Palearctic White Storks Ciconia ciconia in the Western Cape, South Africa, in the 20th century

New Strategies in Locust Control

As South Africa’s contribution to the Eighth International White Stork Census in 2024, we reported that two pairs of White Storks had constructed nests. For one pair, a well-built nest was usurped by Egyptian Geese. The other pair almost certainly laid eggs, but the outcome of the breeding attempt is not known.

本文是以唐人對蝗災的應變態度為中心，來分析唐代治蝗與救災措施的運用，進而探索當時在蝗災衝擊下所產生的各種政治與社會問題。 首先，概述成災的主要蝗蟲－東亞飛蝗（Locusta migratoria manilensis）的生態習性，說明唐代蝗災的環境背景。繼而敘述唐代蝗災的發生與分布情形，探究蝗災對當時社會所造成的影響，以及唐人對蝗災起因的認知，從而發展出後續的治蝗政策。其次，唐代各個時期面對蝗災的因應措施不盡相同，相對應的救災方式也有差異，從事前的減災、事發的報災，以及事後的救災三方面探討，亦可一窺唐代各個時期之政治、財經與社會概況，從而對應出唐朝由盛而衰的箇中緣由。 綜合而言，透過蝗災的分布、影響、治蝗及救災四個部分之探討，可以瞭解蝗災在唐朝政治、經濟與社會安定中所佔之重要地位。唐代的治蝗政策，有著突破過往思想窠臼之處，也有因襲前代既定觀念之處，兩者在唐代近三百年的歷史間，比重相差懸殊，前者僅有個案，並無常例，而後者則仍為主流思想，這便顯示出深入人心之傳統思維，要於一時之間更改，是一件多麼困難的事。積極治蝗雖然只是特例，但已然對後人在面對蝗災時改變消極態度，有著關鍵的重要地位。而唐朝末年，官員在蝗災發生時的可議態度，繼而引發出的嚴重後果，其實也在後來各朝再次出現，這也凸顯出飛蝗史研究的必要性，可使人們鑑往知來，從中汲取經驗與教訓。

With the exception of western Europe, little is known about foraging by White Storks on rubbish dumps. Information is presented on this phenomenon along the migration routes and wintering grounds of the White Stork. White Stork foraging on rubbish dumps is a common behavior in northern Africa and the Middle East and appears related to the wintering of European White Storks in new areas closer to their breeding grounds. South Africa, where a local breeding population has established, is another region where foraging on rubbish dumps has been observed. The development of rubbish dumps may have major consequences for the future ecology of White Stork.

Risk factors for seropositivity to H5 avian influenza virus in ostrich farms in the Western Cape Province, South Africa

The German immigrants who formed the three “waves” of Germans to settle at Philippi in the Western Cape (South Africa) in the 19th century, and their descendants, contributed not only to the agricultural well-being of the Western Cape by providing the growing population with fresh produce, but also to the diversity of the region with their German cultural heritage. The arrival in the Western Cape of specifically the last two “waves” of German immigrants was both the result of the Hermannsburg “Bauernmission” – “agricultural missionary society” – as well as a specifi c immigration drive by the British colonial government to recruit specifi cally Germans to populate various areas of the Western and Eastern Cape colonies, which coincided. This article discusses the history of the resultant Philippi German farming community – a typical “Bauernsiedlung” – and the irony of their religio-cultural legacy and a new generation of (im)migrants to the Western Cape. Translations of the German quotations are provided as footnotes. Key words: agri/culture, German immigrants, Hermannsburg Missionary Society, Philippi, religion, Western Cape.

ABSTRACTThe aim of this paper is to explain the altitudinal changes that have occurred during the 20th century to the white stork distribution in the Podhale region of the uplands of the Tatra mountains, southern Poland. We analysed both historical data from the white stork censuses and detailed yearly records from 1974 to 2003 on population size, distribution and breeding success. A white stork nest was first recorded at Podhale in 1931 and numbers increased to seven nests in 1933, all located below 650 m altitude. During the 30‐years, 1974–2003, both the maximum and upper‐quartile altitudes of nests increased significantly. In 1974 the highest nest was at an altitude of 770 m, and the maximum reached 890 m in 1999. In the same period, the breeding population increased significantly. The minimum and lower‐quartile altitudes of nests decreased significantly following initial occupation of suitable lower altitude sites before uphill expansion. We noted the positive association between nest occupancy over the study period and breeding performance. As a result, long‐occupied nests contributed most of the young produced in the population and chicks from these nests probably colonized new areas. We believe this is the first well‐documented evidence of, and mechanism for, a particular bird species to ascend to higher elevations and that the altitudinal shifts reported for butterflies, plants and whole biomes can be detected in birds as well.

