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Fernández-Llamazares Á, Teixidor-Toneu I, Armstrong CG, Caviedes J, Ibarra JT, Lepofsky D, McAlvay AC, Molnár Z, Moraes RM, Odonne G, Poe MR, Sharifian Bahraman A, Turner NJ. The global relevance of locally grounded ethnobiology. JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY AND ETHNOMEDICINE 2024; 20:53. [PMID: 38762450 PMCID: PMC11102124 DOI: 10.1186/s13002-024-00693-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: 04/04/2024] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 05/20/2024]
Abstract
While ethnobiology is a discipline that focuses on the local, it has an outstanding, but not yet fully realized potential to address global issues. Part of this unrealized potential is that universalistic approaches often do not fully recognize culturally grounded perspectives and there are multiple challenges with scaling up place-based research. However, scalability is paramount to ensure that the intimate and context-specific diversity of human-environmental relationships and understandings are recognized in global-scale planning and policy development. Here, we identify four pathways to enable the scalability of place-based ethnobiological research from the ground up: local-to-global dialogues, aggregation of published data, multi-sited studies, and geospatial analyses. We also discuss some major challenges and consideration to encourage continuous reflexivity in these endeavours and to ensure that scalability does not contribute to unnecessarily decontextualizing, co-opting, or overwriting the epistemologies of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. As ethnobiology navigates multiple scales of time and space and seeks to increase its breadth, this study shows that the use of deliberately global approaches, when carefully nested within rich field-based and ecological and ethnographically grounded data, can contribute to: (1) upscaling case-specific insights to unveil global patterns and dynamics in the biocultural contexts of Indigenous Peoples and local communities; (2) bringing ethnobiological knowledge into resolutions that can influence global environmental research and policy agendas; and (3) enriching ethnobiology's field-based ethos with a deliberate global analytical focus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Álvaro Fernández-Llamazares
- Departament de Biologia Animal, Biologia Vegetal i Ecologia (BABVE), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
- Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
| | | | | | - Julián Caviedes
- Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
- ECOS (Ecosystem - Complexity - Society) Co-Laboratory, Center for Local Development (CEDEL) & Center for Intercultural and Indigenous Research (CIIR), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Villarrica, Chile
| | - José Tomás Ibarra
- ECOS (Ecosystem - Complexity - Society) Co-Laboratory, Center for Local Development (CEDEL) & Center for Intercultural and Indigenous Research (CIIR), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Villarrica, Chile
- Cape Horn International Center for Global Change Studies and Biocultural Conservation (CHIC), Universidad de Magallanes, Puerto Williams, Chile
- Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Systems & Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC), Santiago, Chile
| | - Dana Lepofsky
- Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - Alex C McAlvay
- Institute of Economic Botany, New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY, USA
| | - Zsolt Molnár
- HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, Vácrátót, Hungary
| | - R Mónica Moraes
- Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz, Bolivia
- Herbario Nacional de Bolivia, La Paz, Bolivia
| | - Guillaume Odonne
- UAR 3456 LEEISA (Laboratoire Ecologie, Evolution, Interactions Des Systèmes Amazoniens), CNRS, Université de Guyane, IFREMER, Cayenne, France
| | | | - Abolfazl Sharifian Bahraman
- Range and Watershed Management Department, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran
| | - Nancy J Turner
- School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
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Cerón-Souza I, Delgadillo-Duran D, Polo-Murcia SM, Sarmiento-Naizaque ZX, Reyes-Herrera PH. Prioritizing Colombian plant genetic resources for investment in research using indicators about the geographic origin, vulnerability status, economic benefits, and food security importance. BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION 2023; 32:2221-2261. [PMID: 37255861 PMCID: PMC10195663 DOI: 10.1007/s10531-023-02599-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2022] [Revised: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 03/23/2023] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Germplasm banks are the most significant repository for plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) worldwide. Despite their strategic importance, national germplasm banks of tropical megadiverse developing countries such as Colombia have extremely limited funds. Therefore, making strategic decisions about research investment is essential. Here, we designed a data-driven approach to build an index that sorts Colombian PGRFA into three groups: high, medium, or low priority, based on four pillars of information from open-access databases and aligned with the sustainable goals of no poverty and zero hunger: Geographic origin, vulnerability status, economic benefits, and food security importance. We analyzed 345 PGRFA using the index, separating them into two groups, 275 already conserved in the Colombian germplasm bank (BGVCOL group) and 70 not currently conserved in the BGVCOL (NCB group). We used fuzzy logic to classify each PGRFA by each pillar and integrate it to obtain a priority index. Missing data for native crops were frequent in the BGVCOL group. Therefore we adopted an imputation strategy to fill the gaps and calculated the uncertainty. After applying the index, PGRFA with higher priority were 24 (8.72%) from the BGVCOL (i.e., 15 potatoes, three tomatoes, two tree tomatoes, pineapple, cocoa, papaya, and yacon) and one from NCB (i.e., coffee). We concluded that this methodology successfully prioritized PGRFA in Colombia and shows the big holes of knowledge for future research and alternatives to improve this index. The versatility of this methodology could be helpful in other genebanks with budget limitations for research investment. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10531-023-02599-7.
