Redeemed Past Times Charcoal

by Abraham Nqabutho Dabengwa 

“Not much pollen at x sites!” was the dreadful proclamation. “This isn’t whatever good. There’s lots of charcoal but non much of a storey without a vegetation proxy.”

The diagnosis was clear. It’s the type that shakes a palynologist’s strong spine, commonly adapted for slavishly counting pollen together with other microscopic fossils. Disaster had struck me at the larval phase of my Ph.D. No pollen. What was I to do? How was I going to justify my inclusion inwards a pollen lab? Better yet, how was I going to rising from the valley of academic Hades where the Unfortunate create out to attain “heaven” or sink into oblivion? 

Now, I know some of yous convey heard or personally experienced inquiry horrors. Yes, materials happens. Bad stuff. Even to people who recall they are innocent. Horrors or “game changers” are rarely due to lack of intelligence, miserable foresight, together with vile spirits. It seems life industrial plant on timetables dissimilar from the conventional academic assembly line. Even those lucky inwards academia sense misfortune elsewhere. It’s life.

Redeemed yesteryear charcoal

The passage of fourth dimension has lifted me out of the Ph.D. fog, allowing me to reverberate on my academic journeying together with lovely encounter amongst charcoal. Oh charcoal, yous deep together with kaleidoscopic teller of the yesteryear – how I could write a poesy form most you! Like the mythical phoenix who rose from the ashes, yous lifted me upwardly from the bowels of academic Hades into the realm of creative experience.

The stars of my Ph.D. The principal attraction of course of report were really large grazers which visited wetlands to consume together with manufacturing flora charcoal. Charcoal fragments indicative of grass burnt are shown inwards top correct piece Sporormiella dung spores at bottom-right are associated amongst grazing pressure level together with plant eater densities

Insights from charcoal collected from sediments convey altered the agency nosotros recall most the long-term ecosystems processes driven yesteryear fires: food cycling, variation amidst habitats, together with biodiversity patterns. Mysteriously, charcoal fragments are said to come upwardly from nigh together with far. However, sizes of charcoal fragments tin can alter locally without invoking a transporter genie which discriminates yesteryear size.

The mystery hooked me. I decided this was going to live my salvation. I was going to manually count microscopic charcoal fragments together with relate them to dung spores linked amongst plant eater densities. Grazers are attracted to tasty grass shoots next the burning of tall together with may fifty-fifty grind plenty charcoal particles amongst their hooves, particularly inwards dry out periods. Grazers every bit good beloved wetlands. I had plenty of wetland sediment samples to operate with. Charcoal would plough out to live a dot of vegetation together with indirectly, climate together with herbivory. The path towards redemption was clear next my unceremonious rejection yesteryear pollen. I could at nowadays restore my self-confidence together with powerfulness to arrive at science. However, I was naturally upset since these developments happened inwards what is traditionally considered the half-way phase of the Ph.D. journey!

But courage! Perseverance inwards the human face upwardly of adversity! Yes. I wasn’t going to allow my dream acquire deferred, or every bit Hughes says, “dry upwardly similar a raisin inwards the sun.”

Racing time

They state genius should never live rushed. At the dorsum of my heed I was aware that folly won no prize. After all, tiresome minds may never attain their destination. With time, I shortly establish myself spiraling backwards. Financial insecurity. No clear cease inwards sight. Confidence waned next graduation days. Once upon a fourth dimension I had rekindled promise but at nowadays I was on the border of a cliff. Of course, I summoned my willpower together with survival skills, I had yesteryear victories. However, each province of affairs is different. And sometimes ane doesn’t know how beat-up they are. With my powers sapped, I pressed the assist button. O charcoal, did yous Pb me downwards?

