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Spatial diversity of dry savanna woodlands: Assessing the spatial diversity of a dry savanna woodland stand in northern Namibia using neighbourhood-based measures.
No full textThe dry woodland savannas of Namibia are of significant socio-economic importance. The paper tests the suitability of a number of diversity indicators developed for species poor systems in Europe in the woodland context. The indicators that were tested included the species significant mingling index, MSp, the measure of surround and the uniform angle index. The simple application of the methods permit relatively unschooled crews to conduct an enumeration in the field. The results show that the indicators do not only display current diversity status, but also reflect the ecological context of the individual species
Spatial diversity of dry savanna woodlands: Assessing the spatial diversity of a dry savanna woodland stand in northern Namibia using neighbourhood-based measures.
No full textAuthor's proof.The dry woodland savannas of Namibia are of significant socio-economic importance. The paper tests the suitability of a number of diversity indicators developed for species poor systems in Europe in the woodland context. The indicators that were tested included the species significant mingling index, MSp, the measure of surround and the uniform angle index. The simple application of the methods permit relatively unschooled crews to conduct an enumeration in the field. The results show that the indicators do not only display current diversity status, but also reflect the ecological context of the individual species
Impacts of inflation on Namibian growth: An empirical study.
No full textThe impact of inflation on growth performance through a case study of Namibia is analysed in the article. The methodology involves estimating a general model, which provides for capturing the impact of inflation as well as imported inflation interactively with economic openness on economic growth. The sample period runs from 1991 - 2001. The research found that economic growth reacted in a predictable fashion to changes in the regressors employed in the study. The results obtained from the study also refelects the conventional thinking in the literature that, ceteris paribus, the growth impact of inflation can be counter productive, especially if not controlled. The study recommends appropriate anti-inflationary measures for the Namibian economy. A further study on how to minimize the negative repurcussion of inflation on the economy of Namibia is highly recommended
Optical remote sensing in support of eutrophication monitoring in the southern North Sea.
No full textEuropean Association of Remote Sensing Laboratories (3rd : 2004)Spring mean and maximum chlorophyll a (chl a) concentrations are main factors to determine the eutrophication status of the Belgian waters as agreed within OSPAR in 2002. Other important assessment parameters to measure the degree of nutrient enrichment - the amounts of inorganic
phosphate and nitrogen in winter - appeared to be above thresholds for most measurements performed in the period 1974-2002. As the standard in situ monitoring programme does not give a clear picture of the temporal and spatial distribution of chl a, it is logical to complement these measurements with optical remote sensing. However, chlorophyll concentrations derived from sensors such as SeaWiFS are unreliable in the Case 2 waters of this region because of high particulate and dissolved yellow substance absorption. Another important limitation of ocean colour sensors is the amount of useful images due to cloud cover. The combination of data from different ocean colour sensors in order to enable a better temporal coverage might be hampered by the different chlorophyll retrieval algorithms used. This study compares different global chl a algorithms (MODIS, SeaWiFS, MERIS) as well as a turbid water algorithm for the Southern North Sea. This is done by running the different algorithms on in situ reflectance spectra collected at 107 stations in the period 2001-2002 over the Southern North Sea and comparing them with in situ chl a concentrations, as well as by running the algorithms on a MERIS image of the 29th of July 2002. Based on this validation the accuracy of these products and their suitability for eutrophication monitoring in
the Southern North Sea are assessed
Application of a total station in savanna vegetation surveys.
No full textThe article describes the methods used to obtain data with the use of a total station. The advantage of the proposed method is the ease with which data for investigation of spatial relationships between plants and topographical features may be obtained. In addition to location, the total station can be used to assess some plant parameters such as plant height, crown spread, trunk size and others
Degradation gradient as a basis for monitoring the ephemeral Omatako floodplains of central Namibia.
No full textA group of Herero cattle farmers initiated a community grazing trial within a floodplain of the ephemeral Omatako River in central Namibia. A degradation model was constructed from measurements of various characteristics, for determining changes in wetland condition. Species data for Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CANOCO) came from the nearest perennial grass, if present within 5m of the sample point, otherwise from the nearest annual grass. The first ordination axis indicates a degradation gradient, with perennial grass species towards one extreme and annual grasses towards the other. The second axis appears to reflect a moisture gradient, although it was not measured
Juvenile justice in Namibia: Law reform towards reconciliation and restorative justice?
No full textNamibia is a newly independent nation, which in the wake of colonial oppression and foreign rule has yet to develop a comprehensive juvenile justice system. The current criminal justice system is informed by stereotyped common sense concepts of ‘criminality’ and ‘the criminal’. Simplistic views undergirded by utilitarian arguments have put Namibia at odds with international instruments, such as the United Nations Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (Beijing Rules) and the Convention on the Rights of Children (CRC), which have embraced a holistic perspective on juvenile crime and deviance. In the spirit of ‘Ubuntu’, a frame of mind prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, which relates to a specific communal approach to the notion of people, Namibia has set forth to establish a restorative juvenile justice system. This endeavor has led to the drafting of the Child Justice Bill, which is under scrutiny in this article. The
authors highlight the arguments behind the most important parts of the draft Bill, and assess the merits of the proposed law against the backdrop of international legal instruments and law reform projects of other
countries
Fire damage to Schinziophyton rautanenii (Schinz) trees in north-eastern Namibia.
No full textThe nuts of the Mangetti, Schinziophyton rautanenii, are an important food source for a number of rural communities. The environment in which the tree grows, however, is subject to frequent burning. A number of trees have been seen with a characteristic inverted U-shaped fire lesion on the base of the trunk. A collapsed trunk as well as a vertical scar in the same tree showed that heavy branches or a second trunk may collapse under their own weight, thus providing a point for fire entry
Fire damage to Schinziophyton rautanenii (Schinz) trees in north-eastern Namibia.
No full textThe nuts of the Mangetti, Schinziophyton rautanenii, are an important food source for a number of rural communities. The environment in which the tree grows, however, is subject to frequent burning. A number of trees have been seen with a characteristic inverted U-shaped fire lesion on the base of the trunk. A collapsed trunk as well as a vertical scar in the same tree showed that heavy branches or a second trunk may collapse under their own weight, thus providing a point for fire entry
A normative distance education management model for dual mode institutions.
No full textDue to the fact that not all learning can be provided through formal education on campus at schools, colleges and institutions of higher education, distance education has become a viable alternative. In this regard we have seen a rapid expansion of distance education programmes at traditional face-to-face institutions, becoming dual mode institutions. Therefore, if students are to learn on the distance education mode, they need effective educational and administrative support. This implies that the management approach used by dual mode institutions differ from conventional face-to-face institutions. The aim of this paper is to identify a normative distance education management model, which can be used in evaluating current distance education management models in operation. In order to develop a normative distance education management model, the open systems framework is used because it provides a bridge between the general managerial work and the key management issues as they relate to distance education institutions. The management functions related to distance education is identified and briefly explained. This paper concludes that the biggest challenge in the management of distance education institutions is that they remain flexible and innovative in their approach to student needs