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Affiliation(s)
- I. Cerón-Souza
- CI Tibaitatá, Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria, AGROSAVIA, Km 14 via Mosquera, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - D. Delgadillo-Duran
- CI Tibaitatá, Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria, AGROSAVIA, Km 14 via Mosquera, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - S. M. Polo-Murcia
- CI Tibaitatá, Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria, AGROSAVIA, Km 14 via Mosquera, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Z. X. Sarmiento-Naizaque
- CI Tibaitatá, Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria, AGROSAVIA, Km 14 via Mosquera, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - P. H. Reyes-Herrera
- CI Tibaitatá, Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria, AGROSAVIA, Km 14 via Mosquera, Bogotá, Colombia
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Duarte MC, Gomes I, Catarino S, Brilhante M, Gomes S, Rendall A, Moreno Â, Fortes AR, Ferreira VS, Baptista I, Dinis H, Romeiras MM. Diversity of Useful Plants in Cabo Verde Islands: A Biogeographic and Conservation Perspective. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 11:1313. [PMID: 35631738 PMCID: PMC9144021 DOI: 10.3390/plants11101313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2022] [Revised: 05/12/2022] [Accepted: 05/12/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Cabo Verde's biodiversity is threatened by activities that meet human needs. To counteract this, an integration of scientific and indigenous knowledge is required, but no comprehensive list of the useful local plants is available. Thus, in this work, we assess (1) their diversity and phytogeography; (2) the role of geophysical, historical, and socio-economic factors on species distribution and uses; and (3) potentially relevant species for sustainable development. Data were obtained from flora, scientific publications, historical documents, herbarium specimens and field work. Many species were introduced since the 15th century to support settlement and commercial interests. We identified 518 useful taxa, of which 145 are native, 38 endemic and 44 endangered. The number of useful taxa is correlated with altitude and agricultural area, as well as with rural population indicators, but not with total population or socio-economic indicators such as gross domestic product. Native taxa are mostly used for fuelwood, forage and utilitarian purposes. Agrobiodiversity and traditional practices seem crucial to cope with recurrent droughts and ensure food security. Most of the introduced species do not present conservation problems, contrasting with the overuse of some native taxa. The safeguarding of native populations will ensure the sustainable exploitation of these resources and benefit the local economy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Cristina Duarte
- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c) & Global Change and Sustainability Institute (CHANGE), Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal;
| | - Isildo Gomes
- Instituto Nacional de Investigação e Desenvolvimento Agrário (INIDA), São Jorge dos Órgãos, Praia CP 84, Cape Verde; (I.G.); (S.G.); (A.R.); (Â.M.)
| | - Silvia Catarino
- Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food (LEAF) Research Center & Associated Laboratory TERRA, Instituto Superior de Agronomia (ISA), Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisbon, Portugal; (S.C.); (M.B.)
- Forest Research Center (CEF), Instituto Superior de Agronomia (ISA), Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Miguel Brilhante
- Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food (LEAF) Research Center & Associated Laboratory TERRA, Instituto Superior de Agronomia (ISA), Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisbon, Portugal; (S.C.); (M.B.)
| | - Samuel Gomes
- Instituto Nacional de Investigação e Desenvolvimento Agrário (INIDA), São Jorge dos Órgãos, Praia CP 84, Cape Verde; (I.G.); (S.G.); (A.R.); (Â.M.)
| | - Aline Rendall
- Instituto Nacional de Investigação e Desenvolvimento Agrário (INIDA), São Jorge dos Órgãos, Praia CP 84, Cape Verde; (I.G.); (S.G.); (A.R.); (Â.M.)
| | - Ângela Moreno
- Instituto Nacional de Investigação e Desenvolvimento Agrário (INIDA), São Jorge dos Órgãos, Praia CP 84, Cape Verde; (I.G.); (S.G.); (A.R.); (Â.M.)
| | - Arlindo Rodrigues Fortes
- Escola Superior de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais, Universidade de Cabo Verde, Praia CP 84, Cape Verde; (A.R.F.); (V.S.F.); (I.B.)
- Centre for African and Development Studies (CESA), Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Universidade de Lisboa, 1249-078 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Vladmir Silves Ferreira
- Escola Superior de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais, Universidade de Cabo Verde, Praia CP 84, Cape Verde; (A.R.F.); (V.S.F.); (I.B.)
| | - Isaurinda Baptista
- Escola Superior de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais, Universidade de Cabo Verde, Praia CP 84, Cape Verde; (A.R.F.); (V.S.F.); (I.B.)
| | - Herculano Dinis
- Associação Projecto Vitó, Xaguate, Sao Filipe CP 47, Cape Verde;
| | - Maria Manuel Romeiras
- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c) & Global Change and Sustainability Institute (CHANGE), Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal;
- Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food (LEAF) Research Center & Associated Laboratory TERRA, Instituto Superior de Agronomia (ISA), Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisbon, Portugal; (S.C.); (M.B.)
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Jaramillo-Vivanco T, Balslev H, Montúfar R, Cámara RM, Giampieri F, Battino M, Cámara M, Alvarez-Suarez JM. Three Amazonian palms as underestimated and little-known sources of nutrients, bioactive compounds and edible insects. Food Chem 2022; 372:131273. [PMID: 34649030 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.131273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2021] [Revised: 09/21/2021] [Accepted: 09/28/2021] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Mauritia flexuosa, Bactris gasipaes, and Oenocarpus bataua are among the main palms in the Amazon used for food and medicinal purposes. The food most commonly derived from these are fruits, oil, and the larvae of the insect Rhynchophorus palmarum reared in their trunks. Palm fruits are used for oil extraction as they are rich in saturated fatty acids, fiber, pro-vitamin A, carotenoids, tocopherols, macro and microelements, and polyphenols. Furthermore, the larvae of R. palmarum are rich in lipids, vitamin E, and proteins. This review analyzes the chemical composition of the fruit and oil of these palm species, as well as the R. palmarum larvae that breed in them. Our aim is to present information that is not widely known in order to demonstrate the potential of these palms as sources of plant-based and animal food with high nutritional and functional values.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatiana Jaramillo-Vivanco
- Grupo de Bio-quimio Informática, Universidad de Las Américas, Quito, Ecuador; Programa de Doctorado en Biología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Henrik Balslev
- Department of Bioscience - Ecoinformatics and Biodiversity, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Rommel Montúfar
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Rosa M Cámara
- Departamento Nutrición y Ciencia de los Alimentos, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Francesca Giampieri
- Department of Clinical Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy; Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Maurizio Battino
- Department of Clinical Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy; International Research Center for Food Nutrition and Safety, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China
| | - Montaña Cámara
- Departamento Nutrición y Ciencia de los Alimentos, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
| | - José M Alvarez-Suarez
- Ingeniería en Alimentos, Colegio de Ciencias e Ingenierías, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador; King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
