ABC_Nyika National Park transect sampling data_NORAD

Elizabeth Mwafongo1, Donald Mpalika1, Mphamba Kumwenda2

1 National Herbarium & Botanic Gardens of Malawi, P.O. Box 528, Zomba, Malawi; 2 National Herbarium & Botanic Gardens of Malawi, P.O Box 30766, Lilongwe, Malawi

Corresponding author(s): Elizabeth Mwafongo (emwafongo@yahoo.com)

Received {date}; Revised {date}; Accepted {date}; Published {date}

Citation: Combination of authors, year of data paper publication (in parentheses), Title, Journal Name, Volume, Issue number (in parentheses), and doi of the data paper.

Resource Citation

Mwafongo E (2018): ABC_Nyika National Park transect sampling data_NORAD. v1.4. National Herbarium & Botanic Gardens of Malawi. Dataset/Samplingevent. http://196.32.215.240:8081/ipt/resource?r=abc_nyika_eventdata_&v=1.4

Abstract

The dataset was created under Nyika Plant Diversity Project-a NORAD funded project which aimed at enhancing the capacity of Malawi in conservation issues. The project was implemented by National Herbarium and Botanic Gardens of Malawi.
The goal of the project was to develop a concept for conservation, sustainable management and utilization of the biological diversity of the Nyika National Park.

Keywords: Samplingevent, Nyika National Park, Malawi, NoRAD

General description

Purpose: To develop a concept for conservation, sustainable management and utilization of the biological diversity of the Nyika National Park
Additional information: The dataset was collected by Kumwenda,Kathumba and Kaunda in 2003 and khence the inclusion of the initials KKK in the OccurenceID. Please note that there are several datasets for different sites of the Nyika which will be identified likewise.

Project details

Project title: Enhancing accessibility of biodiversity data in Malawi
Personnel: Elizabeth Mwafongo, Donald Mpalika
Funding: JRS Biodiversity Foundation
Study area descriptions/descriptor: The project is in Malawi, Central Africa. Participating institutions: 
•	Museums of Malawi (MOM)
•	National Herbarium and Botanic Gardens (NHBG)
•	Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi (WESM)
•	National Commission for Science and Technology (NCST)
Design description: The major objective of the project is to facilitate easy access to biodiversity data information held by the Museums and the deliverable is; Biodiversity data made available on a national Data platform – the platform will be accessible through both the government Museum website and the Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi (WESM) website. Distribution Maps – spatial data will be provided for all records whenever available. These will help to produce some distribution data for common species. Invasive species occurrence assessment – from plant occurrence data an assessment will be sought on the occurrence of known invasive species in Malawi. Increased capacity for biodiversity information management – officers at the Museums of Malawi and the Wildlife and Environmental Society will receive training in data management

Data published through GBIF: http://196.32.215.240:8081/ipt/resource?r=abc_nyika_eventdata_

Taxonomic coverage

General taxonomic coverage description: The dataset consists of members of Fungi and Plant kingdoms all identified to species level
Taxonomic ranks
Class: Agaricomycetes, Bryopsida, Lecanoromycetes, Liliopsida, Lycopodiopsida, Magboliopsida, Polypodiopsida

Spatial coverage

General spatial coverage: This event data was collected in Nyika National Park, Rumphi district, Southern Malawi
Coordinates: 10°12'36''S and 9°46'58.8''S Latitude; 33°23'9.6''E and 33°51'50.4''E Longitude 

Temporal coverage: September 8, 2003 - September 20, 2003

Methods

Method step description: A 25m string, a campus, were used in the establishment of  quadrants using a line transect which was established using a Campus and GPS.The distance from one quadrant to the next was 125m and each quadrant 25m X 25m. 40 quadrants were established and species composition recorded. No species were counted for this exercise as an abundance measure
Study extent description: Nyika National Park is located in Northern Malawi. More Information on the locality can be acquired from the following link; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyika_National_Park. The current dataset was collected under the Nyika Plant Diversity Project a NORAD funded project among several datasets which will be published later.
Sampling description: The objective of this assignment was to collect data in newly established quadrant. A 25m string, a campus, were used in the establishment of new quadrants using a line transect.The distance from one quadrant to the next was 125m and each quadrant 25mX25m
Quality control description: Plant species were recorded in each of the 40 quadrants and where identification was difficult, samples were taken to National Herbarium in Zomba for proper identification.

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive ABC_Nyika National Park transect sampling data_NORAD
Character encoding: UTF-8
Format name: Darwin Core Archive format
Format version: 1.0
Distribution: http://196.32.215.240:8081/ipt/archive.do?r=abc_nyika_eventdata_
Publication date of data: 2022-05-31
Language: English
Licences of use: Public Domain (CC0 1.0)

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2018-09-20
Hierarchy level: Dataset