Anthony Mapaura
University of the Free State, Plant Sciences, Graduate Student
- PhD (Botany) at the University of the Free State -> looking at understanding the Nassella grass invasion in South Afr... morePhD (Botany) at the University of the Free State -> looking at understanding the Nassella grass invasion in South African montane grasslands. I have carried out numerous vegetation surveys/inventories in Southern Africa. I am fascinated by life in general.edit
Research Interests:
Background: The grasses (Poaceae) of the Flora of Southern Africa (FSA) region (i.e. Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa) are relatively well documented, for both native and non-native species. Visiting taxonomic... more
Background: The grasses (Poaceae) of the Flora of Southern Africa (FSA) region (i.e. Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa) are relatively well documented, for both native and non-native species. Visiting taxonomic expertise nevertheless reveals new FSA and in-country records, particularly of non-native species. Such records provide an opportunity for improving biosecurity relating to potentially invasive but hitherto undetected non-native Poaceae in the FSA region.Objectives: To improve floristic data for non-native Poaceae occurring in theFSA region.Method: Field collections were made, herbarium collections, databases and relevant literature were studied.Results: New records are presented for non-native grasses that were encountered as locally common populations in the Drakensberg Mountain Centre of Floristic Endemism (DMC, Lesotho and South Africa). Festuca rubra and Agrostis capillaris are newly reported for sub-Saharan Africa and southern Africa and are also the...
Research Interests:
High-elevation Afroalpine ecosystems of the Drakensberg Mountain Centre (DMC) of Lesotho and South Africa, renowned for their high endemism and key ecosystem services, are socio-ecological systems that have seen human activity for... more
High-elevation Afroalpine ecosystems of the Drakensberg Mountain Centre (DMC) of Lesotho and South Africa, renowned for their high endemism and key ecosystem services, are socio-ecological systems that have seen human activity for millennia. However, their responses to land management practices are understudied. Controversy over their natural state has also led to conflicting policies and management emphases.Focusing on the crucial ecosystem-modulating component, grasses (Poaceae), we evaluate the response of DMC Afroalpine vegetation to human impact through grazing and burning. Grass species associations were recorded from grassland, shrubland and wetland-riparian-seep ecotypes across a range of grazing and fire regimes to document relationships between abiotic conditions, disturbance, and taxonomic diversity and composition.CCA of grass community composition retrieved a large cluster of plots of mixed grazing and burning regimes with no particular environmental vector correlated w...
Figure 1 from: Timberlake J, Ballings P, Vidal Jr JD, Wursten B, Hyde M, Mapaura A, Childes S, Palgrave MC, Clark VR (2020) Mountains of the Mist: A first plant checklist for the Bvumba Mountains, Manica Highlands (Zimbabwe-Mozambique). PhytoKeys 145: 93-129. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.145...more
This data set contains some occurrences of specimens for non-timber forest products used as food sources in five of the biodiversity hotspots of Zimbabwe. The specimens are preserved at the National Herbarium and Botanical Gardens,... more
This data set contains some occurrences of specimens for non-timber forest products used as food sources in five of the biodiversity hotspots of Zimbabwe. The specimens are preserved at the National Herbarium and Botanical Gardens, Harare, Zimbabwe.
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... more
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 medicine 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 th...
This data set contains some occurrence data set for non-timber forest products used as food sources in five of the biodiversity hotspots of Zimbabwe. Community meeting were held to come up with a checklist of species used for food in each... more
This data set contains some occurrence data set for non-timber forest products used as food sources in five of the biodiversity hotspots of Zimbabwe. Community meeting were held to come up with a checklist of species used for food in each of the biodiversity hotspot areas under consideration. The checklist was then used as a basis for constructing an occurrence data set using specimen at National Herbarium and Botanical Gardens, Harare, Zimbabwe.
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... more
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 Ea...
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 occurrence data set. The date on... more
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 occurrence data set. 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. BUSE and National Herbarium and Botanic garden will be in charge maintenance and updating the data set. The data that is documented in this resource are wild plants that are important for provision of medicine to communities in and around these biodiversity hotspots in Zimbabwe. The biodiversity hotspots are Chimanimani, Chipinge and Nyanga in the Eastern Highlands, Mutorashanga in the Great Dyke and Hwange in the dry savanna. The resource contains occurrence data for medicinal plants used to treat a wide variety of ailments.
Background: The grasses (Poaceae) of the Flora of Southern Africa (FSA) region (i.e. Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa) are relatively well documented, for both native and non-native species. Visiting taxonomic... more
Background: The grasses (Poaceae) of the Flora of Southern Africa (FSA) region (i.e. Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa) are relatively well documented, for both native and non-native species. Visiting taxonomic expertise nevertheless reveals new FSA and in-country records, particularly of non-native species. Such records provide an opportunity for improving biosecurity relating to potentially invasive but hitherto undetected non-native Poaceae in the FSA region.Objectives: To improve floristic data for non-native Poaceae occurring in theFSA region.Method: Field collections were made, herbarium collections, databases and relevant literature were studied.Results: New records are presented for non-native grasses that were encountered as locally common populations in the Drakensberg Mountain Centre of Floristic Endemism (DMC, Lesotho and South Africa). Festuca rubra and Agrostis capillaris are newly reported for sub-Saharan Africa and southern Africa and are also the...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
A summary is presented of the geology of the Late-Cretaceous to Holocene Kalahari Group of sediments that blankets most of the Four Corners area. These sediments are interpreted to have been deposited in a fluvio-lacustrine environment,... more
A summary is presented of the geology of the Late-Cretaceous to Holocene Kalahari Group of sediments that blankets most of the Four Corners area. These sediments are interpreted to have been deposited in a fluvio-lacustrine environment, where inland draining rivers terminated in an inland lake system. Studies on the texture of Kalahari sands in the central Kalahari, to the southwest of the Four Corners area, show systematic grainsize and heavy mineral variations that are also consistent with fluvial deposition. Linear dune systems reflect reworking of the superficial sand during a number of late Pleistocene-Holocene arid periods. Plant communities in the central Kalahari can be correlated with changes in the coarseness of the Kalahari sand. The microphyllous community favours areas of coarse sand, near the margins of the basin. This may reflect species' ability to tap sub-Kalahari aquifers, but further research is required to determine whether coarse-textured sand is associated ...
