Diploma Nature Conservation

Course Description

Subject no.1

Conservation Development 1 1^st year

Conservation Development is not a defined subject area. The purpose of this subject is to help you form your own opinion about what is going on in the world of conservation. Conservation is a dynamic, rapidly changing field of vital importance to each one of us. The decisions we make now about the use and care of natural resources will have a tremendous impact on our lives and those of future generations. What happens on the other side of the planet also has a profound effect on us; our decisions, in turn, affect people of whom we may be completely unaware

This subject area is intended to make you realise that:

• that the survival of the human race is dependent on the conservation of natural resources
• conservation must be taken into account in the activities of all sectors of the community
• to stop the current deterioration of the biosphere is a difficult and complicated task and requires international co-operation
• nature conservation forms part of a much wider environmental conservation action
• the current way of thinking in conservation cannot be isolated from the influence of world history

This subject should also not be viewed in isolation but leans heavily on the basic knowledge you will gain particularly in Conservation Ecology, Resource Management and Conservation Communication. However, unlike these subjects, Conservation Development is not a factual subject. In this course you will be introduced to:

• the history of conservation, not only in South Africa, but also in the rest of Africa and the world
• different conservation philosophies as well as the World Conservation Strategy
• how conservation differs in the developed and developing world
• how the differences in the situations above can be addressed through environmental education and community development
• the role that nature conservation plays in the wider concept of environmental conservation

Subject no.2

Conservation Ecology I  1^st year

• This subject deals with the basic concept of ecology. It is divided into the next categories:
• The scope and meaning of ecology
• Divisions of ecology
• Ecology and related sciences
• Ecology and Nature conservation
• Components of an ecosystem
• Energy in an ecosystem
• Productivity in the ecosystem
• Biogeochemical cycles in the ecosyste

Subject no.3

Resource Management I  1^st year

• This subject deals with the management of our natural resources and includes the next
• Data collection, processing and interpretation
• Introduction to statistics
• Tabulation, graphic and diagrammatic representation of data
• Basic descriptive statistics
• Use of computers in resource management.
• Monitoring of animals
• Introduction to monitoring
• Monitoring of animal groups
• Census methods for game
• Monitoring the condition of animals
• Population Dynamics
• Monitoring the age of animals (Game)
• Determining age (Dead animals)
• Determining sex ratios, breeding percentage and mortality
• Background on soil conservation and erosion
• Soil conservation management: Prevention of soil erosion in nature reserves
• Reclamation of eroded areas in nature reserves

Subject no.4

Conservation Communication I 1^st year

• This subject deals with the basic communication skills needed within the workplace. This is a common subject that is included into any diploma or degree studied within South Africa.

Subject no.5

Plant Studies I  1^st year

• This is a subject that shouldn’t be taken up light hearted and often distinguish between the serious student and the “loafer” and could mean the end of your studies if not taken serious. It consists out of two main sections. Section one deals with basic plant physiology and the second deals with plant identification and classification inside the kingdom Plantaea. The sections are divided as follow:
• Plant physiology
• The plant cell and mitosis
• Meiosis and genetics
• External structure of roots
• External structures of stems
• External structures of leaves
• Flower morphology
• Fruit and seed morphology
• Germination and germ plants
• Vegetative regions and cell differentiation
• Root anatomy
• Stem anatomy
• Leaf anatomy
• Identification and classification
• Width growth in stems
• The chemical ingredients of plants
• Mineral nutrition
• Water economy
• Photosynthesis and respiration
• Plant growth substances
• Strain physiology
• Rugnum Monera and regnum Fungi
• Algae
• Mosses and Ferns
• Gymnospemae and Angiospemae

Subject no.6

Animal Studies I  1^st year

• The same as for Plant studies 1, this subject should also not be taken up light hearted and often distinguish between the serious student and the “loafer” and could mean the end of your studies if not taken serious enough  This subject deals with practical animal anatomy and physiology. This subject is divided as follow.
• Principles of taxonomy
• Protozoa
• Porifera
• Coelenterata
• Plathyhelminthes
• Aschelmintes
• Mollusca
• Annelida
• Arthropoda
• Echinodermata
• Collection and preservation
• Invertebrata
• Game diseases

Subject no.7

Basic practical week

• This week is spend at the UNISA Florida campus and is filled with a week of fun learning about conservation.

Subject no.8

Computer usage  2^nd year

• This subject deals with computer usage within conservation. This is a common subject that is included into any diploma or degree studied within South Africa.

Subject no.9

Conservation administration 2^nd year

• As indicated by the name, this subject deals with all the basic administrative duties of a nuture conservation officer.

