Staff

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Department Photo 2010

Head of Department

Nigel Barker - Professor

Accademic Staff

Brad Ripley - Associate Professor

Susi Vetter - Senior Lecturer

Craig Peter - Senior Lecturer

Anusha Rajkaran - Lecturer

Tony Dold - Curator, Selmar Schonland Herbarium

Ted Botha - Professor Emeritus

Roy Lubke - Associate Professor Emeritus

Support Staff

Mardi Nolands - Secretary

David Forsdyke - Senior technical officer

Riaan Strauss - Senior technical officer

Sam Mzangwa - Laboratory assistant

William Tleki - Laboratory assistant

Nosipho Plaatjie - Laboratory assistant

Yolisa Ngele - Laboratory assistant

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Nigel Barker

Nigel Barker

MSc (Wits), PhD (UCT)

Professor and Head of Department. Nigel's main research interests are based around the application of DNA techniques to resolving the evolutionary and biogeographic history of plants and animals of southern Africa. He has recently launched a new research programme on the flora and fauna of the southern regions of the Great Escarpment of South Africa, and also has growing interests in the genetic diversity of forest-dwelling taxa, both plant and animal.

Prof. Barker teaches a range of moduels including DNA structure, function and inheritance, plant diversity, population and conservation biology, systematics and biogeography, diversity, rarity & endemism, conservation genetics and advanced systematics.

 More details of Nigel's research and teaching can be found here.

Some of Nigel's recent publications include:

Teske PR, von der Heyden S, McQuaid CD and Barker NP (in press). A review of marine phylogeography in Southern Africa. South African Journal of Science.

Villet MH, Price BW, Walton SM and Barker NP (2011). Using molecules and morphology to infer the phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history of the Dirini (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae), a tribe of butterflies endemic to Southern Africa. Systematic Entomology 36: 300-316

Clark VR, Barker NP and Mucina L (2011). The Roggeveldberge – notes on a botanically hot area on a cold corner of the southern Great Escarpment, South Africa. South African Journal of Botany 77: 112-126.

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Brad Ripley

Brad Ripley

MSc (Natal), PhD (Rhodes)

Associate Professor. Brad is a plant ecophysiologist, specialising in the ecophysiology and ecology of C3 and C4 grasses and their response to factors associated with climate change. Other interests include the adaptations of coastal sand-dune plants and the responses of alien invasive plants to environmental and biotic factors.

My teaching focuses on understanding plant responses to the environment including the evolution and function of plant photosynthetic adaptations, metabolism and its regulation, and the response of plants to light, water and temperature stress. More details of Brad's research and teaching interests can be found here.

Some of his recent publications include:

Taylor SH, Ripley BS, Woodward FI and Osborne CP (2011). Drought limitation of photosynthesis differs between C3 and C4 grass species in a comparative experiment. Plant, Cell and Environment 34:65-75.

Ripley B, Donald G, Osborne CP, Abraham T and Martin T (2010). Experimental investigation of fire ecology in the C3 and C4 subspecies of Alloteropsis semialata. Journal of Ecology 98:1196-1203.

Ripley B, Frole K and Gilbert M (2010). Differences in drought sensitivities and photosynthetic limitations between co-occurring C3 and C4 (NADP-ME) Panicoid grasses. Annals of Botany 105:493-503.

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Susi Vetter

Susi Vetter

BSc Hons., PhD (UCT)

Senior Lecturer. Susi's research interests include rangeland ecology, vegetation ecology, land degradation and the social and cultural aspects of resource management and biodiversity conservation. Her most recent research interest is the ecological dynamics and socio- economic implications of Acacia karroo encroachment in the Eastern Cape.

Susi teaches courses on the biomes of South Africa, biological invasions, plant use and its impacts and management, plant-herbivore interactions, plant life histories, competition and coexistence in plant communities, savanna ecology and population viability analysis. More details of Susi's research and teaching interests can be found here.

Some of Susi's recent publications include:

Vetter S and Bond WJ (2010). Changing predictors of spatial and temporal variability in stocking rates in a severely degraded communal rangeland. Land Degradation & Development (published online: 28 Dec 2010).

Vetter S (2009). Drought, change and resilience in South Africa's arid and semiarid rangelands. South African Journal of Science 105(1):29-33.