Research Interests:
The National Herbarium (SRGH) and Botanic Garden of Zimbabwe (NHBG) is an institute for research and information on Zimbabwean plants. The institute has over five hundred thousand (500 000) dried plant specimens in the herbarium and over... more
The National Herbarium (SRGH) and Botanic Garden of Zimbabwe (NHBG) is an institute for research and information on Zimbabwean plants. The institute has over five hundred thousand (500 000) dried plant specimens in the herbarium and over 90% of Zimbabwe’s woody plant species in 23 sections of the Botanic Garden. In 1996, the institute adopted the South African National Herbarium, Pretoria ( PRE ), C omputerized I nformation S ystem (PRECIS) database when it became part of the Southern African Botanical Diversity Network (SABONET). PRECIS database is used to store information extracted from herbarium specimen labels, thus maintaining an electronic record of herbarium collections. The information captured includes plant names, collector, locality, habitat and plant habit. The database has no function to upload or link to images or to get distribution using a GIS program. To date, over 112 000 herbarium specimens have been entered into this database, representing about 5993 taxa (spec...
High-elevation Afroalpine ecosystems of the Drakensberg Mountain Centre (DMC) of Lesotho and South Africa, renowned for their high endemism and key ecosystem services, are socio-ecological systems that have seen human activity for... more
High-elevation Afroalpine ecosystems of the Drakensberg Mountain Centre (DMC) of Lesotho and South Africa, renowned for their high endemism and key ecosystem services, are socio-ecological systems that have seen human activity for millennia. However, their responses to land management practices are understudied. Controversy over their natural state has also led to conflicting policies and management emphases. Focusing on the crucial ecosystem-modulating component, grasses (Poaceae), we evaluate the response of DMC Afroalpine vegetation to human impact through grazing and burning. Grass species associations were recorded from grassland, shrubland and wetland-riparian-seep ecotypes across a range of grazing and fire regimes to document relationships between abiotic conditions, disturbance, and taxonomic diversity and composition. CCA of grass community composition retrieved a large cluster of plots of mixed grazing and burning regimes with no particular environmental vector correlated...
3 Authors: Marjorie R. Lundgren (m.lundgren@lancaster.ac.uk), Luke T. Dunning 4 (l.dunning@sheffield.ac.uk), Jill K. Olofsson (j.k.olofsson@sheffield.ac.uk), Jose J. Moreno5 Villena (jjmorenovillena1@sheffield.ac.uk), Jacques W. Bouvier... more
3 Authors: Marjorie R. Lundgren (m.lundgren@lancaster.ac.uk), Luke T. Dunning 4 (l.dunning@sheffield.ac.uk), Jill K. Olofsson (j.k.olofsson@sheffield.ac.uk), Jose J. Moreno5 Villena (jjmorenovillena1@sheffield.ac.uk), Jacques W. Bouvier (jbouvier1@sheffield.ac.uk), 6 Tammy Sage (tammy.sage@utoronto.ca), Roxana Khoshravesh (r.khoshravesh@utoronto.ca), 7 Stefanie Sultmanis (stefanie.sultmanis@mail.utoronto.ca), Matt Stata 8 (matt.stata@mail.utoronto.ca), Brad Ripley (b.ripley@ru.ac.za), Maria S. Vorontsova 9 (M.Vorontsova@kew.org), Guillaume Besnard (guillaume.besnard@univ-tlse3.fr), Claire Adams 10 (claire3889@gmail.com), Nicholas Cuff (Nicholas.Cuff@nt.gov.au), Anthony Mapaura 11 (mapaura@yahoo.com), Matheus Bianconi (mebianconi1@sheffield.ac.uk), Christine M. Long 12 (christine.long@nt.gov.au), Pascal-Antoine Christin (p.christin@sheffield.ac.uk), Colin P. 13 Osborne* (c.p.osborne@sheffield.ac.uk) 14
Figure 1 from: Timberlake J, Ballings P, Vidal Jr JD, Wursten B, Hyde M, Mapaura A, Childes S, Palgrave MC, Clark VR (2020) Mountains of the Mist: A first plant checklist for the Bvumba Mountains, Manica Highlands (Zimbabwe-Mozambique). PhytoKeys 145: 93-129. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.145...more
Research Interests:
C4 photosynthesis is a complex trait that boosts productivity in tropical conditions. Compared with C3 species, the C4 state seems to require numerous novelties, but species comparisons can be confounded by long divergence times. Here, we... more
C4 photosynthesis is a complex trait that boosts productivity in tropical conditions. Compared with C3 species, the C4 state seems to require numerous novelties, but species comparisons can be confounded by long divergence times. Here, we exploit the photosynthetic diversity that exists within a single species, the grass Alloteropsis semialata, to detect changes in gene expression associated with different photosynthetic phenotypes. Phylogenetically informed comparative transcriptomics show that intermediates with a weak C4 cycle are separated from the C3 phenotype by increases in the expression of 58 genes (0.22% of genes expressed in the leaves), including those encoding just three core C4 enzymes: aspartate aminotransferase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase. The subsequent transition to full C4 physiology was accompanied by increases in another 15 genes (0.06%), including only the core C4 enzyme pyruvate orthophosphate dikinase. These changes...