Census of NTFPs species for food security

Lizzie Mujuru1, Luke Jimu1, Justice Muvengwi1, Anthony Mapaura2, Admore Mureva3, Admore Mureva4, Christopher Chapano2

1 Bindura University of Science Education, P. Bag 1020, 263, Bindura, Zimbabwe; 2 National Herbarium and Botanic Garden, P. O. Box A889, Avondale, 263, Harare, Zimbabwe; 3 Bindura University of Science Education, P.O Box 1020, Bindura, 263, Bindura, Zimbabwe; 4 Bindura University of Science Education, P. Bag 1020, 263, Bindura

Corresponding author(s): Lizzie Mujuru (lzzmjr2009@gmail.com)Luke Jimu (jimaldino@yahoo.com)Justice Muvengwi (justicemuvengwi@gmail.com)Anthony Mapaura (amapaura@gmail.com)Admore Mureva (admury@gmail.com), Admore Mureva (admury@gmail.com)

Received {date}; Revised {date}; Accepted {date}; Published {date}

Citation: Combination of authors, year of data paper publication (in parentheses), Title, Journal Name, Volume, Issue number (in parentheses), and doi of the data paper.

Resource Citation

Mujuru L, Jimu L, Muvengwi J, Mapaura A, Mureva A (2018): Census of NTFPs species for food security. v1.5. Bindura University Of Science Education. Dataset/Checklist. https://cloud.gbif.org/bid/resource?r=wild_food_plant_species&v=1.5

Abstract

The data in this resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains checklist records. The date on medicinal plants is published by Bindura University of Science Education (BUSE), Department of Natural Resources, which is the national node for GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) in Zimbabwe. The national Herbarium and Botanic garden is in charge of the maintenance and the updating plant biodiversity data, together with BUSE.
The data that is documented in this resource are wild plants that are important for provision of food to rural communities in and around biodiversity hotspot areas in Zimbabwe. The biodiversity hotspots included in this resource are scattered around the country especially in areas that are protected, including national parks and a gazetted forest. Specific study areas were Chimanimani, Chipinge and Nyanga in the Eastern Highlands, Mutorashanga in the Great Dyke and Hwange in the west. The resource is a checklist of food plants, including trees, shrubs, herbs and grasses.

Keywords: Checklist, Plant Biodiversity, Policy, Wild food plants

Project details

Project title: Mobilization of data on non- timber forest products’ species in Zimbabwe’s five biodiversity hotspots: towards the enhancement of food security and human health
Personnel: Lizzie Mujuru, Luke Jimu, Justice Muvengwi, Admore Mureva, Anthony Mapaura
Funding: European Union through GBIF (Main Funder), Bindura University of Science Education, National Herbarium and Botanic Garden and Forestry Commission
Study area descriptions/descriptor: The project is located in five biodiversity hotspots of Zimbabwe, Nyanga, Chimanimani, Chipinge, Mutorashanga and Hwange. Nyanga, Chipinge and Chimanimani are located in the eastern highlands of Zimbabwe and are part of the Afro-montane region. The vegetation of this region is typically sub-montane with interspersed grasslands (Jimu and Ngoroyemoto, 2011). The mountain range comprises a complex mosaic of vegetation types including forests, woodlands, and grasslands. The geology is mainly the Precambrian Umkondo system, which consists of flat-lying shales, quartzites and intrusive dolerites. The soils are highly leached paraferallitic (Jimu and Ngoroyemoto, 2011). The drainage pattern is characterised by deeply cut valleys. The region falls in agro-ecological regions I and II with annual rainfall ranging 1741 to 2997 mm.  

Chipinge has an intact forest, the Chirinda Forest with unique trees such as Chrysophyllum gorungosanum, Ficus chirindensis, Khaya anthotheca, Argomuellera macrophylla, Celtis mildbraedii, Strychnos ellodora and Strychnos mitis. These trees are either only found in Chirinda Forest or are very rare in other parts of the country. The Nyanga site has communities in and around Nyanga National Park that has   some of the most important species such Prunus africana. The Chimanimani area is one of the important biodiversity conservation areas in Zimbabwe.   

The Great Dyke of Zimbabwe presents a geological phenomenon, holding various high value metallurgical ores that include Chrome, Platinum and Nickel (Wild, 1965). Serpentine soils are well known to have an abnormally high ex changeable magnesium to exchangeable calcium ratio (Anderson and Talbot, 1965). The Great Dyke is dominated by the miombo vegetation dominated by Julbernardia globiflora, Brachystegia spiciformis, Brachystegia boehmii and Brachystegia allenii. 