A national White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) census was organised in Hungary in 2019. The 14th country-wide nest count was coordinated by MME/BirdLife Hungary, also involving local branches and volunteers of the society and national park directorates. Altogether 5,018 nests and 2,358 White Stork nest holders without nest material were reported. 89.2% of occupied nests were built on electric poles. Although 80 years ago every third nests were found on trees, in 2019, only 6 were reported at that location. Successful pairs raised 2.62 nestlings on average, breeding success for all breeding pairs was 2.19, which is lower than typical, probably due to chilly and rainy weather during the breeding season. Based on 3,540 reported breeding pairs and former census data, the White Stork population of Hungary is estimated to be 3,860–4,020 pairs in 2019. The size of the population was ca. 15–16 thousand pairs in 1941, which halved by 1958 and decreased to 5 thousand pairs by the late 1960s. For four decades, the population fluctuated between 4,800 and 5,500 pairs but in the last twenty years, the number of breeding pairs slightly decreased in the country. The population decline is stronger in hilly areas of W Hungary, i.e. in Somogy, Vas and Zala counties is about 60%.

The number of African penguins Spheniscus demersus breeding in South Africa collapsed from about 56 000 pairs in 2001 to some 21 000 pairs in 2009, a loss of 35 000 pairs (>60%) in eight years. This reduced the global population to 26 000 pairs, when including Namibian breeders, and led to classification of the species as Endangered. In South Africa, penguins breed in two regions, the Western Cape and Algoa Bay (Eastern Cape), their breeding localities in these regions being separated by c. 600 km. Their main food is anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus and sardine Sardinops sagax, which are also the target of purse-seine fisheries. In Algoa Bay, numbers of African penguins halved from 21 000 pairs in 2001 to 10 000 pairs in 2003. In the Western Cape, numbers decreased from a mean of 35 000 pairs in 2001–2005 to 11 000 pairs in 2009. At Dassen Island, the annual survival rate of adult penguins decreased from 0.70 in 2002/2003 to 0.46 in 2006/2007; at Robben Island it decreased from 0.77 to 0.55 in the same period. In both the Western and Eastern Cape provinces, long-term trends in numbers of penguins breeding were significantly related to the combined biomass of anchovy and sardine off South Africa. However, recent decreases in the Western Cape were greater than expected given a continuing high abundance of anchovy. In this province, there was a south-east displacement of prey around 2000, which led to a mismatch in the distributions of prey and the western breeding localities of penguins.

White-breasted cormorants Phalacrocorax [carbo] lucidus breed around South Africa's coast and at inland localities. Along the coasts of the Northern, Western and Eastern Cape provinces, numbers breeding were similar during the periods 1977–1981 (1 116 pairs at 41 localities) and 2008–2012 (1 280 pairs at 41 localities). Along the coast of KwaZulu-Natal (not counted in 1977–1981), 197 pairs bred at nine localities in 2008–2012, when the overall number breeding around South Africa's coastline was about 1 477 pairs. Between the two study periods, numbers decreased in the Northern and Western Cape provinces following the loss of several breeding localities, but they increased in the Eastern Cape. In the Western Cape, however, numbers were stable east of Cape Agulhas and at nine well-monitored West Coast localities that were surveyed from 1978 to 2012. White-breasted cormorants breed throughout the year, with breeding at some localities more seasonal than at others and the timing of peaks in breeding varying at and between localities. In the vicinity of Saldanha Bay/Langebaan Lagoon (Western Cape), in Algoa Bay (Eastern Cape) and in northern KwaZulu-Natal, it is likely that birds moved between breeding localities in different years, although breeding often occurred at the same locality over several years. Human disturbance, presence of predators, competition for breeding space and occurrence of breeding by other waterbirds may influence movements between colonies. Securing sufficient good habitat at which white-breasted cormorants may breed will be important for conservation of the species. The species may breed at an age of 4 years, possibly younger. The bulk of their diet around South Africa's coast consists of inshore marine and estuarine fish species that are not intensively exploited by humans.

The Republic of South Africa, known as South Africa, occupies the most southern tip of Africa with a coastline stretching from the border of Namibia on the Atlantic Ocean (south-west coast) of Africa, down to the tip of Africa and then north along the south-east coast to the border of Mozambique on the Indian Ocean. South Africa is bordered by Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), and Mozambique and surrounds the small landlocked Kingdom of Lesotho in the east-central region of South Africa. The total area of South Africa is approximately 1.22 million square kilometres (km), with a population of an estimated 58.78 million (2019). The country is divided into nine provinces, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Free State, Kwa-Zulu Natal, Northwest, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo. Gauteng Province is the most densely populated province with approximately 809.6 people per square kilometre, Kwa-Zulu Natal being the second most densely populated at 120.7 people per square kilometre, with Western and Eastern Cape following substantially behind at 59.1 and 51.1 people per kilometres respectively. There are three capitals in South Africa: Pretoria in the Gauteng province (administrative), Cape Town in the Western Cape (Legislative), and Bloemfontein in the Free State (Judicial). The

-White Stork (Ciconia c. ciconia) numbers have been decreasing in the western part of Europe for at least 100 years. We investigated the main causes of this decrease by analysis of national and international stork census data and 19th century reports. Rainfall in the wintering areas (eastern and western Africa), taken as a relative measure for the winter food supplies, was positively correlated with the annual relative changes in number of pairs with nests in Oldenburg/Lower Saxony (Federal Republic of Germany) (1928-1984) and in Alsace (France) (1948-1970). During years with a high winter rainfall, storks arrived earlier in the breeding area and more pairs produced fledged young. The food link suggested by these data is supported by statistics on plagues of locusts and armyworms in Africa. Dates of arrival at the breeding area suggest that climatic changes have been an important cause of the initial decrease of the storks wintering in western Africa. Important causes of the decrease in the past decades were a decreased supply of locusts and drought in the wintering areas and, regionally, a deterioration of the habitat in the breeding area. We consider habitat change to be the main cause of the regional decrease of the storks wintering in eastern Africa.

