BSc (Hons) Rhodes, DPhil (Oxon)

Activities and research interests

Landscape Ecology, Conservation Biology, Community Ecology, Resilience and Complex Systems Theory.

About me: I grew up (well, mostly) in Harare, Zimbabwe, where I went to Saint George’s College. I studied Zoology and Entomology to the honours level at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa. I then moved to Oxford University, U.K., on a Rhodes Scholarship. While at New College, Oxford, I completed my doctorate on ‘The Evolutionary Ecology of African Ticks’ under the supervision of Drs. Sarah Randolph and David Rogers. From Oxford I moved to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, funded by a D. H. Smith Postdoctoral Fellowship from The Nature Conservancy (TNC). In Madison I worked with TNC and Professor Steve Carpenter at the Center for Limnology on applying species-based models to management and conservation-related problems in freshwater systems. After two years as a postdoc, I was hired as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida. I left UF at the end of 2005 and occupied the Pola Pasvolsky Chair in Conservation Biology at the University of Cape Town until end June 2015.

From the beginning July 2015, I am employed by the ARC Centre of Excellence in Coral Reef Ecology at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia, as a research professor.

I have a wide range of interests, centering around understanding spatial aspects of ecology and the relevance of broad-scale pattern-process dynamics for ecosystem (and social-ecological system) function and resilience. I am also interested in the applications of landscape ecology and complexity theory to conservation and the sustainable management of natural resources.

Research Programmes

My research at the Fitztitute focused on two programmatic areas: (1) the community ecology and movement ecology of wetland-associated birds, their parasites, and their pathogens; and (2) the spatial resilience of protected areas.

Graduated students

Thesis MSc

Advisor: John Heydinger (2014); Gregory Mutumi (2011); Ann George, Brian Spiesman (2006); Heidi Richter (2004)
Co-advisor: Matthew Bokach, Cerian Gibbes, Rebecca Hylton, Melissa Moyer, Cedric Worman (2004); Claudia Stickler (2003)

Conservation Biology MSc (thesis component)

Advisor: Jenna Bowker, Marcela Espinaze (2015); Jordan-Laine Calder, Zanne Labuschagne (2014); Jeremy Goss, Christine Moore (2012); Ben Heermans, Allison Skidmore (2010); Simon Dures (2009); Matt Child, Glynis Humphrey (2008); Lindy MacGregor (2007)
Co-advisor: Tsholofelo Dithlobolo (2009); Hannah Thomas (2007)

Doctoral Students

Advisor: Julia Baum, Hayley Clements, Dominic Henry, Chevonne Reynolds (2016); Mduduzi Ndlovu (2012); Sharon Okanga (2013), Grant Joseph (2012)
Co-advisor: Lin Cassidy (2007); Matt Marsik (2008); Arpat Ozgul, Jim Surdick (2005)

Past Postdocs

Advisor: Eleonor Hellard (2013-15);  Alta de Vos (2013-14); Kristine Maciejewski (2013-14); Felix Nchu (2010-11); Xanic Rondon (2009-10); Leo Bruinzeel (2007-8)

Recent peer-reviewed publications

You can check out citation metrics for my ISI-listed journal articles here or through Google scholar here. Full texts of most of my articles can be found or requested (through Research Gate) here.

Biggs, R., Reyers, B., Blanchard, R., Clements, H., Cockburn, J., Cumming, G.S., Cundill, G., de Vos, A., Dziba, L., Esler, K.J., Fabricius, C., Hamann, M., Henriksson, R., Kotschy, K., Lindborg, R., Luvuno, L. Masterson, V., Nel, J.L., O’Farrell, P., Palmer, C.G., Pereira, L., Pollard, S., Preiser, R., Roux, D.J., Scholes, R.J., Selomane, O., Shackleton, C., Shackleton, S., Sitas, N., Slingsby, J.A., Spierenburg, M. and Tengö, M. 2023. The Southern African Program on Ecosystem Change and Society: an emergent community of practice. Ecosystems and People 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/26395916.2022.2150317

Zoeller, K.C. and Cumming, G.S. 2023. Cultural functional groups associated with birds relate closely to avian ecological functions and services. Ecosystem Services 60.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2023.101519

