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