26 June 2013
ZSSA 2013 PROGRAMME
SUNDAY 14 JULY 2013
16:00
Registration desk open
17:00
Cocktail function
19:00
Screening of Rhino Video
MONDAY 15 JULY 2011
06:30
Early morning bird/nature walk led by
Prof A Monadjem
07:00-08:00
Registration desk open
8:00-8:30
Opening ceremony
08:30-09:30
Prof Tom
Gilbert
Session
Ecophysiology
09:30
MC Whitfield
Heat tolerance and
K Bohmanm
evaporative cooling
capacity in birds from
the Kalahari Desert
Using highthroughput
sequencing in diet
analyses
09:45
B Smit
The effects of
temperature on water
and energy fluxes
during summer in an
arid-zone passerine
bird
BJ van Vuuren
The importance of
scale in molecular
ecology
10:00
L Thompson
Seasonal differences
in basal metabolic
rate of Cape Whiteeyes, Zosterops
pallidus
DL Dalton
Genetic monitoring of
African penguin
(Spheniscus
demersus)
populations in South
Plenary: Degraded samples, simulation based story
testing, and Next Gen Sequencing: Opening new
research frontiers in zoology
Molecular applications
Africa
10:15
SL Webb
Basal metabolic rate
and preliminary
moult metabolism
data in three species
from the Euplectes
genus
S Willows-Munro
Urban biogeography:
A molecular look at
the invertebrate
diversity of
eThekwini
10:30-11:00
Tea Break
11:00-11:30
Prof Colleen
Downs
Session
Ecophysiology
11:30
CM Schmidt
Oxidative stress in
females of the
eusocial Damaraland
mole-rat: is there an
advantage to being a
reproductive female?
P Mokumo
Preliminary
phylogenetic
relationships among
different species of
Kroyeria van
Beneden, 1853
11:45
V Thabethe
Seasonal effects in
the thermoregulation
of invasive Roseringed parakeets
(Psittacula krameri)
T Mandiwana
(To follow)
12:00
TP Miya
Characterization of
the freezing
avoidance attributes
of the sub-Antarctic
Notothenioid species
J Van Heerden
Genetic
differentiation in
Horus Chamberlin
(Arachnida,
Pseudoscorpiones,
Olpiidae) as indicated
by mitochondrial
DNA analysis
12:15
MC Whitfield
Heat tolerance and
T Mangena
evaporative cooling
capacity in birds from
the Kalahari Desert
Keynote: The importance of ecology and physiology
in a changing world: Wahlberg’s epauletted fruit
bat (Epomophorus wahlbergi) as an example
Molecular applications
Phylogenetics and
population genetics of
Nemesis
12:30
B Smit
The effects of
temperature on water
and energy fluxes
during summer in an
arid-zone passerine
bird
12:45
Miss NM Weyer
Influences of
olfactory predator
cues on torpor
patterns in
Graphiurus murinus,
the African woodland
dormouse
13:00-14:00
Lunch (60 min)
14:00-14:30
Henk Bouwman
Keynote:
Overview of organic micropollutant issues in southern Africa
Session
Alien invasion and pollution
impacts
Invertebrate diversity - patterns
and process
14:30
K. Minnaar
The toxicity of Bt
maize to the fresh
water gastropod
Bulinus tropicus
M Leitner
Investigating the
influence of
termitaria on
invertebrate
communities
14:45
C Griffiths
Alien animals in
South Africa – an
analysis of our
introduced fauna
TC Munyai
Ant thermal tolerance
and behavioural
dominance along an
altitudinal transect in
the Savanna biome:
towards a functional
classification
15:00
TM Mokotjomela
Consumption and
spread of seeds of
alien plants by native
fauna: a conservation
perspective
CS Schoeman
Deciding on an
appropriate scale for
conservation
activities: partitioning
alpha and beta
diversity in South
Africa (Formicidae:
Hymenoptera)
MJ Cunningham
From Cape to Karoo:
Transbiome adaptive
radiation in Goggia
leaf-toed geckos
15:15
K Wimberger
The impact of exotic
plant species on the
foraging and spatial
ecology of the
endangered samango
monkey in humanmodified habitat at
their most southern
distribution in South
Africa
15:30
A Vosloo
Differential responses BN Reynolds
of juvenile and adult
South African
abalone
(Haliotismidae
Linnaeus) to low and
high oxygen levels
The effects of longterm burning regimes
on savanna spider
assemblages.