Cumming, G.S., Henry, D.A.W. and Reynolds, C. 2022. Translocation experiment gives new insights into the navigation capacity of an African duck. Diversity and Distributions. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13510

Cumming, G.S., Henry, D.A., Mutumi, G.L. and Ndlovu, M. 2021. Understanding arid‐region waterbird community dynamics during lake dry‐downs. Ecosphere 12. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3668 

Wilson, L.J., Hoffman, M.T., Ferguson, A.J. and Cumming, D.H. 2021. Elephant browsing impacts in a Zambezian Baikiaea woodland with a high density of pumped waterholes. Global Ecology and Conservation 31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01854. 

De Vos, A. and Cumming, G.S. 2019. The contribution of land tenure diversity to the spatial resilience of protected area networks. People and Nature 1: 331-346. DOI: 10.1002/pan3.29 

Brown, J.I., Lavretsky, P., Cumming, G.S. and Peters, J.L. 2019. Strong population structure and limited gene flow between Yellow-billed Ducks and Mallards in southern Africa. The Condor. https://doi.org/10.1093/condor/duz042

Mutumi, G.L., Cumming, G.S., Sullivan, S.M.P., Caron, A. and Cáceres, C. 2019. Using a multi-isotope approach to understand waterfowl movement in southern Africa. The Condor. https://doi.org/10.1093/condor/duz049

Villar Couto, C.M., Cumming. G.S., Lacorte, G.A., Congrains, C., Izbicki, R., Braga, E.M., Rocha, C.D., Moralez-Silva. E., Henry, D.A.W, Manu, S.A., Abalaka, J., Regalla, A., da Silva, A.S., Diop, M.S. and Del Lama, S.N. 2019. Avian haemosporidians in the Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) from central-western and southern Africa: High diversity and prevalence. PLoS ONE 14 (2): e0212425. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0212425 

Baum, J., Cumming, G.S. and De Vos, A. 2017. Understanding spatial variation in the drivers of nature-based tourism and their influence on the sustainability of private land conservation. Ecological Economics 140: 225-234. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.05.005 

Clements, H.S. and Cumming, G.S. 2017. Manager strategies and user demands: determinants of cultural ecosystem service bundles on private protected areas. Ecosystem Services 28: 228-232. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.02.026

Clements, H.S. and Cumming, G.S. 2017. Traps and transformations influencing the financial viability of tourism on private-land conservation areas. Conservation Biology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12999

Cumming, G.S. and Allen, C.R. 2017. Protected areas as social-ecological systems: perspectives from resilience and social-ecological systems theory. Ecological Applications 27: 1709-1717. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/eap.1584

Cumming, G.S. and Maciejewski, K. 2017. Reconciling community ecology and ecosystem services: cultural services and benefits from birds in South African National Parks. Ecosystem Services 28: 219-227. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.02.018

Cumming, G.S., Henry, D.A.W. and Reynolds, C. 2017. A framework for testing assumptions about foraging scales, body mass, and niche separation using telemetry data. Ecology and Evolution 7: 5276-5284. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3078

De Vos, A., Cumming, G.S. and Roux, D.J. 2017. The relevance of cross-scale connections and spatial interactions for ecosystem service delivery by protected areas: insights from southern Africa. Ecosystem Services 28: 133-139. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.11.014

Henry, D.A.W. and Cumming, G.S. 2017. Can waterbirds with different movement, dietary and foraging functional traits occupy similar ecological niches. Landscape Ecology 32: 265-278. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10980-016-0449-8

Ndlovu, M., Hockey, P.A.R. and Cumming, G.S. 2017. Geographic variation in factors that influence timing of moult and breeding in waterfowl. Zoology 122: 100-106. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.zool.2017.04.001

Ndlovu, M., Cumming, G.S. and Hockey, P.A.R. 2017. Body mass and pectoral muscle size changes in African Waterfowl during moult. African Journal of Wildlife Research 47: 24-31. http://dx.doi.org/10.3957/056.047.0024

Reynolds, C., Cumming, G.S., Vilà, M. and Green, A.J. 2017. Birds as key vectors for the dispersal of some alien species: further thoughts. Diversity and Distributions 23: 577-580. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12549

