scholarly journals Bryophytes of Ghana

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. e25879
Author(s):  
Anthony Adu-Gyamfi ◽  
Nick Hodgetts
Keyword(s):  
Current Status ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Data Types ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Environmental Biology ◽  
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ◽  
Humid Forest ◽  
Herbarium Collection ◽  
Botanical Research ◽  
Biodiversity Information

There is currently limited information on plant biodiversity from Ghana. Most of the information openly available has been published by the Ghana Herbarium at the Department of Plant and Environmental Biology, University of Ghana. The Ghana Herbarium has over 100,000 specimens from Ghana and other West African countries. Of these approximately 85% of the specimen labels have been digitized. The database contains information including species names, taxonomic family, barcode number, name of collector(s), locality data, date of collection, description of species and uses of the plants. Data were captured using Botanical Research and Herbarium Management Software (BRAHMS) software and is openly available on Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) (http://www.gbif.org/country/GH/publishing). Less than 1% of the herbarium collection contains bryophyte information of Ghana. Even though bryophytes are an often overlooked flora, Ghana has a high diversity of bryophytes. Indeed Ghana has an enormous biomass of bryophytes, particularly in the humid forest areas, that is bound to contribute significantly to the water-retentive capacity of the Ghanaian forest, absorbing water quickly and releasing it slowly. It is clear that the bryophytes are an important part of the ecosystem generally, helping to stabilize the hillsides and acting as a source of water. As very little is known about Ghana's bryophyte flora, a short expedition was undertaken in the Atewa Forest in 2014. A total of 164 species were added to the herbarium collection, including about 58 new to Ghana and at least one new species (Cololejeunea sp. yet to be described). The Ghana Herbarium recognises the growing need for digitization across its collections. Data from bryophytes specimens in the Ghana Herbarium and other Ghanaian herbaria as well as other data types on Ghanaian bryophytes will need to be captured using appropriate workflows, technologies and comply with Darwin Core standards. There is also paucity of observational and bryophyte abundance data. This presentation will review the current status of biodiversity information on bryophytes from Ghana and biodiversity informatics activities at Ghana Herbarium. It will also explore ways forward for digitization which incudes capturing the information on the already existing bryophyte specimens in the Ghana Herbarium and the newly added collections using BRAHMS software.

scholarly journals The Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility as a best-practice model for biodiversity data infrastructures

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leif Schulman ◽  
Kari Lahti ◽  
Esko Piirainen ◽  
Mikko Heikkinen ◽  
Olli Raitio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Spatial Data ◽  
National Level ◽  
Data Types ◽  
Biodiversity Data ◽  
Local Data ◽  
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ◽  
Data Life Cycle ◽  
Data Infrastructures ◽  
Biodiversity Information

AbstractBiodiversity informatics has advanced rapidly with the maturation of major biodiversity data infrastructures (BDDIs), such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility sharing unprecedented data volumes. Nevertheless, taxonomic, temporal and spatial data coverage remains unsatisfactory. With an increasing data need, the global BDDIs require continuous inflow from local data mobilisation, and national BDDIs are being developed around the world. The global BDDIs are specialised in certain data types or data life cycle stages which, despite possible merits, renders the BDDI landscape fragmented and complex. That this often is repeated at the national level creates counterproductive redundancy, complicates user services, and frustrates funders. Here, we present the Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility (FinBIF) as a model of an all-inclusive BDDI. It integrates relevant data types and phases of the data life cycle, manages them under one IT architecture, and distributes the data through one service portal under one brand. FinBIF has experienced diverse funder engagement and rapid user uptake. Therefore, we suggest the integrated and inclusive approach be adopted in national BDDI development.

scholarly journals DiSSCo e-Services to Serve Global Community Needs

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wouter Addink ◽  
Sharif Islam ◽  
Jose Alonso
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Data Standards ◽  
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ◽  
Training Support ◽  
User Stories ◽  
Natural History Collections ◽  
Community Curation ◽  
Biodiversity Information

