Staff directory

Marc De Meyer

Biology
Invertebrates

DIPoDIP

Diversity of Pollinating Diptera in South African biodiversity hotspots

DIVersity of DIPtera of South African biodiversity hotspots”, is a five-year project financed by the multiannual programme 2019 – 2023 of the RMCA-DGD (Royal Museum for Central Africa - Directorate-general Development Cooperation) framework agreement. DIPoDIP aims at studying the biodiversity of selected true fly families (Bombyliidae, Nemestrinidae, Syrphidae, Tabanidae) in several Biodiversity Hotspots of South Africa. The project will improve the taxonomy, and resolve phylogenetic relationships, of these families and provide basic data on their distribution and pollination ecology in order to study plant-pollinator co-evolution. Local PhD, MSc and BSc students will be trained and joint fieldwork and research will be conducted. The research will deliver data for Red List assessments and improved conservation strategies for these Biodiversity Hotspots. A workshop with local partners, conservationists, Red List assessors and stakeholders will be organized to translate the results for policy making . Results will be presented to the larger public to raise awareness of the importance of these fly families in pollination, food security and nature conservation.

Principal investigator:

  • Kurt Jordaens
  • Dates:

    2019 2023

    External collaborators:

    Allan Ellis: Stellenbosch University, Botany and Zoology Department, Biological Interactions Group, South Africa

    Timo van der Niet: University of KwaZulu Natal, School of Life Sciences, South Africa

    John Midgley: KwaZulu Natal Museum, Natural Sciences, South Africa

    Michelle Hamer: South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), Biosystematics & Research Collections Division, South Africa