Savanna Science Network Meeting 2018
- Date: 04 March 2018 – 08 March 2018
- 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 2018 Programme
Presentations
Monday – 5 March 2018
- Botha JM: Opening and welcome
- Fynn R, Sianga K, Bennitt E et al: Functional heterogeneity as a control of landscape resilience and biodiversity: insights from northern Botswana
- Fossoy F, Fossum IAL, Lyamuya R et al: Dietary competition between wild impala and domestic goats as revealed by DNA-metabarcoding
- Selebatso M, Maude G & Fynn RWS: Dietary overlap suggests competition for forage between sympatric ungulates in the increasingly fragmented central Kalahari
- Malindie S & Codron D: Stable isotope niche breadths of herbivore populations in the South African grassland biome: effects of density and community composition
- Brooke C, Fortin D, Kraaij T et al: Niche separation of large ungulates: foraging to maximise instantaneous or daily digestible energy
- Gehr B, Landman M, Keller LF et al: Feedback responses of a keystone herbivore to changes in resource distribution – foraging height selection by African elephants in the Addo Elephant National Park
- Van der Laarse M, Ferreira S & Joubert J: Where are the rhinos?
- Ryan CM, Hargreaves PK, Rees R et al: How does fire frequency affect diversity, structure and ecosystem services in the miombo woodland of Zimbabwe?
- Munyai CT & Mhlungu SP: A preliminary study of the effect of fire on ground-dwelling arthropods in KwaZulu-Natal Mistbelt
- Pilon NAL, Abreu RCR, Hoffmann WA et al: Positive fire effects on the ground-layer plant species in a Neotropical savanna
- Te Beest M, Mvelase T, Tedder M et al: Interactive effects of fire and experimental warming on C4 grasslands in South Africa
- Cardoso AW, Oliveras I, Abernethy KA et al: Quality is better than quantity: grass composition, not biomass, influences fire intensity at the forest-savanna transition
- Slingsby JA, Merow C, Aiello-Lammens M et al: Intensifying postfire weather and biological invasion drive species loss in a hotspot
- Parker DM & Taylor PJ: Resurveying the bats of northern Kruger National Park
- Maritz B & Henry D: Towards thresholds of potential concern for reptiles
- Stokke B, Fossoy F, Fyumagwa R et al: Temporal variation in mammal diversity in Serengeti National Park 2001-2017
- Harris MA, Jamison S, Voysay M et al: A bird’s eye view: do communal grazing practises influence avian assemblages
- Van Staden N, Siebert F, Siebert SJ et al: Functional diversity measures best explain response patterns of the herbaceous layer in a Mopane veld savanna
- Buisson E, Le Stradic S, Silveira FAO et al: What do we know about tropical old-growth grassland resilience and restoration?
- Cava MGB, Pilon NAL, Riberio MC et al: The recovery dynamics of secondary Neotropical savanna in abandoned pastures
- Xolo S, Foord SH, Slotow R et al: Ant diversity and composition in reforested landscape of Buffelsdraai landfill, KwaZulu-Natal
- Mathieu R, Naidoo L, Smit I et al: Woody resource patterns and land management in the South African Lowveld
- Coetzee BWT, Smit I & Gaston K: Mapping the artificial lightscapes of the Kruger National Park
- Berger C, Werner S & Schmullius C: On the potential of multi-temporal Sentinel-1 data for wall-to-wall herbaceous biomass mapping in Kruger National Park, South Africa
- Lewis JR, February EC & Verboom GA: Does tree-on-tree competition structure acacia communities in southern African savannas?
- Trisos M, Parr K, Picker M et al: Increasing grass biomass through resource additions: a concern or boon for Kruger’s herbaceous and animal communities?