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Coelho SD, Levis C, Baccaro FB, Figueiredo FOG, Pinassi Antunes A, ter Steege H, Peña-Claros M, Clement CR, Schietti J. Eighty-four per cent of all Amazonian arboreal plant individuals are useful to humans. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0257875. [PMID: 34597306 PMCID: PMC8486103 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257875] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2021] [Accepted: 09/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Plants have been used in Amazonian forests for millennia and some of these plants are disproportionally abundant (hyperdominant). At local scales, people generally use the most abundant plants, which may be abundant as the result of management of indigenous peoples and local communities. However, it is unknown whether plant use is also associated with abundance at larger scales. We used the population sizes of 4,454 arboreal species (trees and palms) estimated from 1946 forest plots and compiled information about uses from 29 Amazonian ethnobotany books and articles published between 1926 and 2013 to investigate the relationship between species usefulness and their population sizes, and how this relationship is influenced by the degree of domestication of arboreal species across Amazonia. We found that half of the arboreal species (2,253) are useful to humans, which represents 84% of the estimated individuals in Amazonian forests. Useful species have mean populations sizes six times larger than non-useful species, and their abundance is related with the probability of usefulness. Incipiently domesticated species are the most abundant. Population size was weakly related to specific uses, but strongly related with the multiplicity of uses. This study highlights the enormous usefulness of Amazonian arboreal species for local peoples. Our findings support the hypothesis that the most abundant plant species have a greater chance to be useful at both local and larger scales, and suggest that although people use the most abundant plants, indigenous people and local communities have contributed to plant abundance through long-term management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara D. Coelho
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - Carolina Levis
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
- Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
| | - Fabrício B. Baccaro
- Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - Fernando O. G. Figueiredo
- Coordenação de Biodiversidade, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - André Pinassi Antunes
- RedeFauna - Rede de Pesquisa em Diversidade, Conservação e Uso da Fauna da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
- Coordenação de Dinâmica Ambiental, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - Hans ter Steege
- Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Systems Ecology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Marielos Peña-Claros
- Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Charles R. Clement
- Coordenação de Tecnologia e Inovação, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
| | - Juliana Schietti
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
- Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
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Ahmad K, Ahmad M, Huber FK, Weckerle CS. Traditional medicinal knowledge and practices among the tribal communities of Thakht-e-Sulaiman Hills, Pakistan. BMC Complement Med Ther 2021; 21:230. [PMID: 34517846 PMCID: PMC8439060 DOI: 10.1186/s12906-021-03403-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2020] [Accepted: 08/31/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Little is known about the medical material and practices of tribes in the western border areas of Pakistan. The local population has inhabited this remote and isolated area for centuries, and gained medicinal knowledge with personal experiences and knowledge learned from forefathers. Due to the geographical isolation of the communities in the Sulaiman hills of Pakistan and their unique culture, the area is of importance for exploration and assessment. METHODS A total of 116 informants were interviewed in five foothill villages and the associated migratory mountain villages during 2010-2012 and 2015. Information was gathered mainly through semi-structured interviews and freelisting. Local diseases were categorized based on symptoms and affected organs. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. RESULTS Depending on the type of illness, typically a pulse diagnoser or a religious specialist is consulted. Medicinal plant knowledge and use is mostly known and advised by elders within the family. A total of 44 plant species from 32 families (588 use reports), 7 animal species and 6 minerals and other sources (384 use reports) were documented as materia medica. Among the plants, the Lamiaceae is the most dominantly used plant family, followed by Pinaceae. The most frequently reported single species was Teucrium stocksianum. The most often mentioned diseases and treatments fall into the categories of gastrointestinal, ritual, and musculoskeletal diseases. The use of goat and sheep skin as medicine was pivotal in the local medicinal system. Remedies from animal parts and other biological and non-biological sources were mainly used for musculoskeletal ailments and ritual treatments. Overall, people rely on both traditional and biomedical medication and treatments and combination of these systems. CONCLUSION This paper provides insight into the pluralistic medication system of rural communities of northwest Pakistan. It highlights the materia medica most commonly in use. A considerable part of the documented materia medica and local practices is part of an oral tradition and cannot be found in written sources or scientific articles. The gaining of new medicinal knowledge in the area was the good sign of continuation of traditional medicinal practices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Khalid Ahmad
- Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad, Pakistan.
| | - Mushtaq Ahmad
- Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Franz K Huber
- Institute of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Caroline S Weckerle
- Institute of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Kor L, Homewood K, Dawson TP, Diazgranados M. Sustainability of wild plant use in the Andean Community of South America. AMBIO 2021; 50:1681-1697. [PMID: 33861399 PMCID: PMC8285437 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-021-01529-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2020] [Revised: 01/07/2021] [Accepted: 01/28/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Overexploitation is the second biggest driver of global plant extinction. Meanwhile, useful plant species are vital to livelihoods across the world, with global conservation efforts increasingly applying the concept of 'conservation-through-use.' However, successfully balancing conservation and biodiversity use remains challenging. We reviewed literature on the sustainability of wild-collected plant use across the countries of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia-a region of global importance for its biological and cultural richness. After applying defined search terms and a two-stage screening process, 68 articles were reviewed. The numbers which reported sustainable, unsustainable, or context-dependent outcomes were relatively even, but national differences emerged. Through narrative synthesis, we identified five key, reoccurring themes: plant biology; land tenure; knowledge, resource, and capacity; economics and market pressures; and institutional structures, policy, and legislation. Our results show the need for flexible, context-specific approaches and the importance of collaboration, with bottom-up management and conservation methods involving local communities and traditional ecological knowledge often proving most effective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Kor
- Natural Capital and Plant Health Department, The Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond, TW9 3AE UK
- Department of Geography, Bush House NE, King’s College London, London, WC2B 4BG UK
| | - Katherine Homewood
- Anthropology Department, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT UK
| | - Terence P. Dawson
- Department of Geography, Bush House NE, King’s College London, London, WC2B 4BG UK
| | - Mauricio Diazgranados
- Natural Capital and Plant Health Department, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Wakehurst Place, Ardingly, RH17 6TN UK
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Bystriakova N, Tovar C, Monro A, Moat J, Hendrigo P, Carretero J, Torres-Morales G, Diazgranados M. Colombia's bioregions as a source of useful plants. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0256457. [PMID: 34449804 PMCID: PMC8396733 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256457] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2021] [Accepted: 08/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The aim of our study was to assess the importance of different Colombian bioregions in terms of the supply of useful plant species and the quality of the available distribution data. We assembled a dataset of georeferenced collection localities of all vascular plants of Colombia available from global and local online databases. We then assembled a list of species, subspecies and varieties of Colombia's useful plants and retrieved all point locality information associated with these taxa. We overlaid both datasets with a map of Colombia's bioregions to retrieve all species and useful species distribution records in each bioregion. To assess the reliability of our estimates of species numbers, we identified information gaps, in geographic and environmental space, by estimating their completeness and coverage. Our results confirmed that Colombia's third largest bioregion, the Andean moist forest followed by the Amazon, Pacific, Llanos and Caribbean moist forests contained the largest numbers of useful plant species. Medicinal use was the most common useful attribute across all bioregions, followed by Materials, Environmental uses, and Human Food. In all bioregions, except for the Andean páramo, the proportion of well-surveyed 10×10 km grid cells (with ≥ 25 observation records of useful plants) was below 50% of the total number of surveyed cells. Poor survey coverage was observed in the three dry bioregions: Caribbean deserts and xeric shrublands, and Llanos and Caribbean dry forests. This suggests that additional primary data is needed. We document knowledge gaps that will hinder the incorporation of useful plants into Colombia's stated plans for a bioeconomy and their sustainable management. In particular, future research should focus on the generation of additional primary data on the distribution of useful plants in the Amazon and Llanos (Orinoquia) regions where both survey completeness and coverage appeared to be less adequate compared with other regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadia Bystriakova
