Siyabonga Reginald Mathebula

Today we took a trip to Atlantis with my Host supervisors Dr. Mark Gush and Dr. Richard Bugan. We did field selection, inspection of the trees and marking of territory of  where we will install our HPV system. The HPV system is used to measure the sap flow in the trees to show how much water is being lost through evapotranspiration.  It was an interesting journey to learn about the different types of invasive alien trees growing  in the area and luckily enough I saw how they are being cut down and controlled from growing any further. These alien invasive trees extract water from the aquifer which is a source of water for the Atlantis community.

It was an interesting day for me today with my Host supervisors Dr. Mark Gush and Dr. Richard Bugan preparing the equipment that will be used for my research at Atlantis in Cape Town, South Africa. We will be looking at the Impacts of invasive alien trees on recharge into the Atlantis aquifer on the West Coast of South Africa . We were checking if all the equipment of the weather station are working properly. We have tested the HPV (heat pulse velocity) equipment and we made sure that we have all the tools that will be needed for installation .

• Estimates of the impacts of alien plant invasions on surface water runoff in South Africa were, and continue to be, a key factor in motivating for the establishment and continuation of the Working for Water programme (Van Wilgen et al., 1998).
• Water resources in arid and semi-arid regions are under great pressure from among others; (1) increased demand by growing populations, (2) climate change,(3) invasive alien plants that consume large quantities of water (Le Maitre, 1999)

My first day at CSIR was very interesting, I got a chance to meet with my host supervisors Dr. Mark Gush and Dr. Richard Bugan, who were very welcoming. I am now working on the corrections for first draft of the literature review and continuing reviewing publications.

 

After 18 hours of flying from Ireland to South Africa, finally I have arrived in Stellenbosch. I’m so excited about working on my home based research, especially dealing with the impacts of  invasive alien trees on aquifers in the area of Atlantis, Western Cape.

Invasive alien plants are a significant environmental problem in South Africa’s terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems (Richardson et al., 1997). Alien trees and shrubs increase above-ground biomass and evapotranspiration and thereby decrease both surface water runoff and groundwater recharge (Görgens and Van Wilgen, 2004).

Irish Aid study fellows for the year 2017/2018 had their last gathering on the 16^th of April 2018, at the Iveagh House foreign affairs and trade in Dublin. The function was blessed by the presence of the Minister of state Mr. Ciaran Cannon who highlighted on the importance of quality education.  Siyabonga Mathebula had an opportunity to make a  presentation about the importance of his home-based research, looking at the challenges facing South African aquifers in the western cape and his experiences of studying and living in Ireland.

Land-use change and forestry (LUCF) projects that result in greater carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystems are widely seen as a low-cost alternative to Carbon dioxide-emissions reduction for mitigating climate change(Boyland, 2006).

Welcome to my MSc CCAFS BLOG..

Continuing population and consumption growth will mean that the global demand for food will increase for at least another 40 years. Growing competition for land, water, and energy, in addition to the over exploitation of fisheries, will affect our ability to produce food, as will the urgent requirement to reduce the impact of the food system on the environment (Godfray et al., 2010)