DiSSCo (Distributed System of Scientific Collections) is a research infrastructure (RI) under development, which will provide services for the global research community to support and enhance physical and digital access to the natural history collections in Europe. These services include training, support, documentation and e-services. This talk will focus on the e-services and will give an overview of the current status, roadmap and first results as an introduction to the next talks in the session, which focus on some of the services in more detail and the standards work undertaken in Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) to enable them. The RI community will provide the envisioned e-services, which will use the novel FAIR Digital Object (FDO) infrastructure serving digital specimens from the European collections. The infrastructure will provide integrated data analysis, enhanced interpretation, annotation and access services for community curation and visualisation. The FDO infrastructure enables specimen data to be (re-)connected with genomic, geographical, morphological, taxonomic and environmental information through the digital specimen, making them Digital Extended Specimens. A large number of user stories have been collected through the DiSSCo-linked projects ICEDIG, SYNTHESYS+ and DiSSCo Prepare, to guide which e-Services to build and what functionality to provide. These user stories are publicly available in a github repository. The e-services are developed based on the user stories and prioritization provided by collection providers and the scientific community. A variety of mechanisms are used to collect input: surveys, workshops, roundtables and workpackage meetings, and feedback from users that have already been using beta versions of some of the services. DiSSCo aims to become operational in 2026 but several of the services are already being piloted or implemented. Experimental services and demonstrators are publicly available through DiSSCo Labs for testing and feedback. By connecting the specimen data with derived and related information in a FAIR way (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable), the e-services will accelerate biodiversity discovery and support novel research questions. The FDO infrastructure has a data model that also integrates the PROV Ontology (PROV-O), which allows for the e-services to capture activities and improve the visibility of researcher contributions. This vision towards FAIR and high quality data is essential for community curation of the specimen data and making better use of the limited number of experts available. To provide the DiSSCo e-services in a FAIR way, the data derived from the natural history collections in Europe needs to be integrated as one virtual collection. The data has to be findable and accessible as soon as it is being created for services like a Specimen Data Refinery prior to publication in a facility like GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility). This requires new standards for describing collections and specimen data. Standards being created to fill these gaps are TDWG CD (Collection Descriptions) and TDWG MIDS (Minimum Information about a Digital Specimen). The DiSSCo e-Services vision brings the data, standards, and processes together to serve the user community.

scholarly journals The InBIO Barcoding Initiative Database: contribution to the knowledge on DNA barcodes of Iberian Plecoptera

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Ferreira ◽  
José Manuel Tierno de Figueroa ◽  
Filipa Martins ◽  
Joana Verissimo ◽  
Lorenzo Quaglietta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Distribution Data ◽  
Dna Barcodes ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Online Database ◽  
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ◽  
Life Data ◽  
Biodiversity Information ◽  
Comprehensive Reference

The use of DNA barcoding allows unprecedented advances in biodiversity assessments and monitoring schemes of freshwater ecosystems; nevertheless, it requires the construction of comprehensive reference collections of DNA sequences that represent the existing biodiversity. Plecoptera are considered particularly good ecological indicators and one of the most endangered groups of insects, but very limited information on their DNA barcodes is available in public databases. Currently, less than 50% of the Iberian species are represented in BOLD. The InBIO Barcoding Initiative Database: contribution to the knowledge on DNA barcodes of Iberian Plecoptera dataset contains records of 71 specimens of Plecoptera. All specimens have been morphologically identified to species level and belong to 29 species in total. This dataset contributes to the knowledge on the DNA barcodes and distribution of Plecoptera from the Iberian Peninsula and it is one of the IBI database public releases that makes available genetic and distribution data for a series of taxa. The species represented in this dataset correspond to an addition to public databases of 17 species and 21 BINs. Fifty-eight specimens were collected in Portugal and 18 in Spain during the period of 2004 to 2018. All specimens are deposited in the IBI collection at CIBIO, Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources and their DNA barcodes are publicly available in the Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD) online database. The distribution dataset can be freely accessed through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).

Institutional Repositories in Swaziland: An Exploratory Study

Mousaion ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ncamsile Nombulelo Dlamini ◽  
Maritha Snyman
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Academic Institutions ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Institutional Repositories ◽  
Limited Knowledge ◽  
Advocacy Strategies ◽  
Awareness Level

The purpose of this paper is to assess the current status of institutional repositories (IRs) in Swaziland’s academic institutions. The factors under discussion are the number of IRs in Swaziland, their usage, the level of awareness of these IRs, and the challenges that prevent the implementation of IRs in Swaziland’s academic institutions. A webometric approach, interviews and semi-structured questionnaires completed by IR managers or librarians working for the Swaziland’s academic institutions were used to collect data for this study. Responses were received from 11 respondents. The findings indicated that there is one IR in Swaziland that is accessible to the institution’s community via the intranet. This IR was, at the time when this study took place, not registered in any of the international registries of repositories, such as the Registry of Open Access Repositories (ROAR) and the Directory of Open Access Repositories (OpenDOAR). Currently, this IR faces problems of insufficient content, a low level of IR awareness, limited knowledge of effective and appropriate IR advocacy strategies and limited knowledge of effective IR implementation and management strategies. Based on the findings and information gained from a literature review of IRs, the paper recommends strategies to academic institutions in Swaziland that may enable them to increase their number of IRs, the awareness level of IRs and consequently the use of IRs. The findings and recommendations may also benefit other African countries in similar situations.  

