Savanna Science Network Meeting 2019
- Date: 03 March 2019 – 07 March 2019
- Location: Nombolo Mdhluli Conference Centre, Skukuza, Kruger National Park
The Savanna Science Network Meeting is the most important annual event for the SANParks Scientific Services Department. It provides an opportunity for SANParks to gauge how effective our research programmes are and also to assess the progress in meeting SANParks‘ objectives for biodiversity conservation. This meeting is intended to encourage researchers and prospective researchers to share ideas, their research findings and to provide a platform for dialogue between scientists. Scientific Services has a strong team of scientists working in different fields who, together with external scientists, conduct research in many topics. These include, for example, biodiversity monitoring, population studies, fire behaviour, vegetation monitoring and aerial game census techniques.
Programme
View/Download the SSMN 2019 Programme
Presentations
Monday – 4 March 2019
- Dr Luthando Dziba: Opening and welcome
- Nicola Stevens: Woody encroachment as a worldwide symptom of global climate change
- Kathleen Smart: Carbon Vs Water: The Impacts Of Bush Encroachment
- Brad Ripley: Co2 Fertilisation Increases Tolerance Of Herbivory In Seedlings Of The Bush Encroaching Savanna Tree Vachellia Karroo
- Robert Fletcher: The Effects Of Shrub Encroachment Vary With Land Use For Birds In An African Savanna
- Wenjie Ji: Do We Need To Rethink What We Think About Woody Plant Encroachment?
- Tristan Charles-Dominique: Environmental Barriers Between Biomes: What Are The Ecological Thresholds? And How Do Trees Contribute To Create Them?
- Yadvinder Malhi: Ecosystem Function And Plant Traits Along A Rainforest-Savanna Gradient In Ghana, West Africa
- Michael Anderson: Drivers Of Savanna Structure And Function Revealed By A Comparison Of Model Ecosystems Across Africa
- Robert McCleery: Increased Woody Cover In African Savannas Alter The Diversity, Composition, Behaviors And Functions Of Mammal Communities
- Alessandra Fidelis: To Burn Or Not To Burn? Let’s Talk About Wildfires And Fire Management In Cerrado
- Vagner Zanzarini: Vegetation Flammability During The Dry And Wet Season In An Open Physiognomy Of Cerrado
- Aline Bombo: Effects Of Fire Frequency In Bud Bank And Belowground Organs Diversity In Cerrado
- Benjamin Wigley: Rates Of Bark Recovery In Savanna Trees And Interactions With Fire
- Monique Botha: How Do Architectural And Leaf Traits Of Tree Seedlings Respond To Injury From Fire, Frost And Herbivory?
- Susi Vetter: No Fire – Fewer Trees: Long-Term Effect Of Fire Frequency On Woody Plant Communities At The Fort Hare Fire Trials
- Peter Scogings: Woody Plants And Large Herbivores In Savannas: Predicting Woody Species Persistence Under Browsing
- Dawood Hattas: Seedling Defence Against Herbivory In African Acacias
- Andrew Davies: Elephants Limit Aboveground Carbon Gains In African Savannas
- Ulfia Lenfers: Bush Encroachment, Tree Pushing, And Coppicing In The Greater Kruger
- Anabelle Cardoso: The Role Of Forest Elephants In Shaping Tropical Forest-Savanna Co-Existence
Tuesday – 5 March 2019
- Elizabeth Le Roux: Cryptic Trophic Cascades In Multi-Species Systems: Predator Effects On Ecosystem Stoichiometry
- Robert Buitenwerf: Herbivore Effects On Biodiversity And Vegetation Structure In Neo-Tropical Savannas
- Thomas Clemen: cross-scale-decision-support-for-elephants
- Gregory Kiker: Complex And Uncertain Trade-Offs: Integrating Simulation Models And Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis To Compare Ecosystem Management Alternatives In Kruger Park Landscapes
- Smit IPJ & Asner GP: Fire intensity influences visibility and landscape of fear
- Kate Parr: Elephants, Bees And Ants: Unravelling Complex Interactions In Savanna Management
- Cheryl Mabika: Participative Community Engagement In Human Wildlife Conflict Management
- Antoinette Van de Water: Using Participatory Action Research To Assess The Social Dimensions Of Human-Elephant Conflicts
- Tally Palmer: Too Slow And Too Difficult? Participatory Governance As A Lever For Sustainable Research-Based Interventions
- Kaera Coetzer: Scale Of Change In Bushbuckridge Social-Ecological System: An Exhaustive, Multidisciplinary Review Of The Research ‘Supercite’
- Louise Swemmer: Who Are Our Neighbours? A Reflection On People, Places, Perceptions And Priorities
- Montagu Murray: A Value Offering Simultaneously Promoting Climate Change Mitigation, Constituency Building And Rural Development
- Urs Kreuter: A New Orientation To Buffer Zones In Integrated Conservation And Development Areas: Management Across Boundaries In The K2c Biosphere
- Roel May: The Servicescape Of The Greater Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem: Visualizing The Linkages Between Land Use, Biodiversity And The Delivery Of Wildlife-Related Ecosystem Services
- Penny Mograbi: The Decline Of Field Cultivation In South African Smallholder Communal Lands
- Gonzalo Corté-Capano: Assessing Landowners´ Preferences To Inform Voluntary Private Land Conservation Policy-Making In Uruguay
- Christoph Fink: Hashtag Rhino: Volume, Sentiment And Content Of Social Media Posts Pertaining To An Endangered Species And Its Conservation
- Anna Hausmann: Understanding Attitudes, Sentiment And Opinions Of Visitors To National Parks By Using Social Media Data
- Sam Ferreira: A Poacher Chase For A Rhino Guard?
