THEMES

IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, LAND DEGRADATION AND WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN ARID ZONES

PREHISTORY OF THE KAROO: HUMANS, ANIMALS, PLANTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT

RESTORATION, REHABILITATION AND MANAGEMENT  

POPULATION DYNAMICS AND MANAGEMENT 

15:30-17:00 Registration & Putting up posters

17:00-17:30 Briefing Session

17:30-19:00 Leisure Time

19:00 Cocktails & Dinner

WEDNESDAY, 5 SEPTEMBER 2001

07:30-08:00 Late Registration

08:00-08:05 Welcome – Klaus Kellner

SESSION 1 : IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, LAND DEGRADATION AND WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN ARID ZONES (Chairperson : Klaus Kellner)

08:05-08:35 Keynote speech: The detection of climate change and desertification from space: new methods and models - Scholes, RJ

08:35-08:50 Patterns of transformation in arid rangelands: What they tell us about function - Palmer, A / Mgxashe, NP

08:50-09:05 Potential transfrontier shifts in plant species composition with climate change - Rutherford, MC / Powrie, LW

09:05-09:20 Managing arid and semi-arid rangelands accounting for the variability of key factors over space and time - Witten, G

09:20-09:35 Effects of rainfall, nutrients, fire and grazing on bush encroachment in semi-arid savanna – Kraaij, T / Ward, D

09:35-09:45 Poster: Climatic variables and plant production in the Nama Karoo - du Toit, PCV

09:45-09:55 Poster: Old vegetation data sources in Namibia: possibilities for long-term monitoring - Strohbach, B

09:55-10:05 Poster: What processes and mechanisms determine the biodiversity in (semi-) arid plant communities? An individual-based modelling approach - Reineking / Wissel

10:05-10:15 Poster: BIOTA Southern Africa. Outline of a new interdisciplinary research initiative for long-term studies on biodiversity in the frame of climate change and human impact - BIOTA Team

10:15-10:45 TEA / COFFEE

10:45-11:00 Powerlines and the demise of large terrestrial bird populations in the eastern Karoo - Anderson, MD

11:00-11:10 Poster: Functional Zoodiversity in southern Africa under changing environments and human use- Zeller, U / Ade, M / Hoch, H / Eiseb, S / Deckert, J / Frahnert, S / Giere, P / Hoffmann, A / Koch, F /Mess, A / Marais, E / Mey, W / Ohl, M / Plotner, J / Uhlig, M / Vohland, K / Wendt, H

11:25-11:40 Turning LandCare into an effective tool for natural resource management in arid areas Allsopp, N / van Rooyen, A / Oettlé, N

11:40-11:50 Poster: Monitoring and analysis of vegetation changes under different land use practices in southern Africa - Jürgens, N / Strohbach, B / Schmiedel, U

11:50-12:00 Poster: Long-term data in Paulshoek – a communal rangeland site in the Succulent Karoo - Hoffman, MT

12:00-12:10 Poster: LandCare: A program to stop degradation of veld in the Central Region of the North West Province - Jordaan, D

12:10-12:20 Poster: LandCare: The community participatory program to stop soil erosion and bush encroachment- Jordaan, D

12:20-12:30 Poster: Avian assemblages in native Acacia and alien Prosopis drainage line woodland in the Kalahari, South Africa – Dean, WRJ / Anderson, MD / Milton, SJ / Anderson, TA

12:30-12:40 Poster: First field- and lab results: multitemporal pattern recognition of vegetation and landforms in the southern Kalahari using high resolution satellite images (IKONOS) and aerial photos - Müller, KH / Vahlkampf, G / Guenther, M

12:40-12:50 Poster: Application of GIS to determine the current and potential status of the plant communities in the Kimberley Triangle – with special reference to the role of soil type in bush encroachment -Britz, M-L / Ward, D

12:50-13:00 Poster: Vegetation and land-cover mapping from high quality hard copy map compositions of Landsat TM satellite data - van den Berg, EC / van den Berg, HM / Lloyd, JW (Presented by Hennie van den Berg)