The number of White Storks (Ciconia ciconia) has been decreasing in many parts of Europe at least since the middle of the 20th century. Intensification of agriculture and continuous conversion of natural habitats, such as wetlands, into agricultural landscapes have been recognized as the most important determinants of dramatic reductions in population sizes of this species. For this reason, providing quantitative estimates of habitat requirements may allow us to identify the key biota which should be prioritized for conservation. The aim of this study was to investigate White Storks' habitat selection in a mosaic agricultural landscape in central Poland. We found that territories associated with large river valleys were highly preferred by first-arriving storks. We also recorded lower intensity of brood reduction and higher reproductive success of storks breeding in such territories. Thus, it seems likely that location of nests close to river valleys provided easy access to rich food resources as...

South Africa is the leading pesticide user in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, little is known about the occurrence of pesticide mixtures in surface water and potential environmental risks in Africa.This study investigated the occurrence of pesticides mixtures in three watersheds during a drought year in South Africa. The study was conducted in the Krom River, Berg River and Hex River watersheds within larger agriculture systems in the Western Cape. Pesticide spray records were collected from 38 farms. A total of 21 passive water samplers (styrenedivinylbenzene disks (SDB)) were deployed, each for two weeks per month, over seven sampling rounds during the main pesticide application period between July 2017 and January 2018. Samples were analyzed for 248 pesticide compounds using LC-HR-MS/MS. Pesticide occurrence was analyzed for temporal agreement with pesticide spraying events (Cohen’s κ) and correlation with rainfall patterns and river discharge (Pearson correlation (rp)). Pesticide time-weighted average concentrations were estimated and compared to environmental quality standards (EQS). According to the farm spray records, 96 different pesticides were sprayed during the sampling period and differed considerably between the three study areas, seasons and crops grown. In total, 53 compounds were detected in river water. We detected 39% of compounds from the spraying records and demonstrated close temporal correlations of seasonal patterns for 11 pesticide compounds between reported on spraying records and observations in the streams (κ = 0.90). However, 23 detected pesticides were not found on spray records, many of them being herbicides. Most of the estimated two-week average pesticide concentrations were below 40 ng/L. The insecticides imidacloprid, thiacloprid, chlorpyrifos and acetamiprid and the herbicide terbuthylazine exceeded at least once their EQS 58-fold (EQS 13 ng/L), 12-fold (EQS 10 ng/L), 9-fold (EQS 0.46 ng/L), 5-fold (EQS 24 ng/L) and 3-fold (EQS 220 ng/L), respectively. Our study substantially widens the view on pesticide pollution in surface water compared to previous studies in Sub-Saharan Africa by targeting more than 200 pesticides using passive sampling systems. This broad assessment revealed the presence of 53 compounds, some of them in high concentrations, indicating possible adverse effects on biota and the quality of the ecosystem. Whether the observed concentration levels in the year 2017 were exceptional due to the lowest ever recorded rainfall and river discharge needs to be tested with additional data to better understand how pesticide pollution levels manifest under average rainfall and river discharge conditions.

BackgroundStudies have shown that drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) in South Africa (SA) is clonal and is caused mostly by transmission. Identifying transmission chains is important in controlling DR-TB. This study reports on the sentinel molecular surveillance data of Rifampicin-Resistant (RR) TB in SA, aiming to describe the RR-TB strain population and the estimated transmission of RR-TB cases.MethodRR-TB isolates collected between 2014 and 2018 from eight provinces were genotyped using combination of spoligotyping and 24-loci mycobacterial interspersed repetitive-units-variable-number tandem repeats (MIRU-VNTR) typing.ResultsOf the 3007 isolates genotyped, 301 clusters were identified. Cluster size ranged between 2 and 270 cases. Most of the clusters (247/301; 82.0%) were small in size (< 5 cases), 12.0% (37/301) were medium sized (5–10 cases), 3.3% (10/301) were large (11–25 cases) and 2.3% (7/301) were very large with 26–270 cases. The Beijing genotype was responsible for majority of RR-TB cases in Western and Eastern Cape, while the East-African-Indian-Somalian (EAI1_SOM) genotype accounted for a third of RR-TB cases in Mpumalanga. The overall proportion of RR-TB cases estimated to be due to transmission was 42%, with the highest transmission-rate in Western Cape (64%) and the lowest in Northern Cape (9%).ConclusionLarge clusters contribute to the burden of RR-TB in specific geographic areas such as Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga, highlighting the need for community-wide interventions. Most of the clusters identified in the study were small, suggesting close contact transmission events, emphasizing the importance of contact investigations and infection control as the primary interventions in SA.