Enhancing our knowledge on African vegetation: The new Special Collection in Vegetation Classification and Survey

The post provided by Reginald T. Guuroh, Leslie Brown, Miguel Alvarez, Manfred Finckh, Ute Schmiedel, Gaolathe Tsheboeng

This post refers to the article African vegetation studies: introduction to a Special Collection by Guuroh et al., published in Vegetation Classification and Survey (https://doi.org/10.3897/VCS.143360)

Scientific publications from Africa are generally underrepresented in the scientific literature in comparison with other regions, resulting in inadequate knowledge and data on the continent. It has been observed that even when research is conducted by African researchers, their research outputs are currently highly underrepresented in the international scientific space; including at conferences and in scientific publications. To address this challenge, the steering committee of the African Section of the International Association for Vegetation Science (IAVS-AS) initiated discussions with Jürgen Dengler, one of the Chief Editors of Vegetation Classification and Survey (VCS) to publish a special issue in the journal with specific focus on African vegetation. Ultimately, we launched the Special Collection of “African Vegetation Studies” in 2021 which aimed to receive new case studies of vegetation classifications across the African continent. 

The IAVS-AS is one of the regional sections of the IAVS that draws membership from all parts of Africa. It was formally approved by the IAVS Council in June 2021. It is an association open to everyone who is a vegetation science researcher originally from the African continent or carrying out vegetation research in Africa. Membership is open to all persons free of charge and a membership to IAVS is optional. The overall goal of the association is to bring together African researchers and researchers from elsewhere working in Africa to enhance collaborative work for mutual benefits. The specific objectives include: to promote research on African vegetation, encourage local, regional and international collaborations between vegetation researchers interested in Africa; to increase participation of African vegetation scientists in IAVS; to nurture young African vegetation scientists; to foster communication and collaboration among African vegetation scientists on one hand and with those in other parts of the world; to promote organization of symposia and field trips among African vegetation scientists; and to create platforms for sharing data among African vegetation scientists. With over 70 members currently, the IAVS-AS welcomes new members from all parts of Africa to join us. Registration of interest to join the association may be sent via email to rtguuroh@csir-forig.org.gh.

Following the successful publication of seven articles from four African countries, in the Special Collection (infographic above), the current editorial wraps it all up. The editorial begins with an overview of the current knowledge on vegetation types in Africa and the available databases, fol­lowed by summaries of the seven articles in the Special Collec­tion (grouped by regions and countries), and ends with conclusions and future perspectives.

Of the seven papers published, one is from North Africa, two are from West Africa and four are from Southern Africa (infographic above). The paper from North Africa, Chakkour et al. (2023), examines the impact of traditional agro-ecosystems on plant diversity in mountainous regions of Morocco. From West Africa, there were two papers from Benin. One research paper, Assèdé et al. (2023), focuses on vegetation associations along different soil types in a biosphere reserve, and the second paper, Ayeko et al. (2023), studied land cover change in inselbergs and adjacent areas from 2003 to 2018. From Southern Africa, there were two papers from Namibia and two from South Africa. In Namibia, one paper, Strohbach and Strohbach (2023), provides a syntaxonomic description of the Karstveld vegetation, while another, Naftal et al. (2024), models potential vegetation changes along a south-north rainfall gradient. In the case of South Africa, the two papers, Samuels et a. (2023) and Brown et al. (2022), provided research on vegetation classification and descriptions of two natural areas namely the Tankwa Karoo National Park and the Telperion Nature Reserve. 

The collection demonstrates that there are important classification studies ongoing in different parts of the continent to better understand the diversity and complexity of African vegeta­tion. At the same time our rather brief review of the current status of vegetation classification and vegetation-plot databases in African countries highlights that much work remains to be done to achieve a comprehensive and internationally consist­ent vegetation classification for the countries of Africa, which would be beneficial for land use management, biodiversity conservation and ecological research.

The editorial highlights that there is a need to improve vegetation survey techniques, broaden the scope of sampling across the continent and improve collaboration among scientists to address data challenges if we are to achieve a better understanding of the extraordinary diversity of African vegetation and all its habitat types. 

The editorial concludes that there is a potential to improve vegetation science studies in Africa, especially drawing on the lessons from other continents that have already made considerable progress. In particular, European vegetation scientists have achieved significant progress in vegetation studies by leveraging on strong scientific collaborations, with common sampling/ methodological approaches albeit with relatively small amounts of money. This serves as a positive example for African scientists. The IAVS-AS has been identified as a potential group for moving vegetation studies in Africa forward using the following suggested actions: 

The editorial identifies key challenges for African scientists as including poor data availability, poor data access, language barriers, low budgetary allocations for science, and political stability in some parts of the continent. 