The Hwange biodiversity hotspot is located in the western section of the country. Communities at this site are located adjacent to Hwange National Park, which is the largest conservation area in Zimbabwe. The area is typical dystrophic savanna with nutrient poor soils comprising of sandier soils that are well drained and of variable depth but often shallow, medium grained sands or loamy sands over strong brown gravelly loamy sands or sandy loams. The common tree species in the area include Acacia sp, Sclerocarya birrea, Lonchocarpus bussei, Vangueria infausta, Ziziphus mucronata, Combretum imberbe, C. apiculatum, Dichrostachys cinerea and Colophospermum mopane.
Design description: The goal of this project was to collect data on wild plant species that provide food to rural communities in and surrounding biodiversity hotspots of Zimbabwe. Forest ecosystems in Zimbabwe include afromontane, savannah and wooded grasslands. Among these are nationally and internationally recognised biodiversity hotspots containing endemic, rare, threatened and endangered plant species. To achieve the goal of this project, five of these biodiversity hotspots were purposively selected to cover the major vegetation types in the country. These areas were Chimanimani, Chipinge and Nyanga in the afromontane/ miombo vegetation zone, Mutorashanga in the miombo zone and Hwange in the dry savannah.

Data published through GBIF: https://cloud.gbif.org/bid/resource?r=wild_food_plant_species

Spatial coverage

General spatial coverage: Zimbabwe
Coordinates: 22°21'0''S and 15°27'14.4''S Latitude; 25°21'21.6''E and 33°13'22.8''E Longitude 

Temporal coverage: 01 October 2017 - 30 November 2018

Methods

Method step description: 
- . 	Community meetings were held in Chimanimani, Chipinge, Nyanga, Mutorashanga and Hwange to identify species of food importance. Semi-structured and key-informant interviews and group discussions were used in each community. Data on species was collected using vernacular names. Plant species used by the local communities of the study area were authenticated by botanists and taxonomists.
- . 	A multi-stakeholder meeting was held to consolidate the list of species. Groups were created basing on hotspot area. In each group, prioritisation of plant species was done by ranking them basing on importance and multiple uses.
- . 	Review of literature was done to supplement the data gathered from community meetings.
- . 	Prioritisation of plant species of food importance was done at a multi-stakeholder meeting.
- . 	The data was prepared into a checklist. Data were checked for quality using databases and software such as Catalogue of Life, Flora of Zimbabwe, Excel, OpenRefine, and GEOLocate. After quality checks, the checklist was uploaded on the GBIF website.
Study extent description: Data on tree species of food and medicinal importance were collected from Chimanimani (19°48'S;32°52'E), Chipinge (20°24'S;32°41'E) and Nyanga (18°13'S;32°44'E) in the Eastern Highlands, Mutorashanga (17°25'S;30°35'E)in the Great Dyke and Hwange (19°07'S;26°35'E) in the west.
Sampling description: Data concerning numbers of species used for food, along with use categories, were compiled from representatives drawn from 17 communities. A total of 102 informants who included men, women, youths and traditional healers participated in the surveys. Of the selected communities, utilisation by men, women and youths was studied using group discussions and key informant interviews. For each hotspot area, separate groups of men and women were used. Information was given using local plant names, part(s) used, methods of preparation and how they are used. Additional data were compiled from publications, books and herbarium specimens collected from the hotspot areas.
Quality control description: Data were checked for quality using software and databases such Catalogue of Life, Flora of Zimbabwe, Excel data cleaning, ECAT name parser, OpenRefine and GEOLocate.

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive Census of NTFPs species for food security
Character encoding: UTF-8
Format name: Darwin Core Archive format
Format version: 1.0
Distribution: https://cloud.gbif.org/bid/archive.do?r=wild_food_plant_species
Publication date of data: 2018-06-07
Language: English
Licences of use: Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) 4.0 License

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2018-05-24
Hierarchy level: Dataset

References
Anderson, G.D., Talbot, L.M., 1965. Soil Factors Affecting the Distribution of the Grassland Types and their Utilization by Wild Animals on the Serengeti Plains , Tanganyika. Journal of Ecology 53: 33–56. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2257564
Catalogue of Life http://www.catalogueoflife.org/listmatching/list_matching_result.php
ECAT Name Parser http://tools.gbif.org/nameparser/parser.do http://tools.gbif.org/nameparser/parser.do
Flora of Zimbabwe https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/species.php?
Jimu L, Ngoroyemoto N, 2011. Habitat characteristics and threat factors of the rare and endangered Prunus africana (Hook. f.) Kalkman in Nyanga National Park, Zimbabwe. International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation 3: 230–236. www.academicjournals.org/.../article1380549865_Jimu%20and%20Ngoroyemoto.pdf
TNRS http://tnrs.iplantcollaborative.org/index.html
Wild, H. 1965. The Flora of the Great Dyke of Southern Rhodesia with special reference to the Serpentine soils. Kirkia 5: 81. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23501427