuations, (viii) pollution, (ix) endangered terrestrial endemism and (x) the discovery of unknown habitats.

Monitoring the effects of land transformation on African clawless otters (Aonyx capensis) using fecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations as a measure of stress.

In a time of increasing environmental change caused by anthropogenic disturbance, there is a greater need to understand animal adaptations to manmade environments. In this regard, the measurement of stress-related endocrine markers provides a useful tool to examine the impact of environmental challenges and the physiological consequences for wildlife occupying such space. The aims of the present study were to validate fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGCM) concentrations as a measure of stress using samples from a male African clawless otter (Aonyx capensis; n = 1) and to compare fGCM concentrations of otters occurring in a transformed and in 2 natural areas in South Africa.

Increased metal concentrations in giant sungazer lizards (Smaug giganteus) from mining areas in South Africa.

Environmental contaminants from anthropogenic activity such as mining can have profound health effects on the animals living in adjacent areas. We investigated whether inorganic contaminants associated with gold-mining waste discharges were accumulated by a threatened species of lizard, Smaug giganteus, in South Africa. Lizards were sampled from two mining sites and two control sites.