Qualifications
Biography
I am a Rangeland Ecologist who is interested in employing a range of methodologies from local to landscape scales, using field methods, drone mapping, and remote sensing approaches to enhance ecological monitoring, particularly for adaptive management of natural resources and to answer ecological questions.
Research focus: vegetation dynamics, rangeland systems, drone-based rangeland health mapping, land degradation assessment & monitoring, vegetation-fire-frost ecology
Teaching: Undergraduate and Postgraduate
Publications:
1. Meelis Pärtel, Riin Tamme, Carlos P. Carmona, Kersti Riibak, Mari Moora, Jonathan A. Bennett, Alessandro Chiarucci, Milan Chytrý, Francesco de Bello, Ove Eriksson, Susan Harrison, Robert John Lewis, Angela T. Moles, Maarja Öpik, Jodi N. Price, Vistorina Amputu, ……….…, Martin Zobel. (2025) "Global impoverishment of natural vegetation revealed by dark diversity". Nature. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08814-5
2. Harkort, L., Okujeni, A., Amputu, V., Mahler, J., Nill, L., Pflugmacher, D., Röder, A., & Hostert, P. (2025). Mapping fractional vegetation cover in Sub-Saharan rangelands using phenological feature spaces. Remote Sensing of Environment, 319, 114646. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.RSE.2025.114646
3. Amputu V, Männer F, Tielbörger K, Knox N. (2024). Spatio-temporal transferability of drone-based models to predict forage supply in drier rangelands. Remote Sensing 16, 1842. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16111842
4. Zimmer K, Amputu V, Schwarz L.-M, Linstädter A, Sandhage-Hofmann A. (2023). Soil characteristics within vegetation patches are sensitive indicators of savanna rangeland degradation in central Namibia. Geoderma Regional 36: e00771. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geodrs.2024.e00771
5. Amputu V, Braun A, Heshmati S, Retzlaff R, Röder A, Knox N, Tielbörger K. (2023). Unmanned Aerial Systems accurately map rangeland condition indicators in a dryland savannah. Ecological Informatics, Volume 75, 102007. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoinf.2023.102007
6. Stolter C, Joubert DF, Uunona N, Nghalipo E, Amputu V, Felton AM (2022). Effect of fire on the palatability of plants in an African woodland savanna: varying impacts depending on plant functional groups. PeerJ 10:e12721 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.12721
7. Amputu V, Joubert DF, Mapaure I. (2019) Vegetation secondary succession in response to time since last fire in a broad-leaved savanna in central Namibia. Namibian Journal of Environment 3 A: 56-65.
8. Joubert DF, Stolter C, Krewenka KM, Uunona N, Amputu V, Nghalipo E, Thompson S, Schütte K, Kruspe M, Throop H, du Preez P, Beytell P, le Roux M, Aindongo H. (2018) Impacts of fire history in a semi-arid woodland savanna. In: Climate change and adaptive land management in southern Africa – assessments, changes, challenges, and solutions (ed. by Revermann R, Krewenka KM, Schmiedel U, Olwoch JM, Helmschrot J, Jürgens N), pp. 207-218, Biodiversity & Ecology, 6, Klaus Hess Publishers, Göttingen & Windhoek. DOI: 10.7809/b-e.00326
