This will be a series of emails from the bush from Botanist Alison Bijl. Emails will be posted as we receive them. Look out for them on Flash News throughout the next three months
Alison is working on her Masters degree in Botany and a student of the Amy Gould Ballet School. Throughout the following three months of her trip she will be sending us information regarding her experiences on this research journey. I am very tempted to take up her invitation to visit the area and be shown around however ……………….my own work calls. I would like to share her experiences with all our readers of ImagineMag! and hope you enjoy them as much as I am. Amy Gould
But let us hear from Alison herself and then read her first email.
I grew up in Nelspruit, and spent the majority of my time playing outside, grubbing around in the dirt and following butterflies at the bottom of the garden. My father works in forestry, and throughout my childhood was able to take me for bike rides and hikes in remote and beautiful natural places. My mother encouraged a great deal of reading, and was the one that took me to my first swimming and ballet lessons when I was six. I pursued these hobbies to the end of my school career and my folks were there for every performance and gala. Both my parents are avid Kruger National Park fans, and with the park right on our doorstep, we spent a great deal of time there. My dad started teaching me multi-syllable Latin tree names while I was learning my ABCs, and 20 years later, here I am, a botanist with a keen interest in ecology and conservation, particularly within the broader context of the socio-ecological systems operating in South Africa.
I’m currently doing a Master’s degree in pollination ecology, and am grateful every day for the opportunity to learn from my expert supervisors. I love pursuing research, because it develops critical thinking, satisfies curiosity and it is a step towards pursuing my passion in teaching. I was fortunate to attend a good high school and excellent university, so I feel it’s my responsibility and privilege to pass on the skills I’ve learnt to any willing recipients. My own teachers played such an important part in shaping and encouraging my academic interests, that I have a lot of respect for the profession, and would love to do the same for students one day.
I did my Honours thesis research in the Kruger National Park (KNP) in 2012. The project involved assessing the impact of elephants on large trees, focusing on an ecologically and culturally important local species, Balanites maughamii. I studied the effects of bark-stripping and toppling by elephants and also considered the role of rodents as dispersal agents and seed predators. The research has recently been published in the Journal of Tropical Ecology, to my delight. Following Honours, I moved to Thailand and completed a TEFL course (Teach English as a Foreign Language). With my science background (BSc. Zoology and Ecology; Hons. Botany) I was offered a post in a rural government high school which offered an Intensive English Programme (IEP) to its brightest students. For one year I taught general science, biology and English in the IEP programme, to grades 7 through 12. I also tutored Adult English privately in the evenings. It was a very challenging job, with long hours and few resources in the way of textbooks and lab equipment. The language barrier also proved difficult initially. I resolved to learn to speak Thai as quickly as possible, made an effort to develop friendships with my local Thai colleagues and quickly grew to know and love my students. The difficulties around communication and the limited resources were often frustrating, but despite that we had a great deal of success and fun in the classroom. The overwhelming joy associated with having a successful lesson and getting through to students was completely addictive! It was those moments that saw me through the year and really reinforced my determination to teach children.
In April 2014 I returned to the KNP and took on a job as a teaching assistant for the NSF-funded International Research Experience for Students (IRES) programme: A six week undergraduate research programme on which I assisted with the logistics and helped the five American students conduct fieldwork, ranging from small mammal and bird studies through to elephant impact assessments and plant demographic studies. I returned to the KNP to run the IRES programme again in June 2015, this time with three South African and three American students. Following the IRES programme I helped an American student organize and run a week long ecology camp for high school students from the local communities around the KNP. This project was assisted by the Nsasani Trust, a new NGO which is building a sustainable education centre for the training of young local and international scientists in the KNP, with a focus on bridging the gap between disadvantaged communities in SA and tertiary education. Our camp incorporated these principles and aimed to introduce local high school science students to the research opportunities in SA National Parks as well as foster a sense of pride in and an awareness around the value of the natural environment. I firmly believe that small projects like the above can provide an important contribution towards human capital development. With only minimal resources and the energy of skilled individuals willing to share their knowledge, we can develop science skills, raise environmental consciousness, encourage sustainable conservation practice and give people an incentive to protect the wealth of natural resources in our country, and therein lies the crux of what I hope to contribute to South Africa in time.
The scientific aims of my research
This study will describe the breeding system of Sesamothamnus lugardii, the Transvaal Sesame-bush (family Pedaliaceae). Despite the fact that S. lugardii is a quintessential, rare savanna succulent, the conservation status and risk of extinction of this species is unknown. This necessitates a detailed study of the breeding system of the species, in order to determine its reproductive success and gain a better understanding of its ecosystem dynamics. The ultimate goal is to determine the thresholds beyond which this species could become vulnerable to change in the ecosystem, and establish conservation strategies based thereupon.
- lugardii is an arid-savanna succulent shrub which grows in hot, dry climates and can be found throughout Zimbabwe, in limited areas of Botswana and in South Africa along the Limpopo River Valley (Coates-Palgrave, 1977). The plant has a disproportionately fat trunk with coppery, flaking bark and spines (Figure 1). The flowers are white, with long, slender corolla tubes and spurs up to 8mm long, and they bloom in the evening, lasting only a single night before wilting.
Currently the pollinator of S. lugardii is unknown, but it is hypothesized that Agrius convolvuli hawkmoths are likely candidates. They have been observed foraging in the study area and their long tongues could allow them to access the nectar at the base of S. lugardii flowers’ long corolla tubes whilst simultaneously interacting with the reproductive structures. In addition, these moths are attracted to white flowers and forage nocturnally, corresponding to the floral characteristics of S. lugardii.
- What role do the following characteristics play in pollinator specificity: corolla tube length, colour, nectar, fragrance and time of floral anthesis?
- Of the animal/insect species that visit the flowers, which are actually effective pollinators?
- Are there antagonistic flower visitors, and how do they affect the net reproductive fitness of the plants?
- Does exclusion of all visitors result in a lack of seed set?
- Is lugardii pollinator limited?
Email from Alison Received 23 October
My first study site was an hour out of the town of Thabazimbi, where a porcupine and I crossed paths in the dark. Luckily we frightened each other equally and went in opposite directions … I just arrived at my second field site last night 22nd October (Mapungubwe National Park) – the meeting point of Botswana, Zim and RSA. Some interesting encounters along the way already though! Tree ghosts in Natal (will have to attach a pic!), a Southern bald Ibis near Ermelo (looks like a cross between a vulture and a hadeda) a cow’s shin lying in the middle of the road (no sign of the rest of it) in Limpopo, and a woman named Polite, at a checkout counter, desperately defying her name.
I miss you all! – and the dancing! After hunching up in the car for a whole week, I feel completely yukky!
Will send some photos of my field sites soon. It really is a remarkable corner or the country! If you feel like absconding for a few days, I’d love to take you around.