The botanical family Poaceae is common throughout the world, with its more than 18,000 species of grass forming the basis of our grasslands, savannas, pastures and lawns.
The grasslands and savannas of Madagascar cover more than half the country and comprise more than 500 endemic, native and introduced species. Around 12,000 specimens of Poaceae collected in different regions of Madagascar and surrounding islands are currently held in the herbarium of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris (MNHN).
However, most of these specimens have no duplicates at Parc Botanique et Zoologique de Tsimbazaza (PBZT-TAN) in Madagascar. Despite the availability of high-resolution scans from the MNHN collection, the data remain largely inaccessible for Malagasy researchers and policymakers because due to poor Internet connectivity. For this reason, Kew Madagascar Conservation Centre (KMCC) is currently conducting a project on the Alien, native and endemic grasses of Madagascar, supported in part by funding from the European Union through the Biodiversity Information for Development programme, or BID.
Working with project partners Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, PBZT, MNHN, the University of Antananarivo and Oxford University, KMCC is compiling and mobilizing data on Madagascar grasses. By increasing data availability and use for both research and decision-making, the project could immediately be applied to improve preparations in managing pastures for climate change adaptation and to identify and track new alien species invasions.
Improving data available locally and globally
To deliver this project, KMCC recruited two botanists who have been working since October 2017 to create a high-quality dataset on Malagasy grasses. Using MNHN scans of herbarium specimens and information provided on each of the specimen labels, this data will be integrated into RBG Kew's BRAHMS database.
After seven months of work, 5,910 occurrences have been recorded in the large database of Malagasy grasses, with all classified as either endemic/native or invasive. Overall, 4,424 specimens have been georeferenced, with the coordinates categorized as either certain or uncertain—certain, when the area is within 100 sq. km, and uncertain if it’s more than 100 sq. km. At present, 2,261 of the locations are listed as certain and 2,163 as uncertain.
The project team is committed to high-quality data and, working with MadBIF, the GBIF national node in Madagascar, has produced a dataset containing only carefully verified records.
Sharing knowledge and building capacity
In addition to creating the database, KMCC botanist and database manager Linah Rabarivola organized a knowledge-sharing workshop following her participation in the 2017 BID data mobilization training in South Africa. Attendees for this three-day workshop included project partners as well as potential data users.
The KMCC workshop, entitled 'Quality of data and publications of biodiversity data', proved both useful and interesting for attendees, who now have a better understanding of the steps the team has taken to digitize herbarium specimens for this project. Their training also clarified the different stages of data cleaning with the OpenRefine software as well as the steps for publishing and sharing the data through the GBIF network.
Adapting and reusing project data
While continuing to record data in the new database, KMCC intends to produce an Atlas of Malagasy grasses. This publication will present distribution maps for each species identified and registered in the KMCC database. The prototype for Humbertochloa bambusiuscula represents the first of about 500 expected maps.
Once the BID project is complete, KMCC will leverage this open data on native and invasive species to start working with partners to develop a national strategy on invasive grasses in Madagascar.
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Translated and adapted from KMCC’s March and May blogposts; republished with permission. Thanks to Henintsoa Razanajatovo, Velosoa Razafiniary, Marie Linah Rabarivola, Hélène Ralimanana, Maria Vorontsova, Vololoniaina Jeannoda and Stuart Cable.
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:| This programme is funded by the European Union. |