Vetter S (2007). Soil erosion in the Herschel District of South Africa: changes over time, physical correlates and people’s perceptions. African Journal of Range and Forage Science 24: 77-86.

 

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Craig Peter

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Craig Peter

MSc (Rhodes), PhD (UKZN)

Senior Lecturer. Craig is interested in a broad range of ecological and evolutionary questions associated with plant pollination biology. His primary interest in the interactions between orchids and their pollinators. He is also interested in floral mimicry and deception in non-rewarding orchids, as well as the floral and reproductive biology of the Asclepiadoideae.

Craig teaches courses on plant reproduction, pollination biology, introductory and advanced evolutionary biology, pollination services and the evolution of deception. More details of Craig's research and teaching interests can be found here.

Some recent publications include:

Johnson SD, Peter CI, Ellis A, Boberg E, Botes C and van der Niet T (2011). Pollination of the twin-spurred orchid genus Satyrium in the grasslands of southern and south-central Africa. Plant Systematics and Evolution 292(1-2):95-103.

Coombs G and Peter CI (2010). The invasive ‘mothcatcher’ (Araujia sericifera Brot.; Asclepiadoideae) co-opts native honeybees as its primary pollinator in South Africa. AoB PLANTS 2010 (plq021): 1-14.

Peter CI and Johnson SD (2009). Reproductive biology of Acrolophia cochlearis (Orchidaceae): Estimating rates of cross-pollination in epidendroid orchids. Annals of Botany. 104(3):573-581

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Anusha Rajkaran

MSc. & PhD. (NMMU)

Anusha’s research interests include Mangrove and Estuarine Ecology.  Mangrove forests are well known for their ecosystems services such as shoreline protection and providing nursery areas for a wide range of fauna but also for the variety of wood products they provide for local communities.  Anusha’s PhD covered a status assessment of mangrove forests in South Africa and measured the growth rates of mangrove species in South Africa. Matrix modeling was then applied to determine sustainable harvesting levels for the mangroves at Mngazana Estuary in the Eastern Cape. Her current lecturing topics are Plant Harvesting and Biological Invasions for second years, Aquatic Botany for thirds years and Estuarine Ecology for Honours.   

Recent publications:

Rajkaran A & Adams JB (2012). The effects of environmental variables on mortality and growth of mangroves at Mngazana Estuary-Eastern Cape, South Africa. Wetlands Ecology and Management. DOI 10.1007/s11273-012-9254-6

Rajkaran A & Adams JB (2011). Mangrove forests of KwaZulu-Natal: Sediment conditions and population structure of the largest mangrove forests in South Africa. Western Indian Ocean Journal of Marine ScienceVol 10(1): 25-38

Hoppe-Speer SCL, Adams JB, Rajkaran A & Bailey D (2011). The response of the red mangroveRhizophora mucronata Lam. to salinity and inundation in South Africa. Aquatic Botany 95 (2): 71-76

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Tony Dold

Tony Dold

MSc (Rhodes)

Tony is the curator of the Selmar Schonland Herbarium (GRA), Grahamstown. He is a taxonomist with a specific interest in Asclepiadceae (Milkweeds) and Hyacinthaceae. He is currently collaborating towards a revision of the genus Albuca. He is also interested in biocultural diversity studies and together with Dr Michelle Cocks at the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) runs Inkcubeko Nendalo, a community engagement programme (http://www.bioculturaldiversity.co.za).

Tony teaches a module on plant inventory techniques.

Some recents publications include:

Cocks M, Lo´pez C & Dold T (2011). Cultural Importance of Non-timber Forest Products: Opportunities they pose for Bio-Cultural Diversity in Dynamic Societies. In: Shackleton S, Shackleton C & Shanley P (eds) Non-Timber Forest Products in the Global Context. Tropical Forestry Volume 7. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Cocks M, Husselman M. & Dold T (2011). Born-frees and worn trees: home grown medicinal plants and poverty. In: Hebinck P & Shackleton C (eds.) Reforming land and resource use in South Africa. Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, London & New York.