15:45
D Vosloo
Metabolic
remodelling in
juvenile abalone
(Haliotis midae)
exposed to subtle
changes in
temperature and
water oxygenation will this species be
affected by climate
change?
SH Foord
Drivers of spider
diversity along an
altitudinal transect in
a floristic kingdom
sensitive to climate
change
16:00
H Bouwman
Imposex in marine
gastropods from the
Atlantic coast of
South Africa
J Dawson
Declines in seagrass
starfish:
consequences for
community structure
and biodiversity
M Lebepe
Symbiotic
Siphonostomatoid
diversity on Mobulids
(Rajiformes:
Mobulidae) off the
KwaZulu-Natal coast
of South Africa
16:15
16:00-16:30
Tea break (30
min)
AB Davies
The functional
importance of termite
mounds for
savannaheterogeneity
across a rainfall
gradient
16:30-17:30
AGM
19:00
Photo competition
20:00
Student function
TUESDAY 16 JULY 2013
06:30
Early morning
bird/nature walk
lead by Prof A
Monadjem
07:00-08:30
Registration desk
open
08:30 -09:30
Dr Franz Hölcker
Plenary: Loss of the night:
Ecological light pollution
Session
Small Mammal Systematics
Veterinary Health & Parasitology
09:30
PJ Taylor
Cryptic diversity in
forest shrews of the
genus Myosorex from
southern Africa, with
the description of a
new species and
comments on M.
tenuis
H Lutermann
Health indicators and
ectoparasite burdens
in wild Namaqua rock
mice (Micaelamys
namaquensis)
09:45
D Jacobs
Do patterns of
divergence amongst
vagile taxa support
vicariant evolution in
southern African
taxa?
S Hoffmann
Tick for tat –
elucidating the cost of
parasitism in an
indigenous African
small mammal
10:00
AR Rakotoarivelo
Phylogeography of
Hipposideros
commersoni
(Chiroptera:
Hipposideridae) in
the dry forests of
Madagascar
WJ Luus-Powell
A comparative study
of the health of
rednose labeo, Labeo
rosae based on the
quantitative health
assessment index and
histopathology
10:15
A Bastian
Evidence for
C Van der Lingen
ecologically mediated
perception of species
specific signatures in
echolocation calls of
the same peak
frequency
Examining population
structure in Benguela
sardine
Sardinopssagax using
a parasite bio-tag
10:30-11:00
Tea break (30 min)
13:00
M Hamer
Keynote: A National Strategy for
Zoological Taxonomy in South
Africa
Session
Small Mammal Evolution,
Adaptation & Conservation
Avian Biology
11:00
MIM Maphalala
The influence of
habitat on
echolocation call
design of
insectivorous bats in
Swaziland
TI Mzumara
Distribution of
Lilian’s Lovebirds in
Malawi: The role of
water availability and
vegetation type
11:15
SJ Eiseb
Systematics and
biogeography of the
genus Mastomys in
Namibia and adjacent
countries
MB Pfeiffer
Foraging range and
habitat use of adult
Cape Vultures (Gyps
coprotheres) in
communal farmland,
Eastern Cape
Province
11:30
T.L Ramsaroop
Morphometric
variation in Mops
condylurus
(Chiroptera:
Molossidae) from
sub-Saharan Africa
WG Coetzer
The genetic status of
the endemic Cape
Parrot (Poicephalus
robustus)
11:45
S Reddy
Morphometric
variation in Tadarida
aegyptiaca
(Chiroptera:
Molossidae) across
Africa
D Engelbrecht
Nest-site
characteristics and
breeding success of
the Sabota Lark
Calendulaudas abota
in the Limpopo
Province, South
Africa.
