SASUF Goes Digital: 2020 Edition

Abstract: Insects such as bees and butterflies are responsible for pollination of the majority of plants in nature and in agriculture. Globally, there is a genuine concern about the decline of health and diversity of pollinating insects and how this may be affected by climate change, while facing a multitude of anthropogenic pressures (increase of human population, environmental pollution).  The proposed project will discuss and develop a cutting edge joint research and education program to enable South African and Swedish researchers and students to explore these issues together. The focus will be laid on two topics:
a) environmental monitoring programs of endangered insects and their plants; and
b) behavior, health and disease of relevant model species and their tri-lateral interactions (plants, insects and microbes) – a new emerging field in agricultural microbiology which is expected to provide essential keys for novel strategies in environmental management and food production.
 
Keywords: Pollination ecology, ecosystem service, nutrition, insects, microbes

PROGRAM -  Please note the schedule below is following the Swedish time zone: 14:30-16:30.  For South African time, please add 1 hour, thus the whole program for South Africans runs from 15:30-17:30

14:30-14:35  GENERAL INTRODUCTION by Rasheed Adeleke (North West University Potchefstroom, South Africa) and Natuschka Lee (UmU, Sweden) 

14:35-14:50 SOCIAL INSECT RESEARCH IN SOUTH  AFRICA - professor Christian Pirk and Dr. Yusuf Abdullahi Ahmed  (Dpt of Zoology & Entomology, University of Pretoria, SA)

14:50-15:05   BEE HEALTH IN SWEDEN  -  Dr. Eva Forsgren (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden) 

15:05-15:20  INSECT ECOLOGY:  FUNDAMENTAL AND APPLIED ASPECTS - Dr. Natuschka Lee (Department of Ecology and Env Science, Umeå University, Sweden) 

15:20-15:30 Short break

15:30-15:45  MICROBIAL EXCHANGES BETWEEN HONEYBEES AND FLOWERING PLANTS DURING POLLINATIONATION - Dr. Rasheed Adekele (Dpt of Microbiology,
                     North West University Potchefstroom, SA)  

15:45 -16:00  THE SWEDISH BUTTERFLY MONITORING SCHEME - Dr. Lars Pettersson, Department of Biology, Lund University, Sweden) 

16:00-16:15   NATIONAL POLLINATION PROJECT IN SWEDEN - Lotta Fabricius Kristiansen - Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, manager for the projects "Swedish
                       bees" and "Pollinate Sweden"

16:15-16:30   DISCUSSION (future collaborations and proposals)