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Peter S, Niess S, Batjav B, Dejid N, Drees L, Jäschke Y, Kasymov U, Damdindorj S, Dorjoo K, Gonchigsumlaa G, Matias DMS, Müller T, Mehring M. The role of traditional ecological knowledge, given the transformation of pastoralism in Central and Eastern Mongolia. AMBIO 2024:10.1007/s13280-024-02057-w. [PMID: 39207670 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-024-02057-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2023] [Revised: 01/24/2024] [Accepted: 07/09/2024] [Indexed: 09/04/2024]
Abstract
Mongolian nomadic herders traditionally pass on ecological knowledge intergenerationally, mainly within families. However, little is known about how current societal transformation processes may impact the application and transfer of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) amongst herders. Combining quantitative household survey data with qualitative interviews, we show that TEK is still widely applied amongst herders. Our data show that households living under conditions of greater societal transformation apply TEK more often in order to adapt to the situation than households under lower transformation pressure. High transformation pressure goes along with high human population and livestock density and thus competition for good pastureland. In addition, our results show that intragenerational knowledge transfer between families is gaining more importance nowadays. For Mongolia, we recommend facilitating access to and strengthening the exchange of TEK to prepare herders for the future due to the high level of uncertainty accompanying societal transformations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie Peter
- ISOE - Institute for Social-Ecological Research, Hamburger Allee 45, 60486, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Georg-Voigt-Straße 14-16, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
| | - Sarah Niess
- ISOE - Institute for Social-Ecological Research, Hamburger Allee 45, 60486, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Batbuyan Batjav
- CNPS - Centre for Nomadic Pastoralism Studies, Ard Ayush Ave. 33-18, 4th Sub District, Bayangol District, Ulaanbaatar, 160063, Mongolia
| | - Nandintsetseg Dejid
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Georg-Voigt-Straße 14-16, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Lukas Drees
- ISOE - Institute for Social-Ecological Research, Hamburger Allee 45, 60486, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Georg-Voigt-Straße 14-16, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Yun Jäschke
- Department of Botany, Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Görlitz, Am Museum 1, 02826, Görlitz, Germany
| | - Ulan Kasymov
- TUD - Dresden University of Technology, Markt 23, 02763, Zittau, Germany
| | - Sugar Damdindorj
- School of Economics and Business, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, MULS - Mongolian University of Life Sciences, "Khan-Uul" District, Zaisan, Ulaanbaatar, 17024, Mongolia
| | - Khishigdorj Dorjoo
- Institute of Geography and Geo Ecology, 2d Building of MAC, Baruum Selbe Street 15-4, 4th Sub District, Chilgeltei District, Ulaanbaatar, 15170, Mongolia
| | - Ganzorig Gonchigsumlaa
- School of Economics and Business, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, MULS - Mongolian University of Life Sciences, "Khan-Uul" District, Zaisan, Ulaanbaatar, 17024, Mongolia
| | - Denise Margaret S Matias
- HNEE - Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, Schicklerstr. 5, 16225, Eberswalde, Germany
| | - Thomas Müller
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Georg-Voigt-Straße 14-16, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Marion Mehring
- ISOE - Institute for Social-Ecological Research, Hamburger Allee 45, 60486, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Georg-Voigt-Straße 14-16, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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Haq SM, Khoja AA, Waheed M, Pieroni A, Siddiqui MH, Bussmann RW. Plant cultural indicators of forest resources from the Himalayan high mountains: implications for improving agricultural resilience, subsistence, and forest restoration. JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY AND ETHNOMEDICINE 2024; 20:44. [PMID: 38659048 PMCID: PMC11040985 DOI: 10.1186/s13002-024-00685-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2024] [Accepted: 04/17/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
AIM Biocultural legacy practices are intricately tied to forestry resources, ethnic identity, and social cohesiveness. This study aims to determine the plant cultural values of forest resources and identify plant cultural indicators in each ethnic group, which can aid in long-term natural resource management plans in the current debate on socio-environmental and ecological transitions. METHODS Semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and field observations were employed to collect data for a comprehensive and systematic ethnobotanical survey from February 2018 to October 2022. RESULTS A total of 330 informants reported 154 plant species from 65 families. Asteraceae was the most prominent botanical family, with herbaceous plant groups outnumbering trees and shrubs. The Gujjar and Pahari groups exhibited the highest level of overlap, followed by significant overlaps between the Gujjar and Kashmiri communities. The close affinity observed between the Gujjar and Pahari groups suggests the horizontal pattern of local plant knowledge between these communities, influenced by their sociocultural interactions and intermarriages. Notably, the Pahari community displayed a rich understanding of medicinal plants and shared unique uses for the reported taxa. This study affirms that both ecological factors and sociocultural influences have played significant roles in shaping local plant knowledge. A total of 31 plant species have been identified as plant cultural markers among all four ethnic groups. We observed a positive correlation between plant cultural values and plant use with the Gujjar and Kashmiri ethnic groups. Artemisia absinthium reported the highest use value of (0.57) with use reports of (189). Adonis aestivalis, Cynoglossum nervosum, Geum elatum, Geranium himalayense, Juncus inflexus, Oxalis acetosella, Polygonatum biflorum, and Salvia hians from the Himalayan region are among the plant taxa whose ethnomedicinal applications are described here for the first time. CONCLUSION Our data show that local and indigenous forest knowledge and practices could significantly contribute to forest conservation and ecological transition. This may happen if stakeholders generate clear frameworks and biocultural conservation strategies aimed at both dynamically preserve natural habitats and ways of traditional management of local natural resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiekh Marifatul Haq
- Department of Ethnobotany, Institute of Botany, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia.
