AZEF 2013 Presentations
**Please note that some authors have not made their presentations available for download**
SESSION 1 - Animal Studies
- Mark Anderson: Bird conservation in South Africa: successes and challenges
- Estee Prinsloo, Avenant, M.F. & Avenant, N.L: Using the Cape clawless otter as a potential indicator of environmental water requirements in non-perennial rivers
- Marienne De Villiers, Fourie, A. & Harrison, J.A.: Wind energy and the bats of De Aar
SESSION 2 - Above and Below ground interactions I
- Admore Mureva & Ward, D: Spatial pattern and competition between encroaching species in a semi-arid savanna of the eastern Karoo, South Africa
- Christiaan Harmse, Dreber, N., & Kellner, K: Bush encroachment and related mitigation actions in the Molopo savanna of South Africa: implications for grass composition, forage production and grazing capacity
SESSION 3 - Above and Below ground interactions II
Wijnand Swart: Aboveground and belowground interactions in arid soils
Schalk vdM Louw: Ants in arid regions: role players in above ground –below ground ecosystem function
Hannelene Badenhorst & vdM Louw, S: Influences of different agricultural practices on soil mesofauna assemblages in the semi-arid western Free State, South Africa
Gabrielle Solomon, Weitz, F., Cupido, C. & Swart, W: Assessing vegetation and soil microbial ecology in renosterveld rangelands around Nieuwoudtville, Northern Cape Province
Session 4 - Karoo Geology & Fracking
- Jock vA Robey: Geology of the Kimberley Area
- Marthie Kemp: The possible impact of unconventional gas mining on the vegetation of the arid zone: issues of scale
- Doreen Atkinson: Assessing the potential social and economic impacts of shale gas mining in the Karoo
- Anna Haubold: Scopes and deficits of Participatory Geographic 12:40 Information Systems (PGIS) in municipalities in the central Karoo
Session 5 – Climate Science
- Robbert Duker, Cowling, R. M., & Potts, A. J: The effects of frost on Nama-Karoo and Thicket: biome boundaries explored
- Francois Engelbrecht: Plausible climate futures for the southwestern and Eastern Cape: drought, heat and fire
- Justin du Toit & O'Connor, T: Apparent changes in rainfall pattern in the eastern Karoo, South Africa, over the past 123 years
- Christien Engelbrecht: Using the Köppen-Geiger climate classification to explore potential climate change induced changes in vegetation over the arid zone of South Africa
Session 6 - Alien Invasives
- Ian Macdonald & Lee, J: Famine Weed Parthenium hysterophorus a rapidly emerging threat to southern Africa
- Haylee Kaplan and the National Cactus Working Group: Developing a national strategy for cactus management in South Africa
- Travor Xivuri, Kaplan, H. & Jama, K: Survey and clearing of Cylindropuntia fulgida var. mamillata (boxing glove cactus) and CylindropuntiA pallida (thistle cholla)
Session 7 - Rehabilitation Panel Discussion
- Mayence Ellery: Restoring arid-zone plant communities: lessons learned at Shark Bay, Australia, and Thumama Park, Saudi Arabia
- Klaus Kellner: General principles for the rehabilitation of degraded semi-arid rangelands
- Peter Carrick: Building a unifying framework for restoration ecology
Wayne Truter: Land reclamation and restoration challenges in the South African mining industry
Maraai Isaacs: Karoo veld rehabilitation and the indigenous landscape
Session 8 - Rehabilitation Studies
- Katherine Forsythe & Carrick, P.J: Do all ecosystem function measures tell the same story about restoration success?
- Carina Becker, Carrick, P.J. & Hoffman, M.T: Restoration of rangelands in Namaqualand: what can we expect?
- Lewandrowski, W., Todd. E. Erickson, Merritt, D.J., Turner, S.R., Stevens, J.C. & Dixon, K.W: The interplay between dormancy alleviating pre-treatments and simulated rainfall events determines the emergence potential of grass (Triodia) and legume (Acacia) species in arid zone restoration
- Bonnie Schumann & Bragg, C.J: A question of monitoring - potholes and patches in Karoo restoration
- Emilia Haimbili: Seedling establishment, rehabilitation, mined substrates
Session 9 - Farmers Session
- Amelia Genis: The narrowing gap: Interactions between farmers, scientists and the environment
- Hennie Erasmus: A window in time
Wiaan van der Linder: Uit 'n wildboer se oogpunt
Charl du Plessis: “Repairing the plane in flight” - moving towards relevant research for arid zone farmers
Session 10 - Environmental Management
- Amanda Bourne: Climate change response in the Namakwa District: working with local government
- Alwyn Lubbe, Bragg, C.J., Corrigan, B. and Paxton, B: Challenges and opportunities for agricultural water management in arid ecosystems
- Clement F. Cupido, Bourne, A., Samuels, M.I: Three Peaks, three partners, three levels: developing a three-tier monitoring approach for Namaqualand Granite Renosterveld
Session 11 - Monitoring and Change
- Timm Hoffman: Long-term (1999-2012) dynamics of livestock production in the communal area of Paulshoek, Namaqualand
- Tshililo Ramaswiela, Els, Y. & Bezuidenhout, H: Twenty years monitoring of plant communities in the Kimberley Thornveld
- Nelmarie Saayman, Morris, C. & Botha, J.C: Key indicators to monitor trends in veld condition in Lambert’s Bay Strandveld
- Claire Davis: Combining repeat photography and remote sensing to assess vegetation change in Namaqualand
Session 12 - Veld and Grazing Management
- Ute Schmiedel, Hanke, W., Böhner, J., Dreber, N., Jürgens, N., Wesuls, D. & Dengler, J: The impact of livestock grazing on plant diversity in drylands: an analysis across biomes and scales in southern Africa
- Igshaan Samuels, Cupido, C., & Swarts, M: Diet selection amongst four livestock species in a semi-arid communal rangeland
- Halcyone Muller, & vd Merwe, H: Classification and description of the vegetation in the proposed Steinkopf Green Economy Demonstration site, Northern Cape, South Africa
Session 13 - Okavango I
- Keoikantse Sianga, & Fynn, R.W.S: Seasonal movements of migratory herbivores of northern Botswana in relation to spatial and temporal variability in forage quality and quantity
- Meshack Kwamovo, Mukuya, R. H., Miguel S. M., Vilho, S., Gruber, M. & Schmiedel, U: Local stakeholder’s perspectives of the Okavango River: outcome of a participatory video project of The Future Okavango (TFO)
- Torsten Weber, Haensler, A. & Jacob,D: Regional downscaling of climate change information over the Okavango River Basin
Session 14 - Okavango II
- Miya Kabajani & De Cauwer, V: The Population structure of Pterocarpus angolensis in response to recent harvesting in western Kavango, Namibia
- Aobakwe Lubinda & Murray- Hudson, M: Sap Flow Variations in Riparian Woodland Species in Okavango Delta, Botswana
- Gaolathe Tsheboeng & Murray-Hudson, M: Regeneration status of riparian tree species in the Okavango Delta, Botswana