西双版纳傣族传统饮料植物利用的研究

利用民族植物学与人类学相结合的方法,对西双版纳州曼伞、曼安两个傣族村寨利用传统饮料植物的情况进行了调查。结果显示,两个村寨利用的传统饮料植物有114种,隶属43科、93属,其中65．8％的种具有药用价值。两村寨利用传统饮料植物的种类及物种数有较大不同,而村民传统饮料植物知识在性别间无明显差异。ANOVA分析表明,传统饮料植物平均被提及的物种数在村寨、性别间无明显差异,但在不同年龄组间有显著差异,即随着年龄减小,访谈中人均提及的物种数呈下降趋势,这种趋势在交通较为便利的曼安寨更为明显,表明环境变化和外来文化等对植物传统利用知识的传承有很大影响。     

西双版纳傣族利用野生蔬菜种类变化及原因分析

运用民族植物学的方法,选择西双版纳自然及社会经济发展不同的三个傣族村寨曼安、曼伞和曼广囡为研究对象,调查当地村民利用野生蔬菜情况,并探讨利用种类变化的原因。三个傣族村寨村民利用的野生蔬菜有228种,分属于75个科,其中曼安村寨147种,曼伞村寨144种,曼广囡村寨105种。通过Multivariate方差分析(P<0.05)表明:不同村寨的村民平均每人提及的野生蔬菜物种数存在显著差异;年轻组平均每人提及的野生蔬菜物种数明显低于年长组,不同性别之间差异不显著;野生蔬菜知识的流失在男性之间比女性更为严重。最后对影响野生蔬菜利用的因素,野生蔬菜利用变化的原因以及传统野生蔬菜知识的流失进行了分析,就如何保护传统知识进行了探讨。     

民间植物分类系统与区域性物种多样性快速评估——以西双版纳傣族为例

生物多样性的快速流失 ,使传统分类工作在热带物种多样性评估中显出不足 ,而民间分类系统在区域性物种多样性快速评估中的作用已经引起人们的重视。前人对西双版纳傣族民间植物命名和分类系统已做过研究 ,该文在此基础上 ,探讨能否将这种知识用于区域性物种多样性快速评估。利用生物多样性快速编目、样方调查及民族植物学中民间访谈的方法 ,考察了三个傣族村寨原住民的植物识别能力。结果表明 ,傣族原住民的植物识别程度与其年龄呈显著正相关 ,中年以后识别能力趋于稳定 ,识别率高达 91 %以上。通过与长期在西双版纳地区工作的野外植物分类学家相比较 ,我们发现傣族原住民的植物识别率不低于分类学家 ,且所需时间比分类学家少。作者认为 ,民间植物分类系统可以用于局部地区的物种多样性快速评估。     

云南德宏傣族传统村落植物景观及应用研究

传统村落的植物景观反应了一个民族在长期实践中积累的植物认知和应用经验,该研究对云南省德宏州大盈江、瑞丽江流域的19个傣族传统村落进行了植物景观及应用调查。结果表明:德宏傣族传统村落植物景观水平分布为寨外(山林绿块+农田绿块+护堤绿带)——寨边(防护绿环+高山榕绿块)——寨内(绿点+绿线)的格局;垂直分布有5个景观层次;村寨内常见植物共181种,73科;村寨内植物多为人工栽培,具较强实用性,主要应用功能集中在食用、药用、观赏、防护隔离、香薰调味等方面;傣寨植物人文景观具宗教色彩。建议加强植物水平分布的空间联系,建立稳定的绿地系统格局;保持植物垂直景观层次,推广植物的建造功能应用;充分利用植物资源,形成产业优势;传承优秀的植物文化景观。推广植物在村落建设中的传统应用经验,促进民族村落与植物的可持续保护与发展,为德宏傣族人居环境建设与民族植物学应用提供科学依据。     

