Research and current projects

1. Research

I list three focal areas, which span the land- and water scape under agriculture and forestry. All are in the applied realm of research. On occasion I also get involved in some basic research (taxonomic/ phylogenetic).

Aquatic biomonitoring / Species prioritization

This area of research is a long-standing focus and feeds into the other research interests below. Biological monitoring (A), or the inventory of, and medium to long-term observation of species presences (richness) and their numbers (abundances) are important for informing all sorts of resource management decisions (protection of species, ecological reserves) down the line. How and when species are monitored, how effective different existing indices are, and how much monitoring is needed are some central questions that I aim to answer. Species prioritization (B), which should be based on good observation data seeks to optimize the space set aside for species populations to persist in the land- and waterscape.

Freshwater ecology and conservation

The topic is as broad as the title suggests, and spans all sorts of habitats from natural wetlands and rivers to artificial dams and ponds and not only macroinvertebrates but also fish. The latter habitats are particularly important, as they are regarded as ‘bad’ habitats in people’s minds. However, as my work shows, they do have some value, especially if vegetated.

Simaika, J.P., M. J. Samways and P.P. Frenzel. 2016. Local dragonfly biodiversity is increased by reservoirs in a dry global biodiversity hotspot. Biodiversity and Conservation DOI 10.1007/s10531-016-1168-9.

Simaika, J. P., S. Stoll, A. W. Lorenz, G. Thomas, A. Sundermann, and P. Haase. 2015. Bundles of stream restoration measures and their effects on fish communities. Limnologica <doi>http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.limno.2015.10.001</doi>.

Apinda-Legnouo, E. A., M. J. Samways, and J. P. Simaika. 2014. Value of artificial ponds for aquatic beetle and bug conservation in the Cape Floristic Region biodiversity hotspot. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Biodiversity 24: 522-535.

Landscape Conservation / Sustainable Agriculture

This is an emerging central topic to my research. Watch this space for new papers on arthropods in soils! Agriculture is highly dependent on species for ecosystem services, including wild pollinators. Yet, by its very nature, agriculture pushes the very species it depends out of the landscape. Sustainable agriculture seeks to balance productive and healthy agricultural plots with the maintenance of vital ecosystem services as well as the conservation of species. Thus it becomes more appropriate to think of the agricultural landscape as a mosaic of habitats, or a habitat matrix, in which populations of species persist.

Recent papers on the topic:
Vrdoljak, S., M. J. Samways, and J.P. Simaika. 2016. Pollinator conservation at the local scale: role of flower density, diversity and community structure in attracting flower visiting insects to mixed floral stands. Journal of Insect Conservation 20: 771-721 DOI: 10.1007/s10841-016-9904-8

Magoba, R.N., M.J. Samways, and J.P. Simaika. 2015. Soil compaction and its effect on surface-active arthropods in natural, transformed and restoring vegetation. Journal of Insect Conservation 19: 501-508.

2. Projects in the making

“Drones and dragons” is a Kickstarter project. Here I aim, with my collaborator Paulo Paron, to use drone technology to detect dragonflies in the field. The aim is to engage citizen scientists in regular monitoring in African wetlands, places high in biodiversity and with high human use. The project will take place in Uganda and Mozambique, but once established, the pinriple can be applied anywhere. Check it out! Like it! Retweet! Fund!

#dronesandragons

3. Current projects

“Towards the development of a tool to quantify and monitor stream restoration success following removal of riparian alien invasive plants” – funded by the Water Research Commission of South Africa.

I am Project Lead on this project, in which I aim to understand what the impact is of Black Wattle (Acacia mearnsii) on water quality in two high mountain streams in the Western Cape. Black Wattle is a fast-growing nitrogen-fixing plant, that produces huge amounts of biomass. This biomass enters the streams as leaf litter. Some nutrient may also enter via sediment. My students are looking at how much biomass (leaf litter) enters the streams, what time of year, and how long it takes to decompose compared to natural vegetation. They are also comparing the nutrient contents of the leaf litter of wattle to natural vegetation. Part of the study also looks at how much sediment is mobilized in streams and trapped by Black Wattle, and what the nutrient content of the sediment is. More information on the project can be found on the press releases page.

“Karoo BioGaps Project” – funded by the South African National Botanical Institute (SANBI).

I am participating in this strategic assessment as Taxon Lead for dragonflies. In this project, the diversity of dragonflies in the Karoo will be described, which to-date remains very undersampled. Part of my interest will be to determine the population status of some threatened taxa occurring in the region, and to compare the behaviour and performance of biomonitoring indices. The Karoo data will also be great for filling-in gaps in the country data for South Africa, which will be important for updating maps and refining protected area delineation. More on the project can be found on SANBI’s website: http://www.sanbi.org/biogaps.

Funders

I gratefully acknowledge the support of the following funders, past and present, listed in alphabetical order:

Claude Leon Foundation
Deutsche Forschungs Gesellschaft
Royal Entomological Society
Mauerberger Foundation
National Research Foundation (South Africa)
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Nature’s Valley Trust
South African National Botanical Institute
Stellenbosch University
Water Research Commission of South Africa