Bush encroachment paper steals the show

James Puttick and Timm Hoffman with their award for the best paper published in the African Journal of Range & Forage Science in 2014. Absent is the senior author of the paper, Tim O’Connor from SAEON. (Photo D. Okubamichael). 

Congratulations are due to Tim O’Connor from the South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON) and his two co-authors from the PCU, James Puttick and Timm Hoffman. Their review paper on bush encroachment in southern Africa won the award for the ‘Best paper published in the African Journal of Range & Forage Science in 2014’. This award was presented to the authors by the Grasslands Society of southern Africa (GSSA) at their recent 50th Annual GSSA Conference, held in Pietermaritzburg.

In their review of 23 studies, the authors showed that the rate of woody cover has ranged from – 0.131 to 1.275% per year. They found that encroachment was most rapid on small protected areas, intermediate under commercial tenure, slowest under communal tenure and large, natural environments with mega-herbivores present. They looked at several drivers of bush encroachment and found that encroachment was most rapid during the high rainfall, mid-1970s, which followed the 1960s drought when cattle numbers were at their peak, and the grass layer was degraded. Their concluding thoughts from the paper were that bush encroachment depends on the interplay of history, environment, management and vegetation, recognition of which is essential for containing encroachment.

For further details of the paper see: O'Connor, T.G, Puttick, J.R & Hoffman, M.T. 2014. Bush encroachment in southern Africa: changes and causes. African Journal of Range & Forage Science 31 (2): 67-88. 

We at the PCU value this collaboration with SAEON and are proud of this achievement. Receiving recognition of this nature is always appreciated and encouraging. 

Article by Esther Mostert