Characteristics and functions of traditional homegardens:a review

Traditional agroecosystems play an important role in the conservation of biodiversity and in sustainable development.As a typical type of traditional agroecosystem,traditional homegardens have been receiving increasing attention from scientists,especially ethnobotanists.They are considered as germplasm banks for many crops and other economic plants.They are also a key site for domestication of wild plants.Current ethnobotanical studies on homegardens focus on their structures,floristic composition,and contributions to their owners.Traditional homegardens often show complicated structures,diverse floristic compositions,multiple functions,low input (including labor and money),and ecological and socioeconomic sustainability.The characteristics and functions of traditional homegardens are closely related to many factors,such as their geographic location and the cultural backgrounds and socioeconomic conditions of their owners.Many researches on homegardens are conducted in the tropics.There are few studies on the dynamics of traditional homegardens,especially those located in temperate,arid and semi-arid zones.The dynamics of homegardens and the factors affecting these processes will be a fruitful field for future research.     

Plant Diversity in Hmong and Mien Homegardens in Northern Thailand

Plant Diversity in Hmong and Mien Homegardens in Northern Thailand. We surveyed 180 homegardens in three Hmong and three Mien villages in northern Thailand to study their floristic diversity and composition and to understand the impact of forced migration and ecological conditions for the development of the rich homegarden flora. We also looked at the role of culturally important species as carriers of cultural identity. We found 406 species: 341 (99 families) and 270 species (90 families) in Hmong and Mien homegardens, respectively. Five lowland villages had the richest homegarden flora, in part due to the presence of many widespread species. Twenty-two species were widespread in tropical countries and found in most Hmong and Mien homegardens, and 14 additional common species were shared between Hmong and Mien homegardens. Seventeen species were exclusive to Hmong homegardens and eight to Mien homegardens; these we have designated as culturally important species. The presence of culturally important species determines the homegardens’ characteristics and reflects the cultural identity related to plant uses of a group. Similarities in floristic composition of the two groups can be attributed to widespread and common species. Floristic variation and diversity in homegardens were strongly related to homegarden geographical location, personal preference, and cultural background of the owners.     

Vegetative and reproductive phenology of some multipurpose tree species in the homegardens of Barak Valley, northeast India

Traditional homegardens are an important component of the farming systems in many rural communities and have been highlighted considerably due to their sustainability and role in the conservation of biodiversity. However, the functional aspect of the homegardens, which includes the phenological behavior of the dominant tree species in such agroforestry systems, has been undermined till date, and there is a lack of adequate data on this aspect of the traditional homegardens. As a step in this direction the present study was carried out to determine the phenological behavior of important multipurpose trees in the homegardens of the village of Dargakona, Assam, northeast India. The study revealed the dominance of periodic growth deciduous species from a total of 25 tree species selected for phenological observation. The diversity of multipurpose trees in the homegardens is represented by different plant functional types with different phenological behavior which showed significant changes in their responses to inter-annual climatic variations. The diversity of tree species with different phenological behavior has implications for the temporal partitioning of resources, especially during periods of scarcity, thereby resulting in efficient utilization of resources such as water. Also the diverse phenological behavior plays an important role in regulating the food supply for the herbivore population and the year-round availability of products, and such information can be useful in the selection of species for integration into other agroforestry systems which can be sustainable in the long run.     

Karen Homegardens: Characteristics,Functions, and Species Diversity

Diversity is one of the most important traits of homegardens and contributes to maintaining their functions. Here, we investigated the diversity, characteristics, and functions of 75 Karen homegardens from four villages in Chiang Mai and Tak provinces in northern Thailand. In each homegarden, all used plant species were registered and classified according to their main use. The diversity and richness in each homegarden was estimated and the stratification of plants in horizontal zones was investigated. A total 268 plant species were recorded, ranging from 100 to 146 species in each of the four villages. These plants were mostly kept in the homegarden yard or along their boundaries. The most common species were mango (Mangifera indica L.), jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.), guava (Psidium guajava L.), and taro Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott. Besides these species, most plants differed from one village to another. Distance between the homegardens was important; homegardens in the same village were more similar than those in different villages. However, beyond the individual level, the distances alone could not be used to determine similarity. Despite the variation of species found in homegardens, the function and horizontal stratification of the Karen homegardens shared many traits. They satisfied both physical and aesthetic needs to the Karen people as witnessed by the high proportion of food and ornamental species. The reverse effects of urbanization (we used the distance from the nearest urban area as a proxy) on the diversity of ornamental species was also observed. In general, Karen homegardens had high richness and diversity which directly benefited the conservation of plant species. This diversity promotes food security at the household and community levels.     

