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Dr Corli Wigley-Coetsee

Dr Corli Wigley-Coetsee

Scientist: Vegetation Dynamics, Savanna Research Unit

Location: Skukuza, Kruger National Park

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: +27 (0)13 735 4415

Associate-editor of African Journal of Range and Forage Science

Education

  • BSc Agric (Pasture Management), 1995, University of Pretoria
  • BSc Honours (Wildlife Management), 1997, University of Pretoria
  • MSc (Conservation Biology), 2001, University of Cape Town
  • PhD (Ecology), 2007, University of Cape Town, titled “Long-term effects of fire on nitrogen cycling in a broad-leaf savanna, Kruger National Park, South Africa”

Research Focus and Interest

My research interests is mostly focused on the interactions between plants and herbivores but with a wide appreciation for processes that happen at the ecosystem scale. I am increasingly involved in communicating science to a wider audience and curious about the best ways of communicating conservation messages and making conservation and science relevant for all.

Publications

Journal Articles

  1. Strydom, T., Smit, I. P., Govender, N., Coetsee, C., Singh, J., Davies, A. B. & van Wilgen, B. W. 2023. High‐intensity fires may have limited medium‐term effectiveness for reversing woody plant encroachment in an African savanna. Journal of Applied Ecology.https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14362
  2. Coetsee, C., Botha, J., Case, M. F., Manganyi, A. & Siebert, F. 2023. The hard lives of trees in African savanna—Even without elephants. Austral Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.13283.
  3. Cardoso, A. W., Archibald, S., Bond, W. J., Coetsee, C., Forrest, M., Govender, N. … & Staver, A. C. 2022. Quantifying the environmental limits to fire spread in grassy ecosystems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(26), e2110364119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2110364119
  4. Wigley, B. J., Coetsee, C., Mawoyo, K. A. & Fritz, H. 2022. No evidence for the simultaneous induction of structural and chemical defences in spiny southern African savanna trees. Austral Ecology, 47(7), 1415-1426. https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.13223
  5. Turner, J., Owen-Smith, N., Kruger, L., Wigley-Coetsee, C. & O’Connor, T. G. 2022. Shifting patch dynamics of floodplain woodlands in an arid savanna region: effects of soil form, flooding and large herbivores. South African Journal of Botany, 151, 866-875. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2022.11.005
  6. Zhou, Y., Singh, J., Butnor, J.R., Coetsee, C., Boucher, P.B., Case, M.F., Hockridge, E.G., Davies, A.B. & Staver, A.C. 2022. Limited increases in savanna carbon stocks over decades of fire suppression. Nature 603: 445-449.
  7. Das, A. Thaker, M., Coetsee, C., Slotow, R. & Vanak, A.T. 2022. The importance of history in understanding large tree mortality in African savannas. Ecography  https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.06012
  8. Coetsee, C., Wigley, B.J., Sankaran, M., Ratnam, J. & Augustine, D. 2022. Contrasting Effects of Grazing vs Browsing Herbivores Determine Changes in Soil Fertility in an East African Savanna. Ecosystems 26: 161-173. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-022-00748-7
  9. Wigley-Coetsee, C., Strydom, T., Govender, D, Thompson, D.I., Govender, G., Botha, J., Simms, C., Manganyi, A., Kruger, L., Venter, J., Greaver, C. & Smit, I. 2022. Reflecting on research produced after more than 60 years of exclosures in the Kruger National Park. Koedoe 64: https://koedoe.co.za/index.php/koedoe/article/view/1674/2936
  10. Pellegrini, A.F.A., Refsland, T., …Coetsee, C. …& Jackson, R.B. 2021. Decadal changes in fire frequencies shift tree communities and functional traits. Nature Ecology and Evolution 5: 504-512.
  11. Wigley, B.J., Charles-Dominique, T., Hempson, G.P., Stevens, N., te Beest, M., Archibald, S., Bond, W. J., Bunney, K., Coetsee, C., Donaldson, J., Fidelis, A., Gao, X., Gignoux, J., Lehmann, C., Massad, T. J., Midgley, J. J., Millan, M., Schwilk, D., Siebert, F., Solofondranohatra, C., Staver, A. C., Zhou Y. & Kruger, L. M. 2021. Australian Journal of Botany 69: 110.
  12. Zhou, Y., Tingley, M.W., Case, M.F., Coetsee, C., Kiker, G.A., Scholtz, R., Venter, F.J., Staver, A.C. 2021. Woody encroachment happens via intensification, not extensification, of species ranges in an African savanna. Ecological Applications e02437.
  13. Zhou, Y., Wigley, B.J., Case, M.F., Coetsee, C. & Staver, A.C. 2020. Rooting depth as a key woody functional trait in savannas. New Phytologist 227(5): 1350-1361.
  14. Wigley, B.J., Augustine, D.J., Coetsee, C., Ratnam, J. & Sankaran, M. 2020. Grasses continue to trump trees at soil carbon sequestration following herbivore exclusion in a semiarid African savanna. Ecology 101(5): e03008.
  15. Case, M.F., Wigley, B.J., Wigley-Coetsee, C. & Carla Staver, A., 2020. Could drought constrain woody encroachers in savannas? African Journal of Range and Forage Science (Special Edition) 37: 19-29.
  16. Coetsee, C. & Staver, A.C. 2020. Grass community responses to drought in an African savanna. African Journal of Range and Forage Science (Special Edition) 37: 42-53.
  17. Pellegrini, A. F., Hobbie, S. E., Reich, P. B., Jumpponen, A., Brookshire, E. J., Caprio, A. C., …Coetsee, C. & Jackson, R. B. (2020). Repeated fire shifts carbon and nitrogen cycling by changing plant inputs and soil decomposition across ecosystems. Ecological Monographs, 90(4), e01409.
