A checklist of beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera) from the Matobo World Heritage Site, deposited in the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe

Study Extent

Data on the beetles recorded from the Matobo world heritage site was collated from specimen records, literature and field notes from the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe, George Arnold Collection deposited between 1911 and 2017.

Sampling

Data on the beetles recorded from the Matobo world heritage site were collated from specimen records and literature in the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe, George Arnold Collection deposited between 1911 and 2017. Additional records were also obtained from weekly surveys conducted between March 2015 and August 2016 to collect data from poorly-sampled and under-represented areas of the site, following the literature survey records that had been obtained. The data was collected using stratified random sampling at 5 sites, across the various habitats and sampling points in the world heritage site. Pitfalls, beating trays and sweep nets where used to collect the samples, which were then identified to the lowest possible taxonomic rank using the available keys and the reference collection in the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe. The records where digitized into Microsoft Excel (2010) database and the records where cleaned using OPEN REFINE Data cleaning tool (Version 2.5). Taxonomic ranks, status and authorship were also verified using The Catalogue of Life List Matching Service (2017), Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) database, The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) name parser (2011) and The Global Names Index database where possible.

Quality Control

While standardizing the records to DarwinCore standards, we carried out a major effort for checking errors and inconsistencies among the data using Excel and OPEN REFINE Data validation tools. We followed the guidelines proposed by Chapman 2005 and also checked for synonyms and taxonomical errors in the data set

Method steps

1. The creation of the checklist included the following processes: 1 A list of beetles recorded from the given study area was obtained from the museum specimen records and literature found in the Natural History Museum Of Zimbabwe Entomology Collection. 2 Digitization and documentation of the list was carried out into Microsft Excel (2010) database using Darwin Core Standards. 3. Data validation and cleaning was then carried out in OPEN REFINE (Version 2.5) as well as Microsoft Excel (2010) data validation tools. 4 The determination of taxonomic status and authorship and chekcing for taxonomic errors was carried out using The Catalogue of life List Matching Service, Encyclopead of Life (EOL) database, The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) name parser and The Global Names index database where possible. 5. The dataset was then uploaed and published on the the GBIF databse using The Integrated Publishing Toolkit (version 1.2) for the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe

All beetles collected and identified to genus, species or sub species level were used to develop this checklist

1. Coleptera
   common name: Beetles rank: order

The Matobo Hills were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003 with the National Museums and Monuments as one of the custodians of this landscape. The Hills cover an area of about 3100 km², of which 424 km² is a National Park, the remainder being largely communal land and a small proportion of commercial farmland The world heritage site is known for its distinctive geological formations and landforms, and it is these products of geomorphological processes that have hosted flora, fauna and human communities for more than 500 000 years. The area has predominantly sandy soils although there are variations in clay content as well. The mean temperature is around 26.3°C in summer and 17°C in winter. Rainfall is mainly received between the months of October to April. Rainfall received in the area averages 601.7 mm per year. The Matobo World Heritage Site, lying in the Zambezian savannah biome, under a generally dry climate, has a high diversity of vegetation types within a comparatively small area, including miombo woodlands and afromontane vegetation. Woodland species of Albizia, Cassia, Combretum, Pterocarpus, Ziziphus and Kirkia, interlace with the exposed granite. In the open woodland/sandveld areas, various dominant species occur, including Burkea africana, Pterocarpus rotundifolia, Terminalia sericea, and the mopane trees in association with Terminalia randii, Euclea divinorum and Grewia bicolor, in . In these areas, grass cover is sparse; consisting of weak perennials and annuals of Aristida spp., Eragrostis spp. and Chloris spp. The kopje vegetation also supports a variety of lichens and the resurrection plant.