Savanna Science Network Meeting 2015
- Date: 08 March 2015 – 12 March 2015
- 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.
Presentations
Monday – 9 March 2015
- Botha JM: Welcome and Housekeeping
- Scholes B: Big-picture ecology for a small planet
- Strydom T & Mabuza S: Keeping it short and T(s)weet: Using Social Media For Science Communication
- Hetem RS, Maloney SK, Fuller A et al:Heterothermy in large mammals: inevitable or implemented?
- Boyers M, Parrini F, Erasmus BFN et al: Inanition hypothermia in gemsbok in the arid Kalahari
- Thaker M, Chelliah K, Vanak AT et al: When the going gets hot, the hot get going: African elephant, movement and body temperature
- Munyai CT & Foord SH: Ant communities and dominancy hierarchy across an elevation transect, Soutpansberg Mountain, Limpopo Province
- O’Keefe Kimberly & Nippert JB: Physiological mechanisms of drought and cold tolerance in coexisting woody species from South African savannas
- Bond WJ: Global change and the future of African savannas
- Stevens N Erasmus BFN, Archibald S et al: Bush encroachment over the last 70 years: overgrazing, global change or extinction aftershock?
- Bunting EL, Fullman TJ, Kiker GA at al: Simulated dynamics of vegetative cover and large herbivore distributions under climate change, water management and elephant population scenarios in Kruger National Park
- Gaylard A: SANParks Research Needs: Science Management Interactions
- Beckett H, Wills CET & Bond WJ: In the Aftermath of a Firestorm
- Whitecross MA & Howes CG: How do savanna evergreens respond to fire?
- Vanak AT, Chelliah K, Thaker M et al: “Playing with fire”- influence of fire on movement of African elephant in the Kruger National Park
- Frizzo TL M, Campos R & VAsconcelos HL: Contrasting effects of fire on arboreal and ground – dwelling ant communities of a Neotropical savanna
- Maravalhas JB & Vasconcelos HL: Ant responses to variable fire regimes in the savannas of central Brazil
- Burkepile DE, Thompson D, Fynn R et al: Fire frequency, herbivore size, and habitat selectivity influence top-down control of plant communities in a southern African savanna
- Dabengwa AN, Gillson L & Bond WJ: Untangling herbivore and fire patterns in human-affected landscapes from a sedimentary fossil record: a case study from Kwazulu-Natal
- Swemmer T: Too slow to get big: low recruitment and growth rates preclude large trees from landscapes with fire or elephants
- Thaker M, Vanak AT, Shannon G et al: Where have all the large trees gone? Fire, elephant and woody vegetation structure in the Kruger National Park
- Govendor N, Ruecker G, Ribeiro N et al: Comparing two fire management strategies in the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park: consequences for fire regimes and biodiversity
- Mabuza S, Midgley J & Kruger L: From seed to established seedling: Effects of granivory, fire and herbivory on seedling recruitment and survival of Acacia nigrescens, Combretum imberbe and Sclerocyara birrea in the Kruger National Park
- Hofmeyr M: SANParks Research Needs: Horticulture and Nursery
- Coetsee C, Wigley BJ, Zytkowiak R et al: The root of the problem: below-ground traits of woody savanna plants along environmental and disturbance gradients
- Cardoso AW, Medina JA, Malhi Y et al: Playing with fire: Thresholds and trade-offs in tropical west African forest seedlings across a savannah-forest
Tuesday – 10 March 2015
- Honda EA & Durigan G: On how the suppression of fire has reduced the effective rainfall in the Brazilian Savanna
- Humphrey GJ & Gillson L: The role of humans in the complex fire, climate and vegetation regimes of North-east Namibia
- Henly M & Scott PA: A continental perspective on diminishing giants: elephants and hardwoods
- Page BR & O’Connor TG: The relationship between elephant density and impact on vegetation
- Scogings PF, Hjalten J, Engdahl F et al: Contrasting morphological responses of two Acacia species to exclusion of large herbivores reflect differences in growth strategies
- Botha JM, Siebert F, Scogings P et al: Long-term exclosure research : what are we excluding?
