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WiPtFruIM: A Digital Platform for Interlinking Biocollections of Wild Plants, Fruits, Associated Insects, and their Molecular Barcodes
  • +4
  • Bonface Onyango,
  • Robert Copeland,
  • John Mbogholi,
  • Henri Tonnang,
  • Mark Wamalwa,
  • Caleb Kibet,
  • Kennedy Senagi
Bonface Onyango
ICIPE
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Robert Copeland
ICIPE
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John Mbogholi
Pwani University
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Henri Tonnang
International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology
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Mark Wamalwa
ICIPE
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Caleb Kibet
ICIPE
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Kennedy Senagi
ICIPE

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Abstract

The current knowledge on insects preying on fruits is limited, and some of the scarce existing data on fruit-associated insects are secluded within the host institutions. Consequently, their value is not fully realized. However, the integration and interlinking of historical biocollections data of plants, fruits, and insects, collected in Kenya, within a digital framework have not been fully exploited. This necessitates the need to enhance accessibility by consolidating the historical biodiversity data onto a unified platform. To address these gaps, this article presents a description of the development of a web-based platform for data sharing and integrating biodiversity historical data of wild plants, fruits, associated insects, and their molecular barcodes (WiPtFruIM) while leveraging data science technologies. The platform holds invaluable potential in fruit pest management, by providing information on potential biocontrol agents for fruit pests, which can function as a decision-making tool and fruit-pest ecological modeling. The platform is invaluable information to a worldwide community (such as researchers, classroom education, nature enthusiasts, fruit pest management, modeling, etc.) to make informed decisions and build innovative tools.

\keywords

Biodiversity, Biocollections, Plants-insect Interaction, Digitization, Data Integration, Ecology, Natural History Collections

15 Sep 2023Submitted to Ecology and Evolution
15 Sep 2023Assigned to Editor
15 Sep 2023Submission Checks Completed
03 Oct 2023Reviewer(s) Assigned
26 Feb 2024Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending