Rudi Crispin Swart
Other projects
22 Apr 2021
Resource and Landscape Use of Insects Pollinating Trees in Natural Forest Fragments
This project has two components: ecological and social.
Ecologically, we aim to rehabilitate forest edges back to pristine ecotones. We offer the first study on the largely undescribed antagonistic insects associated with Afrotemperate forest tree fruits and seeds, linked to germination success. Collected seeds will be germinated in a community nursery and used in landscape rehabilitation.
Socially, we engage local communities through environmental education, nursery expansion, and landowner agreements. The nursery will be based in Covie, a previously disadvantaged community with strong local ecological knowledge, skills, and space. This integrated approach supports biodiversity and community-led restoration in Afrotemperate landscapes.
Fruit and seed feeding insects are reared from pots containing sterilised sand in the Nature’s Valley greenhouse (c) Rudi Swart
A major threat to Afrotemperate forests is edge degradation (Wilson et al. 2010; Swart et al. 2018; Giddey et al. 2021). Linked to this is a decrease in natural ecotones with the creation of hard edges, bearing in mind that Afrotemperate forests are naturally fragmented – and the ecotones are biodiversity hotspots.
We recently renovated a small nursery in Nature’s Valley, and with this project, will renovate a larger nursery at Covie (c) Rudi Swart
Our intended work will fill this niche, via: 1) implementing edge rehabilitation across our core area of influence, 2) studying seed-associated insects, 3) calculating germination rates of different species, and 4) establishing with collected seeds a nursery specializing in pioneer, edge species.
Germination trays are used to track seed germination success and to quantify seedling dieback (c) Rudi Swart
Rehabilitation plots, like this one, will be laid out across the landscape to rehabilitate forest edges back to functional ecotones. Photo from June 2025. (c) Rudi Swart
Rehabilitation plots, like this one, will be laid out across the landscape to rehabilitate forest edges back to functional ecotones. Photo from November 2025. (c) Rudi Swart