Chiweta Forest Reserve Area Plant Occurrence Data

Study Extent

The area which was sampled is within the bound of (M1) Mzuzu Karonga road. The nearby area of Livingstonia located 19 km away from Chiweta and to the east of Chiweta which is the boundary with the beautiful Lake Malawi.

Sampling

On the first day the area was surveyed for a bird’s eye view of possible sampling sites. Using Rumphi town as a base, the FR boundary is remote and therefore requires motorised access. After surveying the site on the first day, it was noted that there was limited manoeuvrability in Chiweta with respect to motorised access. The only road that cuts through the forest reserve is the M1 road Karonga which was hence used as a base for establishing sampling sites.

Quality Control

The entire area was scouted for possible samples as herbarium specimens

Method steps

1. The study area was randomly sampled and all species with flowers or fruits were collected and pressed. Plant description was done and all locaality data were recorded in a field collector book.

All plant species apart from a few were identified to species level. The families which were well represented were Anacardiaceae, Apocynaceae, Asteraceae, Burseraceae, Celtidaceae, Commelinaceae, Convolvulaceae, Cucurbitaceae,Cyperaceae, Dioscoreaceae, Dipterocarpaceae,Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Flacourtiaceae, Hypericaceae, Lauraceae, Malvaceae, Melastomataceae, Menispermaceae, Moraceae, Orobanchaceae, Passifloraceae, Pedaliaceae, Poaceae, Pteridaceae, Rhamnaceae, Rubiaceae, Smilacaceae,Solanaceae, Sterculiaceae, Thymelaeaceae, Tiliaceae, Turneraceae,Vitaceae

1. Fabaceae
   rank: family
2. Poaceae
   rank: family
3. Asteraceae
   rank: family
4. Lauraceae
   rank: family

Background Chiweta Forest is an area located in Rumphi District, Malawi. Politically, it falls within the north constituency It is to the east of longitude 34.010’E and north of latitude 10.045’S. It covers an area of 84.6 hectares. Politically, it falls within the north constituency. The area borders Lake Malawi at Chiweta and is also part of the South Uzumara, It is an area which is categorized as under collected based on current herbarium records.