Research highlights and Science Communication

Ø  Our very own Nikki James just received a certificate from Elsevier publishers for being the Top Cited Author 2008-2012 for her paper entitled “Long-term stability of the fish assemblages in a warm-temperate South African Estuary”. The paper was published in Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science Journal which is one of the best Journals in the estuarine field

Ø  Prof. Alan Whitefield has been approached to write the Foreword on a book on St Lucia. The book is said to bring together work which has been done on St Lucia since the 1950’s and might be published by the end of this year

Ø  Paul Cowley is working on producing a guide to best catch-and-release practices and is currently in the process of drawing up a funding proposal for the booklet.

Ø  The first phase of the Cape Nature Rondegat project has reached completion. The initial survey indicated that it was a great success with the survey showing that there were no alien fish in the Rondergat. There will be a second phase of the project but there is currently no indication when this phrase will commense.

The ACEP Open Call recently awarded funding to five projects for a three year period (2012-2014). The projects are all multi-disciplinary in nature and multi-institutional involving researchers from 20 universities and research institutions both nationally and internationally.

The projects are:

The Suitcase Project – Principal Investigator: Sean Fennessy

Investigating the importance of mesoscale eddies, in the Mozambique Channel, as vectors of biological material between Madagascar and South Africa.

An assessment of benthic biodiversity of Walter’s Shoal – Principal Investigator: Toufiek Samaai

Assessing the biodiversity on Walter’s Shoal to add to the understanding of how seamount communities are structured and function in order to aid in the identification of priority areas for protection within the high seas.

Bioregions as biodiversity surrogates in marine conservation planning – Principal Investigator: Jean Harris

Investigating the validity and robustness of habitat surrogacy approaches for biodiversity pattern mapping for offshore environments on South Africa’s east coast. This will provide new insight into categorisation of offshore biodiversity and refinement of offshore planning tools, required for priority areas of conservation.

Bentho-pelagic mechanisms of inshore coastal waters – Principal Investigator: Francesca Porri

To understand the inshore dynamics of invertebrate larvae and their relationship with small-scale oceanographic features in the region between Algoa Bay and St. Francis Bay.

Movement ranges and time scales in marine predators – Principal Investigator: Malcolm Smale

Investigating the environmental drivers that initiate both local movements (in Algoa Bay) and coastal migrations of two teleost and two shark species. Understanding the environmental influences on life histories and movement will contribute to a better understanding of the likely impacts of global climate change.

 Science communication: Conferences

SASAqS (South African Society of Aquatic Scientists)

The conference was held from 1-5 July in St Francis Bay. This years’ conference was the best attended conference thus far, with 100 delegates meeting under the theme Aquatic ecosystems, conservation and connectivity. SAIAB had a particularly strong presence with Alan Whitefield, Olaf Weyl, Nikki James and Darragh Woodford all giving presentations. Olaf was also involved in the organizing of the conference.  The conference was funded by the EC Development Corporation (ECDC) and the Water Research Commission (WRC), funding 25 EC students, seven of which were from SAIAB doing research in the EC. SAIAB student Bruce Ellender received an award for his presentation on assessing the consequences of non-native fish invasion to the endangered border barb barbus trevelyani in the Keiskamma River System.
Click here to visit the website.

SASSB conference

Five SAIAB students (Sisanda Mayekiso, Murray Duncan, Nosiphiwo Springbok, Christine Coppinger and Devin Isermonger) recently attended the South African Society for Systematic Biology (SASSB) Conference. All students presented papers and were  accompanied by Gavin Gouws who is the president elect for SASSB and supervisor Monica Mwale.

2nd International Conference on Fish Telemetry

This conference, which is a major scoop for South Africa, will be held at Rhodes University in June 2013 and will be spear headed by Dr Paul Cowley the first call has already gone out.