中国西双版纳傣族与泰国泰族民间植物命名方法与土著名字的相似性探讨

通过对中国西双版纳与泰国都有分布和栽培的641种植物的傣、泰土著名字相似性比较,发现这两个民族具有基本相同的民间植物命名的"双名法"。西双版纳傣族与泰国的兰纳地区、北—东北部和其它地区泰族的植物土著名相同、相似的分别占0.69、0.57和0.37,主要包括药用植物在内的经济植物和与南传上座部佛教文化密切相关的植物。其主要成因包括他们的语言文字、宗教信仰、生活习俗等的傣、泰历史渊源及其所具有的传统文化密切程度相关。其中,兰纳地区地处泰国北部,它不仅邻近西双版纳,而且在历史上,它们曾经同属于"兰纳王国",两地的边界曾是"犬牙交错",成为"曼比勐农"(兄弟之邦)。这样,使包括土著名字在内的佛教植物、野生植物和栽培植物等的交流比泰国其它地区更加密切,相似性便最高。西双版纳傣族和兰纳泰族被视为尚存的标准"Tai"人区。因此,该研究对于中国Dai、泰国Thai、缅甸Siam和老挝Laos等国家民族的科学文化交流及其植物资源的利用和保护等具有重要的意义。     

Knowledge and use of medicinal plants by local specialists in an region of Atlantic Forest in the state of Pernambuco (Northeastern Brazil)

This paper investigates the wealth of medicinal plants used by the Apatani tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. Apatani have traditionally settled in seven villages in the Ziro valley of Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh in the Eastern Himalayan region of India. The present study has resulted in the documentation of 158 medicinal plant species used by the Apatani group of villages. These medicinal plant species were distributed across 73 families and 124 genera. Asteraceae was the most dominant family (19 species, 11 genera) of medicinal plants, followed by Zingiberaceae, Solanaceae, Lamiaceae and Araceae. For curing ailments, the use of aboveground plant parts was higher (80%) than the belowground plant parts in the Apatani group of villages. Of the aboveground plant parts, leaf was used in the majority of cases (56 species), followed by fruit. Different belowground plant forms such as root, tuber, rhizome, bulb and pseudo-bulb were used by Apatani as a medicine. About 52 types of ailments were cured by using these 158 medicinal plant species. The results of this study are further discussed in the changing socio-economic contexts.     

Medicinal Plant Knowledge Among Lay People in Five Eastern Tibet Villages

Tibetans in five villages in the Mount Khawa Karpo area of the Menri (Meili Xueshan in Chinese) range, Northwest Yunnan, People’s Republic of China, were interviewed about their knowledge of a number of medicinal plants and their uses. There was large variation in people’s knowledge with significant differences among the villages and between men and women. Most of the reported knowledge focused on a small number of commercial plants and their uses. In comparison with Tibetan doctors, villagers generally knew fewer applications and focused on general health remedies. Many people collected medicinal plants for their own use as well as for sale, but also obtained medicinal plant remedies from markets and Tibetan doctors, and often used traditional Tibetan healthcare in conjunction with biomedical treatment.     

Do indoor plants contribute to the aeromycota in city buildings?

Many studies have focused on the sources of fungal contamination in indoor spaces. Pathogenic fungi have been detected in the potting mix of indoor plants; however, it is unclear if plants in indoor work spaces make qualitative or quantitative contributions to the aeromycota within buildings. The current work represents a field study to determine, under realistic office conditions, whether indoor plants make a contribution to the airborne aeromycota. Fifty-five offices, within two buildings in Sydney’s central business district, were studied over two seasonal periods: autumn and spring. We found that indoor plant presence made no significant difference to either indoor mould spore counts or their species composition. No seasonal differences occurred between autumn and spring samples. Indoor spore loads were significantly lower than outdoor levels, demonstrating the efficiency of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in the buildings sampled. Neither the number of plants nor the species of plant used had an influence on spore loads; however, variations of those two variables offer potential for further studies. We conclude that conservative numbers of indoor plants make no substantial contribution to building occupants exposure to fungi.     