- Core Research Laboratories, The Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom
| | | | | | - Justin Moat
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, United Kingdom
| | - Pablo Hendrigo
- Centro Nacional de Conservação da Flora, Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | | | - Germán Torres-Morales
- Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, Bogotá, Colombia
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Abstract
Se valida la hipótesis que el uso tradicional de plantas introducidas y nativas es análogo en Ecuador. Ciento veinticuatro entrevistas se desarrollan en 13 provincias de Ecuador, a 99 mujeres y 25 hombres, 107 del total son mestizos y 17 son indígenas, mayoritariamente comerciantes con estudios primarios y constan de 1 a 60 años de experiencia, que adquirieron el conocimiento del uso tradicional de las plantas de sus padres o madres principalmente. Se registra el uso de 274 especies, 138 (50,36%) del total son introducidas y 136 (49,63%) son nativas, 3 de las cuales son endémicas (1,09%); pertenecientes a 224 géneros incluidos en 88 familias botánicas, originarias de América (61,85%), Asia (15,68%), Europa (10,45%), África (9,58%) y Oceanía (2,44%). Se presentan 28 usos generales, particularmente como medicinal (71 usos terapéuticos), destacando el uso como antiinflamatorio, analgésico, antibiótico, antiespasmódico, diurético, sedante y antigripal. El conocimiento tradicional de las plantas no varía significativamente entre etnias y género; lo opuesto ocurre a nivel de edad y entre especies nativas e introducidas. Existe gran concordancia entre los informantes sobre los usos etnomedicinales de las plantas con un valor del Factor de Consenso de los Informantes (FIC) de 0,98.
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Cámara-Leret R, Bascompte J. Language extinction triggers the loss of unique medicinal knowledge. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:e2103683118. [PMID: 34103398 PMCID: PMC8214696 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2103683118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Over 30% of the 7,400 languages in the world will no longer be spoken by the end of the century. So far, however, our understanding of whether language extinction may result in the loss of linguistically unique knowledge remains limited. Here, we ask to what degree indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants is associated with individual languages and quantify how much indigenous knowledge may vanish as languages and plants go extinct. Focusing on three regions that have a high biocultural diversity, we show that over 75% of all 12,495 medicinal plant services are linguistically unique-i.e., only known to one language. Whereas most plant species associated with linguistically unique knowledge are not threatened, most languages that report linguistically unique knowledge are. Our finding of high uniqueness in indigenous knowledge and strong coupling with threatened languages suggests that language loss will be even more critical to the extinction of medicinal knowledge than biodiversity loss.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo Cámara-Leret
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Jordi Bascompte
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland
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11
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Vélez-Torres I, Torres AM, Bernal-Galeano S, Muriel I, Moreno HF, Alzate Lozano S, Bahamon-Pinzon D, Vanegas DC. Afrocolombian Struggles for Food, Land, and Culture: The Case of El Tiple. ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE 2021; 38:340-354. [PMID: 34079207 PMCID: PMC8165472 DOI: 10.1089/ees.2020.0282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2020] [Accepted: 02/20/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
El Tiple is one of many marginalized Afrodescendant communities confined within a green desert located in the southwest region of Colombia. This green desert is most widely known as the second-largest sugarcane monoculture field in the Americas. Herein, we describe a transdisciplinary and participatory effort to understand agroindustrial expansion in the region through the lens of the El Tiple community. Using qualitative and quantitative methodologies, we characterized the socioenvironmental context of El Tiple in terms of ethnography, autoethnography, social cartography, and ethnobotany. We implemented a participatory approach to codevelop a technology-assisted strategy for strengthening the community's small-scale farming activities. Our contextual analysis results show systemic food dispossession, which arises from several factors, including dramatic land transformation, rapid depletion and contamination of natural assets, and biodiversity loss. All these factors are associated with the presence of bordering sugarcane plantations. In collaboration with community members, we designed, constructed, and analyzed a greenhouse hydroponic cultivation system as an actionable means to gradually restore local production of food and medicinal plants for the community. Our transdisciplinary and participatory approach demonstrates how academics can partner with vulnerable communities in the coproduction of knowledge and solutions to pressing social needs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Vélez-Torres
- Environmental and Natural Resource Engineering, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia
- Interdisciplinary Group for Biotechnology Innovation and Eco-social Change -BioNovo, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia
| | - Alba Marina Torres
- Ecology and Diversity of Plants Research Group, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia
- Department of Biology, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia
| | | | - Ingrid Muriel
- Interdisciplinary Group for Biotechnology Innovation and Eco-social Change -BioNovo, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia
| | - Hugo Farley Moreno
- Interdisciplinary Group for Biotechnology Innovation and Eco-social Change -BioNovo, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia
- Black Community Council AfroTiple, El Tiple, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
| | | | - David Bahamon-Pinzon
- Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, Clemson University, Anderson, South Carolina, USA
| | - Diana C. Vanegas
- Interdisciplinary Group for Biotechnology Innovation and Eco-social Change -BioNovo, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia
- Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, Clemson University, Anderson, South Carolina, USA
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12
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Molina-Venegas R, Rodríguez MÁ, Pardo-de-Santayana M, Ronquillo C, Mabberley DJ. Maximum levels of global phylogenetic diversity efficiently capture plant services for humankind. Nat Ecol Evol 2021; 5:583-588. [PMID: 33782579 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-021-01414-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2020] [Accepted: 02/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The divergent nature of evolution suggests that securing the human benefits that are directly provided by biodiversity may require counting on disparate lineages of the Tree of Life. However, quantitative evidence supporting this claim is still tenuous. Here, we draw on a global review of plant-use records demonstrating that maximum levels of phylogenetic diversity capture significantly greater numbers of plant-use records than random selection of taxa. Our study establishes an empirical foundation that links evolutionary history to human wellbeing, and it will serve as a discussion baseline to promote better-grounded accounts of the services that are directly provided by biodiversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafael Molina-Venegas
- GLoCEE - Global Change Ecology and Evolution Group, Department of Life Sciences, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain.
