DISENTANGLING ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABILITY FROM LAND MANAGEMENT DECISIONS IN CHANGING SEMI-ARID SAVANNAS OF SOUTHERN AFRICA

'Elephants' someone called softly but with urgency. We all silently dropped to the ground so that our silhouettes didn't attract them and we watched as they crossed the horizon off in the distance. The moment they were out of sight, four of the team rushed back to our truck, shaking in fear. The rest of us calmly but quickly finished collecting our ground control data and then hurried back to the vehicle. Normally when you work in the national parks of southern Africa, you bring a team of two park rangers armed with semi-automatic rifles to protect you from elephants and the myriad of other animals that will kill you without hesitation. However, the two rangers we normally worked with had been killed by a group of elephants the week before - guns blazing futilely as they died. We had decided to come out and collect some data without support because our time was passing quickly as things were being re-organized, but the fear became too great and so we were forced to wait until a new guard team could be made available to us. Working in southern Africa can be harsh and potentially deadly because it seems that a lot of different things want to kill you. Malaria, sleeping sickness, and other diseases are a danger. Animals smell you and savor the odor. Even the plants claw at you and burn your skin as you try to force your way through. Bridge crossings over crocodile-filled water are nothing more than small logs lashed together and they sag and bend as the water becomes deeper around you. Fieldwork in southern Africa is harsh. But this beautiful continent is home to some of the world's friendliest people and the collection of wildlife is so incredible that you often feel as if you have accidentally stepped onto a movie set; we watched a hippo try to hide from a giraffe behind a narrow tree, his face hidden but his huge rear-end sticking out for all to see. However, the giraffe had no fear and stepped over the confused hippo.