1)    increasing exchange and collaboration between African scientists, 

2)    use of broad expertise available in IAVS to train African vegetation scientists for implementing and Africa-wide sampling approach, and 

3)   raising awareness of a vegetation typology derived from vegetation plot data as being essential for land management and biodiversity conservation.  

4)    using the more advanced IT tools (shared documents in the cloud, large databases, powerful modelling techniques, remote sens­ing, artificial intelligence) that are now available to scientists.

To conclude, African vegetation scientists are encouraged to adopt closer cross-country cooperation, build capacities in crucial aspects where expertise is inadequate and adopt standardized methodological approaches in vegetation sampling to ensure better coverage in data availability. Additionally, data needs to be collated at a central point and made available for use by the scientific community. These are some of the main objectives of the African Section of the International Association for Vegetation Science (IAVS-AS) hence African vegetation scientists are encouraged to get involved in the association and take advantage of the opportunities it provides.

Following this success, the IAVS-AS will surely embark on more such fruitful collaborations with IAVS journals in the interest of improving/ advancing scientific knowledge and data sharing. 

References

• Assèdé ESP, Biaou SSH, Orou H, Oumorou M, Geldenhuys CJ, Chirwa PW, Sinsin B (2023) Ecological and structural differentiation of the Sudanian woodlands in the Biosphere Reserve of Pendjari, Benin. Vegetation Classification and Survey 4: 139-165. https://doi.org/10.3897/VCS.91126
• Ayeko RED, Toyi SSM, Assogbadjo AE, Sinsin BA (2023) Dynamics of inselberg landscapes and their adjacent areas in the Sudano-Guinean zone of Benin through remote sensing analysis. Vegetation Classification and Survey 4: 189-202. https://doi.org/10.3897/VCS.89746
• Brown LR, Magagula IP, Barrett AS (2022) A vegetation classification and description of Telperion Nature Reserve, Mpumalanga, South Africa. Vegetation Classification and Survey 3: 199-219. https://doi.org/10.3897/VCS.85209
• Chakkour S, Bergmeier E, Meyer S, Kassout J, Kadiri M, Ater M (2023) Plant diversity in traditional agroecosystems of North Morocco. Vegetation Classification and Survey 4: 31-45. https://doi.org/10.3897/VCS.86024
• Guuroh RT, Brown LR, Alvarez M, Finckh M, Schmiedel U, Tsheboeng G, Dengler J (2024) African vegetation studies: introduction to a Special Collection. Vegetation Classification and Survey 5: 279-288. https://doi.org/10.3897/VCS.143360
• Naftal L, De Cauwer V, Strohbach BJ (2024) Potential distribution of major plant units under climate change scenarios along an aridity gradient in Namibia. Vegetation Classification and Survey 5: 127-151. https://doi.org/10.3897/VCS.99050
• Samuels MI, Saaed M, Jacobs S, Masubelele ML, Van der Merwe H, Khomo L (2023) Vegetation structure and composition at different elevational intervals in the arid Tankwa Karoo National Park, South Africa. Vegetation Classification and Survey 4: 115-126. https://doi.org/10.3897/VCS.86310
• Strohbach BJ, Strohbach MM (2023) A first syntaxonomic description of the vegetation of the Karstveld in Namibia. Vegetation Classification and Survey 4: 1241-284. https://doi.org/10.3897/VCS.99045

Brief personal summary of authors: 

Reginald Tang Guuroh is a Senior Research Scientist at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research – Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (CSIR-FORIG). His research interests include: Climate change and land use effects on plants, Biodiversity and conservation, Ecosystem functioning and service provision, Greenhouse gas measurement, and Forest Landscape Restoration.

Leslie Brown is a Professor in Plant Ecology at the University of South Africa where he heads the Applied Behavioural Ecology & Ecosystem Research Unit (ABEERU). His research interests include phytosociology, veld management, biodiversity, fire ecology, restoration, long-term monitoring, wetlands, and plant-animal interactions. 

Manfred Finckh is a vegetation ecologist at the University of Hamburg doing research in Southern Morocco and Angola. He is interested in long-term vegetation monitoring, the role of frost and fire for Angolan grasslands, and in the ecology of weird life-forms like thorny cushion shrubs and geoxylic suffrutices.

Ute Schmiedel is a senior researcher at the University of Hamburg, specializing in the ecology and biodiversity of the Succulent Karoo and other arid regions of South Africa. Her work focuses on the vegetation ecology of special habitats, long-term ecological monitoring, the functional traits of plants, and the impacts of land use and climate change on vegetation.

Gaolathe Tsheboeng is a Senior Lecturer/Researcher in Plant Ecology in the Department of Biological sciences at the University of Botswana. His research interests include phytosociology, plant population and regeneration structure, soil seed bank dynamics, land use and land cover change and long-term monitoring of plant population dynamics.