Wits University signs accession agreement with SAEON

By signing the agreement, Wits University staff, students, visiting scientists and contractors have gained official participant’s status of all the SAEON nodes The agreement will facilitate collaborative research, such as the new project on atmospheric deposition and water chemistry currently being developed by Prof. Chris Curtis of the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies in collaboration with SAEON’s Grasslands, Forests and Wetlands Node. The picture shows Prof. Chris Curtis on his first visit to the Cathedral Peak catchments.

The University of the Witwatersrand has signed an agreement with SAEON to formalise the collaboration between the two entities.

Although the signing of the agreement was facilitated by the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies on behalf of the University, SAEON also collaborates with researchers at the University’s School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences as well as at Wits Rural Facility.

The main areas of collaboration between SAEON and University of the Witwatersrand researchers include the following:

With the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies:

• Atmospheric deposition monitoring and major ion chemical monitoring of surface waters
• The value of webcam imagery in savanna ecology
• Effects of climate variability, tree age and management practices on increases in mango yields
• Phenological response of citrus flowering to climate variability and change in South Africa and Iran.

With the School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences:

• A mechanistic approach to climate change impacts, mitigation and adaptation
• Statistical time series analyses of ungulate movement patterns in Kruger National Park
• Influence of grazing management on plant diversity of Highveld Sourveld Grasslands
• Influence of changes in water temperature on fish communities in the Klaserie River
• Biogeography and dynamics of Brachystegia woodland relicts in southern Africa
• Elephant impacts on savanna ecosystems
  
• Temporal and spatial variation in population density and structure of Adansonia digitata
• Long-term influences of elephant herbivory and fire

With the Wits Rural Facility:

• Analysis of 10 years of change in the woody vegetation of Bushbuckridge
• Sustainability in communal socio-ecological systems

"I trust the signing of the agreement will help open more opportunities for collaboration, and I commit my organisation to strengthening the collaborative work by offering the university’s researchers and students access to SAEON research and monitoring sites, data and other facilities," said SAEON Managing Director, Johan Pauw.