| | - Miguel Á Rodríguez
- GLoCEE - Global Change Ecology and Evolution Group, Department of Life Sciences, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
| | - Manuel Pardo-de-Santayana
- Department of Biology (Botany), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.,Research Centre in Biodiversity and Global Change (CIBC-UAM), Madrid, Spain
| | - Cristina Ronquillo
- GLoCEE - Global Change Ecology and Evolution Group, Department of Life Sciences, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
| | - David J Mabberley
- Wadham College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,Australian Institute of Botanical Science (National Herbarium of New South Wales), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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13
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Ethnomedicinal Plant Knowledge of the Karen in Thailand. PLANTS 2020; 9:plants9070813. [PMID: 32610436 PMCID: PMC7412177 DOI: 10.3390/plants9070813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2020] [Revised: 06/22/2020] [Accepted: 06/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
The Thai Karen, the largest hill-tribe in Thailand, guard substantial ethnomedicinal plant knowledge, as documented in several studies that targeted single villages. Here, we have compiled information from all the reliable and published sources to present a comprehensive overview of the Karen ethnomedicinal plant knowledge. Our dataset covers 31 Karen villages distributed over eight provinces in Thailand. We used the Cultural Importance Index (CI) to determine which species were the most valuable to the Karen and the Informant Consensus Factor (ICF) to evaluate how well distributed the knowledge of ethnomedicinal plants was in various medicinal use categories. In the 31 Karen villages, we found 3188 reports of ethnomedicinal plant uses of 732 species in 150 plant families. Chromolaena odorata, Biancaea sappan, and Tinospora crispa were the most important medicinal plants, with the highest CI values. The Leguminosae, Asteraceae, Zingiberaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Lamiaceae, Acanthaceae, Apocynaceae, and Menispermaceae were the families with the highest CI values in the mentioned order. A high proportion of all the 3188 Karen use reports were used to treat digestive, general and unspecified, musculoskeletal, and skin disorders.
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14
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Miguéis GDS, da Silva RH, Damasceno Júnior GA, Guarim-Neto G. Plants used by the rural community of Bananal, Mato Grosso, Brazil: Aspects of popular knowledge. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0210488. [PMID: 30699133 PMCID: PMC6353550 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0210488] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2018] [Accepted: 12/23/2018] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies in rural communities are important to maintain popular knowledge between generations, as well as to identify new species for pharmaceutical production. Thus, the objectives of this study were to determine which plant species the rural community of Bananal, Mato Grosso, Brazil, uses by calculating the levels of fidelity and concordance regarding species uses among residents and to determine if there is a relationship between the number of known useful plants and levels of education, age, and residence time. Ethnobotanical data was collected from residents of the community through semi-structured interviews in January/December/2016. Species diversity was calculated using Shannon-Wiener, Level of Fidelity (LF), Correction Factor, and the Percentage of Agreement regarding the Main Uses (AMU). Statistical tests were performed using generalized linear models (GLM) in the R environment. The plant use indications were grouped according to the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD 10). We found 152 species belonging to 130 genera and 67 families. The most frequently used plant parts were leaves, and decoction was the most frequent preparation mode. Strychnos pseudoquina was the species with the highest amount of use indications. The diversity index was 4.5 nats/ind-1. The body system with the most citations was the code XVIII of ICD 10, corresponding to the species: alfavaca, mentraste, terramicina, angelim, fedegoso. Medicinal species with AMU values higher than 25% were: Strychnos pseudoquina, Plectranthus barbatus, Citrus sinensis cv. pera, Cymbopogon citratus. There was a relationship between the number of useful plants and the residence time of the participants. The Bananal community revealed high species richness and the relationship of knowledge showed that the older the residents and the longer their residence time in the community, the more knowledge they acquired.
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Affiliation(s)
- Graciela da Silva Miguéis
- Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Naturais, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Rondonópolis, Mato Grosso, Brasil
- * E-mail:
| | - Rosa Helena da Silva
- Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil
| | | | - Germano Guarim-Neto
- Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brasil
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15
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Teixidor-Toneu I, Jordan FM, Hawkins JA. Comparative phylogenetic methods and the cultural evolution of medicinal plant use. NATURE PLANTS 2018; 4:754-761. [PMID: 30202108 DOI: 10.1038/s41477-018-0226-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2018] [Revised: 07/05/2018] [Accepted: 07/20/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Human life depends on plant biodiversity and the ways in which plants are used are culturally determined. Whilst anthropologists have used phylogenetic comparative methods (PCMs) to gain an increasingly sophisticated understanding of the evolution of political, religious, social and material culture, plant use has been almost entirely neglected. Medicinal plants are of special interest because of their role in maintaining people's health across the world. PCMs in particular, and cultural evolutionary theory in general, provide a framework in which to study the diversity of medicinal plant applications cross-culturally, and to infer changes in plant use over time. These methods can be applied to single medicinal plants as well as the entire set of plants used by a culture for medicine, and they account for the non-independence of data when testing for floristic, cultural or other drivers of plant use. With cultural, biological and linguistic diversity under threat, gaining a deeper and broader understanding of the variation of medicinal plant use through time and space is pressing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Teixidor-Toneu
- University of Reading, School of Biological Sciences, Reading, Berkshire, UK
- Universitetet i Oslo, Naturhistorisk Museum, Oslo, Norway
| | - Fiona M Jordan
- University of Bristol, Department of Anthropology & Archaeology, Bristol, UK
| | - Julie A Hawkins
- University of Reading, School of Biological Sciences, Reading, Berkshire, UK.
