Objective: To publish an updated taxonomically revised Gishwati-Mukura Biosphere Reserve plant checklist through the Rwanda Biodiversity Specimen data portal and to initiate the first baseline reference library of genomic data for 100 rare and threatened plants in the Gishwati Biosphere Reserve.
We plan to develop this as a model which can be applied to the other 3 national Parks in Rwanda. The checklist is expected to expand by as many as 175 newly recorded species including as many as 15 critically endangered plant species. One hundred species barcodes will be published to GenBank and BOLD. The data will be added to an additional 100 species currently undergoing DNA barcoding at the ACDB at the University of Johannesburg.
Gishwati-Mukura Biosphere Reserve
Rwanda’s fourth national park, Gishwati Mukura is made up of two separate forests – the larger Gishwati and small Mukura, forming a total of 34 square kilometres plus a buffer zone. The forests sit on the ridge which divides the Congo and Nile water catchment areas, along the incredibly biodiverse Albertine Rift in the west of the country. Learn more …
About the Flora
The GMNP flora consists of montane forest that gives a colorful view due to a mix of vegetation types: the mixed forest, bamboo forest, swamp forest and grassland. There is a variety of tree species such as Harungana montana, Prunus africana, Podocarpus latifolius, Polyscias fulva, Macaranga kilimandscharica, Carapa grandiflora, Entandrophagrama excelsum, Hagenia abyssinica, Dracaena afromontana, Symphonia globulifera and the charismatic giant tree ferns (Cyathea manniana).
DRAFT – An Annotated Plant Checklist of the Gishwati-Mukura Biosphere Reserve
The project is Funded by Man and Biosphere Young Scientist Award. The MAB Young Scientists Awards targets young researchers carrying out interdisciplinary research in line with UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme. Priority is given to projects carried out in biosphere reserves. Through the MAB Young Scientists Awards, the MAB programme is investing in a new generation of scientists worldwide, because well-trained and committed young people are key to addressing ecological and sustainability issues.
Partners
African Centre for DNA Barcoding, University of Johannesburg
Barcode of Life Datas Systems
National Herbarium of Rwanda, CoEB
UNESCO Man and Biosphere Programme
Rwanda Development Board
Publications
CBOL, Plant Working Group. 2009 A DNA barcode for land plants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. USA 106: 12794-12797.
Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA). 2018. Biodiversity Survey of Gishwati-Mukura National Park: Final Report. Rwanda Environment Managemen Authority (REMA). Kigali, Rwanda 232 pp. [PDF]
Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA). 2018. Recent survey of birds in Gishwati Forest, Rwanda. Journal of East African Ornithology 40, 7–15. [PDF]
Field report: Bird diversity of Gishwati-Mukura National Park …Yale Tropical Resources Institute. [link]
Chancellor, R., Rundus, A., Nyiratuza, M., Nyandwi, S., & Aimable, T. (2021). Community‐based conservation and chimpanzee research in Gishwati forest, Rwanda. American Journal of Primatology, 83(4), e23195. [link]
Chancellor, R. L., Rundus, A. S., & Nyandwi, S. (2017). Chimpanzee seed dispersal in a montane forest fragment in Rwanda. American Journal of Primatology, 79(3), e22624. [PDF]
Muhire, I., Manirakiza, V., Nsanganwimana, F., Nyiratuza, M., Inzirayineza, T. A., & Uworwabayeho, A. (2021). The environmental impacts of mining on Gishwati Protected Reserve in Rwanda. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 193, 1-24. [PDF]
Renner, M. J., Nyiratuza, M., & Summerville, K. S. (2022). A Risk-Sensitivity Model for Mitigation of Chimpanzee Crop Foraging in Gishwati Forest, Rwanda. African Primates, 16, 1-8. [PDF]
Rundus, A., Chancellor, R., Nyandwi, S., & Johnston, A. (2022). Factors influencing chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) crop foraging in farmland outside of Gishwati Forest, Rwanda. International Journal of Primatology, 43(3), 494-512. [PDF]
Siegel, S., George, O., Ellisor, A., Summerville, K. S., & Renner, M. J. (2020). A population survey of golden monkeys and L’Hoest’s monkeys in Gishwati Forest, Rwanda. African Primates, 14, 55-60. [PDF]
Tuyisingize, D., Kaplin, B. A., Eckardt, W., Musana, A., & Caillaud, D. (2023). Distribution and conservation status of the golden monkey Cercopithecus mitis kandti in Rwanda. Oryx, 57(1), 98-106. [PDF]
