ARID ZONE ECOLOGY FORUM
27-30 August 2002
Grootfontein Agricultural Development Institute
Middelburg, Eastern Cape Province
THEMES
Programme
16:00-17:30 Registration
17:30-18:00 Briefing Session
18:00-19:00 Leisure time
19:00 Cocktails
07:30-08:30 Registration
08:40-09:10 Using conservation incentives to secure conservation and land management in the Arid Zone – Botha, M
09:10-09:40 Why should a clever community conserve? Lessons from herbivore ecology and resource economics for CBNRM (community-based natural resource management) – Fabricius, C / Scheepers, K / Motinyane, T
09:40-10:10 Conservancies in arid areas - Hugo, D
10:10-10:40 An economic analysis of the removal of alien vegetation in the Eastern Cape – Antrobus, G / Hess, S
10:40-11:10 TEA
PAPER SESSION 2: INCENTIVES AND MECHANISMS FOR CONSERVATION IN THE ARID ZONE - (Chairperson: Mark Botha)
11:10-11:30 On with the Game: land-use changes and conservation of thicket biodiversity - Boshoff, AF/Wilson, SL / Smith, N
11:30-11:50 The economic value of Acacia karroo in small scale farming systems and game farming in the Northern KwaZulu-Natal - Mkhabela, TS
11:50-12:10 Information,
Integration and Involvement: An Interim Framework for
Implementing
Conservation
Action in the Subtropical Thicket Biome -
Knight, AT /
Cowling, RM / Boshoff, AF /
Kerley, GIH
12:10-12:30 An appraisal of the springbok for diversifying animal production in the Karoo – Skinner, JD
PAPER SESSION 3: GENERAL
(Chairperson: Mark Botha)
12:30-12:50 The distribution and conservation of an endangered species in the central Karoo: Bunolagus monticularis - Kleynhans, C
12:50-13:10 South African Environmental Observatory Network (SAEON) – Pauw, JC
13:10-14:10 LUNCH
14:10-14:30 Impact of traditional and statutory governance structures on biodiversity changes in Namibian and South African communal areas - Falk, T
14:30-14:50 The economic valuation
of different landuse practices in Namaqualand – James, I /
Hoffman, MT / Cowling, RM
14:50-15:10 Bio-economic Modelling of Sustainable Range Management in
Semi-Arid Eco-Systems:
A Case Study on Adaptive Land use options on Namibian Farms -
Buss, H-J / Nuppenau, E-A
15:10-15:30 Socio-economic
characteristics of households in communal areas along the BIOTA-south
transect (Namibia; South Africa) -
first results - Schneiderat, U / Falk, T / Hoffmann, I /Kirk, M
15:50-16:20 TEA
PAPER SESSION 5: KEY PROCESSES IN MAINTAINING THE ARID ZONE - (Chairperson: Timm Hoffmann)
16:20-16:40 Can kangaroo rats contribute to the persistence of desertified shrublands? - Kerley, GIH / Whitford, WG
16:40-17:00 The use of social Stegodyphus spider retreats as nest-lining by pale chanting-goshawks: is it about preference? – Crouch, T / Malan, G
17:00-17:20 Are pollination services influenced by land use effects? - Mayer, C
17:20-17:40 Is seed production
important to the effective maintenance of Thicket vegetation? -
Sigwela, AM / Kerley, GIH / Cowling, RM
17:40-18:00 Which mechanisms
maintain species richness in semi-arid plant communities? The case of
trade-offs in risk strategies -
Reineking, B
18:00-18:20 The role of
Salvadora australis communities in restoring the herbaceous layer in
encroached Mopani veld – Smit, GN
18:20-19:20 Informal round table discussion on “Incentives and mechanisms for conservation in the arid zone”
19:30 DINNER (Guest speaker: Graham Kerley)
PAPER SESSION 6: LAND DEGRADATION IN THE ARID ZONE - (Chairperson: Sue Milton)
07:45-08:05 Interaction between soil-stored seed banks and degradation in eastern Nama Karoo rangelands (South Africa) – Esler, KJ
08:05-08:25 Rangeland degradation in the thicket biome - Palmer, AR / Lloyd, JW
08:25-08:45 The importance of soil chemical & physical properties in understanding degradation of xeric succulent thicket – Lechmere-Oertel, R / Kerley, GIH / Cowling, RM
08:45-09:05 Contrasting effects of strong grazing pressure on biodiversity and vegetation
patterns at
different BIOTA research sites -
Schmiedel, U / Akhtar-Schuster,
M / Behrens, K / Jürgens, N
PAPER SESSION 7: ASPECTS OF BUSH ENCROACHMENT IN THE ARID ZONE - (Chairperson: Sue Milton)
09:05-09:25 A summary of best practices of bush control technologies used in Namibia - Barac, A / Kellner, K
09:25-09:45 The effect of brush
cutting on species composition and cover of veld dominated by two
unpalatable Pteronia spp. In the
Karroid Broken Veld– preliminary
results - Visser, N /
Botha, JC / du Plessis, CG
PAPER SESSION 8: ARID ZONE STUDIES - (Chairperson: Helga Rösch)
10:15-10:35 Survival in the Namib – dealing with habitat constraints - Krug, C
10:35-10:55 What do we know about Aloe pillansii in South Africa and where from here? - Powell, E / Hendricks, H
10:55-11:15 Seed bank
characteristics of Borana Communal Rangeland, Ethiopia -
Tefera, S /
Snyman, HA / Smit, GN
11:15-11:35 Karoo plant growth modelling based on evolutionary forcing by rainfall variability -Venter, C
11:35-11:55
Dendrochronology of
Colophospermum mopane – Potgieter, M / de Wet, S /
Wessels, DCJ
11:55-12:15 Influence of
management and season on crude protein and mineral content of forages
growing on Vertisols of Central Ethiopia - Gizachew,
L / Smit, GN
12:15-12:30 Introduction to afternoon field trips – Pierre du Toit & Loraine van den Berg
12:30-12:45 Collect lunch packs and depart on field trip
12:45-17:00 Field Trips
– Two fields trips are being organised – delegates should choose which one
they would like to go on.
