Ecology of Large Mammals in African Savannas

Who do you email the most? Is it your department head? Your secretary? A colleague you are working with? For Dr. Johan du Toit the answer would be no one within the country. From his contacts in Norway and Sweden to South Africa, Dr. du Toit has international connections that allow him to research globally while present on USU’s campus.

When asked how he has been able to do international research, Dr. du Toit explains that “any scientist makes contacts with people in the field, that’s just the way that science works”. As research goes on, people working in the same field have two different options: they can compete with each other or they can collaborate. “The best situation is to collaborate”.

That is exactly what he has been doing in the field, working in places like Kruger national park in South Africa. The published The Kruger Experience was a work that was funded by the Mellon Foundation and used collaborating professors from around the globe. Such collaboration includes not only international professors; it also involves USU graduate students. In such work, Dr. du Toit seeks to improve management on national parks. He works to “understand the processes at work so we’ve got a better base for management”.

This understanding can take a long time- five years for data collection and that long again to write the study up, however, dealing with how large mammals, like elephants, affect savanna ecosystems allows park management to better conserve rare natural resources. Although the science he does is not high-profile work, it certainly is improving the savannas, and giving his students an opportunity to learn from the field and continue on in conservation efforts.

View More of Dr. Du Toit's work

BROWSING LAWNS? RESPONSES OF ACACIA NIGRESCENS TO UNGULATE BROWSING IN AN AFRICAN SAVANNA

Browsing-induced Effects on Leaf Litter Quality and Decomposition in a Southern African Savanna

Dr. Johan Du Toit is a Professor in Ecology and Conservation of Large Mammals in Terrestrial Ecosystems within the College of Natural Resources. For more information, visit his page.