13:00-14:00 LUNCH

SESSION 1 : Continues - (Chairperson : Mark Anderson)

14:00-14:15 Enhancing natural resource management through exchange of indigenous knowledge Oettlé, N / Arendse, A / Koelle, B / van der Poll, A

14:15-14:25 Poster: Potential biome interpolation from the National Land-Cover database - van den Berg, HM / van den Berg, EC / Lloyd, JW / van der Merwe, JPA

14:25-14:35 Poster: Using nutritional quality of forage for predicting sustainable livestock and game stocking rates at Pniel, Northern Cape – Mbatha, K / Ward, D

14:35-14:45 Poster: Significant differences between treatment plots on a veld fertilizer trial 18 years after treatments ceased - Robinson, BH / Masingi, RJ

14:45-14:55 Poster: Management for biodiversity in Strandveld Vegetation: Rocherpan BIOTA project –  Cheney, C / Esler, KJ / Milton, SJ (Presented by Sue Milton)

14:55-15:05 Poster: Socio-economic aspects of changes in biodiversity in South Africa - Hoffmann, I / Nuppenau, E-A / Kirk, M / Knight, R / Schneiderat, U / Buss, H-J / Falk, T / Isaacs, G

15:05-15:15 Poster: Protected Areas – Evaluation techniques for assessing socio-economic impacts for local communities - Isaacs, G / Knight, R / Hoffmann, I / Leyman, T

15:15-15:45 TEA / COFFEE

SESSION 2 : PREHISTORY OF THE KAROO: HUMANS, ANIMALS, PLANTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT

(Chairperson : Timm Hoffmann)

15:45-16:15 Keynote speech: Boomplaas Cave: a prehistoric archive in the Little Karoo – Deacon, HJ

16:15-16:30 Can we explain why successive generations of Karoo farmers adopted practices that decreased the value of their greatest asset, the natural capital of their land? – Archer, SF

16:30-16:40 Poster: Ancient foot print in the upper Karoo - de Jager, M / Kersop, F

16:40-17:30 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

17:30-19:00 LEISURE TIME

19:00 DINNER

THURSDAY, 6 SEPTEMBER 2001

07:45-08:00 Collect lunch boxes

08:00 Field trips –.

1. Excursion to Boomplaas Caves led by Prof Hillary Deacon: Discussion on the pre recorded human utilisation of the Klein Karoo area. The trip to the caves will be via Calitzdorp and the Cango Valley along a reasonable gravel road and back via Oudtshoorn along tarred roads. The caves are ±80 Km from the Spa. Participants should utilise their own vehicles to get to the caves.

2. Excursion to Groenefontein led by Jan Vlok. The main emphasis on the area is the succulent flora and on the utilisation/interpretation/exposure to the public of the reserve. Groenefontein is about 15 km to the west of the Spa and lies adjacent to a good gravel road (Rooiberg Pass). 4x4 vehicles will be available for those participants that do not have 4x4 transport.

3. Extra excursion to Gamkaberg Nature Reserve led by Field Rangers. Look at game management on an arid fynbos environment. 4x4 Vehicles are required. Gamkaberg is 11 km to the east of the Spa.

17:00-17:45 Report back on Field Trips (15 minutes per group)

17:45-19:00 LEISURE TIME

19:00 BRAAI

FRIDAY, 7 SEPTEMBER 2001

SESSION 3 : RESTORATION, REHABILITATION AND MANAGEMENT - (Chairperson : Franci Jordaan)

08:00-08:15 Evaluation of a number of restoration technologies after the control of the alien invasive Acacia mearnsii – Barac, A / Kellner, K

08:15-08:30 Soil biological parameters as useful indicators of ecosystem health - Beukes, P

08:30-08:45 Community participation – the power source behind successful veld restoration – Buys, L / Jordaan, FP / Kellner, K

09:45-09:00 When does a seedling need a nurse? A synthetic approach to disturbance, rainfall and facilitation among Karoo shrubs - Riginos, C / Milton, SJ

09:00-09:10 Poster: Restoration in the Karoo - Seed multiplication of some indigenous species: A practical approach - Botha, H / Visser, N

