PUBLICATIONS

2026 PUBLICATIONS

  1. Stewart, R. D., Perez, K. H. J., Hebert, P. D. N., Sethusa, M. T., van der Bank, M., & Davies, T. J. (2026). Plant Phylogenetic History, Not Diversity, Drives Insect Biodiversity Across South Africa’s Biomes. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 35(8). https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.70283. 
  2. Alindekon, B., Phogole, B., & Yessoufou, K. (2026). Systematic Review of Urban Heat Island Effects on Human Well-Being: Global Research Trends, Collaboration Networks, and Emerging Themes. Urban Science, 10(8), 436. https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci10080436.
  3. Bello, A. O., Boatwright, J. S., van der Bank, M., & Magee, A. R. (2026). The Cape Gum-bushes: a taxonomic revision of Pteronia (Astereae, Asteraceae). Phytotaxa, 764(1), 1-168. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.764.1.1
  4. Philpott, L. M., & Gaoue, O. G. (2026). Increased utilitarian value of invasive species in regions with long invasion history may limit public engagement for invasion control. Plants, People, Planet, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.70248.
  5. Kaitetzidou, E., Gadawski, P., Goodall-Copestake, W. P., Dankova, G., Gkagkavouzis, K., Holak, S., Rewicz, T., Bącela-Spychalska, K., Mamos, T., Fantoni, K., Jabłońska, A., Tończyk, G., Trębicki, Ł., Aravanopoulos, F. A., Bruschini, C., Bonchev, G., Dagher Kharrat, M. B., Čiampor, F., Costa, F. O., Dapporto, L., Ekrem, T., Ferreira, S., Geiger, M., Hausmann, A., Hebert, P. D. N., Kalamujić Stroil, B., Kamenova, S., Kautmanova, I., Keskin, Emre, Kučinić, M., Lipinskaya, T., Mutanen, M., Papakostas, S., Price, B., Ramírez, R., Rougerie, R., Rulik, B., Szucsich, N., van der Bank, M., Triantafyllidis, A., Hollingsworth, P. M., Grabowski, M. (2026). Empowering national capacity for DNA-based approach to species identification and biodiversity monitoring. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics, 10. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.10.183268.
  6.  Phogole, B., & Yessoufou, K. (2026). How greenspaces are used, and not how much is available, is a critical pathway connecting greenspaces to resilience against COVID-19 infection and severity. Environmental Research Communications. https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ae6d8a. 
  7. Houehanou, B., & Gaoue, O. G. (2026). Understory plant diversity and plantation traits mediate the effects of arthropod diversity on herbivory rates in African mahogany plantations. Trees, Forests and People, 101249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tfp.2026.101249.
  8. Moutouama, J. K., & Gaoue, O. G. (2026). Genetic Diversity Declines Toward Species’ Range Edges, While Population Abundance and Growth Rate Show no Clear Trend. Journal of Biogeography, 53(4). https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.70233.
  9. Kgatla, M. M., Barker, C., Baxter, J. R., Bester-van der Merwe, A. E., Chaisi, M., Chakona, A., Cherry, M. I., Daniels, S. R., Du Preez, L. H., Haddad, C. R., Hawkes, P. G., Ho, C., Hoareau, T. B., Jacobs, A., Jacobs, K., Janion-Scheepers, C., Jansen van Vuuren, B., Kabongo, R. M., Khoza, T. T., Khumalo, N. L., Mahlanza, T., Makapela, L., Makhubo, B. G., Maneveldt, G. W., Mashego, K., Matcher, G., Matthee, C. A., Mavhunga, M., Midgley, J. M., Mlambo, M., Monsanto, D. M., Mthombeni, R., Murray, S. L., Mynhardt, S., Nang-Mba, B.-J., Ndlovu, M., Parbhu, S. P., Phetla, V., Phukuntsi, M., Pitcher, T. R., Samaai, T., Simon, C. A., Sink, K., Sole, C. L., Theron, G. L., van Asch, B., van der Bank, M., van Steenderen, C. J. M., Villet, M. H., Visagie, C. M., Williams, K. A., Willows-Munro, S., Sethusa, M. T., Da Silva, J. M., & Mwale, M. (2026). An overview of DNA barcoding of biodiversity in South Africa. PLOS One, 21(4), e0345173. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0345173.
  10.  Alexander, P., Beevers, L., Broadstock, D., Daioglou, V., Davies, T. J., Gutiérrez-Espeleta, E. E., Ley, D., Lucas, P., Rueff, H., Schröder, P., Seadon, J., Taylor, G., Turcu, C., Turnheim, B., & Watson, R. T. (2026). Protecting science in multilateral environmental assessments. Nature Sustainability, 9(2), 178-179. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-025-01727-1.
  11. Mamathaba, M. P., Phogole, B., Gaoue, O. G., & Yessoufou, K. (2026). Anthropogenic Pressures, Rather Than Plant Vigour, Promote Insect Herbivory Rates on Securidaca longepedunculata Along Elevation in a South African Woodland. Ecology and Evolution, 16(4). https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.73363.
  12. Masiane, N., Nwulu, N., & Yessoufou, K. (2026). Evaluating the Conduciveness of the Policy Environment for Deploying Sustainable Renewable Energy Mini-Grids in Lesotho. Energies, 19(2), 399. https://doi.org/10.3390/en19020399.
  13. Gerren, A., Coe, M. A., Yessoufou, K., & Gaoue, O. G. (2026). Does plant form recapitulate its therapeutic function? a test for red sap plants. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-026-00880-x.
  14. Bello, A. O., Boatwright, J. S., Magee, A. R., Bergh, N., & van der Bank, M. (2026). Evolution of the Resin Daisies: Biogeography of the Genus Pteronia L. (Astereae, Asteraceae) in the Arid and Semi‐Arid Habitats of Southern Africa. Journal of Biogeography, 53(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.70172. 
  15. Pimm, S. L., Davies, T. J., & Gittleman, J. L. (2026). Out of Africa comes no support for global biodiversity catastrophes. Science Advances, 12(9). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aee6950.
  16. Phogole, B., Molepo, D., Sethusa, M. T., & Yessoufou, K. (2026). Nature vs. Nurture: Parental care cushions agricultural drought impacts on child health in South Africa. Scientific Reports, 16(1), 4053. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-34109-w.

