STOP PRESS! SAEON-NRF Call for Postdoctoral Fellowships – 2008

Candidates will be expected to address the need for a formal classification of land uses and land covers in terms of their organisation and system functioning. (Picture © SAEON)

In furthering its mandate to develop and implement a core environmental observation (EOP) plan for South Africa, SAEON is initiating two discrete postdoctoral research projects necessary to provide a foundation for the implementation of the EOP. These are in the fields of (i) nutrient loading; and (ii) land use/ cover classification and observation.

A review of nutrient loading

Rationale

Nutrient loading is a primary theme of SAEON. The term covers a diverse array of impacts which differ in their patterns of occurrence, affected ecosystem components, and magnitude of effect. Formulating appropriate surveillance approaches requires that the pattern and scale of this process is adequately taken into account. The project is aimed at providing a knowledge product required to meet this requirement.

The objectives are to:

Identify the main sources of nutrient loading in South Africa. Each main source should be profiled in terms of its geographic dispersion throughout the country, spatial and temporal patterns of loading, and the manner in which cycling is affected.
Summarise the state of South African knowledge about the environments which are impacted by nutrient loading and the main ecological impacts which have been recorded. The summary should be developed in the context of different biomes.
Define - on the basis of international literature - a set of possible effects of nutrient loading that can be expected to occur.
Define the minimum requirements for effective surveillance of each of the main forms of input, and of the main affected environments.

Definition

Nutrient loading refers to distortions in pool sizes and rates and patterns of nutrient cycling that result from human activity. The most conspicuous distortion is the increased rate of deposition of nitrogen and phosphorus resulting from, amongst other things, emissions, waste, and intensive production activities. Nitrogen and phosphorus are the two elements which traditionally receive the most attention, but this review would be more comprehensive.

Conditions and requirements

Exercise is to be conducted as a one-year post-doctoral study.
Candidate should have research experience of biogeochemical cycling, preferably in the context of managed systems, especially agricultural production systems.
Exercise to be conducted through a recognised institution with a recognised supervisor.

Classification and observation of land use and over

Rationale

Land use is a primary theme of SAEON. Investigating the effect of changes in land use on ecosystems requires an accurate and consistent frame of reference with respect to land use and the land covers which comprise a land use.

The objectives are to:

Produce separate hierarchical classifications of land uses and land covers in terms of their ecological attributes. The classification should be national in context but needs to be developed at a resolution that will allow for potentially refined application within the main biomes of the country. The classification must, as far as possible, be internationally compatible.
The derived classification must be suitable for use in mapping of changes in land use and land cover using currently available methodologies.
The range of methodologies and remotely sensed products available for surveillance of changes in land use and cover needs to be reviewed in terms of their relative strengths and weaknesses.

Definition

Land use refers to the primary purpose for which a parcel of land (or water or marine area) is used. The greater portion of South Africa’s land surface is under private tenure or ownership of a public body (e.g. a municipality) or of the state (e.g. a national park), in which discrete areas of land have a defined legal status.

The owner or responsible body of such pieces of land would usually decide to use a discrete parcel of land for a specific purpose. The greater portion of private land in the country is used for agricultural production, in which a specific production objective is usually pursued per property. A substantial proportion of the country’s land area is under communal tenure. Within communal regions, there is also a general pattern of discrete areas being used for specific purposes, but the guiding legal framework for such decision-making differs markedly from that of private or ‘public’ ownership.

Land cover is defined as the primary form of cover on a discrete parcel of land. A land use may comprise many different land covers. For example, a dairy farmer uses a farm to produce milk and in so doing, converts land to winter and summer pastures, crops, water impoundments, and infrastructure, with some natural vegetation remaining. Description of land cover is inherently hierarchical in nature. For example, there are many different types of annual crop. Annual crops are distinct from tree crops, and crops are distinct from natural assets, etc.

Land covers differ in their effect on landscape organisation and functioning in many obvious ways. Although a land use comprises different land covers, it is self-apparent that certain land uses each has a distinct influence on system organisation and functioning, but the difference between others is ‘grey’. There is a need, therefore, to derive a formal classification of land uses and land covers in terms of their organisation and system functioning.

Conditions and requirements

Exercise is to be conducted as a one-year post-doctoral study.
Candidate should have research experience of systems ecology with regard to managed systems, especially agricultural production systems.
Insight into currently used methods for mapping land use and land cover would be an advantage, but is not an essential requirement.
Exercise must be as comprehensive as possible, but the minimum list of land uses and covers to be considered are listed in Appendices 1 and 2 respectively.
Specific criteria must be developed for distinguishing a land use.
The candidate will bear the responsibility of finalising the list of ecological attributes to be considered in conjunction with convenors to be appointed by SAEON.

General

Additional information:

Website and newsletters: www.saeon.ac.za

Technical enquiries: Prof Tim O’Connor at timoconnor@xsinet.co.za

Value: R 120 000 bursary plus R 30 000 operational budget

Period: 12 months

Workplace: Negotiable depending on supervision, no relocation costs will be covered

Required qualification: PhD in Ecology or related field

Limitation: Candidates will be expected to refrain from accepting additional commissioning that could jeopardise the purpose of the fellowship.

Applications

Applicants must submit their applications online to the NRF Free Standing Postdoctoral Fellowship programme. Information can be obtained from the website http://www.nrf.ac.za/studentsupport/index.htm.

Please note that the deadline has been extended to 15 August 2007.

Appointment

SAEON retains the right to not make appointments, or to extend the recruitment process via other means. The final terms of reference and conditions will be negotiated and formally agreed with preferred candidates.