Own transport to be used.
1. Visits to fixed season and fixed rotational grazing sites (Pierre du Toit)
2. Visit to restoration demonstration plots which were established in 1999.Different methods for restoring the "brakkolle" - denuded patches in the Karoo, were evaluated (Loraine van den Berg & Karen Esler)
17:30-18:15 Annual General Meeting
18:15-19:15 Informal round table discussion on "Indigenous Karoo plant use: opportunities and constraints"
19:30 BRAAI
PAPER SESSION 9: VELD RESTORATION TECHNIQUES IN THE ARID ZONE - (Chairperson: Nelmarie Visser)
08:00-08:20 Strip Mine Rehabilitation by Translocation - Mahood, K
08:20-08:40 The use of manure by small-scale farmers under dryland farming in KwaZulu-Natal - Mkhabela, TS
08:40-09:00 The evaluation of
restoration technologies applied in degraded areas in South Africa -
van den Berg, L / Kellner, K
09:00-09:20 Why decision-making has a greater effect on reclaiming veld than any other technique - Blom, J
09:20-09:50 TEA
09:50-10:00 Poster: The STEP project: A conservation plan for the Thicket Biome - Boshoff, AF / Cowling, RM / Kerley, GIH / Wilson, SL
10:00-10:10 Poster: Gathering ideas for an information trail in western Namaqualand. A joint project of the Soebatsfontein Community and BIOTA Southern Africa - Doerffer, J / Schmiedel, U
10:10-10:20 Poster: Understanding the impacts of introduced herbivores in the arid zone - Jacobs, E / Kerley, GIH / Cowling, RM
10:20-10:30 Poster: Camelthorn (Acacia erioloba) firewood industry in the Western Cape: its implications for conservation and sustainable use of natural resources - Raliselo, MA
10:30-10:40 Poster: SKEP (Succulent Karoo Ecosystem Plan) - Conservation International (Presented by Helga Rösch)
10:40-10:50 Poster: Modelling mammal communities in the Eastern Karoo as a resource for private nature reserve management - van Cauter, A / Kerley, GIH / Cowling, RM
10:50-11:00 Poster: Assessing the impact of natural resource utilisation by resource poor farmers in the Suidbokkeveld using remote sensing and participatory techniques - Salaam, W
11:00-11:10 10 MINUTE BREAK
PAPER SESSION 10: ARID ZONE ANIMAL-PLANT INTERACTIONS - (Chairperson: Christo Fabricius)
11:10-11:30 The potential and limitations of wildlife development in the middle of Awash Valley of Ethiopia – Gedda, AE / Snyman, HA / Smit, GN
11:30-11:50 Boergoat foraging efficiency – a possible threat to indigenous thicket browsers? - Wilson, SL / Kerley, GIH
11:50-12:10 Impact of goat overgrazing on potential black rhinoceros forage -
Landman, M
/
Kerley, GIH
12:10-13:10 LUNCH
13:10-13:20 Poster: A comparison of different management regimes applied to Colophospermum mopane – de Wet, S / Potgieter, M / Wessels, DCJ
13:20-13:30 Poster: Changes in grass species composition and production the North West Province: A Landcare initiative in South Africa - Van Heerden, M / Kellner, K
13:30-13:40 Poster: Evaluation of veld management practices for livestock and ostriches in the Little Karoo - Cupido, C
13:40-13:50 Poster: Reclaiming degraded Kalahariveld - du Toit, PCV
13:50-14:00 Poster: Population age structure of tree Euphorbias in Thicket – What’s going on? - Kamineth, AI / Campbell, EE / Cowling, RM
14:00-14:10 Poster: Sex in the desert - Pollination ecology of the !Nara - Mayer, C / Linsenmair, KE / Henschel, J
14:10-14:20 Poster: Water infiltration evaluation along a degradation gradient in a semi-arid grassland -van Rensburg, G / Snyman, HA / Kellner, K
14:20-14:30 Poster: Are raptors affected by a changing vegetation structure in arid savanna? - Wichmann, M / Dean, WRJ /Milton, SJ / Jeltsch, F (Presented by Richard Dean)
14:30-14:40 Poster:
Response of Themeda triandra roots to water stress and defoliation -
Oosthuizen, IB / Snyman, HA
14:40-14:50 Poster: Bijlia dilitata - Ecology of a local endemic succulent - Milton, SJ / Wagner, N / Muehle, U / Dean, WRJ
14:50-15:00 Poster: The evaluation of bush thickening in two management systems in three districts of the North West Province, South Africa: A LandCare initiative - Jansen van Vuuren, A / Kellner, K
15:00-15:30 TEA
PAPER SESSION 11: BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN THE ARID ZONE - (Chairperson: André Boshoff)
15:30-15:50 Activity patterns, home ranges and burrow utilisation of aardvark (Orycteropus afer) in the Nama Karoo – Taylor, WA / Skinner, JD
15:50-16:10 Understanding mortality patterns of large birds across the arid zone: the link between habitat transformation and prey - Barkhuysen, A / Boshoff, AF / Kerley, GIH
16:10-16:30 SKEP: a systematic
overview of the state of biodiversity in the Succulent Karoo -
Desmet, P / Bariodien, G / Driver, M / Maze, K / Rouge, M
16:30 PRIZE-GIVING AND CLOSURE