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Bussmann RW, Paniagua Zambrana NY, Romero C, Hart RE. Astonishing diversity-the medicinal plant markets of Bogotá, Colombia. JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY AND ETHNOMEDICINE 2018; 14:43. [PMID: 29925407 PMCID: PMC6011411 DOI: 10.1186/s13002-018-0241-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2018] [Accepted: 05/31/2018] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite the importance of local markets as a source of medicinal plants in Colombia, comparatively little comparative research reports on the pharmacopoeiae sold. This stands in contrast to wealth of available information for other components of plant use in Colombia and other countries. The present provides a detailed inventory of the medicinal plant markets in the Bogotá metropolitan area, hypothesizing that the species composition, and medicinal applications, would differ across markets of the city. METHODS From December 2014 to February 2016, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 38 plant vendors in 24 markets in Bogotá in order to elucidate more details on plant usage and provenance. RESULTS In this study, we encountered 409 plant species belonging to 319 genera and 122 families. These were used for a total of 19 disease categories with 318 different applications. Both species composition and uses of species did show considerable differences across the metropolitan area-much higher in fact than we expected. CONCLUSIONS The present study indicated a very large species and use diversity of medicinal plants in the markets of Bogotá, with profound differences even between markets in close proximity. This might be explained by the great differences in the origin of populations in Bogotá, the floristic diversity in their regions of origin, and their very distinct plant use knowledge and preferences that are transferred to the markets through customer demand. Our study clearly indicated that studies in single markets cannot give an in-depth overview on the plant supply and use in large metropolitan areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rainer W. Bussmann
- Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Calle Ovidio Suarez (26), Cota Cota, La Paz, Bolivia
| | - Narel Y. Paniagua Zambrana
- Herbario Nacional de Bolivia, Instituto de Ecología-UMSA, Campus Universitario, Cota Cota Calle 27, La Paz, Bolivia
| | - Carolina Romero
- William L. Brown Center, Missouri Botanical Garden, P.O. Box 299, St. Louis, MO 63166-0299 USA
| | - Robbie E. Hart
- William L. Brown Center, Missouri Botanical Garden, P.O. Box 299, St. Louis, MO 63166-0299 USA
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17
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Chaffey N. Plant Cuttings. ANNALS OF BOTANY 2018; 121:iv-vii. [PMID: 29547903 PMCID: PMC5853021 DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcy036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
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18
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Zhao L, Tian S, Wen E, Upur H. An ethnopharmacological study of aromatic Uyghur medicinal plants in Xinjiang, China. PHARMACEUTICAL BIOLOGY 2017; 55:1114-1130. [PMID: 28209076 PMCID: PMC6130679 DOI: 10.1080/13880209.2016.1270971] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
CONTEXT An ethnobotanical survey was completed in a remote village and surrounding country of Xinjiang, where most Uyghur medicinal plants could be collected. This work clarifies and increases ethnobotanical data. OBJECTIVES We surveyed and organized aromatic medicinal plants that are commonly used in clinical settings to provide a significant reference for studying new medical activities. MATERIALS AND METHODS In the survey, informants who have traditional knowledge on aromatic Uyghur medicinal plants were interviewed between March 2014 and September 2014. Aromatic medicinal plant species and pertinent information were collected. Some therapeutic methods and modes of preparation of traditional aromatic medicinal plants were found. RESULTS A total of 86 aromatic medicinal plant species belonging to 36 families were included in our study. We identified 34 plant species introduced from different regions such as Europe, India and Mediterranean areas. Fruits and whole plants were the most commonly used parts of plant, and most aromatic medicinal plants could be applied as medicine and food. We assigned the medicinal plants a use value (UV). Knowing the UV of species is useful in determining the use reliability and pharmacological features of related plants. CONCLUSIONS Xinjiang is an area in which indigenous aromatic medicinal plants are diversely used and has therefore established a sound dimensional medical healthcare treatment system. Some aromatic Uyghur medicinal plants are on the verge of extinction. Hence, further strategies for the conservation of these aromatic medicinal plants should be prioritized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lu Zhao
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xinjiang Normal University, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China
| | - Shuge Tian
- Central Laboratory of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China
| | - E. Wen
- College of TCM, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China
| | - Halmuart Upur
- Central Laboratory of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China
- CONTACT Halmuart UpurCentral Laboratory of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, 830011, Xinjiang, P. R. China
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19
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Isaza C, Bernal R, Galeano G, Martorell C. Demography of Euterpe precatoria
and Mauritia flexuosa
in the Amazon: application of integral projection models for their harvest. Biotropica 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/btp.12424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Carolina Isaza
- Programa de Biología Aplicada; Universidad Militar Nueva Granada; km2 vía Cajicá-Zipaquirá Bogotá Colombia
| | - Rodrigo Bernal
- Instituto de Ciencias Naturales; Universidad Nacional de Colombia; Apartado 7495 Bogotá Colombia
| | - Gloria Galeano
- Instituto de Ciencias Naturales; Universidad Nacional de Colombia; Apartado 7495 Bogotá Colombia
| | - Carlos Martorell
- Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales; Facultad de Ciencias; Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; Circuito Exterior S/N, Cd. Universitaria 04510 México City D.F México
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20
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Paniagua-Zambrana N, Bussmann RW, Macía MJ. The socioeconomic context of the use of Euterpe precatoria Mart. and E. oleracea Mart. in Bolivia and Peru. JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY AND ETHNOMEDICINE 2017; 13:32. [PMID: 28576132 PMCID: PMC5457629 DOI: 10.1186/s13002-017-0160-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2016] [Accepted: 05/23/2017] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Traditional knowledge (TK) has enabled communities to adapt to changes in life conditions over centuries. However, this local context is being dramatically affected by recent changes through globalization and modernization of societies. In this paper we seek to identify socio-economic factors that are related to the knowledge and use of two palm species in mestizo and indigenous communities in the Amazonian of Peru and Bolivia. Both species are known in the region under the main vernacular name of Asaí, and are source of two highly commercialized resources: palm-hearts and fruits. Euterpe precatoria Mart. is native to the region whereas E. oleracea Mart. is being introduced for the use of both resources. METHODS We compare TK about the two Euterpe species in both countries in relation to 14 socioeconomic factors in seven use categories. We performed a Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to elucidate the influence of each socioeconomic factor on the overall palm knowledge or on individual use categories. RESULTS In the two countries, we found that mestizos, speaking only Spanish, and migrants in the same ecoregion, knew more uses in all use categories for E. precatoria than for E. oleracea, even in use categories such as Medicinal and veterinary and Construction, for which indigenous participants had more uses in case of other species. In Peru, the use of E. precatoria was higher among participants with greater wealth, which could be related to the commercial importance that both the fruits and the palm-hearts have had in the markets of the region. In contrast, in Bolivia, although some income generation from Euterpe sp. was observed, the use of E. precatoria was much more homogeneously distributed. The use of E. oleracea in Bolivia is recent, and although its most important uses are related to the consumption of fruits and palm-hearts (Human food), it is now being slowly used for Medicinal and Construction purposes, similar to E. precatoria. CONCLUSIONS The use of each of the species forms part of divergent strategies in people's livelihoods. We show that integration into a market economy does not necessarily erode TK, but can rather stimulate knowledge acquisition and transmission of knowledge, and helps to understand the role and potential of these products to contribute to the livelihoods of households.
