February 2024

Dear scientists,

it is a pleasure to wish you a good beginning of the year and some fruitful research these coming months. The year started very well here in the Chobe Enclave with the visits of a group of Swiss, St Africans and Botswanan PhD students studying the hydrogeology in the greater area of the Chobe and the Caprivi Strip. This group will be followed by some colleagues of the department of biology from the Botswana International University for Science and Technology.

Our aim this year is to broaden our reserch perspectives and enlarge our scope on the conservation side. Indeed, there is a lot do in the district in terms of collecting data and ensuring a wider protection for the wildlife. In this context, the on-going monitoring of a serie of factors provides valuable input to better understand the complexity of the interactions and their overall impact on the landscape and its inhabitants.

What we have been lacking these past years at our center are researchers focusing more on the human side of things, i.e. the recent evolution, the development, and the relationship of the local population of the Enclave with its wildlife, the ecological constraints, and the economic potential. We encourage any scientists interested to investigate these issues to contact us to discuss more in detail these topics. In the same research domain but slightly more related to the past, it would be very pertinent and productive to welcome archeologist and paleoanthropologist in this area, as in the past many digs took place in the south and the north of this region but very little investigation was done in this territory which is key in understanding human kind expansion as it is connected to St Africa and the African rift system by large water bodies.

Finally, on a broader scale, we the VTR managers, are always open to discuss any field work proposal emanated from scientific institutions interested to use our center as a base for more in-depth research in the area. We are always happy and open to endeavouring ideas and visionary proposals related to research.

We look forward to welcoming you.

Sincerely

Dr. Van Thuyne

June 28 2023

Dear VTR researcher,

A few months ago (February) the Swiss president Mr Alain Berset came to visit Botswana, it was the first official visit of a Swiss president in Botswana. The VTR facility was on his list of places to visit, but time did not allow him and his team to venture so deep in the bush, maybe next time. A few weeks later, early May, the president of Botswana Dr. Mokgweetsi Masisi visited Switzerland, it was also the first time a president from Botswana came to visit Switzerland. President Masisi enjoyed his stay in the Swiss confederation and said that he had found many similarities between Botswana and Switzerland, especially on its economic development and geopolitical situation. We hope both countries will continue developing constructive relationship in the coming years. As the managers of the VTR center, Rita and I are working with both delegations to foster closer scientific exchanges between both countries.

On the research side I hope your respective studies are producing satisfactory results. A team from the university of Lausanne is planning in the region of Chobe a six-week field campaign in August -September in the domain of hydrogeology and isotopic dendrochronology.

Finally, in September a visit to the Botswana International University for Science and Technology is planned with the former vice chairman of the university of Lausanne and Emeritus Prof Eric.P. Verrecchia to develop the existing partnership between the university of Lausanne, BIUST and the VTR research center.

I wish you a good beginning of summer or winter in your corresponding hemisphere.

Dr. John Van Thuyne

January 10 2023

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2023

May I take this opportunity to thank all our faithfull patners and user in Botswana and abroad for collaborating with us and for using the VTR research center. It is a pleasure to work with all of you.

I am also proud to inform you that after six years of research on Fungus-growing termites in the Chobe Enclave, I have completed my PhD on “ Biophysical and biogeochemical dynamics of Macrotermes michaelseni termite mounds in a savanna ecosystem of Botswana” and obtain the title of Doctor in Earth Sciences from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.

We are honored to let you know that Prof. Eric Verrecchia, has been appointed scientific consultant for the VTR research center as of January 2023. Eric P. Verrecchia is an emeritus professor of Biogeosciences at the Faculty of Geosciences and the Environment, University of Lausanne (Switzerland). He is specialized in geopedology and biogeochemistry of the terrestrial carbon and calcium cycles. He recently co-authored a Visual Atlas for Soil Micromorphologists (in Open Access at Springer Nature) and applied this technique, coupled with biogeochemical analytical methods, to soils and surficial formations from the tropics to the temperate zone. His present-day interests focus on vadose carbonates, including soils, calcretes, biominerals and biomediated precipitates, and their relationships with the carbon cycle in terrestrial environments, particularly in arid and semiarid landscapes. For more details please see: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Eric-Verrecchia

Two research groups will be coming to the center these following weeks, one working on isotopic dendrochronology and the other on malaria transmission.

