50th Annual GSSA Congress: Advancing Rangeland Ecology and Pasture Management in Africa
The first Congress was held in 1966 at the then University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg.
The Society returned to its roots in 2015, with the 50th Annual Congress hosted by the KwaZulu-Natal Province at the Royal Agricultural Showgrounds in Pietermaritzburg.
The Organising Committee focused on ensuring that the Congress will celebrate its 50th anniversary by having a historical thread throughout the programme while drawing attention to the future. Prof Scott Collins, University of New Mexico, delivered the Keynote Address at the Opening of the Congress on the evening of Monday 20 July 2015, followed by the Presidential Address by Dr Tony Palmer, Agricultural Research Council – Animal Production Institute. The Congress incorporated the highly acclaimed Research Skills Workshop held from 19 to 20 July 2015.
Scientific Programme
Tuesday 21 July 2015
Plenary
- Trends in grassland science: does the past predict the future?
- What are we doing to our climate? And what is the climate likely to do to us in South Africa?
- Enhanced terrestrial and freshwater environmental observation network
Sessions
- Session 1: Veld productivity and quality (Abstracts)
- Session 2: Vegetation change (Abstracts)
- Session 3: Research proposal posters (Abstracts)
- Session 4: Communal range I (Abstracts)
- Session 5: Communal range II (Abstracts)
- Session 6: communal range posters (Abstracts)
Wednesday 22 July 2015
Plenary
- SAEON Cathedral Peak global change monitoring platform: Update on activities
- International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Southern Africa
- IPBES: Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
Sessions
- Session 7: Bush encroachment I (Abstracts)
- Session 8: Bush encroachment II (Abstracts)
- Session 9: Wildlife (Abstracts)
- Session 10: General poster viewing (Abstracts)
Thursday 23 July 2015
Plenary
- Reflections on land use in KwaZulu-Natal
- Carbon cycling in dryland grasslands of the future: biotic and abiotic impact on litter decomposition
- A conceptual basis for rangeland management
Sessions
- Session 11: HRM Special Session I (Abstracts)
- Session 12: HRM Special Session II
- Session 13: WWF workshop I (Abstracts)
- Session 14: WWF workshop II (Abstracts)
- Session 15: Pasture posters viewing
- Session 16: Pastures I (Abstracts)
- Session 17: Pastures II (Abstracts)
- Session 18: Pastures III (Abstracts)