ACHIEVEMENTS
Academic’s contribution to new
book enhances understanding
of global savanna systems
Christine Cuénod
Current Address: Networking Facilitator, Friends of UKZN Agriculture,
University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg
Email address: [email protected]
Reprinted From: http://bit.ly/2CL8vZD
T
he publication of a book titled
Savanna Woody Plants and Large
Herbivores is the culmination of
years’ of work by Professor Peter Scog-
ings of the School of Life Sciences, who
was one of the editors of the work.
The book deals with the interactions
between woody plants and browsing
mammals in global savannas and dis-
cusses contemporary savanna manage-
ment models and applications.
Throughout the 21 chapters, the focus
is primarily on the C 4 grassy ecosystems
with woody components that constitute
the majority of global savannas. Savan-
nas occur in tropical and sub-tropical
climates as well as the warm, temperate
regions of North America.
The comprehensive publication covers
a range of topics, including the varying
behaviour of browsing mammals, the
response to browsing by woody spe-
cies, and the factors that inhibit forage
intake. Contributions came from active
researchers and experts all over the
world, and in the book they compare
and contrast different savanna ecosys-
tems, offering a global perspective on
savanna functioning, the roles of soil
and climate in resource availability and
organism interaction, and the possible
impacts of climate change across global
savannas.
Scogings and his collaborators struc-
tured the publication to complement
contemporary books on savanna or
large herbivore ecology with the focus
on the woody component of savanna
ecosystems and large herbivore interac-
tions in savannas. Tree-mammal systems
of savannas and other eco-systems of
temperate and boreal regions are com-
pared, and the work provides numerous
case studies of plant-mammal interac-
tions from various savanna ecosystems.
The book will be of relevance to those
working in ecology, wildlife and conser-
vation biology, natural resource man-
agement, and environmental science,
among other fields.
Scogings has been at UKZN since 2015
and it was during that year that he also
began work on this publication with
his collaborators, bringing to reality an
idea conceived almost 20 years ago.
Through his attendance at the annual
Savanna Science Network meetings,
Scogings was able to discuss the idea
with many of the world’s top savannah
ecologists and elicited their eager co-
operation on the publication.
Scogings, who holds a C-rating from
the National Research Foundation and
is Associate Professor of Terrestrial Ecol-
ogy, was the Academic Leader of Biodi-
versity and Evolutionary Biology on the
Westville campus in 2015 and on the
Pietermaritzburg campus until the end
of 2018.
This publication is an exploration of the
areas of expertise he has dedicated his
career to, including plant-herbivore in-
teractions, secondary metabolites, sa-
vanna ecology, and rangeland manage-
ment.
He completed his undergraduate de-
gree in Environmental Biology and Ge-
ology at the former University of Natal
(now UKZN) and went on to achieve his
Masters in Wildlife Management from
the University of Pretoria and a doctor-
ate in Pasture Science from the Univer-
sity of Fort Hare. He spent 13 years at
the University of Fort Hare and 12 years
at the University of Zululand before join-
ing UKZN.
‘This book represents a valuable contri-
bution to current research, and provides
new insights on this research and on re-
cent developments in understanding
global savanna systems,’ said Scogings.
Scogings explained that the book’s con-
tent filled a gap in literature on savanna
management issues, including biodi-
versity conservation and animal produc-
tion, and applies concepts developed
in other biomes to future savanna re-
search.
05
Figure 1: Prof Peter Scogings with the newly-published book. Photo: supplied
Grassroots
Vol 19
No 4
November 2019