Suri, J., Anderson, P.M., Charles-Dominique, T., Hellard, E. and Cumming, G.S. 2017. More than just a corridor: a suburban river catchment enhances bird functional diversity. Landscape and Urban Planning 157: 331-342. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2016.07.013

Abolnik, C., Olivier, A.J., Reynolds, C., Henry, D.A.W., Cumming, G.S., Rauff, D., Romito, M., Petty, D. and Falch, C. 2016. Susceptibility and status of avian influenza in ostriches. Avian Diseases 60: 286-295. http://dx.doi.org/10.1637/11110-042815-Reg

Allen, C.R., Angeler, D.G., Cumming, G.S., Folke, C., Twidwell, D. and Uden, D.R. 2016. Review: quantifying resilience. Journal of Applied Ecology 53: 625-635. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12634

Ament, J.M. and Cumming, G.S. 2016. Scale dependency in effectiveness, isolation, and social-ecological spillover of protected areas. Conservation Biology http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12673

Clements, H.S., Baum, J. and Cumming, G.S. 2016. Money and motives: an organizational ecology perspective on private land conservation. Biological Conservation http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.03.002

Clements, H.S. and Cumming, G.S. 2016. Positives and pathologies of natural resource management on private land conservation areas. Conservation Biology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12864

Clements, H.S., Cumming, G.S. and Kerley, G.I.H. 2016. Predators on private land: broad-scale socioeconomic interactions influence large predator management. Ecology and Society 21: 45. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-08607-210245

Congrains, C., Carvalho, A.F., Miranda, E.A., Cumming, G.S., Henry, D.A.W., Manu, S.A., Abalaka, J., Rocha, C.D., Diop, M.S., Sá, J., Monteiro, H., Holbech, L.H., Gbogbo, F. and Del Lama, S.N. 2016. Genetic and paleomodelling evidence of the population expansion of the Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis in Africa during the climatic oscillations of the Late Pleistocene. Journal of Avian Biology 47: 001-012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jav.00972

Cumming, G.S., Harebottle, D.M., Mundava, J., Otieno, N. and Tyler, S.J. 2016. Timing and location of reproduction in African waterfowl: an overview of >100 years of nest records. Ecology and Evolution 6: 631-646. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1853

De Vos, A., Cumming, G.S., Cumming, D., Ament, J.M., Baum, J., Clements, H., Grewar, J., Maciejewski, K. and Moore, C. 2016. Pathogens, disease, and the social-ecological resilience of protected areas. Ecology and Society 21: 20. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-07984-210120

De Vos, A., Cumming, G.S., Moore, C.A., Maciejewski, K. and Duckworth, G. 2016. The relevance of spatial variation in ecotourism attributes for the economic sustainability of protected areas. Ecosphere 7: e01207. http://dx/doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1207

Hellard, E., Cumming, G.S., Caron, A., Coe, E. and Peters, J.L. 2016. Testing epidemiological functional groups as predictors of avian haemosporidia patterns in southern Africa. Ecosphere 7:e01225 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1225

Henry, D.A.W., Ament, J.M. and Cumming, G.S. 2016. Exploring the environmental drivers of waterfowl movement in arid landscapes using first-passage time analysis. Movement Ecology 4: 8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40462-016-0073-x

Henry, D.A.W. and Cumming, G.S. 2016. Spatial and environmental processes show temporal variation in the structuring of waterbird metacommunities. Ecosphere 7: e01451. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1451

Henry, D.A.W. and Cumming, G.S. 2016. Can waterbirds with different movement, dietary and foraging functional traits occupy similar ecological niches? Landscape Ecology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10980-016-0449-8

Maciejewski, K., Baum, J. and Cumming, G.S. 2016. Integration of private land conservation areas in a network of statutory protected areas: implications for sustainability. Biological Conservation 200: 200-206. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.05.027

Nelson, J.T., Wilson, R.E., McCraken, K.G., Cumming, G.S., Joseph, L., Guay, P-J. and Peters, J.L. 2016. Divergence and gene flow in the globally distributed blue-winged ducks. Journal of Avian Biology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jav.00998

