Environmental Internship Program - 2022 Booklet
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BIODIVERSITY AND<br />
CONSERVATION<br />
PROJECT TITLE<br />
The Role of Multiple<br />
Interacting Disturbances<br />
in Dictating Savanna Plant<br />
Community Composition<br />
ORGANIZATION(S)<br />
Pringle Lab,<br />
Department of Ecology<br />
and Evolutionary Biology,<br />
Princeton University<br />
LOCATION(S)<br />
Gorongosa National Park,<br />
Mozambique; Kruger<br />
National Park, South<br />
Africa<br />
MENTOR(S)<br />
Robert Pringle,<br />
Professor of Ecology and<br />
Evolutionary Biology;<br />
Joel Abraham, Ph.D.<br />
candidate, Ecology and<br />
Evolutionary Biology<br />
Kojo Baidoo ’24<br />
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY<br />
African savannas are subject to a variety of<br />
ecological disturbances, including fire, flood,<br />
drought, and herbivory. Each of these processes<br />
structure plant community composition<br />
differently, yet their interactions are not often<br />
evaluated together and are difficult to predict.<br />
Gorongosa National Park is a conservation<br />
success story, with the amazing recovery of many<br />
animal species after populations were decimated<br />
because of the Mozambican Civil War, while<br />
Kruger National Park is a well-known tourism<br />
hotspot and is abundant in many archetypal<br />
savanna species. In Gorongosa, where fire/<br />
herbivory and fire/flooding are the prevailing<br />
interactions, I helped to collect and sieve soil<br />
samples for nutrient analyses. In Kruger, where<br />
drought/fire/herbivory are the prevailing<br />
interactions, I helped to conduct dung counts<br />
and samples for DNA metabarcoding to evaluate<br />
herbivore landscape use and diet. This internship<br />
gave me a view into a career path in ecology and<br />
academia, the chance to witness and study core<br />
processes I had previously learned about in the<br />
classroom, and a new appreciation for aspects of<br />
the natural world.<br />
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