DAY 2 - 14th March 2006 |
Session: Introduction and welcome (Chair: D. Balfour) |
08h00 |
Welcome |
D. Balfour |
08h05 |
Opening address by head of Kruger National Park. |
B. Mkhize |
08h25 |
The future of the tree-grass ratio in lowveld savanna. |
R. Scholes |
08h55 |
Discussion. |
|
Session: Long-term data (Chair: D. Balfour) |
09h00 |
SAEON Ndlovu Node: a year down the road. |
D. Balfour |
09h30 |
Thresholds of potential concern as benchmarks in the management of African savannas. |
K. Duffin |
09h40 |
Do we know enough about the ecological role of large trees to allow them to fluctuate at levels as
implied by some scientists? |
H. Eckhardt |
09h50 |
Discussion. |
|
10h00 |
TEA |
|
Session: Long-term data (continued) (Chair: Johan Pauw) |
10h30 |
Spatial dynamics of biodiversity and ecosystem function in a South African savanna: a structural equation modeling approach. |
S. Andleman |
10h40 |
Using long-term ecological data in Kruger Park: does competition between trees limit maximum woody biomass? |
W. Sea |
10h50 |
A phytosociological study in the Kruger National Park, south of the Sabie River. |
L. Mostert |
11h00 |
Discussion. |
|
11h10 |
Evaluating large mammal monitoring methods at different scales: implications for diversity indicators |
J. Cromsigcht |
11h25 |
History and results of aerial line transect surveys using distance sampling in the Kruger National Park: 1998 – 2005. |
I. Whyte |
11h35 |
“SynBioSys Kruger”: Storing and managing the KNP’s wealth of data as an integrated unit |
T. Mostert |
11h45 |
Discussion. |
|
11h55 |
Biomaterial banking for use in conservation and wildlife management. |
J. Joubert |
12h05 |
Serum phytosterols and lipids of selected South African fauna. |
F. O’Neill |
12h20 |
Discussion. |
|
12h30 |
LUNCH |
|
Session: Data management (Chair: Judith Kruger)
|
14h00 |
Approaches for automating data management, analysis, and modeling |
M. Jones |
14h30 |
Discussion |
|
14h35 |
Thresholds of Potential Concern (TPC’s): What are they and how the system works to test exceedance. |
J. Kruger |
14h45 |
Using Kepler scientific workflows to automate thresholds of potential concern (TPC) modeling |
M. Schildhauer |
15h05 |
The National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS): Promoting Cross-disciplinary Collaboration and the Reuse of Data. |
J. Reichman |
15h15 |
Discussion |
|
15h25 |
TEA |
|
Session: Mammalian studies (Chair: Ian Whyte)
|
15h45 |
The re-introduction of Klipspringer (Oreotragus oreotragus) to Table Mountain National Park. |
D. Zimmerman |
15h55 |
Highlights from 20 years of research on large carnivores in Kruger National Park. |
G. Mills |
16h15 |
New methods to determine the diet and movement patterns of lions. |
C. Tambling |
16h25 |
Discussion |
|
16h30 |
Current thinking regarding the distribution and impact of bovine tuberculosis on buffalo populations. |
P. Buss |
16h40 |
Discussion |
|
16h50 |
END OF DAY TWO |
|
18h30 |
Andrew Mellon Foundation sponsored conference dinner |
|
DAY 3 - 15th March 2006 |
Session: Future implications of landscape associations (Chair: Louise Rademan) |
08h00 |
Wet or dry years? When do trees escape? |
W. Bond |
08h25 |
Using stable water isotopes to determine the depth of water used by different sizes of savanna trees. |
E. February |
08h40 |
Exploring the role of water and nutrients in determining savanna structure and function. |
R. Verweij |
08h55 |
Discussion |
|
09h05 |
Fire and nitrogen – what really matters? |
C. Coetzee |
09h15 |
Hillslope chromatography: Why clay accumulates where it does and its implications for natural resource management. |
T. Hartshorn |
09h25 |
Using terrain morphology and geochemical/mineralogical provenance to trace the origin of sodic patches in the northern KNP. |
L. Khomo |
09h35 |
A Geographic Framework for Identifying Hydrological and Biogeochemical Patchiness
in Catenary Landscapes |
O. Chadwick |
09h45 |
Discussion |
|
10h00 |
TEA |
|