Tuesday – 6 March 2018
- Smit I: Whose wilderness is it anyway? Cooperative governance and the social-symbolic construction of nature
- Chidakel A: The Comparative Economic Impacts of Kruger National Park and the Surrounding Reserves
- Swemmer LK, Midzi S, Shibambu D et al: Its not just about the worm” – the impact of resource use within the Kruger National Park
- Lindsay J, Morrison T & Hopcraft G: Fire as a management tool: the effect of grassland burning on the Serengeti wildebeest migration
- Smit IPJ & Asner GP: Fire intensity influences visibility and landscape of fear
- Dlamini TB, Thompson DI, Reilly BK et al: Differential herbivore occupancy of fire-manipulated savannas in the Satara region of the Kruger National Park
- Kiker GA, Bunting EL & Fullman TJ: How many elephants are too many? How much impact is too much? Using simulation models to compare climate and elephant outcomes across Kruger Park landscapes
- Tripathi H, Mzumara T, Martin R et al: Effect of human and elephant disturbance on habitat structure and diversity of birds in the mopane woodlands
- Henley MD, Bedetti A & Everatt KT: Developing fear landscapes – how do elephants respond?
- Cromsigt JPGM & Te Beest M: Megaherbivores and climate change: role of white rhino in climate-vegetation feedbacks
- Banasiak NM & Shaw JA: Does scientific research meet conservation needs for threatened species? A case study with rhinoceros
- Fink C & Di Minin E: Uncovering Illegal Wildlife Trade on Social Media: Automatic Data Collection, Deep Learning Filters and Identification
- Turner WC, Barandongo ZR, Beyer W et al: Anthrax transmission in herbivorous wildlife: evaluating the risk of lethal exposures from ingestion or inhalation of Bacillus anthracis spores
- Baade J: Monitoring Gully erosion in Kruger National Park using TLS – The first comparison
- Haylock KA, Parrini F, Strauss WM et al: sable-antelope-display-flexibility-in-body-temperature-regulation-and-behavioural-patterns
- Swemmer AM, Mashele M & Lerm R: The limited impact of the severe drought of 2014-16 on the trees of the Kruger National Park
- Coetzer-Hanack KL & Hornsby DJ: Disentangling the effect of management and environment on forest cover and structure of African savannas
- Clemen T & Lenfers U: Evidence-informed decision making in a nutshell
- Cortes-Capano G, Fernandes A, Dimitriadis C et al: Private land conservation strategies to protect the endangered Uruguayan savanna ecoregion
- Midzi S, Swemmer L & Hlatshwayo L: Living with wildlife – human wildlife contact on the border of the Kruger National Park
- Richardson PRK, Pretorius J, Olivier PA et al: Anxiety: The Antidote to Habituation in Virtual Fencing
- Vundla N, Child B & Shaw J: Age and sex identification from digital 3D models of lion tracks using geometric morphometrics
- Marshall AG, Thompson DI, Grab SW et al: Understanding the Marula (Sclerocarya birrea subsp. caffra) lowveld bieconomy: Securing the long-term sustainability of this keystone species
Wednesday – 7 March 2018
- Kreuter UP: Comprehensive Assessment of Ecosystem Service Dynamics in Savannas: ISSEC – A Social Ecological Systems Framework
- Guerbois C, Nxumalo B & Mundy P: Bird and tree stories to nurture knowledge co-production and adaptive capacity to climate change in savanna social-ecological systems
- Vickers K & Kruger L: Promoting transformative sustainability learning in the Kruger National Park
- Hausmann A, Toivonen T, Slotow R et al: Social media reveal that charismatic species are not the main attractor of ecotourists to sub-Saharan protected areas
- Douglas A, Wessels JA, Fairer-Wessels F et al: Measuring Kruger visitors’ place attachment to specific camps
- Cole NS: The wicked dimension of invasive alien plant management
- Stears K & McCauley DJ: Browser effects on woody plant traits and growth in an East African savanna
- Barber-James HM, Holland AJ & Sithole H: A synthesis of spatial and temporal changes in aquatic macroinvertebrate species diversity in the Kruger National Park rivers, relating to biomonitoring and river management
- Tarakini T, Mwedzi T, Sebele L et al: Waterbirds communities in savannah waterpans with varying typologies
- Ndlovu M, Thomas ME, Colina AS et al: Water for African Elephants: Faecal microbial loads affect use of artificial waterholes
- February E: The relationship between soil organic matter and soil respiration in the Kruger National Park
- Mwabvu T & Moses AK: Flightless soil macroinvertebrate assemblages in the threatened sandstone sourveld vegetation in Tanglewood Nature Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
- Schmullius C, Urban M, Berger C et al: Soil Moisture Monitoring in Kruger National with Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 Time Series
- Morrison TA & Hopcraft JGC: Changes in the Serengeti wildebeest migration over time and implications for management
- Hopcraft G, Buchanan C, Woods K et al: Balancing reproduction, nutrition and migration – Integrating physiological condition into movement models of Serengeti wildebeest
- Owen-Smith N: Space occupation governed by resources or risk? What wildebeest do at night
- Wielgus E, Cornelius D, Cain B et al: Fission-fusion dynamics in the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer)
- Mumby HS, Henley M, Santos TL et al: The ties that bind: Genetic and social relationships between elephants in the Associated Private Nature Reserves
- Wigley-Coetsee C, Fritz H & Wigley BJ: Is commonly held perceptions of plant defence in savanna a myth?