- Siebert F & Botha JM: Herbivore effects on woody species diversity and structure
- Anderson AN, Arcoverde G & Setterfield S: Ant responses to grazing in tropical savannas of northern Australia
- Wigley B, Bond W, Fritz H et al: The Effects of Mammalian Herbivory and Rainfall on Acacia Palatability, Defence and Growth
- Pretorious Y: Creating grazing lawns in degraded sourveld
- Assis GB, Durigan G: Structural changes and diversity losses in Neotropical savannas due to invasive grasses
- Sibiya TE, Esler KJ & Foxcroft LC: Riparian plant community change and alien plant invasions following geomorphological change in the Sabie River, Kruger National Park, South Africa
- Schmitt MH, Ward D & Shrader AM: Have African elephants evolved physiological mechanisms to deal with plant secondary compounds?- Large body size and tannin-binding proteins in a non-ruminant
- Schmitt MH, Ward D & Shrader AM: Incorporating secondary metabolites, tannin-binding proteins, and diet breadth into carrying capacity models for a large, mixed feeder
- Parr CL, Evans T, Davies AB et al: Do the ‘little’ things run the world? Exploring the functional importance of ants in a South African savanna
- De Swardt DB, Coetsee C & O’Connor T: Investigating the effects of Imbrasia belina on soil fertility in the Mopane Bushveld of Venetia Limpopo Reserve, South Africa
- Lagendijk G, Davies A, Eggleton P et al: The elephant – termite feedback loop: truth or myth?
- February EC, Higgins SI & Keretetse M: Negative feedback on plant available nitrogen may restrict the advance of trees in C4 savannas
- van Coller H & Siebert F: Species diversity-productivity relationship in the herbaceous layer of a nutrient hot spot site
- Veldhuis MP, Hulshof A, Berg MP et al: Consumer-driven nutrient cycling determines plant nutrient limitations in African savannas
- Trisos M, Picker M, Parr CL et al: Nutrient and water addition in a Kruger savanna: cascading effects on insect diversity
Wednesday – 11 March 2015
- Ferreira S: Carnivore, herbivore and human gradients of fear landscapes
- Davies AB, Tambling CJ & Asner GP: Lion hunting habits in relation to vegetation structural heterogeneity and climatic factors
- Courbin N, Loveridge AJ, Chamaile-Jammes S et al: Flight decisions of Zebras after encounters with lions shape the lion-zebra spatial game at large spatial but short temporal scales in Hwangwe NP, Zimbabwe
- Yiu SW, Keith M, Parrini F et al: Settling into a new home: post-release movement and home range establishment of reintroduced lions (Panthera leo) and cheeters (Acinonyx jubatus)
- Wallach AD: Big predators for a small world
- Stears K & Shrader AM: Increases in food availability can result in oribi antelope taking greater risks at both large and small spatial scales
- Beechler BR, Medlock J, Juleff N et al: Mechanisms of persistence of FMDV in African buffalo populations
- van Heerden H, Hassim A, Ledwaba MB et al: Assumptions and facts of the dissemination of anthrax
- Govendor D: SANParks Research Needs: Disease
- Knight G, Strauss WM & Ferreira SM: Adaptive sampling to estimate rare antelope population variables in Kruger National Park
- Traill LW, Erasmus BFN & Owen-Smith N: Determining the population structure and trend of blue wildebeest (Connochaetes t. taurinus ) populations in Kruger National Park through individual-based data
- Twine W & Holdo R: Model answer: Incorporating coppice dynamics in simulations of fuel wood supply and demand
- van Staden N, Siebert F, Siebert S et al: Anthropogenically disturbed Mopaneveld: Is the ecosystem getting even?
- Reinwarth B, Baade J, Glotzbach C et al: Contemporary sediment yield in the Kruger National Park: high-resolution surveying and sediment mapping in reservoirs
- Miller J, Rowntree K, Schroeder D et al: Identification of Sediment Sources Using Sediment Fingerprinting Methods in Catchments in the Kruger National Park
- Nippert JB & Swemmer AM: Drivers of riparian forest change in Mapungubwe National Park, South Africa
- Morris TL, Holdo RM & Mack MC: Resprouting dynamics of savanna trees across resource gradients in Kruger National Park
- Valls Fox H, Fritz H, De Garine-Wichatitsky M et al: To drink or not to drink? Elephant movement strategies as surface water availability declines in a semi-arid savanna
- Strydom T, Riddell E, Swemmer AM et al: Monitoring Hydrological Processes along the Letaba River
- Riddell ES, Petersen R, Govendor D et al: The State of Freshwater Ecosystem Conservation in the Kruger National Park: Where to from here?
- Petersen R, Govendor D, Sithole H et al: State of the Rivers, Kruger National Park
- Palmer GG, Munnik V, du Toit D et al: Diverse sense-making in a co-operative water quality management process towards improving the social-ecological health of the Crocodile River
- Govendor D & Huchzermeyer D: Fish health surveys: What have we learnt?