09:10-09:20 Poster: Strip mine rehabilitation by translocation - Mahood, K / Milton, SJ / Halbich, T

09:20-09:30 Poster: Evaluation of restoration technologies applied on bare patches in the Middelburg district – van den Berg, L / Kellner, K

09:30-09:40 Poster: Seedbank evaluation along a degradation gradient in a semi-arid grassland -van Rensburg, GJ / Snyman, HA / Kellner, K

09:40-09:50 Poster: Variability of indigenous species’ seeds under uncontrolled storage - Visser, N / Botha, H

09:50-10:00 Poster: Revegetation of bare patches: an evaluation of various techniques - Visser, N / Botha, H / Witbooi, B

10:00-10:30 TEA / COFFEE

10:30-10:45 Strip-mine rehabilitation in Namaqualand - Schmidt, A / Milton, SJM / Le Roux, A

10:45-11:00 The influence of overgrazing on soil composition and the impact on rehabilitation of vegetation in the succulent Karoo - Simons, L

11:00-11:15 Incentives for Camelthorne (Acacia erioloba) clearing in the Kalahari – Milton, S / Powell, J / Anderson, MD

SESSION 4 : POPULATION DYNAMICS AND MANAGEMENT - (Chairperson : Nicky Allsopp)

11:25-11:55 Keynote speech: Game management on private land – the real story – Coetzee, K

11:55-12:10 The influence of tree thinning on the establishment of herbaceous plants in the Arid Sweet Bushveld - Smit, GN

12:10-12:25 Are seedlings able to establish under livestock pressure in succulent Karoo vegetation? Abrahams, N / Allsopp, N / Hoffman, MT

12:25-12:35 Poster: Population genetics of bush-encroaching Acacia mellifera in the Northern Cape (Kimberley Triangle) - Nxele, BJ / Ward, D

12:35-12:45 Poster: Growth reserves and regrowth in Themeda triandra under four different water treatments - Oosthuizen, IB / Snyman, HA

12:45-12:55 Poster: Seed dispersal linking savanna structure and spatial population dynamics of Grewia flava Schurr, F / Dean, WRJ / Tews, J / Jeltsch, F

12:55-13:05 Poster: The utilization of False Karoo veld with game - Vorster, LF

13:05-14:00 LUNCH

14:00-14:15 Germination dynamics of Acacia mellifera seeds from trees along a tree density gradient in an semi-arid savanna - Hagos, MG / Smit, GN

14:15-14:30 The influence of veld condition on the production potential of veld in the Molopo area Jordaan, FP / Seolwane, D / Postma, M / van Rooyen, JN / Mokua, M / April, F

14:30-14:45 Modelling the influences of rangeland degradation, rainfall and management on livestock productivity in Namaqualand - Richardson, FD / Hahn, BD / Hoffman, MT

14:45-15:00 An overview of a simulation model of long-term climate, livestock and vegetation interactions and sustainability on communal rangelands in the semi-arid Succulent Karoo, Namaqualand - Hahn, BD / Richardson, FD / Hoffman, MT / Roberts, R / Todd, SW / Carrick, P

15:00-15:15 The current population status of Aloe pillansii, Richtersveld, South Africa - Powell, E

15:15-15:25 Poster: Freshwater fishes of the Gouritz River system - Barry, T

15:25-15:35 Poster: The construction of a fish-ladder in the Olifants River, Gouritz system - Barry, T / Coetzee, K

15:35-15:45 Poster: The distribution and survival of an endangered species in the Central Karoo: Bunolagus monticularis - Kleynhans, C

15:45-15:55 Poster: Changes in the outbreak area of the brown locust in southern Africa – Kieser, M / Thackrah, A / Rosenberg, J

15:55-16:05 Poster: Weather does matter! Simulating population dynamics of the Tawny Eagle (Aquila rapax) under various rainfall patterns - Wichmann, M / Jeltsch, F / Dean, WRJ

16:05-16:30 TEA / COFFEE

16:30-16:45 PRESENTATION OF AWARDS

16:45 CLOSURE

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