- Anderson TM, Ngoti PM, Nzunda ML et al: “The burning question: does fire affect habitat selection and forage preference of black rhinos (Diceros bicornis) in Serengeti National Park?”
- Stevens N, Archibald SA & Twine W: Herbivory, resprouting and the seedling bottleneck of savanna trees
- Pfeiffer M, Langan L, Gaillard C et al: How can we model grass community dynamics and grazing in DGVMs?
Thursday – 8 March 2018
- Andersen AN: Historical biogeography shapes community ecology: intercontinental contrasts in the structure and function of savanna ant communities
- Packer C, Palmer M & Huebner S: SnapshotSafari: A standardized program for assessing population and behavioural dynamics of large mammals.
- Balme GA, Grover M & Wood D: A novel citizen science application to study an elusive large carnivore
- Ranke PS, Fossoy F, Stokke B et al: An alternative survey technique to assess population trends of vultures and other avian scavengers in the Serengeti Ecosystem
- Marchal AFJ, Vandenabeele, M & Lejeune P: Species discrimination between African wild dog and domestic dog using digital 3D models of their tracks
- Postma M, Ryan PG, Prinsloo N et al: Estimating bird flight height using 3-D photogrammetry
- Peel M, Ferreira S, Bosch A et al: Comparing count data in adjacent protected areas: towards explaining change in herbivore population densities
- Durrheim G: Long-term monitoring provides a sound scientific basis for natural forest management in the Garden Route National Park
- Dantas VL: Tropical savannas and natural disturbance regimes
- D’Onofrio D, Baudena M & von Hardenberg J: Between water and fire, grasses and tree functional types reveal the African tropical biome distribution: learning from observations and dynamic global vegetation models
- Etchebarne-Palla V, Cappuccio L,Blumetto O et al: Forest grassland transitions dynamics and conservation in the Protected Area “Quebrada de los Cuervos”, Uruguay
- Van Langevelde F, De Knegt H, De Bie S et al: How to lose heat? Movement of African herbivores determined by the sun
- Botha A, Fuller A & Hetem RS: Factors that contribute to individual variability in 24-hour body temperature patterns in captive African buffalo
- Strauss WM, Hetem RS, Mitchell D et al: Body water conservation through selective brain cooling by the carotid rete: a physiological feature for surviving climate change?
- Hempson GP, Peel MJS, Smit IPJ et al: Herbivore traits and community composition shape drought effects on population trajectories
- Hetem RS, Rey B, Fuller A et al: Drought-induced starvation of aardvarks in the Kalahari: an indirect effect of climate change
- Koerner SE, Wilcox KR, Burkepile DE et al: Finding a little bit of good in the exceptional drought: Transformation of a South African savanna grassland
- Siebert F, Le Roux-Klem J, Bosch A et al: Drought-tolerant forb species and -traits at different herbivore community and soil nutrient sites
- Holdo RM: Spatiotemporal patterns of precipitation events at continental and local scales: implications for tree cover
- Scheiter S, Gaillard C, Pfeiffer M et al: Shrub encroachment in South African savannas – insights from a dynamic vegetation model
- Bond W: The poorly known ecology of shrubs and why it matters
- Durigan G, Pilon NAL, Abreu RCR et al: Thresholds of woody encroachment and implications for savanna management and conservation
- Mkhize NN, Foord SH, Munyai TC et al: Response of ant communities to woody plant expansion at Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Parks, KwaZulu-Natal
- Chiloane VD & Vetter S: Effects of tree density on the herbaceous layer and utilization by herbivores
- Nippert JB & Swemmer AM: Repeated cutting alters tree-grass interactions in Mopane veld
- Wrap up, closing and thanks