- Woodborne S, Govendor D, Pienaar D et al: Dietary reconstruction of Nile crocodiles using stable light isotopes
- Lerm RE, & Swemmer AM: Long-term monitoring of water-dependant avifaunal communities of the Olifants and GA-selati rivers
- Mohlala TD & Venter J: Fishladder post-construction issues: analysis of distribution, attraction and passage efficiency metrics at the Engelhard fish ladder, Letaba River KNP
- Potgieter D: Groundwater Quality in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park
- Simms C, MacFadyen S, Govendor D et al: Building an informative wetland layer for Kruger National Park
- Petersen R: SANParks Research Needs: Freshwater
Thursday – 12 March 2015
- Murn C, Van Heerden H, Botha A et al: Vultures, anthrax, movement ecology and large mammal mortality in Kruger National Park
- Scholtz R, Murn C & Duckworth GD: The dynamics of A. nigrescens and the implications on patterns of nesting White-backed vultures in Kruger National Park
- Swemmer LK: Costs, benefits and making the tradeoffs- A case study of the Kruger National Park
- Bunn D, Midzi S & Auslander M: Edge Effects: Rumours and Uncanny Animals in the Boundary Management of South Africa’s Kruger National Park
- Caron A, Cornelis D, Miguel E et al: Buffalo/cattle interactions along the Limpopo River and consequences for pathogen transmission in the Great Limpopo TFCA
- Cook RM, Henley M & Parrin F: Changes in African elephant (Loxodonta africana) movement patterns at various distances from villages
- King, L: The Elephant and Bees Project: Using bees as a natural deterrent for crop-raiding elephants
- Mauda EV, Foord SH & Munyai CT: Ant diversity in an arid peri-urban landscape of the Vhembe Biosphere, South Africa
- Di Minin E, Laitila J, Montesino-Pouzols F et al: Identification of policies for a sustainable legal trade in rhinoceros horn based on population projection and socioeconomic models
- Hannweg K, Hofmeyr M & Grove T: The Pepperbark Initiative: Are we any closer to efficiently propagating Warburgia salutaris?
- Aplin P, O’Regan HJ, Marston C et al: Multi-scale observation of vegetation canopy cover change in southern KNP from 2002 to 2014
- Balzter H, Ibrahim S, Smit IPJ et al: Geomorphology and savanna vegetation structure in Kruger National Park from 12 m resolution Tandem-X IDEM data
- Baade J, Schmullius C & Smit IPJ: Catchment properties in the Kruger National Park derived from the new TanDEM-X based Digital Elevation Model (DEM)
- Fisher JT, Witkowski ETF, Erasmus BFN et al: What lies beneath: Detecting sub-canopy changes in savanna woodlands using a 3D classification method
- Schmullius C, Huttich C, Odipo V et al: Spatio-temporal Earth Observation Contribution to the BMBF/SPACES-project “Adaptive Resilience of Southern AFRICAN Ecosystems (Ars AfricaE)”
- Thiel-Clemen TH, Lenfers U, Huning CH: A Benefit for KNP-Ecologists- Massive Multi-Agent Simulation with MARS
- Gillson L: Complexity thinking and objectives setting in complex socio-ecological systems
- Ament J, & Cumming GS: Effectiveness and Social-Ecological Spillover of Protected Areas: understanding scale dependencies
- Swemmer Lk: SANParks Research Needs: Social
- Herbst M: Protected areas tourism- for the benefits of our National Parks
- Hausmann A, Slotow R & Di Minin E: Tourists’ preference for sense of place and less charismatic biodiversity: unveiling new opportunities for conservation
- Pape I, Lubbe B & de Bruyn PJN: The impact of visitation and the relative importance of iconic animals as tourist attraction in selected SANParks
- McHale MR, Twine W, Cadenasso M.L et al: Democratization of ecosystem services- radically revised framework for assessing nature’s benefits to communities
- McKean S: An estimate of ecosystem service value of grassland in KwaZulu Natal
- Cluett C, Nicholas E, Litzenberg T et al: The IMAGINE Program- Interdisciplinary research with communities to address water related challenges in the Kruger National Park socio-ecological system
- Lewis J & February EC: Another look at the savannah conundrum: evidence of niche segregation and competition avoidance with grasses in established trees
- Leitner M, Robertson MP, Davies AB et al: Agents of plant litter decomposition in African savannas: effects of rainfall and bush encroachment
- Pilon NAL & Durigan G: Potential of topsoil and hay transfer to restore the Brazilian savanna grassland
- Freitag-Ronaldson S: Wrap Up
- Botha JM: Thank you and Closing