Reynolds, C. and Cumming, G.S. 2016. Seed traits and bird species influence the dispersal parameters of wetland plants. Freshwater Biology  61: 349-361. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/fwb.12776

Reynolds, C. and Cumming, G.S. 2016. Seed dispersal of waterbirds in southern Africa: comparing the roles of ectozoochory and endozoochory. Freshwater Biology http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/fwb.12709

Seymour, C.L., Joseph, G.S., Makumbe, M., Cumming, G.S., Mahlangu, Z. and Cumming, D.H.M. 2016. Woody species composition in an African savanna: determined by centuries of termite activity but modulated by 50 years of ungulate herbivory. Journal of Vegetation Science 27: 824-833. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12393

Suri, J., Anderson, P.M., Charles-Dominique, T., Hellard, E. and Cumming, G.S. 2016. More than just a corridor: a suburban river catchment enhances bird functional diversity. Landscape and Urban Planning 157: 331-342. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2016.07.013

Cumming, G.S., Abolnik, C. Caron, A. Gaidet, N., Grewar, J., Hellard, E., Henry, D.A.W. and Reynolds, C. (2015). A social-ecological approach to landscape epidemiology: geographic variation and avian influenza. Landscape Ecology 30:963-985.

Cumming, G.S., Allen, C.R., Ban, N.C., Biggs, D., Biggs, H.C., Cumming, D.H.M., De Vos, A., Epstein, G., Etienne, M., Maciejewski, K., Mathevet, R., Moore, C., Nenadovic, M., and Schoon, M. (2015). Understanding protected area resilience: a multi-scale, social-ecological approach. Ecological Applications 25:299-319.

Espinaze, M., Hellard, E. and Cumming, G.S. 2015. Analysis of large new South African data set using two host specificity indices shows generalism in both adult and larval ticks of mammals. Parasitology 143:366-373.

Joseph., G.S., Makumbe, M., Seymour, C.L., Cumming, G.S., Mahlangu, Z. and Cumming, D.H.M. 2015. Termite mounds mitigate against 50 years of herbivore-induced reduction of functional diversity of savannah woody plants. Landscape Ecology 30:2161-2174.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10980-015-0238-9

Maciejewski, K. & Cumming, G.S. 2015. The relevance of socioeconomic interactions for the resilience of protected area networks. Ecological Society of America 6(9): 1 – 14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/ES15-00022.1

Maciejewski, K. & Cumming, G.S. 2015. Multi-scale network analysis shows scale-dependency of significance of individual protected areas for connectivity. Landscape Ecology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10980-015-0285-2

Maciejewski, K., De Vos, A., Cumming, G.S., Moore, C.A. & Biggs, D. 2015. Cross-scale feedbacks and scale mismatches as influences on cultural services and the resilience of protected areas. Ecological Applications 25:11-23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/13-2240.1.

Moore, C., Grewar, J. and Cumming, G.S. 2015. Quantifying network resilience: comparison before and after a major perturbation shows strengths and limitations of network metrics. Journal of Applied Ecology http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12486

Palmer, C., Biggs, R. and Cumming, G.S. (2015). Applied research for enhancing human well-being and environmental stewardship: using complexity thinking in Southern Africa. Ecology and Society 20(1) 53.  http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol20/iss1/art53/

Reynolds, C. and Cumming, G.S. 2015. The role of waterbirds in the dispersal of freshwater cladocera and bryozoa in southern Africa. African Zoology 50: 307-311. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15627020.2015.1108164

Reynolds, C. and Cumming, G.S. 2015. Defining functional groups using dietary data: quantitative comparison suggests functional classification for seed-dispersing waterfowl. Basic and Applied Ecology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2015.12.006

Reynolds, C., Miranda, N.A.F. and Cumming, G. 2015. The role of waterbirds in the dispersal of aquatic alien and invasive species. Diversity and Distributions 21: 744-754. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12334

Thomas, H.L., Hockey, P.A.R. & Cumming, G.S. 2015. Solving the challenges of monitoring mobile populations: insights from studies of waterbirds in southern Africa. Ostrich 86:169-178. http://dx.doi.org/10.2989/00306525.2015.1005720