When xylarium and herbarium meet : linking Tervuren xylarium wood samples with their herbarium specimens at Meise Botanic Garden

Background: The current data paper aims to interlink the African plant collections of the Meise Botanic Garden Herbarium (BR) and the Royal Museum for Central Africa Xylarium (Tw). Complementing both collections strengthens the reference value of each institutional collection, as more complete metadata are made available and it enables increased quality control for the identification of wood specimens. Furthermore, the renewed connection enables the linking of available wood trait data with data on phenology, leaf morphology or even molecular information for many tree species, allowing assessments of performance of individual trees. In addition to studies at the interspecific level, comparisons at the intraspecific level become possible, which could lead to important new insights into resilience to and impact of global change, as well as biodiversity conservation or forest management of Central African forest ecosystems. New information: By interlinking the Tervuren Xylarium Wood database with the recently digitised herbarium of Meise Botanic Garden, we were able to establish a link between 6,621 xylarium and 9,641 herbarium records for 6,953 plant specimens. Both institutional databases were complemented with reliable specimen metadata. The Tervuren xylarium now profits from taxonomic revisions made by botanists at Meise Botanic Garden and a list of phenotypical features for woody African species can be extended with wood anatomical descriptors. New metadata from the Tw xylarium records were used to add the country of collection to 50 linked BR herbarium specimens for which this information was missing. Furthermore, metadata available from the labels on digitised BR herbarium specimens was used to update Tw xylarium records with the date of collection (817 records), collection locality (698 records), coordinates (482 records) and altitude (817 records). In conclusion, we created a reference database with reliable botanic identities which can be used in a range of studies, such as modelling analyses, community assessments or trait analyses, all framed in a spatiotemporal context. Furthermore, the linked collections hold historical reference data and specimens that can be studied in the context of global changes

Historical aerial surveys map long-term changes of forest cover and structure in the Central Congo basin

Given the impact of tropical forest disturbances on atmospheric carbon emissions, biodiversity, and ecosystem productivity, accurate long-term reporting of Land-Use and Land-Cover (LULC) change in the pre-satellite era (<1972) is an imperative. Here, we used a combination of historical (1958) aerial photography and contemporary remote sensing data to map long-term changes in the extent and structure of the tropical forest surrounding Yangambi (DR Congo) in the central Congo Basin. Our study leveraged structure-from-motion and a convolutional neural network-based LULC classifier, using synthetic landscape-based image augmentation to map historical forest cover across a large orthomosaic (similar to 93,431 ha) geo-referenced to similar to 4.7 +/- 4.3 m at submeter resolution. A comparison with contemporary LULC data showed a shift from previously highly regular industrial deforestation of large areas to discrete smallholder farming clearing, increasing landscape fragmentation and providing opportunties for substantial forest regrowth. We estimated aboveground carbon gains through reforestation to range from 811 to 1592 Gg C, partially offsetting historical deforestation (2416 Gg C), in our study area. Efforts to quantify long-term canopy texture changes and their link to aboveground carbon had limited to no success. Our analysis provides methods and insights into key spatial and temporal patterns of deforestation and reforestation at a multi-decadal scale, providing a historical context for past and ongoing forest research in the area

Characterization of the genetic composition and establishment of a core collection for the INERA Robusta coffee (Coffea canephora) field genebank from the Democratic Republic of Congo

Cultivation of Robusta coffee is likely to gain importance because of its high disease resistance and climate envelope. Robusta coffee genetic resources conserved in field genebanks can play an important role to further improve its cupping quality and other agronomic traits, but such Coffea canephora collections are limited and still poorly characterized. In this study, we characterized the genetic composition of the historically important but until recently neglected INERA Coffee Collection in Yangambi (the Democratic Republic of Congo). We used GBS to discover genome-wide genetic diversity, created and validated a novel multiplex amplicon sequencing (HiPlex) screening assay to genetically screen 730 coffee shrubs of the Yangambi Coffee Collection, grouped clonal material and delineated 263 accessions with unique genetic fingerprints. Comparison to reference material of three genetic origins revealed that the majority of the Yangambi accessions were assigned a ‘Lula’ cultivar origin, four accessions were assigned to Congolese subgroup A and nine accessions were most closely related to local wild accessions. About one-quarter of the accessions was likely derived from hybridization between these groups, which could result from seed-based propagation of the collection, breeding efforts, or natural cross-pollination. Parental analyses discovered eight preferentially used accessions, which may correspond to historically selected founders, or direct descendants thereof, whose seed material was once widely used to establish coffee plantations. Finally, two core collections were proposed using the maximization strategy (CC-I; 100 accessions) and genetic distance method (CC-X; 10 accessions). Our study demonstrates a method for the genetic characterization of Robusta coffee collections in general and contributes to the re-evaluation and exploration of the Robusta coffee genetic resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in particular

