Project R-14766

Monitoring the status of African wetlands using macroinvertebrates and parasites with traditional andmodern tools: balancing ecosystem and societal needs. (Research)

African wetlands generally have a very high level of biodiversity, and many riparian human communities depend on such aquatic biotopes for their livelihood, directly because of the water supply, indirectly because of fisheries, agricultural irrigation and many other ecosystem services. However, wetlands in the Global South also harbour many types of parasites, which can be detrimental for humans, but also for non-human vertebrates. Studies on the levels of parasite loads in wetlands mostly concentrate on vertebrate hosts, such as fish. Many aquatic invertebrates are vectors or intermediate hosts of such parasites, and these stages are often ignored. AfroWetMaP will address this large gap in our knowledge of the biodiversity (including parasite load) of African wetlands, and will study macroinvertebrates and their metazoan parasites in selected African wetlands.

01 March 2024 - 28 February 2026