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Affiliation(s)
- Narel Paniagua-Zambrana
- Herbario Nacional de Bolivia, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, Casilla 10077 – Correo Central, La Paz, Bolivia
| | - Rainer W. Bussmann
- William L. Brown Center, Missouri Botanical Garden, Box 299, St. Louis, MO 63166–0299 USA
| | - Manuel J. Macía
- Departamento de Biología, Área de Botánica, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Calle Darwin 2, ES-28049 Madrid, Spain
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21
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Cámara-Leret R, Faurby S, Macía MJ, Balslev H, Göldel B, Svenning JC, Kissling WD, Rønsted N, Saslis-Lagoudakis CH. Fundamental species traits explain provisioning services of tropical American palms. NATURE PLANTS 2017; 3:16220. [PMID: 28112717 DOI: 10.1038/nplants.2016.220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2016] [Accepted: 12/15/2016] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
The well-being of the global human population rests on provisioning services delivered by 12% of the Earth's ∼400,000 plant species1. Plant utilization by humans is influenced by species traits2-4, but it is not well understood which traits underpin different human needs5. Here, we focus on palms (Arecaceae), one of the most economically important plant groups globally6, and demonstrate that provisioning services related to basic needs, such as food and medicine, show a strong link to fundamental functional and geographic traits. We integrate data from 2,201 interviews on plant utilization from three biomes in South America-spanning 68 communities, 43 ethnic groups and 2,221 plant uses-with a dataset of 4 traits (leaf length, stem volume, fruit volume, geographic range size) and a species-level phylogeny7. For all 208 palm species occurring in our study area, we test for relations between their traits and perceived value. We find that people preferentially use large, widespread species rather than small, narrow-ranged species, and that different traits are linked to different uses. Further, plant size and geographic range size are stronger predictors of ecosystem service realization for palm services related to basic human needs than less-basic needs (for example, ritual). These findings suggest that reliance on plant size and availability may have prevented our optimal realization of wild-plant services, since ecologically rare yet functionally important (for example, chemically) clades may have been overlooked. Beyond expanding our understanding of how local people use biodiversity in mega-diverse regions, our trait- and phylogeny-based approach helps to understand the processes that underpin ecosystem service realization, a necessary step to meet societal needs in a changing world with a growing human population5,8.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo Cámara-Leret
- Section for Ecoinformatics and Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Søren Faurby
- Department of Biogeography and Global Change, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, Calle José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 461, SE 405 30 Göteborg, Sweden
| | - Manuel J Macía
- Departamento de Biología, Área de Botánica, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Calle Darwin 2, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Henrik Balslev
- Section for Ecoinformatics and Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Bastian Göldel
- Section for Ecoinformatics and Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Jens-Christian Svenning
- Section for Ecoinformatics and Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - W Daniel Kissling
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam, PO Box 94248, 1090 GE Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Nina Rønsted
- Evolutionary Genomics Section, Natural History Museum of Denmark, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Sølvgade 83S, 1307 Copenhagen K, Denmark
| | - C Haris Saslis-Lagoudakis
- Evolutionary Genomics Section, Natural History Museum of Denmark, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Sølvgade 83S, 1307 Copenhagen K, Denmark
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Souza ENF, Hawkins JA. Comparison of Herbarium Label Data and Published Medicinal Use: Herbaria as an Underutilized Source of Ethnobotanical Information. ECONOMIC BOTANY 2017; 71:1-12. [PMID: 28496281 PMCID: PMC5403864 DOI: 10.1007/s12231-017-9367-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2016] [Accepted: 01/18/2017] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
The use of herbarium specimens as vouchers to support ethnobotanical surveys is well established. However, herbaria may be underutilized resources for ethnobotanical research that depends on the analysis of large datasets compiled across multiple sites. Here, we compare two medicinal use datasets, one sourced from published papers and the other from online herbaria to determine whether herbarium and published data are comparable and to what extent herbarium specimens add new data and fill gaps in our knowledge of geographical extent of plant use. Using Brazilian legumes as a case study, we compiled 1400 use reports from 105 publications and 15 Brazilian herbaria. Of the 319 species in 107 genera with cited medicinal uses, 165 (51%) were recorded only in the literature and 55 (17%) only on herbarium labels. Mode of application, plant part used, or therapeutic use was less often documented by herbarium specimen labels (17% with information) than publications (70%). However, medicinal use of 21 of the 128 species known from only one report in the literature was substantiated from independently collected herbarium specimens, and 58 new therapeutic applications, 25 new plant parts, and 16 new modes of application were added for species known from the literature. Thus, when literature reports are few or information-poor, herbarium data can both validate and augment these reports. Herbarium data can also provide insights into the history and geographical extent of use that are not captured in publications.