A comparison of the wild food plant use knowledge of ethnic minorities in Naban River Watershed National Nature Reserve, Yunnan, SW China

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Wild food plants (WFPs) contribute to the nutrition, economy and even cultural identity of people in many parts of the world. Different factors determine the preference and use of WFPs such as abundance, availability, cultural preference, economic conditions, shortage periods or unsecure food production systems. Understanding these factors and knowing the patterns of selection, use and cultural significance and value of wild food plants for local communities is helpful in setting priorities for conservation and/or domestication of these plants. Thus in this study knowledge of wild food plant use among four groups namely Dai, Lahu, Hani and Mountain Han in Naban River Watershed National Nature Reserve ((NRWNNR), Xishuangbanna were documented and analyzed to find the similarity and difference among their plant use. METHODS: Data on wild food plant use was collected through freelisting and semi-structured interviews and participatory field collection and direct observation. Botanical plant sample specimens were collected, prepared, dried and identified. RESULTS: A total of 173 species and subspecies from 64 families and one species of lichen (Ramalina sp.) are used as WFP. There were differences on the saliency of wild food plant species among four ethnic groups. Consensus analysis revealed that knowledge of wild food plant use for each ethnic group differs from others with some variation in each group. Among informant attributes only age was related with the knowledge if wild food plant use, whereas no significant relationship was found between gender and age*gender and informants knowledge of wild food plant use. CONCLUSION: Wild food plants are still used extensively by local people in the NRWNNR, some of them on a daily base. This diversity of wild food plants provide important source of nutrients for the local communities which much of their caloric intake comes from one or few crops. The results also show the role of ethnicity on the preference and use of wild food plants. There is a big potential for harvesting, participatory domestication and marketing of WFPs especially in the tourism sector in the area.     

Medicinal plants in the southern region of the State of Nuevo León,México

Background

Although the flora of the State of Nuevo León is well known, there are few records of ethnobotancial information. An ethnobotanical study was undertaken in order to know the medicinal plants used by people living at the scrublands and oak-pine forest areas in the southern Nuevo León. Collection of plants specimens and interviews were carried out among the people of the municipalities of Aramberri, Galeana, and Zaragoza. Since former studies in the region are scarce, the aim of this work was to record the medicinal species and their uses in the scrublands and oak-pine forest areas, of southern Nuevo León, Mexico, and also to know if there are differences in the number of species and number of uses knowledge by people.

Methods

Field work was carried out over a 2 years period; useful plants were collected and a total of 105 people from 46 different villages were interviewed. A database was compiled using data collected by means of semi structured interviews. The data were analyzed by means of non-parametric statistics, using goodness-of-fit test (Chi-squared) (number of species known by people of each municipality, number of uses known by people of each municipality), Chi-squared modified to incorporate the Yates Correction (number of species known by people living at scrublands and oak-pine forest); the Kruskall-Wallis test (number of species known by women and men of the three municipalities), and the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (age and number of species known, and age and number of uses).

Results

A total of 163 medicinal plant species were recorded in the study area, comprising 108 wild and 55 cultivated plants. A total of 117 species were recorded in the oak-pine forest, and 111 in the scrublands area, a total of 68 were recorded in both areas; 68 medicinal species are used in all three municipalities, 40 wild and 28 cultivated. We documented 235 different medicinal uses. The most common plant parts used for medicinal purposes were found to be leaves (123 species), stems (55), fruits (28), roots (17), and bark (14). No differences were noted in the number of medicinal plant species identified among people, but differences were significant in their knowledge with respect to the number of uses among people of the three municipalities studied; people from both, scrublands and oak-pine forest know similar number of species and number of uses. Men and women of the three different municipalities knew statistically the same number of species and number of uses. There was no correlation between resident’s age and number of species known and resident’s age and number of uses either in Galeana or in Aramberri, but, there was high correlation among these variables in Zaragoza.

Conclusion

In southern Nuevo León people use at least 5% of the total State flora as medicinal plants, and most of these species are included in few plant families. Most of medicinal species are wild and indigenous to the region. The two most important major plant communities, scrublands and oak-pine forest provide almost the same number of medicinal species. A third of the medicinal flora recorded are used in all three municipalities, most of them are wild. Leaves, stems and fruits are the plant parts most commonly used for healing, and boiling is the most common method used for this purpose. Men and women from the three municipalities are familiar with nearly the same number of species; however, their knowledge of the number of uses varies significantly. In Galeana and Aramberri there was no correlation between a person’s age and number of species recognized, however, in Zaragoza, there existed a high correlation between these two factors.

     

Effects of double rice cropping with irrigation on the diversity of herbaceous plants and their utilization as a food source in paddy fields of southern Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Herbaceous plant diversity including rare aquatic species has been lost in many countries by agricultural intensification and abandonment. In paddy fields of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), irrigation facilities have been constructed rapidly since 1997. The aim of this study was to clarify the impacts of double rice cropping accompanied by the introduction of irrigation systems on herbaceous plant diversity and utilization in paddy fields of southern Lao PDR. Ground vegetation surveys and interviews were conducted in Kok Deau and Lak 30 villages in Champasak Province, and propagule bank survey was conducted in Kok Deau village. The species richness and species diversity, measured by the Shannon’s diversity index, were not significantly different between the irrigated and rainfed paddies (p?>?0.05), when compared in both the wet and dry seasons. However, double rice cropping with irrigation systems affected herbaceous plant species composition in paddy fields. Increased use of chemical fertilizers in irrigated paddies resulted in predominance of tall undesirable species, such as Fimbristylis miliacea (L.) Vahl and Echinochloa colona (L.) Link. Small and frequently submerged species were dominant in the ground vegetation and propagule banks of the rainfed paddies. Since small submerged species are often sensitive to environmental changes, increase of irrigated paddy area may lead to a decrease in the variety of aquatic herbaceous plants in Lao PDR. While a total of 9 herbaceous plant species were utilized as foods in the villages, no change was recognized by farmers in species composition and frequency of utilization of paddy plants as food before and after the development of the irrigation systems.

     

Pollen viability and limitation of seed production in a population of the circumpolar cushion plant, Silene acaulis (Caryophyllaceae)

Pollen viability among genders and limitation of female seed production in a natural trioecious population of the circumpolar cushion plant Silene acaulis was examined. Pollen viability was estimated by an in vitro pollen germination experiment. Both male and hermaphrodite flowers displayed large variation in pollen viability (0–53% in hermaphrodite and 0–54% in male flowers). There was a significant difference between genders in pollen viability: male plants had on average higher pollen viability than hermaphrodite plants. Resource and pollen limitation of seed production was studied by an experiment consisting of three treatments; (I) hand-pollination and removal of all other flowers on the cushion, (II) hand-pollination without removal of other flowers, and (III) open pollination without removal of flowers. Hand-pollination increased seed production, whereas removal of flowers had no effect on seed production. Abortion of pollinated ovules during seed development and seed mass did not differ among treatments. To control for effect of fruit number on seed production, data from naturally pollinated individuals was used. There was a positive correlation between both total number of seeds and fruit number, mean seed number per fruit and fruit number, respectively. These results indicate that seed production of 5. acaulis is mainly limited by pollen availability whereas resource competition between fruits is not important as a limiting factor. The possible role of male quality differences between genders and pollen limitation of seed production for maintenance of trioecious reproductive systems is discussed.     

Road Verge and Rangeland Plant Communities in the Southern Karoo: Exploring What Influences Diversity, Dominance and Cover

Road verges in the Prince Albert district, South Africa were examined to determine whether they are important refugia for plant species in the Karoo biome. Vascular plants at 50 sites on road verges were compared with those plant communities in the adjacent grazed rangelands. Verges were found to support a greater mean number of species, total plant cover, and number of individual plants. Road verges were found to contain 11 unique species compared with 20 unique species in rangelands. Plant community composition varied with more forbs and succulents on the verge and more shrubs in the rangeland. Significantly greater cover of unpalatable plants was found on the ungrazed road verge, and no difference in palatable and highly palatable plant cover was recorded, indicating that herbivory is not a major driver in defining community differences in these environments. No significant differences in soil moisture or texture were found between verge and rangeland. We argue that road maintenance and construction activities have an over-riding controlling influence on road verge community composition. Although it is not possible to discount the possibility that road verges provide an important refuge for certain species, it appears that they are disturbed environments that do not contribute significantly to the plant conservation needs of this biome.     

