民族植物学认识的几个误区

民族植物学是研究一定地区的人群与植物界(包括所有在经济上、文化上和其他方面有重要价值的植物)之间的全面关系,同时也研究社会结构、行为和植物之间的相互作用.民族植物学在寻找新资源、探索植物资源可持续利用和保护途径中已经发挥了非常重要的作用.但民族植物学在我国的发展还相对滞后,其中对民族植物学在理解上存在的误区是导致民族植物学不为更多人所了解的主要因素之一.本文对容易导致对民族植物学产生误解的6个方面(包括"民族植物学就是研究少数民族利用植物的科学"、"民族植物学仅仅是文献考证的一门学科"、"民族植物学无定量方法"等)进行了初步分析,以期让更多的人了解民族植物学,参与到民族植物学研究中来.

Discussion on Misunderstandings of Ethnobotany

Ethnobotany involves study on the interrelations between man and plants in a givenarea, which concerns the plants of economic importance and cultural value and also areas ofbehavior and constructs of a society and the plant world. Ethnobotany is becoming an importantsubject in searching for new plant materials and approaches of sustainable use and conservationof plant resources. However, ethnobotany has not been given enough attention in China. Mis-understandings about ethnobotany are the main factors that limit the development of the field inChina. Six pervasive misunderstandings (such as ethnobotany is meant only for study of theeffects of minority groups on plants or to document the plant knowledge recorded in ancientbooks) in China are discussed in this paper in order to better understand the subject and takepart in ethnobotanical research and the promotion of ethnobotany in China.