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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 />

8

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