Management and publication of scientific data on traditional mycological and lichenological knowledge in Africa

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Kinge, Tonjock Rosemary ; Jefwa, Joyce Mnyazi ; Houdanon, Roël D. ; Kamalebo, Héritier Milenge ; Abdel-Azeem, Ahmed M. ; Gryzenhout, Marieka ; Triebel, Dagmar ; Weibulat, Tanja ; Rambold, Gerhard:
Management and publication of scientific data on traditional mycological and lichenological knowledge in Africa.
In: The Lichenologist. Bd. 55 (2023) Heft 5 . - S. 169-179.
ISSN 1096-1135
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0024282923000294

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Abstract

Africa is an important global reservoir for biological, cultural and traditional knowledge about fungi and lichens, which are used as food, medicine and in mythology, among other things. African human populations are undergoing highly significant changes and adaptation processes, which are accompanied by rapid urbanization, meeting with western civilization, high rural migration and the loss of natural ecosystems. Indigenous knowledge is being lost, including that concerning fungi and lichens. Ethnomycology and ethnolichenology provide a diversity of knowledge about beneficial and poisonous fungi and lichens, and give insights into their sociological impact on human behaviour and use. Here we present a working and publishing environment established with the Diversity Workbench software in line with national and international initiatives for FAIR guided provision of research data. The database application called ‘EthnoMycAfrica’ contains published ethnomycological and ethnolichenological information from Africa. The content is created and curated by team partners from Central, East, West, North and Southern Africa. Data entry is performed both online and offline, optionally via a mobile device. Currently, the system with the tools DiversityDescriptions and DiversityNaviKey contains a total of 1350 well-structured and freely and openly accessible data records. EthnoMycAfrica is the first database with a data schema, standard descriptors and data content created mainly by African scholars. The data can be useful for researchers, students, conservationists, policy makers, and others. It will also provide a basis for facilitating hypothesis generation and meta-analysis.