Dr. Anthony Mills 

researcher

 

 

 

P.Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa

Cell: 0832352424

Fax: +27 21 808 4791

E-mail:

 

 

Research interests

My research interests include ecosystem restoration, geophagy, soil crusting, determinants of vegetation structure, the catalytic power of micro-nutrients and the role of termites in powering African ecosystems. At present I am involved in the following research projects:

 

1)      BIOTA Southern Africa.  The project is a collaborative effort with German, Namibian and South African scientists and entails an investigation of the effects of climate change and land use on ecosystems across Namibia and in western South Africa.  I am examining i) the physico-chemical determinants of soil crusting at all sites, ii) the effects of Macrotermes termites on soil properties in the northern Namibian woodlands; and iii) the role of dew and mist in Namaqualand ecosystem functioning.

 

2)      The “Grassland-Savanna Problem”.  This is a collaborative research project with University of the Witwatersrand ecologists to establish the determinants of the grassland biome in South Africa.  The lack of trees in our mesic grasslands is a perplexing ecological puzzle.  We suggest that the boundaries of the grassland and savanna biomes may hold some important clues for identifying ultimate versus proximate factors.

 

3)      The Baviaanskloof Subtropical Thicket Restoration Project.  The aim of this Department of Water Affairs and Forestry project is to initiate large scale rehabilitation of the thicket biome, and to initiate the sale of carbon that returns to the ecosystem during the restoration process.  At present several hundred hectares of degraded thicket are being rehabilitated through the planting of spekboom (Portulacaria afra) truncheons.  Our research objectives are to i) determine the amount of carbon returning to the system in soils and plants;  ii) monitor the return of biodiversity; and iii) determine the most effective restoration methods for maximizing carbon and biodiversity return.

 

Publications

Mills A.J. & Milewski A.V. 2007. Geophagy and micronutrient supplementation in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania, with particular reference to selenium, cobalt, and molybdenum. Journal of Zoology. 271:110-118.

Mills, A.J., Turpie, J., Cowling, R.M., Marais, C., Kerley, G.I.H., Lechmere-Oertel, R.G., Sigwela, A.M. & Powell, M. 2007.  Assessing costs, benefits and feasibility of subtropical thicket restoration in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.  In Restoring Natural Capital: Science, Business and Practice. J. Aronson, S. Milton & J. Blignaut (eds), Island Press, Washington DC.

Francis, M. L., Fey, M. V., Prinsloo, H. P., Ellis, F., Mills, A. J. & Medinski, T. V. 2007. Soils of Namaqualand: Compensations for aridity. Journal of Arid Environments. 70: 588-603.

Mills, A.J., Fey, M.V., Grongroft, A., Petersen, A. & Medinski, T.V. 2006.  Unravelling the effects of soil properties on water infiltration: segmented quantile regression on a large data set from arid south-west Africa. Australian Journal of Soil Research. 44:783-797.

Mills A.J. 2006.  The role of salinity and sodicity in the dieback of Acacia xanthophloea in Ngorongoro Caldera, Tanzania. African Journal of Ecology. 44:61-71.

Mills A.J., Morkel P., Amiyo A., Runyoro V., Borner M. & Thirgood S. 2006. Managing small populations in practice: black rhino in the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. Oryx. 40:319-323.

Mills A.J., Rogers K.H., Stalmans M. & Witkowski E.T.F. 2006. A framework for the scaled exploration of the determinants of savanna and grassland distribution: a challenge for the new generation of ecologists. Bioscience. 56:579-589.

Fey, M.V., Mills, A.J., & Yaalon, D.H. 2006. The alternative meaning of pedoderm and its use for soil surface characterisation. Geoderma. 133:474-477.

Mills, A.J., & Cowling, R.M. 2006. Rate of carbon sequestration at two thicket restoration sites in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.  Restoration Ecology. 14:38-49.

Mills, A.J., O’Connor, T.G., Donaldson J.S., Fey, M.V., Skowno, A.L., Sigwela, A.M., Lechmere-Oertel, R.G. Bosenberg, J.D. 2005. Ecosystem carbon storage under different land uses in three semi-arid shrublands and a mesic grassland in South Africa. South African Journal of Plant and Soil 22:183-190.

Mills, A.J., Cowling, R.M., Fey, M.V., Kerley G.I.H., Donaldson J.S., Lechmere-Oertel, R.G., Sigwela, A.M., Skowno, A.L. & Rundel, P. 2005. Effects of goat pastoralism on ecosystem carbon storage in semi-arid thicket, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Austral Ecology 30:797-804.

Mills, A.J., Fey, M.V. & Johnson, C.E. 2005.  Ionic strength as a measure of sulphate salinity stress: effects of sodium sulphate, sodium chloride and manganese sulphate on kikuyu (Pennisetum clandestinum) growth and ion uptake.  South African Journal of Plant and Soil 21:209-213.