- Zoe Nhleko: Effects Of Poaching & Environmental Conditions On White Rhino Survival Rates
- Nikki Le Roex: Poaching Creates Ecological Traps Within An Iconic Protected Area
- Judith Wilken: Warburgia Salutaris: Out Of The Woods Or Not?
- Dave Thompson: A Game Of Clones: Genetic Diversity Of The Endangered Pepper-Bark, And Implications For In And Ex Situ Conservation
- Eddie Riddell: The effects of diffuse pollution on the aquatic ecosystems of the Kruger National Park
- Alexandra Holland: A Snapshot In Time: Freshwater Insect Diversity In Rivers Of The Kruger National Park
- Helen Barber-James: Using The Aerial Stage Of Aquatic Insects As A Freshwater Biomonitoring Tool – A New Approach To Biomonitoring In Dangerous Rivers
- Joshua Weiss: Spatio-Temporal Change In Riparian Woodlands Of The Kruger National Park: Drivers And Implications
- Keenan Stears: Seasonal Variation In Habitat Use And Spatial Ecology Of The Common Hippopotamus
- Mary Evans: Sediment Dynamics, Flood Events And Luminescence Dating On The Sabie River, South Africa
Wednesday – 6 March 2019
- Llewellyn Foxcroft: Patterns And Implications Of Alien Plant Invasions At Multiple Scales
- Mariska te Beest: Determinants Of Spread Of An Emerging Population Of Parthenium Hysterophorus In Kruger National Park
- Katherine James: Machine Learning And Drone Technology: Towards An Environmental Management Tool
- Anna Treydte: Environmental-Friendly Management Of Two Invasive Plant Species In The Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania
- Hariyawan Agung Wahyudi: Eradicating The Invasive Acacia Nilotica In Savannah Ecosystem Of Baluran National Park, Indonesia: Which One Is The Most Effective
- Brett Murphy: Feral Cats And Northern Australia’s Mammal Conservation Crisis: What Can Australians Learn From African Ecology?
- Hugh Davies: Do Feral Cats Suppress Small Native Mammals In Northern Australia’s Savannas?
- John Donaldson: The ‘wicked problem’ of wildlife resource use and trade – what does it mean for CITES and other policy responses that affect the future of African ecosystems
- Edmund February: Water, Forage And Wildebeest Distribution In The Kalahari
- Rebecca Muller: Giraffe Resource Use Is Linked To Resource Availability In Mokala National Park
- Adrian Shrader: Does Diet Quality Influence The Seasonal Distribution Of Elephants In An African Savanna?
- Scott Y.S. Chui: Seasonal Patterns In Spatio-Behavioural Dynamics Of African Elephants (Loxodonta Africana)
- Nicolas Prinsloo: How Unique Is Unique? Quantifying Geometric Differences In Cape Mountain Zebra Stripe Patterns.
- Andy Lee: Mapping Social And Decision Processes Of Large Carnivore Reintroductions In South Africa Protected Reserves
- Meredith Palmer: Emergent Multiple Predator Effects: Examining The Mechanisms That Structure Predator-Prey Interactions In Multi-Predator Communities
- Andrei Snyman: A Novel Approach Of Analyzing Reoccurring Visits Of Large Carnivore Species
- Michelle Schroeder: Cheetah Mortality In Fenced Reserves As Part Of A Managed Metapopulation In South Africa
- Sze Wing Yiu: How Do Lions Move When Hunting?