Subject no.10

Soil Science  2^nd year

Another subject that should not be taken up light hearted. This subject deals with all aspects of geology, geomorphology and soils. This subject consists out of the next:

• Introduction to geology and mineralogy.
• The earth’s structure, introduction to petrology and igneous rocks
• Sedimentary rocks
• Metamorphic rocks and other geological aspects
• Soil genesis
• The study of soil
• Physical properties of soil
• Soil classification and mapping
• General chemistry
• Soil chemical properties
• Soil biological properties
• Practical aspects of soil management

Subject no.11

Conservation Ecology II  2^nd year

This is a step up from Ecology I. You first have to complete all four main subjects (Ecology I, Resource management I, Plant studies I and Animal studies I) in your first year before you may continue with this subject. This subject consist of the next:

• Limiting factors in the ecosystem
• Water
• Organization and functioning on species level.
• Population dynamics
• Ecological dominance
• SuccessionIntroduction to geology and mineralogy
• The earth’s structure, introduction to petrology and igneous rocks
• Sedimentary rocks
• Metamorphic rocks and other geological aspects
• The origin and development of soils
• Soil properties and their meaning
• Practical aspects of soil management
• Soil classification
• Factors controlling climate and climatic elements
• Application of climatic information

Subject no.12

Resource Management II 2^nd year

• As with Resource Management I, this subject deals with the management of our natural resources and includes the next:
• Water requirements
• Supplementary feed for game
• Social behaviour
• Game Ranch development and management
• Capture, transportation and keeping of game
• The management of hunting

Subject no.13

Conservation Communication II 3^rd year

• As with Communication I, this subject deals with communication skills needed within the workplace. This is a common subject that is included into any diploma or degree studied within South Africa.

Subject no.14

Plant Studies II  3^rd year

• This subject is another subject that should not be taken up light hearted. It requires you to know the plants in their environment very well. Identifications and botanical names play a huge role in this subject. It consists out of two parts. Section 1 deals with herbaria and section two deals with 50 individual plant FAMILIES and examples of species within these families and there characteristics. It takes a lot of dedication and hard studies in the veld.

Subject no.15

Animal Studies II  3^rd year

• Another subject that should not be taken up light heartedly. The subject deals with the next:
• Vertebrata: Taxonomic and Morphological characteristics
• Class Chondrichthyes
• Class Osteichthyes
• Class Amphibia
• Class Reptilia
• Class Aves
• Class Mammalia
• Integument
• Skeleton and Teeth
• Nervous system
• Digestive system
• Excretory system
• Vascular system
• Muscle physiology
• The respiratory system
• Oxygen & carbon dioxide
• Respiratory mechanism
• The human respiratory system
• Human breathing
• Respiratory function of the blood
• Carbon dioxide
• Techniques
• Collection of vertebrates
• Post-Mortem techniques
• Blood smears for microscopic examination
• Preservation of specimens

Subject no.16

Inland practical week

• This practicum take place at Golden Gate National Park and last for 7 days. Here all the work that was done in Level II will be discussed by lecturers from UNISA

The last five main subjects are the most critical in your studies. If you would like to continue with a BTech (Honours) Nature conservation degree, then you have to score 65% or higher for these subjects. These subjects also take the most time to complete and are the most involved subjects of the entire course. They are very intense and would require you to absolute dedication and enthusiasm.

Subject no.17

Conservation Ecology III 3^rd year

• This is the last part of ecology to obtain your diploma. It consists mainly of the subject Paleoecology with subheadings of the next:
• Gondwanaland hypothesis  
• Species distribution
• Biogeography and continental drift
• Speciation
• Mechanisms of speciation
• Allopatry and speciation
• Parapatry and speciation
• Sympatry and speciation
• Pollen studies
• The potentialities of pollen analysis
• Applications of pollen analysis
• Deposits containing fossil pollen
• Sampling and preparation of pollen for analysis
• Pollen diagrams
• Example of a pollen diagram from South Africa

Subject no.18

Resource Management III 4^th year

 The last subject on resource management mainly deals with the management of Fresh water and Marine Ecosystems. This subject is divided as follow:

• The management of mountain catchment areas
• The management of river systems
• The management of farm dams
• Aquaculture
• The management of endangered fish species
• Public freshwater angling
• Estuaries
• Tidal zones
• The fishing industry
• Other marine resources
• The management of problem animals

Subject no.19

Plant Studies III  4^th year

• This section deals with ecological plant and pasture management. It consists out of:
• Introduction to plant sociology
• Characteristics of a plant community
• Survey techniques
• Classification and ordination of plant communities
• Braun-Blanquet veld survey method
• Vegetation management
• Veld condition assessment techniques
• Veld condition assessment within various vegetation types
• Benchmarks
• Veld intensification
• Veld fertilisation
• Veld reinforcement
• Seeding Procedures
• Measuring primary production
• Harvest methods
• Carbon dioxide assimilation
• Oxygen production
• Radio isotope methods
• Production efficiency
• The effect of herbivores on primary production

Subject no.20

Animal Studies III  4^th year

 This last section of animal studies is also the most difficult. It deals with the next:

• Ethology (Animal behaviour)
• Zoogeography of South African Vertebrata
• Genetic structure and processes of evolutionary change in populations
• Population genetics and its application to nature conservation
• Quantitative characters, speciation and macro evolution, population genetics and nature conservation.

Subject no.21

Marine practical week  4^th year

This practicum is the last one and takes place at the Umgeni valley Project in Howick for three days and the rest is spend at Winkelspruit where everything on marine biology, estuaries and mangroves are discussed.