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Monitoring the ecological impacts of fire on the Cape Peninsula

SAEON’s Fynbos Node is studying the impacts of alien plants on fire intensity and post-fire vegetation recovery, and modelling the impacts of land cover transformation and weather on fire spread and frequency.

SAEON’s monitoring sites experience a key fynbos ecosystem driver - fire!

With the Cape Peninsula fire grabbing headlines in March 2015, SAEON staff members were following it with mixed feelings of awe and dread as they tried to ascertain if their equipment networks were going to be in trouble.

Is the well running dry?

An MSc student is conducting trend-analyses of rainfall and streamflow data records for the SA lowveld. The records provide a near 100-year window through which to investigate hydrological responses in relation to a changing climate.

Familiar ground ... and exploring new grounds

Results from the benthic trawl surveys have already been used to refine delineation of the boundaries for the Childs Bank Marine Protected Area that is being proposed through Operation Phakisa.

Investigating internal waves in Algoa Bay

Internal waves are likely to play a role in the local food chain, but their influence is yet to be determined in the Algoa Bay region. A new SAEON project aims to gain a deeper understanding of this phenomenon.

Sihlol uLwandle - Investigating the oceans

The first ASCA mooring deployment cruise was smooth sailing. The moorings were successfully parked in their rightful place on the sea floor, where they will diligently start logging data.

Masterminding the robots of the ocean

Being bordered by three oceans, South Africa is regarded as an ideal location to assist in the deployment of Argo floats from research cruises into dynamic, under-sampled oceans.

Miami missions

SAEON student Katherine Hutchinson returns from Miami with an exciting topic for her PhD - how local and remote winds affect Agulhas Current Transport variability.

Xolisa’s research focuses on ocean dynamics

Xolisa Dlomo has joined SAEON’s Egagasini Node, where he will be involved in a study concentrating on thermal structures and dynamics of the Agulhas Current.

Meet the caretaker of SAEON’s digital scientific data

Without long-term data, there is no possibility of understanding where we are with regard to our use and manipulation of natural resources, says SAEON’s Data Librarian, Margaret Koopman.

What lies ahead for SAEON’s Graduate Student Network in 2015?

At their annual meeting the GSN committee bade farewell to outgoing committee members, restructured the current committee and outlined activities for the year.

Learners discover the keys to river health

The learners participating in SAEON’s Rivertalks made the most of this rare occasion, intently observing and identifying tiny water invertebrates as keys to the health of two mighty rivers.

SAEON sets science alight at Scifest Africa

Exhibiting at two major Scifest venues, SAEON was visible, active and interacting with the 68 000 visitors who flocked to South Africa’s national science festival.

New ventures for Sandisulwazi Secondary School

Sandisulwazi joined the ranks of Grahamstown schools involved in schoolyard weather and climate monitoring when SAEON's Elwandle Node donated a weather station to the school.