Fromoureditor
W
elcome to the first issue of
Grassroots for the New Year.
We trust you all had a happy fes-
tive season and that 2019 is a good one!
We start this year with good news and
sad news. We are very proud of one
of our founder members, Dr Winston
Trollope, who has been awarded the
2018 Henry Wright Lifetime Achieve-
ment Award for his significant contribu-
tion to fire ecology and management in
grasslands and shrublands, through the
Association for Fire
Ecology.
This issue contains a variety of recent
news articles, hopefully there’s some-
thing in here for everyone!
These articles range from invasive
species, soil fertility management and
Lablab purpureus – a species used as a
dry-season feed in Kenya to sustainable
livestock production and key perfor-
mance indicators for dairy farmers.
We also would like
to see what inter-
esting fieldwork
our readers are up
to and so we have
started off the new
year with a photo-
graphic competi-
tion.
He is the first
international re-
cipient of a life-
time achievement
award and will be
presented with it
at the International
Fire Ecology and
Management Con-
gress later this year.
Congratulations
Winston!
Janet
Sadly, one of our
Namibian mem-
bers, Dr Dave Jou-
bert passed away
in December 2018. Dave had made a
great contribution to savanna research
and had been a lecturer at the Namibia
University of Science and Technology.
He will be greatly missed within our
GSSA community.
The African Journal of Range and For-
age Science has recently published a
special issue focusing on research in
the Karoo.
This is a much-needed special issue
as it has been over a decade since a
research journal has dedicated one of
its issues to the Karoo. For more infor-
mation, have a look at the advert in this
Grassroots
Vol 19
No 1
Editorial Committee
Grassroots issue.
Here we invite
you to submit any
photos related to
rangeland ecology
and pasture man-
agement into our
competition and
your photo may be
on the next cover
of Grassroots.
Any interesting photos taken while
doing fieldwork are also encouraged –
and will be put into our next issue! We
would also like to hear of any achieve-
ments among our members – please let
us know if you have recently completed
your Masters or Doctorate or received
any special awards.
Finally, a reminder of the 54th GSSA
Congress coming up later this year in
Upington. Registration is now open,
and abstracts can be submitted. It will
be great to see you all there!
Editor
Janet Taylor
Sub-Editors
Malissa Murphy
Christiaan Harmse
Layout and Design
J.C. Aucamp
Administration
Erica Joubert
Contact us
If you have any feedback,
comments, or suggestions,
feel free to contact us at:
[email protected]
Read more on
Abstracts for the 54 th GSSA
Annual Congress on page 5;
All upcoming events
on page 34;
Exciting, new photo
competition on page 36.
@GrasslandSociety-
ofSouthernAfrica
Happy reading!
March 2019
02