Our partners from the Botswana International University for Science and Technology (BIUST) are using more and more our facility in order to conduct field missions in a variety of domains.

Finally, two new articles have recently been published by our colleagues. See below.

Mokatse, T., Vainer, S., Irving, J., Schmidt, C., Kgosidintsi, B., Shemang, E., Verrecchia, E.P., 2022. Geometry of sedimentary deposits and evolution of the landforms in the Chobe Enclave, Northern Botswana. Geomorphology, vol 415, 108406. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169555X22002999

Vainer, S., Matmon, A., Ben Dor, Y., Verrecchia, E.P., Eckardt, F & Aster Team., 2022. Eolian chronology reveals causal links between tectonics, climate, and erg generation. Nature communications 13, 5714. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33316-7

8 Papers Published

We are pleased to inform you that eight of our papers have been published in recognized journals

Research in the Chobe Enclave made possible by the VTR Reserach Center are now bearing fruits. The results of which have been published in high impact factor journals. The topic covered are OSL dating, soil diversity, plant community, the role of fungus-growing termites in savanna landscapes and mosquito-borne infections. More articles will soon follow. Keep in touch and take care.

Van Thuyne, J., Verrecchia, E.P., 2021. Impacts of fungus-growing termites on surficial geological parameters: A review. Earth Science Reviews 223, 103862. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103862

Diaz N., Armitage S.J., Verrecchia E.P. & Herman F., 2019. OSL dating of a carbonate island in the Chobe Enclave, NW Botswana. Quaternary Geochronology 49, 172-176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2018.03.001

Romanens, R., Pellacani, F., Mahinga, A., Fynn R., Vittoz P. & Verrecchia E.P., 2019. Soil diversity and major soil processes in the Kalahari basin, Botswana. Geoderma Regional 19, e00236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geodrs.2019.e00236

Vittoz, P., Pellacani, F., Romanens, R., Mahinga, A., Verrecchia, E.P. & Fynn, R.W.S. 2020. Plant community diversity in the Chobe Enclave, Botswana: insights for functional habitat heterogeneity for herbivores. Koedoe. https:// doi.org/10.4102/koedoe. v62i1.1604

Van Thuyne, J., Verrecchia, E.P., Darini, I., Mainga, A., 2021. Are fungus-growing termites super sediment-sorting insects of subtropical environments? Journal of Arid Environments 193, 104566. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2021.104566

Buxton, M., Nyamukondiwa, C., Wasserman, R. J., Othenin-Girard, V., Pigeault, R., Christe, P., Glaizot, O., 2021. Surveillance Studies Reveal Diverse and Potentially Pathogenic-Incriminated Vector Mosquito Species across Major Botswana Tourist Hotspots. Insects 12, 913. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects12100913

Jouquet, P., Harit, A., Hervé, V., Moger, H., Carrijo, T., Donoso, D. A., Eldridge, D., Ferreira da Cunha, H., Choosai, C., Janeau, J-L., Maeght, J-L., Thu, T.D., Briandon, A., Dahbi Skali, M., Van Thuyne, J., Mainga, A., Pinzon Florian, O.P., Malam Issa, O., Podwojewski, P., Rajot, J-L., Henri-des-Tureaux, T., Smaili, L., Labiadh, M., Boukbida, H.A., Shanbhag, R., Muon, R., Ann, V., Cheik, S., Fall, S., Traoré, S., Dupont, S., Chouvenc, T., Mullins, A.J., Syaukani, S., Zaiss, R., Minh Tien, T., Sobotník, J., Auclerc, A., Qiu, R., Tang, Y.T., Huot, H., Sillam-Dussès, D., Bottinelli, N., 2022. The impact of termites on soil sheeting properties is better explained by environmental factors than by their feeding and building strategies. Geoderma 412, 115706.

Mas-Carrio, E., Schneider, J., Nasanbat, B., Ravchig, S., Buxton, M., Nyamukondiwa, C., Stoffel, C., Augugliaro, C., Ceacero, F., Taberlet, P., Glaizot, O., Christe, P., Fumagalli, L., 2021. Assessing environmental DNA metabarcoding and camera trap surveys as complementary tools for biomonitoring of remote desert water bodies. Environmental DNA. 2021; 001:1-16