Session: Future implications of nutrient - landscape associations (Chair: Shaun Levick) |
10h30 |
Plant tissue nutrient status across complex riparian habitats in the Shingwedzi drainage. |
M. Cadenasso |
10h45 |
Soil carbon and nitrogen contents across contrasting riparian and upland sites in the Shingwedzi drainage. |
E. Cook |
10h55 |
Relationship between grass quality, productivity and utilization on sodic sites and crests. |
G. Alard |
11h05 |
Changes in plant available nitrogen with changes in available water in a mesic savanna. |
T. Keretetse |
11h15 |
Discussion |
|
11h30 |
Landscape Patterns in Plant and Soil Micro- and Macro-Nutrient Distributions in the Kruger National
Park: Implications for Management |
J. Ratnam |
11h45 |
Nitrogen and phosphorous relationships with productivity, fire and herbivory in savannas: insights from a simple model. |
M. Sankaran |
12h00 |
Discussion |
|
12h10 |
LUNCH |
|
Session: Landscape function: how will our understanding shape future decisions? (Chair: Hugo Bezuidenhoudt) |
14h00 |
The Savanna Convergence Experiment. |
A. Knapp |
14h10 |
Linking patterns of vegetation change with underlying processes in northern Kruger. |
S. Levick |
14h25 |
Does browsing limit tree recruitment? Results and implications of a long-term experiment in Hluhluwe iMfolozi GR. |
C. Staver |
14h35 |
Short-term growth responses of common grass species to soil moisture and defoliation in the Kruger National Park. |
A. Swemmer |
14h50 |
Continental- to Landscape-Scale Analyses of Tree Cover in African Savannas. |
G. Bucinni |
14h50 |
Discussion |
|
15h00 |
TEA |
|
Session: Using fire as a management tool in the future (Chair: Sue van Rensburg) |
15h20 |
Results from the experimental burn plots |
M Smith |
15h30 |
Practical ways of incorporating variation in fire intensity into fire management of African savannas. |
N. Govender |
15h45 |
Forest colonization in savannas: A synthesis of fire- plant interaction in savannas. |
V. Khavhagali |
15h55 |
Clustering of savanna trees as a function of fire and competition |
T. Groen |
16h05 |
Fire experiments in Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park |
M. Waldram |
16h15 |
Discussion |
|
16h30 |
END OF DAY THREE |
|
DAY 4: 16th March 2006 |
Parallel Session 1: Goldfields Auditorium |
Session: How herbivores shape the future: the role of elephant (Chair: Mike Peel) |
08h00 |
Elephant impact on vegetation and habitats: are there indirect consequences for other ungulate species? |
H. Fritz |
08h30 |
Ecological guidelines for managing elephants. |
N. Owen-Smith |
08h45 |
A framework for understanding elephant effects on biodiversity. |
R. Grant |
09h00 |
Modeling the consequences of elephant damage on marula trees, KNP. |
F. Mabuduga |
09h10 |
Discussion |
|
09h20 |
Effects of rainfall, predation and age structure on the population dynamics of African Buffalo |
P. Cross |
09h30 |
Study Abroad programmes: their contribution towards monitoring of elephant utilization. |
L. Kruger |
09h40 |
Community structure and temporal dynamics of large herbivores in Mkhuze Game Reserve |
B. Nxele |
09h50 |
Discussion |
|
10h00 |
TEA |
|
Session: How herbivores could shape the future in decision making (Chair: Rina Grant) |
10h25 |
Thresholds, Order-of –magnitude and sustainability in African savannas. |
M. Peel |
10h40 |
Do artificial waterholes change the way herbivores use the landscape? |
I. Smit |
10h55 |
Ecological determinants of birth timing in African Buffalo (Syncerus caffer). |
S. Ryan |
11h05 |
Buffalo of KNP and HUP: a comparative study. |
B. Greyling |
11h15 |
Discussion |
|
11h25 |
Habitat dependency and nutritional ecology of sable antelope. |
J. Chirima |
11h35 |
The influence of fire on the nutritional ecology of sable antelope in the Kgaswane Mountain Reserve,
North-West Province |
F. Parrini |
11h45 |
The effects of nutrients and habitat structure on reproduction and calf survival of roan antelope in different geographical areas in South Africa. |
