RESEARCH
WOODY ENCROACHMENT IN TALLGRASS PRAIRIE
TRAITS OF CLONAL ENCROACHING SHRUBS
Changes in climate and land management have facilitated the rapid expansion of woody species into tallgrass prairie. Despite much research focused on the drivers and consequences of woody expansion, our understanding of the physiological traits that facilitate the growth and spread of encroaching shrubs is limited. In this project, I aim to understand whether clonal shrubs encroaching in tallgrass prairie have common physiological and functional traits or unique traits that differentiate species niches.
TREES DYNAMICS IN LOWVELD SAVANNA
TREE GROWTH UNDER ALTERED
SOIL MOISTURE AVAILABILITY
IMPACTS OF REPEATED BUSH CLEARING ON MOPANE SAVANNA
We are working with Dr. Ricardo Holdo to understand the impacts of the intensity, timing, and depth of water availability on tree and grass cover in lowveld savannas using an irrigation manipulation experiment at Wits Rural Facility. For this project, I am working on understanding physiological differences among common savanna trees that may underlie their differential responses to our experimental treatments.
Low-statured shrubs have increased in lowveld savannas resulting in a change in habitat structure and heterogeneity. The thickening of Colophospermum mopane, a dominate tree across southern Africa, has resulted in loss of herbaceous biomass and diversity. This project aims to assess the impacts of shrub clearing on herbaceous biomass, herbivore presence, and mopane physiology in a semi-arid lowveld savanna. This project is in collaboration with Dr. Tony Swemmer of the South African Environmental Observatory Network.