Clemence Zimudzi

Land-use and land-cover change (LULC) has lately emerged as the main driver of land-use change and degradation globally, particularly in miombo landscapes. Miombo woodlands, whose extent covers most parts of southern African countries, play an important role in carbon sequestration and storage, while supporting millions of rural livelihoods. Despite uplifting and improving rural livelihoods, these woodlands are under threat from various anthropogenic activities including agricultural expansion, charcoal production and urban development. Through integration of multi-temporal remote sensing and carbon stock assessment at district level, the study provides substantial evidence on the effect of LULC on carbon stocks particularly the above-ground and below-ground carbon storage for miombo woodlands in Hwedza District, Zimbabwe. Landsat data processed in the Google Earth Engine was used to generate land[1]use maps for the years 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020. Post[1]classification analysis produced a land-use matrix. Carbon stock changes from forest land to other land uses were estimated using the Tier 1 stock-difference approach. Forest cover declined from 45% in 1990 to 37.6% in 2020, coupled with an increase in cropland and grassland. About 24 949 ha of forests were converted to cropland and other land uses, resulting in estimated emissions of 3.6 million tCO₂e over 30 years. The findings demonstrate the importance of sustainable land management practices that promotes continued suppression of emissions associated with LULC, which is key to the attainment of the country‘s climate change commitments in various reporting obligations under the convention.

Herbaria serve as invaluable spatio-temporal repositories of plant diversity information. Digitization of herbarium collections enhances the accessibility, discoverability, and long-term preservation of this important plant information, yet financial and infrastructural constraints often prevent herbaria in resource-constrained regions from digitizing their collections. Consequently, critical plant diversity data gaps remain due to underrepresentation of these collections in global biodiversity databases. Here, we describe an AI-assisted modular digitization toolkit specifically designed for herbaria operating under limited funding, developed and refined through our experience digitizing the crop wild relative (CWR) collection of the National Herbarium of Zimbabwe. The toolkit comprises three core components: (1) a portable, cost-effective photostation assembled from commodity parts, (2) a streamlined cascade workflow for systematic digital imaging, and (3) an AI-assisted data management pipeline for image quality control, label transcription, data analysis, and presentation. Compared to manual transcription and legacy optical character recognition approaches, AI-based transcription achieves lower time cost while maintaining high accuracy, and AI-driven data management delivers accessibility and reduced expenditure relative to conventional database infrastructure. The toolkit is designed to allow herbarium staff full autonomy over the digitization procedure, ensuring institutional ownership and the capacity for independent continuation beyond initial project support. By prioritizing affordability, modularity, and simplicity, this toolkit provides a replicable framework that may enable resource-constrained herbaria to locally generate high-quality scientific data for conservation and the sustainable utilization of plant genetic resources.

This study aimed at evaluating the phytochemical, nutritional and cytotoxicity of Dipcadi glaucum, a wild edible species in Zimbabwe. The results of the proximate analysis show that D. glaucum is rich in nutrients, with high levels of crude protein (26.6% in leaves and 24% in bulbs) and ash (26.25% in leaves and 14% in bulbs), alongside moderate carbohydrate levels (35.55% in leaves and 43% in bulbs) and calorific values (295.6 kcal/100 g in leaves and 310.9 kcal/100 g in bulbs). The phytochemical analysis established presence of alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, terpenoids, saponins, and steroids, suggesting potential health benefits and culinary applications Cytotoxicity was assessed using the brine shrimp lethality assay, showing an LC50 of 2.72 mg/ml for methanol bulb extracts and 1949.85 mg/ml for aqueous extracts. While both extracts were non-toxic based on assay thresholds, reports of potential toxicity to ruminants and the presence of alkaloids at higher concentrations warrant further research. Findings of this study suggest that D. glaucum is an important nutritional and mineral supplement, though additional research is needed to confirm its safety and suitability for human consumption.

Species circumscriptions in the genus Dipcadi were evaluated based on both morphological and molecular data, with an emphasis on African taxa. DNA was extracted and the ITS region amplified for 33 Dipcadi accessions, and an additional 18 ITS sequences were obtained from GenBank. Phylogenetic analyses based on Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference were congruent. The species D. marlothii and D. glaucum are recovered as monophyletic, and their status is also supported by morphological data. Other species are either paraphyletic (D. viride), polyphyletic (D. longifolium, D. serotinum, and D. erythraeum), or in unresolved clades with other taxa (D. gracillimum and D. platyphyllum). Future studies should include additional loci and more material to improve the resolution of species relationships and to properly delimit non-monophyletic taxa.