Perceptions, use and availability of woody plants among the Gourounsi in Burkina Faso

The present study was conducted in five villages around the Nazinga Game Ranch, Burkina Faso. Fifty informants of the Gourounsi ethnic group were used. Eighty-one useful woody species were identified, out of a total of 110 woody species in the area. Woody plant use was quantified as: edible fruits (28 species), vegetable sauce (22 species), firewood (33 species), construction (29 species) and medicine (64 species and 167 remedies). Further, species accumulation curves were used to estimate that more than 650 remedies for medicine are used in the area. The community's knowledge of plants was analysed in relation to age, gender, village of residence and amount of intercultural visits. The knowledge pattern was remarkably uniform, with only two variations: (1) men generally identified more edible fruit trees than women, and (2) one village reported more firewood species than the other four villages. The informants had a variety of opinions concerning the availability of useful plants, but the majority found the availability to be fine and 47% of the informants searched for useable products in the savanna on a daily basis. No correlation was found between an informant's impression of useful products availability and his/her frequency of visits into the savanna. The results show that the Gourounsi people live in intimate relation with the savanna surrounding their villages. They are aware of the environment and are willing to learn and adopt new conservation practices.     

Structure of plant–Hymenoptera networks in two coastal shrub sites in Mexico

The study of interaction networks between plants and pollinators allows us to explore interaction patterns at the community level, detect changes in visit frequency and evaluate the nestedness of the networks. The latter allows rare plant species to be visited by more abundant species of pollinators, potentially allowing community diversity to be maintained, and this approach makes it possible to discern the rewiring (changes in connections) of species when their preferred resource is not available. In this study, the topology, species identity and rewiring were compared between two contrasting sites, one within a conservation area and the other subjected to continuous disturbance. The networks of both sites were significantly nested and shared a high number of common species of both plants and pollinators. However, the sites differed notably in the number of exclusive interactions, suggesting a high percentage of interaction rewiring. The introduced bee species, Apis mellifera, was the most frequent species at both sites and also the most connected in terms of the number of its interactions. This is explained by its generalist foraging characteristics that allow it to form part of the networks’ core group. In general, our results underscore the importance of knowing the identity of the participating species when studying networks, and how connections change between them, as well as the potential effect of habitat destruction and the role of invasive species in the rearrangement of the interactions; all factors that can exert an influence on the functioning of plant–pollinator networks.     

Elevational patterns of plant richness and their drivers on an Asian mountain

We examined the elevational patterns of plant species along two transects on Mt Seorak, South Korea, and calculated four richness indices from field survey data: total number of species per 100 m elevational band; mean number of species per plot in each elevational band; total estimated number of species per elevational band; and beta diversity of each elevational band. We evaluated the effects of area, mean distance between plots, climatic variables (mean annual temperature and precipitation), and productivity on the richness patterns along the two transects. In total, 235 plant species belonging to 72 families and 161 genera were recorded from 130 plots along the two transects. The analyses revealed different patterns including monotonic decline, and unimodal and multimodal shapes for richness indices of total, woody, and herbaceous plants with the change in elevation along the two transects. The proportion of suitable area (as opposed to rocky areas) was the best predictor for total number of species per elevational band, mean number of species per plot, and total estimated number of species per elevational band of total and herbaceous plants along the two transects. Mean distance between plots was the most important variable for beta diversity of all plant groups. Although regional area, climatic variables, and productivity were important variables for predicting woody plant richness patterns, the effects were not consistent between the two transects. Our study suggests that elevational species richness patterns may differ not only among different plant groups, but also between nearby elevational transects, and that these differences are explained by differences in the underlying mechanisms shaping these patterns.     