- Michael Clinchy: Fear Of The Human “Super Predator” And Its Impacts And Applications In Savanna Systems
- Liana Zanette: The ‘Ecology Of Fear’ And Its Impacts On Ungulates In Savanna Systems
- Melissa Schmitt: Mixed-Species Herding: A Behavioural Response To Levelling The Landscape Of Fear
- Joris Cromsigt: Contrasting Effects Of African Elephant (Loxodonta Africana) On The Landscape Of Fear Of Smaller Savanna Ungulates
- Abel Ramoelo: Essential Biodiversity Variables’ Framework: Contribution Of Earth Observation Technologies For Monitoring Protected Areas
- Julius Anchang: Long Term Trends In Woody And Herbaceous Condition In The West African Sahel And Sudan Regions
- Anna Estes: Using Remote Sensing To Investigate Patterns Of Woody Vegetation Change In The Serengeti Ecosystem From 1984 To 2011
- Ane Alencar: Three Decades Of Land Use Changes In The Brazilian Cerrado Biome
- Lara Prihodko: A New Approach To Woody Biomass Assessments In Tropical Woodlands And Savannas Of Sub-Saharan Africa
- Marcel Urban: Surface Moisture And Vegetation Cover Analysis For Drought Monitoring In The Southern Kruger National Park Using Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, And Landsat-8
- Christian Berger: Exploring The Synergies Between Multi-Temporal Sentinel-1 And -2 Data For Wall-To-Wall Herbaceous Biomass Mapping In Kruger National Park, South Africa
- Shaun Levick: Long-Range Terrestrial Laser Scanning For Landscape Scale Vegetation Monitoring: The Evolution Of Fixed-Point Photography
- Barbara Zimbres: Aboveground Biomass Estimation Using Terrestrial Laser Scanning (Lidar) In Different Vegetation Formations In The Brazilian Savanna
- Kai Heckel: Creation Of A Very High-Resolution Digital Surface Model Of The Kruger National Park From Cdngi Aerial Imagery Using Pci Gxl
- Jussi Baade: How can we model grass community dynamics and grazing in DGVMs?
- Bernard Coetzee: Challenges And Opportunities For Monitoring Wild Nile Crocodiles With Scute Mark-Recapture Photography
Thursday – 7 March 2019
- Wendy Foden & Nicola van Wilgen: Preparing for climate change in South African National Parks
- Steven Higgins: Using Physiologically Based Species Distribution Modelling
- Dushyant Kumar: How Does Climate Change Shift The Grassland-Savanna-Forest Biome Boundaries In South Asia? A Dynamic Vegetation Modelling Approach
- Simon Scheiter: How Does Climate Change Influence The Economic Value Of Ecosystem Services In Savanna Rangelands?
- Carola Martens: Climate-Driven Ecosystem Changes In African Conservation Areas
- Stefan Kienzle: On The Potential Of Mapping Climate Indices To Delineate Current And Future Weather Extremes And Ecosystem Changes
- Carla Staver: Ecological Responses To Drought In Savanna: Management Implications Of Grass-Herbivore Landscape Interactions
- Jason Donaldson: Drought And The Seasonal Selectivity Of Grass Communities By African Savanna Grazers: Repercussions For System Productivity.
- Helga Van Coller: Herbivore Loss Overrides The Effects Of Herbivory And Drought In A Sodic Savanna
- Jana Klem: Forbs Vs Grasses – Is Diversity Driven By Herbivore-Type Or Drought?
- Clarissa Minnaar: Drought Effects On The Herbaceous Community Structure Of Disturbed Mopaneveld
- Madelon Case: Tree Responses To Severe Drought In Kruger National Park
- Guy Balme: Effects Of Drought On A Solitary, Large Carnivore
- Alice Walker: The Role Of Savanna Ants In Nutrient Redistribution
- Alan Andersen: Extra-Floral Nectar As A Driver Of Ant Communities In Seasonally Dry Brazil
- Caswell Munyai: Ant Diversity Decrease With Increasing Human Activities Across The East Coast Of South Africa
- Caroline Kunene: Ant Communities Along An Elevational Transect, Udzungwa Mountain In Tanzania
- Nokubonga Thabethe: Ant Thermal Tolerance And Behavioural Dominance In A Grassland
- Katherine Bunney: Continental Patterns Of Mammalian Myrmecophagy
- Richard Chepkwony: Associations Between The Age Of Animals And Rainfall On Tick-Borne Disease-Induced Mortalities In Boran Cattle (Bos Indicus) In Semi-Arid Savannas Of Laikipia, Kenya
- Frances Siebert: Trees, Shrubs, Grasses And ‘All The Others’: Cleaning Up The Forb Basket
- Nanette Van Staden: Going Back West: Diversity-Productivity Relationships In A Semi-Arid Savanna Ecosystem
- Samantha-Leigh Jamison: Bush Clump Succession Within An Open Savanna Is Associated With Patterns Of Increased Forest Specialisation.
- Mpilo Khumalo: Respiration In Savannas
- Wrap up – Lars Hedin