The phenological and morphological variation studies among forms of Laggera Sch. Bip. Ex. Benth. and Hook species are limited, despite the medicinal use of the genus. Therefore, this study aimed to document phenology and morphological variation in cultivated populations of Laggera alata and Laggera crispata forms from seedling to maturity. The forms were categorized as Laggera alata with a small capitulum (LA-SC), Laggera alata with a large capitulum (LA-BC), Laggera crispata from South Africa (LC-SA), and Laggera crispata from Zimbabwe (LC-ZIM). Seeds were germinated in Petri dishes, transplanted to plug trays, and later to field plots at 60 days. Phenological events were recorded when observed in at least one plant. Twelve qualitative and four morphometric traits were measured monthly on five plants per Laggera form. Analysis of variance and Tukey’s Honestly Significant Difference test (p < 0.05) were used for data analysis. Results indicated significant variation in phenology, qualitative traits, leaf traits, plant height, and stem diameter both within and between L. crispata and L. alata forms. Morphometric traits, such as leaf size and the number of leaves per plant, were identified as key descriptors for differentiating L. alata forms. These findings provide a foundation for the introduction of Laggera forms into farming systems for medicinal and commercial purposes.

Strychnos spinosa Lam., commonly known as green monkey orange, is a highly valued indigenous fruit tree in South Africa with potential for domestication and commercialization. However, no study has reported on the molecular diversity of Strychnos spinosa morphotypes. Therefore, this study aimed to determine genetic variation among 32 Strychnos spinosa morphotypes using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Fourteen amplified SSR markers produced 159 alleles, with a mean of 5.68 per locus. The polymorphic information content (PIC) values ranged from 0.22 (Ssp_1) to 0.84 (Ssp_6). Morphotypes were clustered in a biplot based on their genetic distances. The dendrogram chiefly discriminated morphotypes according to variation of pericarp texture. The population structure had the highest delta value K = 3, thus the 32 morphotypes were divided into three subpopulations based on the Bayesian approach. The affinities produced by the population structure agreed with the genetic distance of closely related morphotypes. This study is the first to report on SSR marker development and their successful use for genetic diversity and population structure studies of Strychnos spinosa. It provides insights into the molecular characterisation of Strychnos spinosa. This can lead to breeding programs and crop improvement programs, particularly in varietal developmental programs, which can contribute to alleviating food security challenges.

Strychnos spinosa Lam. of the Loganiaceae family is associated with versatility, poverty eradication, and rural economic development. However, the morphological diversity of S. spinosa is not well documented. This limits efforts toward its improvement and commercial exploitation. This study aimed to characterize the variability, vegetative and reproductive traits, and heritability of S. spinosa morphotypes at Bonamanzi Game Reserve. The majority of the morphotypes had green, rough, round immature fruits with dark green, elongated, open fully developed leaves. Fruits varied between roundish and pyriform shape as well as green and purple colour. Positive correlation was mainly seen between fruit and seed traits. Principal component analysis indicated fruit and seed traits as major discriminating factors for morphotypes, followed by leaf size and seed thickness. A dendrogram primarily grouped morphotypes according to fruit texture. Genotypic variance and genotypic coefficient of variation were higher than environmental variance and environmental coefficient variation in reproductive traits of S. spinosa. A rough pericarp texture and purple tinge on the immature leaves of some morphotypes was recorded for the first time. Differences in morphological features across S. spinosa morphotypes indicate a high level of diversity that could be utilized by breeders to generate new cultivars. This first report on variability and heritability among S. spinosa morphotypes forms the basis of available germplasm essential for future breeding programs.

The majority of rural communities in South Africa are characterised by insufficient nutrition and food insecurity at the household level. Due to a lack of information about indigenous fruit trees and their use, food-insecure households are missing out on the nutrition that these fruits provide. Strychnos spinosa Lam. (monkey orange; umHlala) has been identified as one of southern Africa’s top priority fruit species for domestication. However, indigenous information on S. spinosa usage and morphological diversity is still lacking. Indigenous knowledge of species characteristics might be a good place to start when attempting to understand variations in key phenotypic traits. Information on the use and morphological variation of S. spinosa was collected from participants of 100 randomly selected homesteads. Participants were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The results indicate that S. spinosa is a multi-purpose tree with numerous uses. Most respondents (97%) mentioned that they use it for fermented maize meal (umBhantshi); and others mentioned fermented porridge (amaHewu); alcohol; fruit; juice; jam; homestead protection; snakebite; firewood; food allergy; livestock increase; and only 7% mentioned for stomachache. Morphological variation was observed in leaf colour and shape, fruit rind colour, size, rind texture, pulp colour, pulp texture, and taste. However, the most mentioned variety featured green (78%), rounded leaves (78%) and green (39%), large (46%), smooth-textured rind (73%) fruits that had brown pulp (54%) and tasted sweet (58%). Understanding local knowledge systems and preferences can thus inform the selection of ethno-varieties that hold importance to local people and the potential to improve livelihoods in externally led domestication and development programs.