The Restoration of Plant–Pollinator Interactions in Hay Meadows

Whether restoration programs successfully reinstate ecological interactions remains a contentious and largely untested issue. We investigated plant and pollinator interactions on two old and two restored hay meadows, with the aim of evaluating if quantitative patterns of insect visitation and pollen transport were comparable among old and restored meadows. In terms of structural diversity, few species of plants and insects were shared among the webs. In all four meadows, Diptera and Hymenoptera dominated the visitor community in terms of both species richness and abundance. Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and Lepidoptera comprised the remainder of the flower visitors. No significant difference was found between restored and old sites in plant or insect species richness or in plant and insect abundance. In terms of function, the meadows appeared more similar, although a slightly higher proportion of the potential links between plants and insects was realized for old meadows. No difference was found in the proportion of plant species visited, and visited plant species were generalized, with all having more than a single species of insect visitor. We also sampled approximately 400,000 pollen grains from the flower‐visiting insects. There were no differences between old and restored sites in the amount of pollen being transported or in the average number of pollen grains per insect. At both types of meadows, Hymenoptera carried most pollen, followed by Diptera. Again, generalization was the norm, with all plants having more than a single species of pollen carrier. No difference was observed in the connectance of pollen transport webs between old and restored sites. Overall, although the four meadows showed considerable structural variation, they showed similarity with regard to the functional processes we studied. Because structural variation is expected among localities, we conclude that the two restoration projects have been successful.     

Dai People’s Botanical Knowledge: Nomenclature Meaning and Classification

After analysis, statistics and conclude 1175 species (variety) of plants,1370 Dai names and 1691 meanings were obtained to elucidate how the Dai people recognize and define the plant. They used ‘hong e bin’, which means‘the things with life come out from the ground’ to define the plant. This is similar to the modern science which defined the plant as ‘anything that grows from the ground’. This is a highly synthesized scientific term that seldom seen in many other ethnics in the world. In their method of naming plants, they used the types of plant life form and economic type for ‘generic’ names, and used the meanings of plant morphogenesis and characters, economic uses, ecological distribution, and stories and legends etc. for ‘specific’ names. Among the 1691 meanings, they are occupied 60%, 30%, 8% and 2% respectively. This reflected that the naming method of Dai for plant ‘Just see what′s looking alike on naming them’ is similar to Linnaeus′ bi nomenclature of the modern botanical taxonomy. Moreover, the folk plant classification system based on the structure of Dai names is then established, including 5 categories as plant kingdom, tow ‘families’ of wild or cultivated plant, about 20 ‘genera’ of life forms and economic types, and more than 3000 species and over 1000 varieties, by the ‘two names’ in the paper as well.     

Medicinal plants of Erute county,Lira district,Uganda with particular reference to their conservation

A medicinal plant study was carried out in eighteen parishes and 54 villages of Erute county, Lira district, Uganda. Parishes and villages were selected using stratified random sampling techniques. Questionnaires, interviews and discussions with the local people were used to obtain information on the names of the plants, their medicinal uses and conservation methods. The number of the medicinal plants species used was 180 belonging to 144 genera and 57 families of flowering plants. The major families recorded for medicinal purpose included Fabaceae (37 species), Asteraceae (26 species), Euphorbiaceae (eleven species), Vitaceae (eight species), Verbenaceae (seven species), Poaceae (six species), Solanaceae (five species), and Rubiaceae (four species). There is a need for putting in place measures to conserve these plants. Unfortunately, most of the healers or users were not interested in cultivation of the plants. The situation could worsen with the social changes and demand for land for agriculture in the district.     

Comparison of the Homegardens of Eight Cultural Groups in Jinping County,Southwest China1

Comparison of the Homegardens of Eight Cultural Groups in Jinping County, Southwest China. Species growing in 124 homegardens in 15 villages inhabited by 8 cultural groups living in Jinping County, southwest China, were recorded, together with information on the uses of the species and other features of the gardens. Data were gathered using key informant interviews, participatory observation, and ecological sampling. The results showed that production of food for domestic use was the main function of the gardens. Other uses included plants for income generation, household-level construction, local health care, and for ecological purposes (confined to higher altitude homegardens). The primary floristic variation in the gardens was related to climatic change with altitude, with variations in the use of the gardens to grow plants for local healthcare being also significant. Homegardens can be clustered into two groups based on floristic composition—lower altitude gardens (including Dai, Zhuang, Homg, and Lahu) and higher altitude gardens (including Yao, Yi, Hani, and Han). Both cultural conservatism and a readiness to adapt to new economic conditions are reflected in the characteristics of the gardens. Homegardens maintain considerable conservation value as repositories of several species of endangered plants and several species of medicinal plants that are over-collected in the wild.