Shackleton SE, Cocks M, Dold A, Kaschula S, Kokwe G, Mbata and von Maltiz G (2010). Non-wood forest products: Description, use and management. In: Chidamayo EN and Gumbo DJ (eds). The Dry Forests and Woodlands of Africa: Managing for products and services. Earthscan, London.

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Roy Lubke

Roy Lubke

MSc (Science Education, Keele), PhD (Western Ontario)

Associate Professor Emeritus. Roy has been involved with the study and research of coastal dune systems in the Eastern Cape over the last 35 years, specialising in stabilisation and rehabilitation of dune systems. He has also worked in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, Namibia, Mozambique, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi and Angola. He has had extensive experience in general environmental projects and thus has a fuller understanding of South African coastal systems. He has specialist interests in dune and coastal ecology, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIAs) and management, and rehabilitation ecology.

Roy teaches courses on Environmental Management and Restoration Ecology on a part time basis.

Some his recent publications include:

van Eeden JD, Lubke RA and Haarhoff P (2007). Return of natural, social and financial capital to the hole left by mining. In: Aronson J, Milton SJ and Blignaut JN (eds.) Restoring natural capital: science, business and practice. Island Press, Washington. pp. 198 – 207.

Lubke RA (2004). Vegetation dynamics and succession on sand dunes of the eastern coasts of Africa In: Martinez ML and Psuty NP (Eds.) Coastal dunes: Ecology and conservation. Ecological Studies: vol. 171. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.

Lubke, RA and Hertling, UM (2001). The role of European marram grass in dune stabilization and succession near Cape Agulhas, South Africa. Journal of Coastal Conservation 7: 171-182.

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Ted Botha

Ted Botha

PhD (Natal)

Professor Emeritus. Ted’s main interest is functional anatomy. He holds an NRF “B” rating. His research involves studies of plant structure and function, the effect of long-term elevated CO₂ on uptake and loading of photoassimilates in leaves under controlled environment, cell to cell transport in plants using techniques involving light, electron, fluotescence and confocal microscopy – mostly involving molecular probes. His research interests also encompass studies of the long-term effects of aphid and other suctorial insects feeding on the transport systems in leaves at the cellular and molecular level. More details of Ted's teaching and research interest can be found here.

Some recent publications include:

Cutler DF, Botha CEJ, and DW Stevenson (2008). Plant Anatomy: An Applied Approach 302pp, and includes 'The Virtual Plant’ CD-ROM. Blackwell’s Scientific Publisher Group UK.

Botha CEJ, Aoki N, Scofield GN, Liu L, Furbank RT, and White RG (2008). A xylem retrieval pathway in rice leaf blades – evidence of a role for endocytosis? Journal of Experimental Botany.

de Wet LR and Botha CEJ (2007). Resistance or tolerance: An examination of aphid (Sitobion yakini) phloem feeding on Betta and Betta-Dn wheat (Triticum aestivum). South African Journal of Botany 71: 35-39.

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AJ Strauss

MSc & PhD (NWU)

Senior Technical Officer. Teaching/undergraduate laboratory management. Maintenance and management of research facilities. Management of chemical and equipment stores. Field trip preparation.

Riaan is also a plant stress physiologist, with experience in assessing the effect of environmental factors such as air pollutants, chilling stress, drought stress etc on growth, metabolism and yield of various relevant crop species, both under controlled and field conditions.

Some of his recent publications include:

Venter A, Du Plessis S, Van Heerden PDR, Strauss AJ and Bezuidenhout, J (2009) Photosynthetic differences between Microcystis aeruginosa and Oscillatoria simplicissima in relation to species succession in the Vaal River, South Africa. African Journal of Aquatic Science 34(2)

Van Heerden PDR, Kiddle G, Pellny, Mokwala PW, Jordaan A, Strauss AJ, De Beer M, Schlüter U, Kunert K and Foyer CH (2008) Roles for the regulation of respiration and the oxygen diffusion barrier in soybean in the protection of symbiotic nitrogen fixation from chilling-induced inhibition and shoots from premature senescence. Plant Physiology 148: 1-13.

Strauss AJ, Krüger GHJ, Strasser RJ, and Van Heerden PDR (2007) The role of low soil temperature in the inhibition of growth and PSII function during dark chilling in soybean genotypes of contrasting tolerance. Physiologia Plantarum 131: 89-105