Flying the PCU flag at the Savanna Science Network meeting

A great sighting of a male leopard on one of the game drives (Photo: A. Cardoso)

The 13th Annual Savanna Science Network meeting took place in the Kruger National park from the 9th -13th March. The meeting was, as usual, attended by leaders in savanna related research, and was enjoyed by all who attended. The University of Cape Town was well represented, and there to represent the Plant Conservation Unit were Lindsey Gillson, Abraham Dabengwa, Glynis Humphrey and Anabelle Cardoso. 

Lindsey gave a great presentation on complexity thinking and objectives setting in complex socio-ecological systems, where she presented a planning framework that aims to assist with navigating decision making in situations of high uncertainty and complexity. Abraham presented on some of his PhD research, which untangled herbivore and fire patterns in human-affected landscapes from a sedimentary fossil record in KwaZulu-Natal. He presented evidence supporting his hypothesis that a switch from grassland to savanna occurred as a result of Holocene warming and anthropogenic influence. Glynis also presented some of her PhD research, which focussed on the role of humans in the complex fire, climate and vegetation regimes of North-east Namibia. She used social data from interviews to elucidate on the past and present fire regimes of the region and how these regimes are affected by social factors. Anabelle presented some of her masters research which took place in a forest- savanna transition zone in Ghana, West Africa. She discussed how allocation trade-offs between growth and fore tolerance affect survival rates of forest tree seedlings in different vegetation types.

Aside from fascinating talks, many of those who attended also enjoyed a game drive or three, with a great siting of a male leopard being a highlight. In addition to the great networking everyone did, hippo watching, sundowners by the dam, and dinner at the Skukuza Golf Club were also favourite activities

Article by Anabelle Cardoso.