South Africa and Mozambique schools booklet 2012

Structure of the expeditions

The South African expeditions are run in the Balule nature reserve, which has an open border through to Kruger National Park which covers over 2 million ha and is widely regarded as the leading National Park in Africa. The school teams are using identical monitoring methods to those being used by university teams in other reserves around South Africa and together these projects have the following objectives:

· To quantify the impact of elephants at different densities on habitat structure

· To utilise these data to calculate carrying capacity of reserves for elephants

· To assist with data collection on the distribution of large herbivores and predators

· To complete annual surveys of winter bird community structure and density in areas of habitat with differing levels of elephant impact

In 2013, research at a new site in the Maputo Special Reserve in Mozambique is being started with the following research objectives:

· To establish and regularly monitor a series of forest structure and vegetation plots to assess the impact of increasing numbers of herbivores

At the end of the first week, the groups will move to either a marine training centre in Sodwana Bay, South Africa or to a marine research centre in Ponta do Ouro, Mozambique. In Mozambique, the marine research centre is completing annual stereo video surveys of reef fish communities to identify changes in community structure and abundance in response to increasing pressures on the reefs.

Bush week

During week 1, the groups will spend half their time in the bush either in game view vehicles or on foot with armed guards and half their time in the large fenced area of the Balule nature reserve or the Maputo Special Reserve camp (2013 only) learning about bush skills (safe distances for viewing game, tracks and signs of large mammals, how to use GPS and compass for navigation, how to respond if a large herbivore or predator is encountered) and having lectures on savannah ecology: Africa’s biodiversity (formation of biomes in South Africa and Mozambique), southern African birds (classification, sample techniques, conservation), herbivores of Southern Africa (adaptation in rhinos, buffalo, impala, nyala, wildebeest, zebra), predators (niche separation in lion, leopard, cheetah, wild dog and hyena), managing elephant populations (social structure, impact on habitat, methods of controlling elephant numbers), African conservation issues (fenced reserves, maintaining balanced herbivore and predator communities, fire management) and a conservation synthesis (calculating elephant carrying capacity).

The groups will also be involved in the following field based surveys:

· Bird point counts – groups of 8 with an experienced ornithologist will trek to the start point of the count and then form an outward facing circle. All bird species seen or heard over a 10 minutes period will be identified.

· Elephant impact surveys – each group will need to spend 3 half days completing habitat surveys on 20 x 5m x 5m sample points within hectare blocks with differing levels of elephant feeding densities. In each plot, grass volume is estimated from pasture metre readings, the size structure of all trees and shrubs measured, total bush coverage calculated and levels of elephant damage to each tree and shrub estimated using the standardised Walker scale.

Marine week

The students will spend their second week in either Sodwana Bay in South Africa or in Ponta do Ouro in Mozambique. During this week, the students will be completing one of three options:

· a full PADI Open Water dive training course

· completion of an Indian Ocean reef ecology course consisting of lectures and in-water practicals either by diving (if a qualified diver) or snorkelling. The lectures in Sodwana Bay cover an introduction to coral reef ecosystem (characteristics of a reef, distribution of reefs in east Africa), coral and algal species (growth forms and common species), megafauna (whales, sharks, manta rays), mangrove and seagrass ecology (importance of connective systems, threats to mangroves), ecologically important invertebrates (lobster fishery, aquarium trade), identification of coral reef fish (main reef fish families), reef survey techniques (quadrats, transects, stereo video), threats to and conservation of reefs (protected marine areas in South Africa and Mozambique) and sand dune ecology (formation and conservation value). The Mozambique Indian Ocean reef ecology course is very similar but there is more emphasis on learning the reef fish species and the opportunity to help with analysing the stereo video data.

· completion of a PADI Open Water referral course (students need to arrive having completed their theory and pool training) which takes the first 3 days and they then join the Indian Ocean reef ecology course

Example research questions for IB, EPQ or CoPE

How is the carrying capacity for elephants in a reserve calculated?

What are the main species of mammal that pose significant threats to humans on foot in the bush?

How do you determine safe distances to approach large herbivores and predators?

How are elephant herds structured?

What strategies are being used to prevent elephant herds causing too much damage in fenced reserves?

What are the contrasting habitat requirements of black and white rhinos?

Contrast the social structure and niche separation of lions, leopards and cheetah.

What methods are used to estimate populations of large herbivores in reserves?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of controlled burning in savannah reserves?

Is hunting of large herbivores and predators justified?

Does ecotourism provide a significant incentive for conservation in South Africa?