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Affiliation(s)
- E. N. F. Souza
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, Berkshire RG6 6BX UK
| | - J. A. Hawkins
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, Berkshire RG6 6BX UK
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23
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Isaza C, Martorell C, Cevallos D, Galeano G, Valencia R, Balslev H. Demography of Oenocarpus bataua and implications for sustainable harvest of its fruit in western Amazon. POPUL ECOL 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s10144-016-0543-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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24
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Ibrar M, Rauf A, Ben Hadda T, Mubarak MS, Patel S. Quantitative ethnobotanical survey of medicinal flora thriving in Malakand Pass Hills, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. JOURNAL OF ETHNOPHARMACOLOGY 2015; 169:335-346. [PMID: 25952168 DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2015.04.052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2015] [Revised: 04/22/2015] [Accepted: 04/25/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
STUDY OBJECTIVE Ethnobotanical knowledge is proving to be invaluable for drug discovery in the wake of effective prospecting from biodiversity. On the other hand, the escalating human pressure is threatening the endogenous flora. Situated at the foothill of the Himalayas, Pakistan boasts of rich floristic distribution. However, many lush yet imperiled regions of this country has never been explored. It inspired us to evaluate and document the taxonomic composition, significance of medicinal plants and associated traditional knowledge in the District of Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. MATERIALS AND METHODS Vegetation growing in Malakand pass hills, Pakistan was studied and data were collected using an open-ended questionnaire, in addition to interviewing the local elderly, knowledgeable persons, and herbal practitioners. Relative Frequency Citation (RFC) and Use Value (UV) of the medicinal plants were calculated and their correlation was determined by Pearson correlation coefficient. RESULTS This study encompasses 92 plant species belonging to 56 families thriving in the study area. The information gathered includes ethnobotanical inventory and their pharmacological uses. Quantitative analysis throws light on the consistence of RFC and UV. Asteraceae and Lamiaceae were the most abundant families represented by 6 species each. Shoots were the most used parts (23.6%) and wound healing (7.91%) was the most common therapeutic use. CONCLUSION The result obtained from the study implies that local inhabitants rely on these plants for their medicinal requirements. Also, the statistics reveal that, the vegetation can be assessed for potential drug leads. However, urban expansion is threatening the existence of indigenous flora and old generation with ancient herbal wisdom is perishing. So, it appears imperative to preserve the traditional knowledge. This survey is expected to contribute to the discovery of novel bioactive constituents, stimulate conservation efforts of the perturbed flora and promote sustainable exploitation of the medicinal bounty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Ibrar
- Department of Botany, University of Peshawar, Peshawar 25120, Pakistan
| | - Abdur Rauf
- Institute of Chemical Sciences, University of Peshawar, Peshawar 25120, Pakistan.
| | - Taibi Ben Hadda
- Laboratoire Chimie Matériaux, FSO, Université Mohammed Ier, Oujda 60000, Morocco
| | | | - Seema Patel
- Bioinformatics and Medical Informatics Research Center, San Diego State University, San Diego 92182, USA.
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Cámara-Leret R, Paniagua-Zambrana N, Svenning JC, Balslev H, Macía MJ. Geospatial patterns in traditional knowledge serve in assessing intellectual property rights and benefit-sharing in northwest South America. JOURNAL OF ETHNOPHARMACOLOGY 2014; 158 Pt A:58-65. [PMID: 25456422 DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2014.10.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2014] [Revised: 10/07/2014] [Accepted: 10/10/2014] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE Without an understanding of the geography of traditional knowledge, implementing the Nagoya Protocol and national or regional strategies for benefit-sharing with local and indigenous communities will be difficult. We evaluate how much traditional knowledge about medicinal palm (Arecaceae) uses is unique and how much is shared across (i) four countries (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia), (ii) two cultural groups (Amerindian and non-Amerindian), (iii) 52 Amerindian tribes, (iv) six non-Amerindian groups, (v) 41 communities, and (vi) individuals in the 41 communities. MATERIALS AND METHODS We first sampled traditional knowledge about palms from 255 references and then carried out 2201 field interviews using a standard protocol. Using the combined data set, we quantified the number of "singletons" that were unique to one of the analyzed scales. For the 41 communities, we evaluated how many uses were cited by <10% and by ≥50% of informants. We performed a Kruskal-Wallis test to evaluate whether the number of unshared uses (cited by <10%) differed significantly in relation to the informants׳ gender and degree of expertise, and performed a two-way ANOVA to test for differences in the number of unshared and shared uses accounted for by the five birth cohorts. RESULTS We found that most knowledge was not shared among countries, cultural groups, tribes, communities, or even individuals within them. Still, a minor knowledge component was widely shared, even across countries. General informants cited a significantly higher number of unshared uses than experts, whereas no significant differences were found in the number of unshared uses cited by men and women or by different age groups. CONCLUSION Our region-wide analysis highlights the geospatial complexity in traditional knowledge patterns, underscoring the need for improved geographic insight into the ownership of traditional knowledge in areas where biocultural diversity is high. This high geographic complexity needs consideration when designing property right protocols, and calls for countrywide compilation efforts as much localized knowledge remains unrecorded.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo Cámara-Leret
- Departamento de Biología, Área de Botánica, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Calle Darwin 2, ES-28049 Madrid, Spain; Ecoinformatics & Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, Aarhus C, DK-8000 Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Narel Paniagua-Zambrana
- Herbario Nacional de Bolivia, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, Campus Universitario, Cota Cota calle 27, Casilla-Correo Central, 10077 La Paz, Bolivia
| | - Jens-Christian Svenning
- Ecoinformatics & Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, Aarhus C, DK-8000 Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Henrik Balslev
- Ecoinformatics & Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, Aarhus C, DK-8000 Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Manuel J Macía
- Departamento de Biología, Área de Botánica, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Calle Darwin 2, ES-28049 Madrid, Spain.
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