  18. Wigley, B.J., Augustine, D.J., Coetsee, C., Ratnam, J. & Sankaran, M. 2020. Grasses continue to trump trees at soil carbon sequestration following herbivore exclusion in a semiarid African savanna. Ecology e03008.
  19. Case, M.F., Wigley, B.J., Wigley-Coetsee, C. & Carla Staver, A., 2020. Could drought constrain woody encroachers in savannas? African Journal of Range and Forage Science (Special Edition) 37: 19-29.
  20. Wigley-Coetsee, C. & Staver, A.C. 2020. Grass community responses to drought in an African savanna. African Journal of Range and Forage Science (Special Edition) 37: 42-53.
  21. Wigley, B.J., Staver, A.C., Zytkowiak, R., Jagodzinski, A.M. & Wigley-Coetsee, C. 2019. Root trait variation in African savannas. Plant and Soil 441: 555-565.
  22. Wigley, B.J., Coetsee, C., Kruger, L.M., Ratnam, J. & Sankaran, M. 2019. Ants, fire and bark traits affect how African savanna trees recover following damage. Biotropica 51: 682-691.
  23. Wigley. B.J., Coetsee, C., Augustine, D.J., Ratnam, J., Hattas, D. & Sankaran, M. 2019. A thorny issue: woody plant defence and growth in an East African savanna. Journal of Ecology 107: 1839-1851.
  24. Strydom, T., Riddell, E.S., Rowe, T., Govender, N., Lorentz, S.A., Le Roux, P.A.L. & Wigley-Coetsee, C. 2019. The effect of experimental fires on soil hydrology and nutrients in an African savanna. Geoderma 345: 114-122.
  25. Case, M.F., Wigley‐Coetsee, C., Nzima, N., Scogings, P.F. & Staver, A.C., 2019. Severe drought limits trees in a semi‐arid savanna. Ecology, 100(11), p.e02842.
  26. De Swardt, D.B., Wigley-Coetsee, C. & O’Connor, T.G. 2018. Insect outbreaks alter nutrient dynamics in a southern African savanna: patchy defoliation of Colophospermum mopane savanna by Imbrasia belina larvae. Biotropica 50: 789-796.
  27. Wigley, B.J., Fritz, H. & Coetsee, C. 2018. Defence strategies in African savanna trees. Oecologia 187: 787-809.
  28. Codron, J., Avenant, N.L., Wigley-Coetsee, C. & Codron, D. 2018. Carnivore stable carbon isotope niches reflect predator-prey size relationships in African savannas. Integrative Zoology 13: 166-179.
  29. Scholtz, R., Smit, I. P. J., Coetsee, C., Kiker, G. A., & Venter, F. J. 2017. Legacy effects of top–down disturbances on woody plant species composition in semi‐arid systems. Austral Ecology 42(1): 72-83.
  30. Coetsee, C. & Wigley, B.J. 2016. Browser impacts in Mapungubwe National Park: Should we be worried? Koedoe 58(1), http://www.koedoe.co.za/index.php/koedoe/article/view/1347
  31. Wigley, B. J., Slingsby, J. A., Díaz, S., Bond, W. J., Fritz, H., & Coetsee, C. 2016. Leaf traits of African woody savanna species across climate and soil fertility gradients: evidence for conservative versus acquisitive resource‐use strategies. Journal of Ecology, 104(5), 1357-1369.
  32. Becker, C.H.,Coetsee, C., Cowling, R.M. and Potts, A.J. (2015). The local landscape boundary between the Albany subtropical thicket and Nama-Karoo shrubland is not influenced by edaphic factors. South African Journal of Botany. doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2014.12.003.
  33. Wigley, B.J., Bond, W.J., Fritz, H., and Coetsee, C. (2015). Mammal browsers and rainfall affect Acacia leaf nutrient content, defense, and growth in South African savannas. Biotropica 47: 190-200.
  34. Coetsee, C., Bond, W.J. and Wigley, B.J. (2014). Forest and fynbos are alternative states on the same nutrient poor geological substrate. South African Journal of Botany. doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2014.11.007
  35. Wigley, B.J., Fritz, H., Coetsee, C. and Bond, W.J. (2014). Herbivores shape woody plant communities in the Kruger National Park: Lessons from three long-term exclosures. Koedoe 56(1). doi: 10.4102/koedoe.v56i1.1165
  36. Coetsee, C., Grey, E.F., Wakeling, J., Wigley, B.J. and Bond, W.J. (2013). Low gains in ecosystem carbon with woody plant encroachment in a South African savanna. Journal of Tropical Ecology 29: 49-60.
  37. Wigley, B.J., Coetsee, C., Hartshorn, A.S. and Bond, W.J. (2013). What do ecologists miss by not digging deep enough? Insights and methodological guidelines for assessing soil fertility status in ecological studies. Acta Oecologia 51: 17-27.
  38. Coetsee, C. and Wigley, B.J. (2013). Virgilia divaricata may facilitate forest expansion in the afrotemperate forests of the southern Cape, South Africa. Koedoe 55 (1): 49-56.
  39. Coetsee, C., Jacobs, S. and Govender, N. (2012). An overview of nitrogen cycling in a semiarid savanna: Some implications for management and conservation in a large African park. Environmental Management 49: 387-402.
  40. Coetsee, C., Bond, W. and February, E. (2010). Changes in vegetation and not frequent fire govern soil nitrogen and carbon in an African savanna. Oecologia 162: 1027-1034.
  41. Coetsee, C., Stock, W. and Craine J.C. (2010). Do grazers alter nitrogen cycling on grazing lawns in a South African savanna? African Journal of Ecology 49: 62-69.
  42. Hartshorn, T., Coetsee, C., Guebels, C., Setaro, F. and Chadwick, O. (2009). Pyromineralization of soil phosphorus across granitic landscapes. Chemical Geology 267: 24-31.
  43. Coetsee, C. February, E. and Bond, W. (2008). Nitrogen availability is not affected by frequent fire in a South African savanna. Journal of Tropical Ecology 24: 647-654.