J. Van Rooyen |
11h55 |
Discussion |
|
12h10 |
LUNCH |
|
Session: Our water- our future (Chair: Christine Colvin) |
14h00 |
Drying of the Luvuvhu River: examining the roles of land cover change and water extraction with GIS-based hydrologic modeling and remote sensing. |
T. Gyedu-Ababio |
14h10 |
Changes in vegetation structure along the Sabie River 1990—2004, and predictions for the future. |
K. Kotschy |
14h20 |
Multi-scaled heterogeneity of a riparian patch mosaics in the Sabie River landscape. |
M. Parsons |
14h30 |
Ground water patterns in northern KNP |
C. Colvin |
14h45 |
KNP lion population assessment: How many lions are there in the North? |
P. Funston |
14h50 |
Introduction of Giraffe outside there historical range alters the distribution of Acacia species. |
C. Khumalo |
14h55 |
The influence of catena soil water dynamics on the vegetation patch structure on the northern plains. |
S. Lorentz |
15h05 |
Discussion |
|
15h15 |
TEA |
|
Session: Biodiversity – our future (Chair: Navashni Govender) |
15h40 |
Biodiversity monitoring in Kruger National Park: How reliable are habitat surrogates? |
A. Andersen |
15h55 |
Testing the concept of using potential habitat aspects as a surrogate for the occurrence of small vertebrate fauna (birds) in the KNP. |
A. Deacon |
16h05 |
A study of rodent and shrew diversity and abundance in and outside the Nwashitsumbe enclosure site in the Kruger National Park. |
D. MacFadyen |
16h15 |
The effect of anthropogenic activities to ant composition and the distribution of Lepisiota incise in KNP and its interaction with other ants |
H. Sithole |
16h25 |
Analysis of environmental impacts of off-road driving and other concessionaire activities. |
G. Nortje |
16h35 |
Discussion |
|
16h45 |
END OF DAY FOUR |
|
Parallel Session 2: Community hall |
Session: Invasion biology (Chair: Thembi Khoza) |
08h00 |
Integrated Control of water hyacinth in KNP. |
R. Brudvig |
08h10 |
Beyond filling the gaps: advancing the science of invasion ecology using a new conceptual framework. |
L. Foxcroft |
08h20 |
The effect of competition from the native vegetation on the invasion of C. odorata in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi
Park, South Africa. |
M. te Beest |
08h30 |
Interference potential of Parthenium hysterophorus with indigenous grass species. |
M. van de Laan |
08h40 |
Discussion |
|
08h50 |
A new Ceratocystis species from wounds made by elephants on trees in the Kruger National Park. |
N. Kamgan |
09h00 |
Population structure and insect associations of the fungal pathogen Ceratocystis albifundus in South Africa. |
R. Heath |
09h10 |
“Snow” in Kruger Park revisited – on the ecological significance of fungal plant parasites. |
W. Maier |
09h20 |
Discussion |
|
10h00 |
TEA |
|
DAY 5: 17th March 2006 |
Session: Socio-ecology (Chair: Kevin Moore) |
08h00 |
Understanding social-ecological systems |
S. Pollard |
08h30 |
Toursim in Greater Limpopo Transfrontier conservation area |
A. Spenceley |
08h45 |
HIV/AIDS mortality and household reliance on natural resources in Bushbuckridge. |
W. Twine |
09h00 |
Discussion |
|
09h10 |
The insitutions and impacts of community-based avitourism in South Africa. |
D. Biggs |
09h25 |
Conflicting human interests over the re-introduction of African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus). |
M. Gusset |
09h40 |
People and Conservation into the future. |
H. Mmethe |
09h50 |
Cultural Heritage in Kruger – what are we up to? |
T Madzhuta |
10h00 |
Discussion |
|
10h10 |
TEA |
|
10h35 |
Use and value of landscapes, flora and fauna by Tsonga communities in the rural areas of Limpopo Province, South Africa. |
P. Brandon |
10h45 |
Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park |
P. Theron |
11h00 |
Research potential in the Transfrontier Park |
F. Mutepfa |
11h15 |
Discussion |
|
11h30 |
Concluding remarks |
Herbert Prins |
12h00 |
END OF CONFERENCE |
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