Mr Mathew Harris



PhD student

Department
FABI
Full CV
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My Supervisor/s

Primary Supervisor
Michelle Greve

Co Supervisor
Martin Kemler
Bernard Slippers

I completed my BSc Environmental Sciences undergraduate degree in 2016 at the University of Pretoria. Thereafter, I set out to a BSc (Honours) degree, in ecology, within the department of Plant and Soil Sciences at the University of Pretoria. My Honours research project explored the responses of bird communities to a slightly degraded land-use, i.e. communal rangelands in the Orpen region of the Kruger National Park and compared these bird assemblages to those within nature reserves.

I joined FABI in 2018 to start my MSc. For my MSc I looked to characterise patterns in fungal community ecology from local to global scales. In particular I reviewed the current state of knowledge for fungal biogeography and explored an important ecological phenomenon (successional patterns) for foliar fungal endophyte communities. 

Upon completion of my MSc in 2020 I decided to continue with a PhD at FABI and the Department of Plant and Soil Science Ecology group, where my project will explore the spatial and temporal drivers of C4 grass-associated fungal endophytes. I will try to understand how factors known to be important determinants of tropical grassy systems (e.g. fire and herbivory) drive changes in grass-associated fungal endophyte communities.   

Publications

  • Harris, M.A., M.D., Voysey, S-L., Jamison, M., Greve., 2019. Changes in bird assemblages because of vegetation homogenisation in communal livestock systems. KOEDOE. 61(1), a1543, https://doi.org/10.4102/koedoe.v61i1.1543

 

  • Jamison-Daniels, S-L., W.D., Kissling, M., Botha, M.A., Harris, C.E., Gordon, M., Greve., 2020. The role of deterministic succession during forest development within a southern African savanna. Biotropica. 53(2):466-476,  
    https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12890

 

  • Cowan, D.A., P.H., Lebre, C.E.R., Amon, R.W., Becker, H.I., Boga, A. Boulange, T.L., Chiyaka, T., Coetzee, P.C., de Jager, O., Dikinya, F., Eckardt, M., Greve, M.A., Harris, D.W., Hopkins, H.B., Houngnandan, P., Houngnandan, K., Jordaan, E., Kaimoyo, A.K., Kambura, G., Kamgan-Nkuekam, T.P., Makhalanyane, G., Maggs-Kolling, E., Marais, H., Mondlane, E., Nghalipo, B.W., Olivier, M., Ortiz, L.R., Pertierra, J-B., Ramond, M., Seely, I., Sithole-Niang, A., Valverde, G., Varliero, S., Vikram, D.H., Wall, A., Zeze, 2022. Biogeographical survey of soil microbiomes across sub-Saharan Africa: structure, drivers, and predicted climate-driven changes. Microbiome. 10(131), https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-022-01297-w

 

  • Harris, M.A., M., Kemler, B., Slippers, S-L., Jamison-Daniels, F., Witfeld, M., Botha, D., Begerow, A., Brachmann, M., Greve, 2023. Deterministic processes have limited impacts on foliar fungal endophyte communities along a savanna-forest successional gradient. Fungal Ecology. 64, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.funeco.2023.101249

 

  • Harris, M.A., Slippers, B., Kemler, M. & M. Greve, 2023. Opportunities for diversified usage of metabarcoding data for fungal biogeography through increased metadata quality. Fungal Biology Reviews, 46, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fbr.2023.100329

 

  • Pertierra, L.R., Varliero, G., Barbosa, A., Biersma, E.M., Convey, P., Chown, P.L., Cowan, D., De Los Rios, A., Escribano-Alvarez, P., Fontaneto, D., Fraser, C., Harris, M.A., Hughes, K., Griffiths, H., le Roux, P., Liu, X.P., Lynch, H., Majewska, R., Martinez, P.A., Molina-Montenegro, M., Olalla-Tarraga, M.A., Peck, L., Quesada, A., Ronquillo, C., Ropert-Coudert, Y., Sancho, L., Terauds, A., Vianna, J., Wilmotte, A., Hortal, J., & M., Greve, 2024. TerrANTALife 1.0 Biodiversity data checklist of known Antarctic terrestrial and freshwater life forms. Biodiversity Data Journal. 12, doi: 10.3897/BDJ.12.e106199

 

 

Conference presentations

  • Savanna Science Network Meeting (2018), "Avian responses to communal livestock systems" - Speed presentation
  • BIMF-FBIP Forum (2019), "Fungal biogeography and the use of publicly available data for answering biogeographic questions" - Student presentation
  • Department of Plant and Soil Sciences symposium (2019), "Do fungal communities mirror the successional trends of woody communities" - Presentation
  • South African Association of Botanists (SAAB) conference (2020), "Do foliar fungal communities mirror the successional trends of woody communities" - Poster and speed presentation
  • Mycological Society of America (MSA) virtual symposium (2020), "Deterministic processes influence foliar fungal endophyte communities within a forest successional gradient" - Graphical abstract
  • University of Oxford's Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution virtual conference (2021), "Successional trends, community composition and species richness patterns of foliar fungal endophytes within a forest successional gradient" - Poster 
  • 1st International Workshop on Integrative Ecology (IWINE) (Talca, Chile) (2023), "Unearthing a hidden world: unravelling the spatial ecology of plant endophytes – Invited presentation & R-workshop 
  • International Biogeographic Society (IBS) - 11th Biennial Conference (Prague) - (2024), "The fungi among us: Contrasting turnover between rare and common fungal endophytes across the global distribution of two C4 grass species" –Presentation
  • Southern Africa Society for Plant Pathology (SASPP) – 53rd Biennial Conference, (2024) "Deterministic processes have limited impacts on foliar fungal endophyte communities along a savanna-forest successional gradient"

Awards

2017 - H.G.W.J. Schweickerdt medal for the best BSc. (Hons) Plant Sciences student based on final average mark for the year

2018 - Academic honorary colours from the University of Pretoria's SRC (82% average for BSc. (Hons) Plant Sciences)

2018 - FABI Awards (best photograph of the year award)

Bursaries

  • South African National Research Foundation (NRF), Freestanding, Innovation and Scarce Skills Ph.D. bursary (2021-2023)
  • South African National Research Foundation (NRF), block grant for BSc. (Hons) (2017)

My Galeries

My photographs

My Journal Articles

Export to RIS
Publication
Harris MA, Slippers B, Kemler M, Greve M. (2023) Opportunities for diversified usage of metabarcoding data for fungal biogeography through increased metadata quality. Fungal Biology Reviews 46:100329. 10.1016/j.fbr.2023.100329
Harris MA, Kemler M, Slippers B, Jamison-Daniel S-L, Witfeld F, Botha M, Begerow D, Brachmann A, Greve M. (2023) Deterministic processes have limited impacts on foliar fungal endophyte communities along a savanna-forest successional gradient. Fungal Ecology 64:101249. 10.1016/j.funeco.2023.101249
Jamison-Daniels SL, Kissling WD, Botha M, Harris MA, Gordon CE, Greve M. (2021) The role of deterministic succession during forest development within a southern African savanna. bioTropica 53(2):466-476. 10.1111/btp.12890