Busy week for NEWS and NSS
16 June 2019 | Events
• On Tuesday (18 June), the Namibian Environment & Wildlife Society hosts a talk on how different wavelengths of artificial light affect the foraging behaviour of bats in the Namib.
The widespread use of artificial light has only occurred within the last 100 years and is estimated to be increasing at a rate of 6% every year. Most animals on earth have evolved with natural cycles of light and dark for millions of years. These natural cycles control almost all aspects of life from hormone release, to breeding, migration and navigation.
At first glance artificial lighting seems fairly benign when compared with other environmental pollutants like plastic and CO² but it can impact many of these natural processes. Due to the high trophic level occupied by insectivorous bats in the ecosystem, changes in bat foraging behaviour and prey selection can have a large impact at lower levels in the food chain.
The talk starts at 19:30 at NEWS, located at 76/78 Frans Indongo Street in Windhoek.
• On Wednesday (19 June) at 19:30, author Kobus Bothma hosts a talk on the ecology and conservation of the Kalahari Leopard at the Scientific Society along with the launch of his book, Written in the Sand: The origin nature of the southern Kalahari, its conservation history, the Kalahari San people and decades of research there.
The infinite skies and endless vistas of the Kalahari are a source of wonder to any visitor. Over millennia the Kalahari was transformed from a sea of water to a sea of sand where the ebb and flow of climatic erstwhile lakes and rivers have been replaced by the ebb and flow if climatic events.
Written in the Sand examines the origin and nature of the southern Kalahari ecosystem, its conservation history, the Kalahari San people and the research there by wildlife ecologist Prof Bothma.
After first being introduced to the Kalahari as a young post-graduate student, he did many decades of research there which culminated in the 19 years of intensive research on the Kalahari leopards with the aid of expert Kalahari San trackers who unravelled what is written on the Kalahari sands. This phenomenal cultural heritage forms a vital ingredient of the essence of this desert.
The widespread use of artificial light has only occurred within the last 100 years and is estimated to be increasing at a rate of 6% every year. Most animals on earth have evolved with natural cycles of light and dark for millions of years. These natural cycles control almost all aspects of life from hormone release, to breeding, migration and navigation.
At first glance artificial lighting seems fairly benign when compared with other environmental pollutants like plastic and CO² but it can impact many of these natural processes. Due to the high trophic level occupied by insectivorous bats in the ecosystem, changes in bat foraging behaviour and prey selection can have a large impact at lower levels in the food chain.
The talk starts at 19:30 at NEWS, located at 76/78 Frans Indongo Street in Windhoek.
• On Wednesday (19 June) at 19:30, author Kobus Bothma hosts a talk on the ecology and conservation of the Kalahari Leopard at the Scientific Society along with the launch of his book, Written in the Sand: The origin nature of the southern Kalahari, its conservation history, the Kalahari San people and decades of research there.
The infinite skies and endless vistas of the Kalahari are a source of wonder to any visitor. Over millennia the Kalahari was transformed from a sea of water to a sea of sand where the ebb and flow of climatic erstwhile lakes and rivers have been replaced by the ebb and flow if climatic events.
Written in the Sand examines the origin and nature of the southern Kalahari ecosystem, its conservation history, the Kalahari San people and the research there by wildlife ecologist Prof Bothma.
After first being introduced to the Kalahari as a young post-graduate student, he did many decades of research there which culminated in the 19 years of intensive research on the Kalahari leopards with the aid of expert Kalahari San trackers who unravelled what is written on the Kalahari sands. This phenomenal cultural heritage forms a vital ingredient of the essence of this desert.
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