| | | | - Muhammad Waheed
- Department of Ethnobotany, Institute of Botany, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
| | - Andrea Pieroni
- University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo, Piazza V. Emanuele II 9, Pollenzo, 12042, Bra, Italy
| | - Manzer H Siddiqui
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, 11451, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Rainer W Bussmann
- Department of Ethnobotany, Institute of Botany, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
- Department of Botany, Institute of Life Sciences, State Museum of Natural History, Karlsruhe, Germany
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Couée I. The importance of worldwide linguistic and cultural diversity for climate change resilience. Ecol Lett 2024; 27:e14410. [PMID: 38519453 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2023] [Revised: 01/22/2024] [Accepted: 03/06/2024] [Indexed: 03/25/2024]
Abstract
Local minority languages and dialects, through the local knowledge and expertise associated with them, can play major roles in analysing climate change and biodiversity loss, in facilitating community awareness of environmental crises and in setting up locally-adapted resilience and sustainability strategies. While the situation and contribution of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples are of emblematic importance, the issue of the relationships between cultural and linguistic diversity and environmental awareness and protection does not solely concern peripheral highly-specialized communities in specific ecosystems of the Global South, but constitutes a worldwide challenge, throughout all of the countries, whatever their geographical location, their economical development, or their political status. Environmental emergency and climate change resilience should therefore raise international awareness on the need to promote the survival and development of minority languages and dialects and to take into account their creativity and expertise in relation to the dynamics of their local environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan Couée
- UMR 6553 Ecosystems-Biodiversity-Evolution, University of Rennes/CNRS, Rennes, France
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Ahoyo CC, Houéhanou TD, Yaoitcha AS, Akpi BP, Natta A, Houinato MRB. How do plant demographic and ecological traits combined with social dynamics and human traits affect woody plant selection for medicinal uses in Benin (West Africa)? JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY AND ETHNOMEDICINE 2024; 20:15. [PMID: 38336725 PMCID: PMC10854095 DOI: 10.1186/s13002-024-00655-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2024] [Indexed: 02/12/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Several hypotheses have been used in ethnobotany to explain the plant's selection criteria by people for their daily needs. Thus, it is important to assess synergy and complementarity among them, especially, those concerning the plant use value, social dynamics and human traits. The study aims to (i) highlight people's socio-economic factors, and plant ecological traits that affect the plant use-availability dynamic (PUD); and (ii) assess the available species diversity effect on ethno-medicinal knowledge diversity in Benin. METHODS Ethnobotanical interviews were carried out to quantify the importance of local species in different ecological zones of Benin with 590 traditional medicine actors. Vegetation surveys were done to assess species availability within 337 plots of 50 m x 40 m or 60 m x 30 m, depending on the climatic zone, for a total of 61.6 ha, established in 15 forests distributed within the 10 phytodistricts of Benin. The plant use availability hypothesis was quantified as a dynamic link between species use value and availability (PUD). A general and mixed linear models were used to assess the significance of each factor's effect on PUD. Pearson correlation test was applied on Shannon diversity index considering inventoried species in the field and those which were cited by people, for the available species diversity effect on ethno-medicinal knowledge diversity assessment. RESULTS A hundred and twenty woody medicinal plants, mostly trees (68.33%), were sampled. Growth form and its interaction with phytodistrict have a significant effect (p: 0.005) on PUD. The less available trees were the most used in the phytodistricts 3, 4, 8 and 10. PUD varies significantly according to social factors (p: 0.007). Ethnicity, age and main activity were the most quoted social factors which influenced the PUD. Ethnicity and age have various effects considering the phytodistricts. Moreover, the influence of age changes following the main activity. Plant selection did not solely link to the surrounding diversity (r: - 0.293; p: 0.403). Within some phytodistricts, especially those of 3, 4, 8 and 10, the less available tree species were the most requested. CONCLUSION It is urgent to reforest vegetation patches in some phytodistricts (3, 4, 8 and 10) of Benin with widely requested and no available species to avoid the extinction of their wild populations. This concerns Cassia sieberiana DC., Anonychium africanum (Guill. & Perr.) C. E.Hughes & G. P. Lewis, Pterocarpus erinaceus Poir., Cola millenii K. Schum., Azadirachta indica A. Juss., Khaya senegalensis (Desr.) A. Juss., Pseudocedrela kotschyi (Schweinf.) Harms, Treculia africana Decne. ex Trécul, Uapaca heudelotii Baill., Vitellaria paradoxa C. F. Gaertn., Kigelia africana (Lam.) Benth. and Newbouldia laevis (P. Beauv.) Seem. ex Bureau.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Cédric Ahoyo
- Laboratory of Applied Ecology, Faculty of Agronomic Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou, Benin.
| | - Thierry Dèhouegnon Houéhanou
- Laboratory of Applied Ecology, Faculty of Agronomic Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou, Benin
- Laboratory of Ecology, Botany and Plant Biology, Faculty of Agronomy, University of Parakou, Parakou, Benin
- Laboratoire de Biomathématiques et d'Estimations Forestières, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université d'Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou, Benin
| | | | - Bénédicte Perpétue Akpi
- Laboratory of Ecology, Botany and Plant Biology, Faculty of Agronomy, University of Parakou, Parakou, Benin
| | - Armand Natta
- Laboratory of Ecology, Botany and Plant Biology, Faculty of Agronomy, University of Parakou, Parakou, Benin
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