2025 PUBLICATIONS

  1. Phogole, B., Sethusa, M. T., & Yessoufou, K. (2025). Policy and Land Degradation Are Neglected in the Desertification, Land Degradation, and Drought Research Landscape in South Africa: Evidence From a Systematic Review and Bibliometric Analysis. Land Degradation and Development, 36(12), 4017-4030. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.5617
  2. Yessoufou, K., Yaradua, S. S., & Gaoue, O. G. (2025). Random Patterns of Medicinal Plants on a Phylogeny do not Imply Random Selections of Medicinal Plants. Economic Botany. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-025-09647-z
  3. Bezeng, B. S., Ameka, G., Angui, C. M. V., Atuah, L., Azihou, F., Bouchenak-Khelladi, Y., Carlisle, F., Doubi, B. T. S., Gaoue, O. G., Gatarabirwa, W., Gitau, C., Hilton-Taylor, C., Hipkiss, A., Idohou, R., Kaplin, B. A., Kemp, L., Mbawine, J. S., Logah, V., Matiku, P., … Savolainen, V. (2025). An African perspective to biodiversity conservation in the twenty-first century. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 380(1917), Article 20230443. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2023.0443
  4. Sedibana, L., Kganyago, M., Jaca, T., & Yessoufou, K. (2025). First spectral reflectance dataset of a highly invasive and aggressive alien plant species, Equisetum hyemale (snakegrass), in South Africa: Towards early detection and effective eradication. Data in Brief, 60, Article 111582. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2025.111582
  5. Houehanou, B., Gaoue, O.G. 2025. Proximity to forests, fire and plantation characteristics influence understory plant species richness more than phylogenetic diversity in African mahogany plantations. Sci Rep 15, 31422 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-03104-6.
  6. Yanik Y. Akin, Orou G. Gaoue 2025. Phylogenetic diversity and seed pod traits altered seed pod fate in disturbed environments. Global Ecology and Conservation, 62, e03713.
  7. Bio Barriou Babah Daouda, M’Mouyohoun Kouagou, Eméline P S Assede, Orou G Gaoue, Biotic pressure outweighs the influence of resource availability on physical defence investment in a tropical tree, AoB PLANTS, 17,  plaf027, https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plaf027
  8. Ryan D. Rattray, Lucky Mokwena, Marietjie A. Stander, Ross D. Stewart, Michael Pilusa, Michelle Van der Bank, Ben-Erik Van Wyk 2025. The medicinal uses, chemistry and phylogenetic relationships of ethnobotanically relevant South African Stachys species. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 353, Part B, 120467.
  9. Kyle W. Tomlinson, Fei Yu, Xiaomao Wang, Xin Yao, Chih-Chieh Yu, Tristan Charles-Dominique, Artémis Anest, Ade Prasetyo Agung, Adek Adi Putra, R. Sedricke Lapuz, Théodore Lefebvre, T. Jonathan Davies, Gareth P. Hempson, Bezeng S. Bezeng, Barnabas H. Daru, Ronny M. Kabongo, Olivier Maurin, A. Muthama Muasya, Michelle van der Bank, William J. Bond, Mohammed Armani and Uriel Gélin 2025. The macroecology of spines on woody plants. Biol. Rev. (2025), pp. 000–000. doi: 10.1111/brv.70051
  10. Ngaatendwe Ndachena, Marjolein E.M. Toorians, Maxwell J. Farrell, Danny Govender, T. Jonathan Davies 2025. Effect of drought on wildlife activity at artificial waterholes. Biological Conservation, 310, 111370.
  11. Zihui Wang, Sadadi Ojoatre, Vincent Munguleni, Nick Atkinson, Innocent Kasekendi, Florian Altermatt, Lauren J. Chapman, Marjorie Couton, Sadadi Ojoatre, Nick Atkinson, Florian Altermatt, T. Jonathan Davies 2025. Using eDNA to Assess Freshwater Bacterial Diversity Along a Forest–Non-­ Forest Gradient in the Afrotropics. Environmental DNA, 2025; 7:e70136.
  12. Ross D. Stewart, Nicholas W. Bard, Michelle van der Bank, T. Jonathan Davies 2025. Leveraging machine learning and citizen science data to describe flowering phenology across South Africa. Plant People and Planet. DOI: 10.1002/ppp3.70059
  13. Marjolein E.M. Toorians, T. Jonathan Davies, and Ailene MacPherson 2025. Multi-host pathogen transmission and the disease–diversity relationship. Biol. Rev., 100, pp. 1861–1876. doi: 10.1111/brv.70027
  14. Devin Kirk, T. Jonathan Davies, Jeremy M. Cohen, S. Luke Flory, Vianda Nguyen, Jason R. Rohr, Marissa L. Childs, Mary I. O’Connor, Johannah E. Farner, Erin A. Mordecai 2025. Impacts of Weather Anomalies and Climate on Plant Disease. Ecology Letters, 2025; 28: e70062