Book or Book Chapters

  1. Smit, I.P.K. & Coetsee, C. 2019. Interactions between fire and herbivory: Current understanding and management implications. In: Gordon, I.J. & Prins, H.H.T. (eds) The Ecology of Browsing and Grazing II. Springer, Cham.
  2. Katona, K. & Coetsee, C. 2019. Impacts of browsing and grazing ungulates on faunal biodiversity. In: Gordon, I.J. & Prins, H.H.T. (eds) The Ecology of Browsing and Grazing II. Springer, Cham.
  3. February, E.C., Coetsee, C., Cook, G.D., Ratnam, A. & Wigley, B. 2019. Physiological traits of savanna woody species: Adaptations to resource availability. In: Scogings, P.F. & Sankaran, M. (eds) Savanna woody plants and large herbivores. John Wiley & Sons Ltd. USA.
  4. Coetsee, C., Fornara, D., Veldtman, A. & Wigley, B. 2019. Indirect effects of browsing herbivores in savannas. In: Scogings, P.F. & Sankaran, M. (eds) Savanna woody plants and large herbivores. John Wiley & Sons Ltd. USA.
  5. Archibald, S., Beckett, H., Bond, W.J., Coetsee, C., Druce, J. & Staver, A.C. 2017. Interactions between fire and ecosystem processes. In: Cromsigt, J.P.G.M., Archibald, S. Owen-Smith, N. (eds) Conserving Africa’s Mega-Diversity in the Anthropocene: The Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park Story. Cambridge University Press, UK.