Africa

Circles in the Sand

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Dec 2017 23:05:00 +0000

Circles in the Sand Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 12/01/2017 - 16:05

Ula Chrobak

Barren circles of red sand, 30 to 100 feet wide, form a Swiss-cheese pattern across hundreds of miles of arid grasslands in the Namib Desert of southwest Africa. No one knows why. Local legends call them footprints of the gods.

Scientists have proposed various causes for these “fairy circles,” as they’re also known, including hungry termites and underground gases wafting up and killing patches of grass. Now a ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder team is going back to basics as it tries to solve this enduring ecological mystery.

“We just went to the principles of how ecosystems work and didn't let how cool these were distract us,” said Nichole Barger, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, who’s closing in on answers after years of research.

It’s no wonder it’s taken a while: Just getting to the fairy circles, which can last for up to 60 years, is a challenge.

In April, Barger and her team traveled six hours southeast from Windhoek, Namibia’s capital, into the NamibRand Nature Reserve, far from gas and groceries. They continued in an all-wheel-drive truck over sandy roads and dunes to follow up on an ongoing experiment.

Two years earlier, Barger had added water, fertilizer and insecticide to some circles to see if she could “kill” them by changing the conditions they form in. The hypothesis: Plants organize into the striking pattern simply due to competition.

Sure enough, in fairy circles where water and nutrients were both added, the grasses grew back — the circles started to “die.” Adding resources had decreased competition among plants, which otherwise fight for them in the low-nutrient, dry environment.

The findings suggest fairy circles form when starved plants die, freeing resources for their neighbors, which grow tall around the dead patch and form the characteristic ring.

The promising results are still only “pieces of the puzzle,” Barger said: The initial cause and what perpetuates the circles might be different. She noticed, for instance, that in fenced circles, inaccessible to zebra and oryx, the grasses also grew back, indicating grazers might play a role in maintaining fairy circles.

On her last day in Namibia, a local guide asked Barger, “What’s causing the circles in the hills?”

She’d never heard of those circles — a new mystery for her next trip.

Photo by Nichole Barger

A ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ ecologist tackles a mystery in Africa.

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Kenneth Kaunda, the United States and Southern Africa

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 17:18:35 +0000

Kenneth Kaunda, the United States and Southern Africa Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 06/09/2016 - 11:18

By Andy DeRoche (PhDHist'97)
(Bloomsbury Academic, 320 pages; 2016)

Buy the Book

Kenneth Kaunda, the United States and Southern Africa carefully examines US policy towards the southern African region between 1974, when Portugal granted independence to its colonies of Angola and Mozambique, and 1984, the last full year of the Reagan administration's Constructive Engagement approach. It focuses on the role of Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda, the key facilitator of international diplomacy towards the dangerous neighborhood surrounding his nation. The main themes include the influence of race, national security, economics, and African agency on international relations during the height of the Cold War

Kenneth Kaunda, the United States and Southern Africa carefully examines US policy towards the southern African region between 1974, when Portugal granted independence to its colonies of Angola and Mozambique, and 1984, the last full year of the Reagan administration's Constructive Engagement approach.

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Lion Conservation Efforts Backfire

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Dec 2013 07:00:00 +0000

Lion Conservation Efforts Backfire Anonymous (not verified) Sun, 12/01/2013 - 00:00

East African Lion conservation projects must involve the Maasai tribe to be successful.

Conservation efforts to protect the African lion whose species is dwindling in Kenya and Tanzania will fail if policies neglect to consider the Maasai pastoralists’ complex hunting relationship with the animal, say university researchers.

Contrary to popular assumptions, East Africa’s Maasai don’t always hunt lions as an act of retaliation or as a cultural rite of passage, according to ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ assistant geography professor Mara J. Goldman, who led the study, and law student Jennifer Perry (Geog’08).

After conducting 246 in-depth interviews with Maasai from 2004 to 2008, the team found that Maasai also kill lions to demonstrate political discontent with conservation policies, reaffirm the protective role of young warriors or allow individual warriors to gain prestige.

Understanding the Maasai’s multidimensional relationship with the animal and involving tribal members in the conservation process is key to protecting lions, says the team.

Read more in Clint Talbott’s (Jour’85) article in Arts and Sciences Magazine online.

Photography by Ivan Mateev/Getty Images

East African Lion conservation projects must involve the Maasai tribe to be successful.

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Herding Cattle

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 07:00:00 +0000

Herding Cattle Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 12/01/2011 - 00:00

David Litschel (Art’74) photographed this traditionally dressed Maasai youth watching a herd of cattle in Sinya Private Wildlife Conservancy outside of Arusha in northern Tanzania.

The area borders Kenya and is rich in wildlife, hosting a diverse bird population and one of Africa’s healthiest elephant populations. Because there are no roads, visitors travel in four-wheel drive vehicles with Maasai guides who know the lay of the land.

Litschel, who graduated Phi Beta Kappa, is a travel photographer. His work can be seen at www.davidlitschel.com.

A featured photo from the winter 2011 issue.

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DOORs Open for Two Newlyweds

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 06:00:00 +0000

DOORs Open for Two Newlyweds Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 06/01/2011 - 00:00

Christie Sounart

Courtesy of Andrew Nelson (BioChem’09) and Leah Feazel (EPOBio, MCDBio’05)

Andrew Nelson (BioChem’09) and Leah Feazel (EPOBio, MCDBio’05) were married in Cameroon last summer surrounded by people they had only known for a few weeks.

But their connection to the West African nation and its people began long before they boarded a plane. As a student, Andrew had befriended Cameroon native and philosophy professor Ajume Wingo. When Ajume invited the couple to visit Kumbo, Cameroon, they began proposing ways they could help out the nation. The result? They founded the nonprofit organization Developing Opportunities for Orphans and Residents of Cameroon, or DOORs.

Last spring, the trio decided to collect bicycles and computers to repair in America and sell in Cameroon, a culturally diverse nation with more than 200 spoken languages and scenery that ranges from savannahs to rainforests and beaches. The fundraiser was a success. They collected 86 bikes and 90 computers. However, it was difficult and costly to ship the products and get them through the country’s customs.

After the couple landed in Cameroon for a two-month stay, they switched their focus to education. The two spent a lot of time with high school students learning about the education system in Cameroon and how it differed from that of America.

It became obvious that most students were not receiving a proper education because many needed to work to help for their families or did not have the funds to attend a university. Andrew and Leah chose to sponsor four students with scholarships to make college a reality for them.

“It was a motivating focus,” Leah says. “There are really bright students in Cameroon.”

The organization hopes to raise enough money to send more students to college after the initial four. Andrew says they want to ensure a steady stream of students goes to university.

“It is wonderful to see two young graduates of ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ look at the world beyond the West,” Ajume says. “Traveling to my home of Cameroon gave them an opportunity for self-exploration, and DOORs gave them the opportunity to empathize with humanity beyond their own borders.”

Andrew and Leah received their master’s degrees in environmental science and engineering from ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ School of Mines in Golden. They plan to expand DOORs into environmental aspects such as water quality, health and nutrition, agriculture and sanitation. Down the road they may join with nonprofit groups focusing on other countries.

“There is definitely enough need in the world,” Andrew says.

Andrew Nelson and Leah Feazel were married in Cameroon last summer surrounded by people they had only known for a few weeks. But their connection to the West African nation and its people began long before they boarded a plane.

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