Floristic checklist and taxon richness of alien flora in West Africa
Brent Mishler, Professor
Integrative Biology
Closed. This professor is continuing with Fall 2023 apprentices on this project; no new apprentices needed for Spring 2024.
Ancient and current anthropogenic activities have resulted in the sweepstakes movement of plant germplasms from their native ranges to new geographical regions. Some of these introduced taxa have become daily staple foods in West Africa (e.g., Zea mays, Manihot esculenta, etc.), and crops with significant economic values (e.g., Theobroma cacao), but others have become aggressive invasive weeds with major impacts on food production, wildfire regimes, and biodiversity. Some of these alien taxa have interwoven tightly into the fabric of West African societies such that the academic distinctiveness between native and naturalized flora is lacking. Therefore, this study intends to document the taxon richness of alien flora in West Africa, their ecological status (stage in the invasion cycle), introduction route and dates, their distribution in their native and introduced ranges. This study will bridge knowledge gaps and increase the public and academic awareness to the introduced flora richness in West Africa. This is important for regulating entry points and monitoring invasives at the early stage. Since the start of this study, about 1,500 introduced taxa have been documented.
Role: The research apprentice will carry out the following tasks:
• Revise international floristic databases with information on the West African flora. This includes, but not limited to the Flora of West Tropical Africa, RAINBIO, and GBIF.
• Compile associated data such as the native distribution, spatial data representing distribution in West Africa, entry routes and dates, growth forms, IUCN category, economic use, functional traits, and ecological status of the introduced flora.
• Fit regression models and other statistical analysis to investigate any relationship between the invasive potentials of the identified introduced flora and their functional traits, entry routes, economic uses, and other relevant data.
At the end of this project, the research apprentice will learn how to fit regression models, work in R statistical software, and depending on their future career plans and contributions to the study, they may be included as a co-author in the resulting published paper. Additionally, the research apprentice may use this study for oral and poster presentations in undergraduate research conferences.
Qualifications: Desirable students for this project should have some experience with data management, perform basic computing operations such as secondary data mining using keywords, communicate effectively, and have basic understanding of the effects of invasive species on biodiversity conservation. Students from any level in any major are welcome to apply. Students of color or from under-represented groups are preferred, but not required.
Hours: 3-5 hrs
Biological & Health Sciences Environmental Issues