12:00
S Maree
Digging deep very
carefully: Molecular
insights into the
evolutionary
relationships of
Africa’s enigmatic
golden moles
(Chrysochloridae)
and implications for
conservation
CL Henderson
Investigating survival
and population size in
Southern Bald Ibis
12:15
P Kaleme
The Albertine Rift
Hylomyscus:
Evolution and
Conservation
MM Zungu
The role of ethanol in
fruit selection by
avian frugivores
12:30
Welman
The seasonal
S Lerch-Henning
variation in
thermogenesis of a
naturally acclimatized
African small
mammal, Rhabdomys
pumilio
The effect of a
secondary metabolite
on the physiology of
bird pollinators
12:45
12:00-13:00
Lunch (60 min)
13:00
Prof A Monadjem
Plenary:
Conservation Ecology of African
vultures
Session
Avian and Reptile Conservation
Veterinary Health & Parasitology
14:00
SW Evans
Current Conservation
Status of the Blue
Swallow Hirundo
atrocaerulea
A Halajian
Ectoparasites in Wild
birds of Limpopo
province, South
Africa
14:15
RB van Eeden
Understanding
Martial Eagle
(Polemaetusbellicosu
s) declines in Kruger
National Park.
ASW Tordiffe
Changing Paradigms
in Veterinary and
Conservation
Medicine
14:30
A Parusnath
The conservation
status of the sungazer
A Ganswindt
Non-invasive
assessment of
(Smaug giganteus)
14:45
M Gibson
Flooding effects on a
South African river
15:00-15:30
Tea break (30 min)
15:30-17:00
Poster session
19:00
GALA dinner
adrenocortical
function as a measure
of stress in captive
Nile crocodiles
(Crocodylus
niloticus)
D Vosloo
Evaluating the use of
corticosterone and
DNA integrity as
health biomarkers in
African penguins
(Spheniscus
demersus)
Gala Dinner Presentation
Salmon Joubert: Kruger National Park
History
WEDNESDAY 17 JULY 2013
07:00-08:30
Registration desk open
08:30-09:30
Dr D Pienaar
Plenary: Aliens, poaching
&pollution? dealing with
increasing external threats to
Kruger National Park
Session
Diversity and Conservation in
Human-dominated ecosystems
Mammal Ecology & Behaviour
09:30
KL MacEwan
Wind energy and
South African bats:
implementation of
proactive mitigation
measures
A le Roux
Vigilance behaviour
and fitness
consequences:
comparing a solitary
foraging and an
obligate groupforaging mammal
09:45
T Ramesh
Effect of farmland
K Medger
Caged! Effects of
use on population
density and activity
patterns of serval in
South Africa
captivity and
enrichment on the
activity patterns of
sengis
10:00
B Linden
Rethinking the habitat A Botha
based approach in
conservation: Results
from a male dispersed
species Cercopithecus
mitis)
Biologging as a
method to remotely
detect orientation to
solar radiation in
black and blue
wildebeest
10:15
DH Maphisa
Lesotho - Eskom
Ecology of large
spotted genets
(Genetta tigrina) in
an urban environment
10:30-11:00
Tea Break
11:30
Dr Ian Gaigher
Keynote:
Biodiversity conservation
planning in the Vhembe
Biosphere Reserve
Session
Diversity and Conservation in
Human-dominated ecosystems
Mammal Ecology & Behaviour
11:30
PSO Fouche
Evaluating the
functionality of the
Xikundu fishway in
the Luvuvhu River,
South Africa
A Prins
11:45
P Singh
Hadedas in the hood: CJ Marneweck
Hadeda Ibis
(Bostrychiahagedash)
in suburban
neighbourhoods in
Pietermaritzburg,
KwaZulu-Natal,
South Africa
Olfactory
communication of
white rhinos: what
information is
transmitted in dung?
12:00
S McPherson
General Biology
The diet of crowned
eagles in the urban
landscape of
Teasing apart the
importance of
dilution and detection
for zebra foraging in
CDW Widdows
AM Shrader
The short-term effects
of “outside options”
on Damaraland molerats (Fukomys
damarensis) under
laboratory conditions
KwaZulu-Natal
12:15
E Do Linh San
The conservation
status of small
carnivores in Africa
12:30
Mtsetwa
Activity patterns of
bats in an African
savanna
12:45
RE Khoury
Eavesdropping: How
do vervet monkeys
perceive the alarm
calls of other
species?
13:00
CC Reed
Closing ceremony
Are urban baboons in
Cape Town raiding
their way towards
Type II Diabetes?
mixed-species herds