Une nouvelle espèce de Coffea L. (Rubiaceae, Coffeeae) du Cameroun et quelques notes sur ses affinités avec les espèces voisines

A new species of Coffea (Rubiaceae) from Cameroon, Coffea fotsoana Stoffelen & Sonké, is described, illustrated and mapped. Its relationships within the genus are discussed and a key is provided to all species occurring in Cameroon. The conservation status of this species is given, using IUCN Red List categories.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Une nouvelle espèce de &lt;i&gt;Coffea&lt;/i&gt; L. (Rubiaceae, Coffeeae) du Cameroun, et quelques notes sur ses affinités avec les espèces voisines

Une nouvelle espèce de Coffea (Rubiaceae) du Cameroun, Coffea fotsoana Stoffelen &amp; Sonké, est décrite et illustrée ici. Une carte montrant sa distribution est présentée. Les affinités avec les espèces voisines sont discutées et une clé de détermination est proposée pour toutes les espèces connues au Cameroun. Le statut de conservation est donné pour cette espèce, en utilisant les catégories des Listes Rouges de l’UICN.A new species of Coffea (Rubiaceae) from Cameroon, Coffea fotsoana Stoffelen &amp; Sonké, is described, illustrated and mapped. Its relationships within the genus are discussed and a key is provided to all species occurring in Cameroon. The conservation status of this species is given, using IUCN Red List categories

Une nouvelle espèce de Pancovia (Sapindaceae) de l'Afrique centrale

A new species of Pancovia (Sapindaceae) from Central AfricaBackground – A novelty was discovered by the first author during fieldwork in the Democratic Republic of Congo. After comparing to herbarium collections in BR, K and WAG it is described. Methods – Normal practices of herbarium taxonomy have been applied. Key results – A new species, Pancovia lubiniana Belesi, is described and illustrated. The species is found in the lowland forest of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabon. It is particular by its number of leaflets and the surface sculpturing of its fruits. Keywords – Pancovia, Sapindaceae, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Central Africa. French abstractContexte – Une nouvelle espèce a été découverte par le premier auteur pendant ces recherches enRépublique Démocratique du Congo. Elle a été décrite après comparaison avec les échantillons de la collection des herbaria de BR, K. et de WAG. Méthodes – Les pratiques normales de la taxonomie des collections d’herbiers ont été appliquées. Résultats-clés – Une nouvelle espèce du genre Pancovia est décrite. L’espèce nouvelle, Pancovia lubiniana Belesi, est connue pour la République Démocratique du Congo et le Gabon. Il s’agit d’un arbuste des forêts de basse altitude. Cette espèce diffère des autres espèces de Pancovia de la République Démocratique du Congo par le nombre de folioles et par l’ornementation du péricarpe de ses fruits

Fibres in Meise Botanic Garden: A Future for Heritage Collections?

The precious historical collection of fibres in Meise Botanic Garden, with over 500 specimens in old hand-blown glass jars, was rehabilitated in 2017. Most of the specimens date back to the second half of the 19th century, a period of technological revolution. The rehabilitation retraces the industrious search for every possible raw material provided by nature at that time. The result is astonishing, not only regarding the origin and quality of the preserved material, its label information and its accompanying manuscripts, but also because of the extremely wide range of fibre species and their processing. Noted collectors enriching our collections were, inter alios, the Josephite Brother Bernardin of Melle (Belgium), Carl von Martius and his brother Theodor Martius of Erlangen (Germany) and Henri Van Heurck of Antwerp (Belgium). Famous museums and botanic gardens such as the Museum of French Colonies in Paris (France) and the Experimental Garden in Eala (Democratic Republic of the Congo DRC) were also important suppliers. Samples originate from all over the world with strong representation from India, the DRC and Brazil. The nature of the fibres in the collection is very diverse and ranges from stem, bark and leaf fibres to husk fibres and seed hairs. Some of them have been processed into bundles and braids, beaten bark, spun thread and twined rope, as well as rough or organza-like fabrics. Even plant pith, pulp and paper are included, next to silkworm silk and mineral tremolite (a form of asbestos). Not only are familiar plant fibres such as cotton, sisal, ramie, coir, flax and jute present, but also Congo jute, Cuban bast, lacebark, piassava, esparto, fern wool, fibres of linden, sunflower, banana and pineapple, next to different types of paper and bark cloth. More than a hundred genera appear. Dominant families in terms of specimen numbers are Malvaceae (including Tiliaceae), Liliaceae (including Agavaceae), Palmae, Urticaceae, Bombacaceae, Musaceae and Gramineae. This upgraded collection exhibits an unexpected data diversity and consequently offers multitudinous possibilities for innovative research. One of our mission statements is undoubtedly: safeguarding historical collections for the future