Mills, A.J. & Fey, M.V. 2005.  Interactive response of herbivores, soils and vegetation to annual burning in a South African savanna.  Austral Ecology 30:435-444.

O’Connor, T.G., Uys, R.G. & Mills, A.J. 2004.  Ecological effects of firebreaks in the montane grasslands of the southern Drakensberg, South Africa.  African Journal of Range and Forage Science 21:1-10.

Mills, A.J. & Fey, M.V. 2004.  Soil carbon and nitrogen in five contrasting biomes of South Africa.  South African Journal of Plant and Soil 21:94-103.

Mills, A.J. & Fey, M.V. 2004.  Transformation of thicket to savanna reduces soil quality in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.  Plant and Soil 265:153-163.

Mills, A.J. & Fey, M.V. 2004.  Effects of vegetation cover on the tendency of soil to crust in South Africa. Soil Use and Management 20:308-317.

Mills, A.J. & Fey, M.V. 2004.  A simple laboratory infiltration method for measuring the tendency of soils to crust. Soil Use and Management 20:8-12.

Mills, A.J. & Fey, M.V. 2004. Frequent fires intensify soil crusting: physicochemical feedback in the pedoderm of long-term burn experiments in South Africa. Geoderma 121:45-64

Mills, A.J. & Fey, M.V. 2003.  Declining soil quality in South Africa: effects of land use on soil organic matter and surface crusting.  South African Journal of Science 99:429-436.

Mills A.J. 2003. Reciprocal relationships between vegetation structure and soil properties in selected biomes of South Africa. PhD thesis, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch.

Fey, M.V., O’Brien, R.D. & Mills, A.J. 2002.  Rehabilitation of waste rock and overburden dumps.  Encyclopedia of Soil Science.  Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York.

Mills A.J. 1996. The ecology of land degradation with special reference to the resilience of African semi-arid rangelands to domestic livestock grazing pressure. MPhil thesis, University of Cambridge, Cambridge.

Mills A.J. 1995. Response of kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum) to irrigation with saline, sodic wastes and nitrogenous, manganiferous effluent. MSc thesis, University of Cape Town, Cape Town.

Papers delivered at conferences

Mills, A.J., Fey, M.V. & Medinski, T.V. 2006.  Identifying pedodermal soil properties that limit rainwater infiltration: a new approach in arid south-west Africa.  Soil Science Society of South Africa Congress, Durban, South Africa, 23-27 January.

Mills, A.J. 2004.  Tendency to crust as an indicator of soil quality in South Africa.  Eurosoil International Soil Science Congress, Freiburg, Germany, 4-12 September.

Mills, A.J. 2003.  Frequent fires intensify soil crusting: results from long-term experiments in South Africa.  Golden Jubilee Congress of the Soil Science Society of South Africa, University of Stellenbosch, 20-23 January.

Mills, A.J. 2003.  Declining soil quality in South Africa: soil carbon and crusting.  A celebratory review paper for the Golden Jubilee Congress of the Soil Science Society of South Africa, University of Stellenbosch, 20-23 January.

Mills, A.J., O’Connor, T.G., Skowno, A., Bosenberg, D.W., Donaldson, J., Lechmere-Oertel, R., Fey, M.V., & Sigwela, A. 2003.  Farming for carbon credits:  implications for land use decisions in South African rangelands.  African Journal of Range and Forage Science 20(2) Proceedings of the VII International Rangelands Congress, Durban, South Africa, 26 July-1 August.

Mills, A.J. 2002.  Farming with goats alters vegetation, reduces carbon stocks and increases the tendency of soils to crust in Xeric Succulent Thicket of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Proceedings of the VIII International Congress of Ecology, Seoul, South Korea, 11-18 August.

Mills, A.J. 2001.  The effect of fire on water infiltration and nutrient availability in the Kruger National Park.  A paper presented at workshops at the Long Term Ecological Research sites in Sevilleta, New Mexico and Konza Prairie, Kansas, USA, 13-24 May. 

Mills, A.J. 2000.  The effect of fire on water infiltration and nutrient availability in African savannas: implications for managing ecosystem recovery. Remade Lands International Conference.  Perth, Western Australia, 30 November-2 December.

Mills, A.J. 2000.  Fire and soil crusting in African savannas. 11th International Soil Conservation Organisation Conference: Land Conservation and Food Production in the Third Millenium.  Buenos Aires, Argentina, 22-27 October.

 

 

 

Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, Stellenbosch, South Africa, Tel: +27 21 808 47 94

Copyright © 2005 Stellenbosch University, All rights reserved