Change the world

Anina Coetzee

Anina Coetzee

Position: Lecturer – Nature Conservation / Head of Department

Tel: 044 801 5018

Email: Anina.Coetzee@mandela.ac.za

Office Num: Admin building Room 0119

Qualifications: PhD (Botany) – Stellenbosch University

Expertise: Pollination biology, community ecology, urban ecology, ornithology; conservation

Research interests: My research investigates terrestrial biodiversity maintenance with a focus on species interactions, functional ecology, and visual ecology, often using pollination systems in the fynbos and forests of the Cape Floristic Region. I am also interested in fire ecology, plant conservation and avian urban ecology.

Publications:

Select Publications

  • Coetzee, A; Seymour, CL; Spottiswoode, CN; Pirie, M; van der Niet, T. 2026. Is bee-avoidance by bird-pollinated flowers driven by nectar robbing in Erica? Functional Ecology  10.1111/1365-2435.70276
  • Mantintsilili, A, Seymour, CL; Geerts, S & Coetzee, A. 2025. Pollinator-dependence and specialisation in three sunbird-pollinated fire-stimulated flowering species. Plant Biology 28(1): 215-224.
  • Davies, R, Coetzee, A & Seymour, C. 2025. Robber vs invasives: The effects of alien tree invasions on nectar robbing in bird-pollinated Erica species. Journal of Plant Research 139: 35-48. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-025-01673-1
  • Mantintsilili, A, Geerts, S, Seymour, CL & Coetzee, A. 2025. Post-fire flowering enhances pollinator visitation and may reduce florivory and nectar robbing in sunbird-pollinated plants. South African Journal of Botany 186: 201-211.
  • Mantintsilili, A, Geerts, S, Seymour, CL & Coetzee, A. 2025. Impacts of Supplemental Feeding on Sunbird-Pollination Systems in Young Fynbos Varies with Floral Abundance. Environmental Management 75: 906-917 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-024-02089-8
  • Swart, RC, Geerts, S, Geldenhuys, CJ, Pauw, J & Coetzee, A. 2023. Weak latitudinal trends in reproductive traits of Afromontane forest trees. Annals of Botany https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcad080 IF= 4.2
  • Du Plessis, M, Seymour, CL, Spottiswoode CN & Coetzee, A. 2021. Artificial nectar feeders reduce sunbird abundance and plant visitation in Cape Fynbos adjacent to suburban areas. Global Ecology and Conservation 28: e01706. 10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01706
  • Coetzee, A, Seymour, CL & Spottiswoode, CN. 2021. Facilitation and competition shape a geographical mosaic of flower colour polymorphisms. Functional Ecology 35(9): 1914-1924 http://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13851
  • McCarren, S, Midgley, J & Coetzee, A. 2021. Sending private messages: floral ultraviolet signals are correlated with pollination syndromes in Erica. Journal of Pollination Ecology 29: 289-298. https://doi.org/10.26786/1920-7603(2021)648
  • Coetzee, A, Spottiswoode, CN & Seymour, CL. 2020. Post-pollination barriers enable coexistence of pollinator-sharing ornithophilous Erica species. Journal of Plant Research 133(6): 873-881. 10.1007/s10265-020-01226-8
  • Geerts, S*, Coetzee, A*, Rebelo, AG & Pauw, A. 2020. Pollination structures plant and nectar-feeding bird communities in Cape fynbos, South Africa: implications for the conservation of plant-bird mutualisms. Ecological Research 53 (5): 838-856. 10.1111/1440-1703.12148
  • Coetzee, A, Barnard, P & Pauw, A. 2018. Urban nectarivorous bird communities in Cape Town, South Africa, are structured by ecological generalisation and resource distribution. Journal of Avian Biology 49(6): e01526. DOI: 10.1111/jav.01526.
  • Heystek, A, Geerts, S, Barnard, P & Pauw, A. 2014. Pink flower preference in sunbirds does not translate into plant fitness differences in a polymorphic Erica species. Evolutionary Ecology 28 (3): 457-470.
  • Heystek, A & Pauw, A. 2014. Does competition for pollinators contribute to structuring Erica communities? Journal of Vegetation Science 25 (3): 648-656. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12127 

Current students:

  • Ruby Davies – MSc – Nectar robbing fitness effects in Erica species
  • Graham van Bergen – MSc – Influence of flowers and adjacent biome on anthophilous insects in southern Cape Fynbos
  • Kim van den Heever – MSc –Comparing insect diversity between Regenerative Agriculture and Conservation Agriculture systems
  • Katherine Venter - MSc –Impact of honeybee farms on native pollinators in arid systems
  • Julian Johnson-Barker – Hons – Effect of artificial nectar feeding on bird behaviour
  • Anelisa Pandela – Hons – Weather effects on birds utilising artificial nectar feeders
  • Sarah Steele – Hons -  Ecology of a Cuphodes micromoth, a specialist seed feeder on Rhamnus prinoides

Past post-grad student:

  • Rudi Swart – Postdoctoral fellow – Pollination and seed predation of Afromontane forest trees
  • Asekho Mantintsilili – PhD – Ecological impacts of fire & supplementary feeding in fire-stimulated bird-pollination systems
  • Anneke Elliott – MSc – Investigating the sudden dieback of Gymnosphaera capensis (forest tree fern) in southern Afrotemperate forests
  • Ira Tzitzika – MSc – Herbicide impacts on target and non-target vegetation in a forestry plantation and a fynbos environment, South Africa
  • Tayla van Heerden – Hons – Nectar robbing defence mechanisms in Erica
  • Frederick Munro – Hons - A taxonomic revision of the Gnidia racemosa clade (Thymelaeaceae)
  • Monique du Plessis – MSc (University of Cape Town) - The effect of artificial nectar feeders on bird-plant mutualisms in the Cape Fynbos
  • Sam McCarren – PhD (University of Cape Town) – Floral adaptations for pollination in long-tubed Erica species