Institutional repositories in Africa: Regaining direction

2021 ◽  
pp. 026666692110154
Author(s):  
Usman Ahmed Adam ◽  
Kiran Kaur
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Research Output ◽  
Current Status ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Institutional Repositories ◽  
Widespread Implementation ◽  
Typical Performance ◽  
The Status ◽  
Global Access ◽  
And Cluster Analysis

Institutional repositories are powerful tools to facilitate global access to intellectual output by members of the institution, particularly in assisting them to preserve and maximize access to their research output globally. This exploratory study of the status of institutional repositories implementation in African countries using the global Directory of Open Access Repositories (OpenDOAR) and Transparent Ranking: All Repositories by Google Scholar, reports on the operational status and the performance of repositories. Factor analysis and cluster analysis are used to analyze the operational level of institutional repositories in African countries. The analysis showed that the typical performance of institutional repositories remains below average. The possibility of global open access to research results through institutional repositories in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Algeria, Sudan, and Egypt appeared to be relatively more feasible than other African countries. This study concludes that many organizations, institutions, and societies spend great efforts in support of open access implementation in Africa, however, the widespread implementation of institutional repositories is still very slow paced, and the performance of the implemented repositories was below expectation. Suggestions for regaining the intended direction of African institutional repositories are given based on the current status.

scholarly journals Diversity and Antimicrobial Resistance in the Streptococcus bovis/Streptococcus equinus Complex (SBSEC) Isolated from Korean Domestic Ruminants

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 98
Author(s):  
Seon Young Park ◽  
Mingyung Lee ◽  
Se Ra Lim ◽  
Hyemin Kwon ◽  
Ye Seul Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antimicrobial Resistance ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Tetracycline Resistance ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Streptococcus Bovis ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Phenotypic Resistance ◽  
Domestic Ruminants ◽  
Antimicrobial Resistance Genes ◽  
Acid Producing Bacteria

S. bovis/S. equinus complex (SBSEC) includes lactic acid-producing bacteria considered as the causative agent associated with acute rumen lactic acidosis in intensive ruminants. Considering the limited information on the detailed characteristics and diversity of SBSEC in Korea and the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), we investigated the diversity of SBSEC from domestic ruminants and verified the presence of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) against several antimicrobials with their phenotypic resistance. Among 51 SBSEC isolates collected, two SBSEC members (S. equinus and S. lutetiensis) were identified; sodA-based phylogenetic analyses and comparisons of overall genome relatedness revealed potential plasticity and diversity. The AMR rates of these SBSEC against erythromycin, clindamycin, and tetracycline were relatively lower than those of other SBSEC isolates of a clinical origin. An investigation of the ARGs against those antimicrobials indicated that tetracycline resistance of SBSECs generally correlated with the presence of tet(M)-possessing Tn916-like transposon. However, no correlation between the presence of ARGs and phenotypic resistance to erythromycin and clindamycin was observed. Although a limited number of animals and their SBSEC isolates were examined, this study provides insights into the potential intraspecies biodiversity of ruminant-origin SBSEC and the current status on antimicrobial resistance of the bacteria in the Korean livestock industry.

Water and sanitation in Africa: current status, trends, challenges and opportunities

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Kararach ◽  
Tito Yepes
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Rural Poverty ◽  
Water Security ◽  
River Basins ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Institution Building ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Hydrological Variability ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities

Africa faces difficult water/sanitation legacies in the form of high hydrological variability and a multiplicity of transboundary river basins alongside poor sanitation. These challenges impeded the continent’s economic growth. Balanced investments in water resource and sanitation infrastructure and institutions are needed to increase productive uses of water, to mitigate the effect of recurrent floods and droughts, and to achieve basic water security as a platform for Africa’s economic growth. Priority should be given to investments that (a) focus on growth, (b) reduce rural poverty, (c) build climate resilience and adaptation, and (d) foster cooperation in international river basins. Because most African countries have low stocks of hydraulic infrastructure, emphasizing investments in infrastructure is appropriate for them. However, institution building and reform, improvements in water/sanitation management and operations, and strengthening of water information systems must complement growth in infrastructure. Development of institutions should be advanced in parallel with infrastructure investment.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document