The Cape Town mountains I used to hike together with run upwardly to honour solace inwards my darkest days 

When I looked dorsum at charcoal amongst a fresh pair of eyes, the findings were astounding. I did honour the expected patterns of positive feedbacks betwixt drought, herbivory, together with curt grass evolution for my Ph.D. However, I every bit good establish that my hunch was right. Herbivores did touching on charcoal particle sizes together with concentrations. This was suggested yesteryear some positive charcoal-spore feedbacks indicative of re-grazing of palatable post-fire grass regrowth, which in all likelihood fragmented particles through trampling. The most interesting observation was that charcoal concentrations were significantly lower where herbivores were few, adding back upwardly for the local root of charcoal at my sites.

Nature decoded

So, hither I was analyzing charcoal fragments, which had broken upwardly predictably, regardless of local processes such every bit combustion, crunch inwards sediment or reworking yesteryear plant eater trampling. Wow! I had stumbled on self-similar particles which are ‘fractal like’ or amongst a ‘power law-like’ behavior. I was hypnotized. To the uninitiated, the results seem trivial, but I must assure you, at that topographic point are many ecological consequences.

If local processes could explicate charcoal sizes together with concentrations inwards sediments, this meant blindly using smaller charcoal fragments every bit indicators of distance fires inwards grassland environments mightiness live a stretch of imagination. This follows since charcoal represents a fraction of burnt biomass produced yesteryear my local grasses. (Of course, these ecosystems became mine since scientists tend to appropriate nature together with sites every bit yous all know).

Also, when grazing herbivores suppress flammable grasses for extended periods, conduct relationships betwixt climate together with can blurred. What may convey happened is that fragmentation of charcoal inwards burned grasses some the sedimentary basins was high inwards grazing systems compared to sites amongst fewer animals. This implies that some comparisons of can activity amidst sites using charcoal concentrations are indirect measurements of plant eater pressure. Importantly, wetland grasslands distich can together with herbivory inwards savannas amongst possible implications on other sediment-based environmental interpretations. My skepticism regarding charcoal dispersal paid off!

Life lessons

I was going to shout out it from a mount top! Hooray! I was worried I mightiness live called mad similar folks gyrating or twerking to a soundless disco at a funeral. But similar all aspiring academics, a humble article without hyperbole is inwards procedure of completion. There is nonetheless a lot to uncover most charcoal, ane of the few stable sedimentary proxies that are preserved inwards sediments for long periods. Like the phoenix, I arose. I’m happy to state the Ph.D. has been conquered. I am nonetheless passionate most how large grazing mammals purpose wetlands to go at ecological to evolutionary timescales together with the materials they arrive at to local grasses, soil structure, together with food pools.

On a colina somewhere inwards Red People's Republic of China
when I realised that everything was well
              

Many people assisted me along the way. Family was a blessing. Friends were priceless. My partner was gilded together with light. Supervisors were encouraging. My therapist the oracle helped me consider these winning factors piece I limped forward. I gradually recovered what was lost, I had lost who I was when I considered myself every bit a stalled production inwards an assembly line. I establish out that taking attention of myself was ane non-negotiable. The bigger flick returned. I was to a greater extent than than plenty together with capable of coming together whatever challenge. The setbacks were life experiences inwards the agency forrard together with non failure. It was liberating. No judgment. Gratitude. Gradually, curiosity, passion, together with motivation returned. Breaks are good. The captain of the ship was dorsum to navigate toward a desirable future.

A seemingly desperate determination to expression at dissimilar sizes of charcoal lured me into the mysteries of life together with science. Charcoal continues to concur many secrets, but I exit that to others. Humble similar a loving cup of tea together with every bit deep every bit ane dares to peer, similar then many other things inwards life. Charcoal spurred my resolve to motion headlong non into darkness, but the less traveled route of discovery. I every bit good learned the importance of taking attention of myself together with trusting inwards my abilities. I tin can state that has made huge divergence inwards how I sense life, how I value people, because yous never know what mysteries lurk beneath elementary facades. My transformation into a doctoral butterfly has been a long together with interesting journeying total of stories.



Abraham Nqabutho Dabengwa 
Doctoral student, University of Cape Town, South Africa



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