Pre-Columbian Floristic Legacies in Modern Homegardens of Central Amazonia

Historical ecologists have demonstrated legacy effects in apparently wild landscapes in Europe, North America, Mesoamerica, Amazonia, Africa and Oceania. People live and farm in archaeological sites today in many parts of the world, but nobody has looked for the legacies of past human occupations in the most dynamic areas in these sites: homegardens. Here we show that the useful flora of modern homegardens is partially a legacy of pre-Columbian occupations in Central Amazonia: the more complex the archaeological context, the more variable the floristic composition of useful native plants in homegardens cultivated there today. Species diversity was 10% higher in homegardens situated in multi-occupational archaeological contexts compared with homegardens situated in single-occupational ones. Species heterogeneity (β-diversity) among archaeological contexts was similar for the whole set of species, but markedly different when only native Amazonian species were included, suggesting the influence of pre-conquest indigenous occupations on current homegarden species composition. Our findings show that the legacy of pre-Columbian occupations is visible in the most dynamic of all agroecosystems, adding another dimension to the human footprint in the Amazonian landscape.     

Species composition, diversity, and use of homegardens among three Amazonian villages

Homegardens represent a traditional form of land use common in tropical regions of the world. Species composition, structure and function of homegardens may be influenced by ecological, socio-economic and cultural factors. The three villages in the Peruvian Amazon in which homegardens were studied differed in terms of cultural background, distance to urban markets and the influence of tourism. Data were collected on species composition, abundance and use of plants in the homegardens. Comparison of the three villages revealed that tourism had the greatest impact on species composition, diversity and use of plants in homegardens.     

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.     

Dynamics of phytoplankton in Finnish lakes

The studies on lake phytoplankton in Finland are reviewed and the major aspects of the phytoplankton dynamics are discussed. Special attention has been paid to the factors limiting productivity and species succession in different communities. After the early mainly taxonomical and floristic publications on phytoplankton at the end of last century, phytoplankton studies in lakes have proceeded along two different lines: 1) the species composition of communities and taxonomy, and 2) their production ecology or dynamics. Recently, both approaches have been combined, resulting in some profound ecological studies. In many lakes, phosphorus has been shown to be a limiting factor for phytoplankton productivity. However, it has also been shown that the irradiance and water temperature may effectively regulate the seasonal trend of phytoplankton productivity. This is the case especially in polyhumic forest lakes, where allochthonous material seems to play a major role also in primary production ecology.     

科尔沁沙地蒙古族和汉族庭园植物群落垂直结构与种类组成比较——以内蒙古科尔沁左翼后旗为例

在内蒙古通辽市科尔沁左翼后旗蒙古族居住地区采用随机抽样和农户推荐选择30个农户,同时在邻近地区的汉族选择了10个农户作为对比分析。庭园样方取样为整个庭园面积,设立40个样方进行调查。结果表明,内蒙古通辽市科尔沁左翼后旗蒙古族庭园和邻近地区汉族庭园植物垂直结构主要有0~1 m、1~2 m、2~5 m、5~10 m、10 m等五类,其中不论是小规模庭园还是大规模庭园,5 m以下的阶层占优势;两个民族庭园植物种植模式研究结果阐明科尔沁左翼后旗蒙古族与邻近汉族相比,目前很少栽培观赏植物,仍停留在与日常生活相关的蔬菜植物栽培的水平上,而邻近的汉族已开始注重栽培美化环境的庭园植物。此外,本研究运用MVSP统计软件分析庭园类型表明科尔沁左翼后旗蒙古族庭园主要有4种类型,邻近的汉族庭园有3种类型,并且当地蒙古族与邻近的汉族庭园有所差异,这些差异是由两个民族间农耕文化传统以及畜牧业植物文化差异、庭园面积、庭园历史及庭园管理水平、传统植物利用知识的差异所造成。     

Phytogeographical analysis of seed plant genera in China

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: A central goal of biogeography and ecology is to uncover and understand distributional patterns of organisms. China has long been a focus of attention because of its rich biota, especially with respect to plants. Using 290 floras from across China, this paper quantitatively characterizes the composition of floristic elements at multiple scales (i.e. national, provincial and local), and explores the extent to which climatic and geographical factors associated with each flora can jointly and independently explain the variation in floristic elements in local floras. METHODS: A study was made of 261 local floras, 28 province-level floras and one national-level flora across China. Genera of seed plants in each flora were assigned to 14 floristic elements according to their worldwide geographical distributions. The composition of floristic elements was related to climatic and geographical factors. KEY RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Variations in percentages of cosmopolitan, tropical and temperate genera among local floras tend to be greater at higher latitudes than at lower latitudes. Latitude is strongly correlated with the proportions of 13 of the 14 floristic elements. Correlations of the proportions of floristic elements with longitude are much weaker than those with latitude. Climate represented by the first principal component of a principal component analysis was strongly correlated with the proportions of floristic elements in local floras (|r| = 0.75 +/- 0.18). Geographical coordinates independently explained about four times as much variation in floristic elements as did climate. Further research is necessary to examine the roles of water-energy dynamics, geology, soils, biotic interactions, and historical factors such as land connections between continents in the past and at present in creating observed floristic patterns.     

The Vertical Structure and Composition of Homegarden Plants in the Horqin Sandy Land of the Mongols——A case study in the Horqin Juun Garon County of Inner Mongolia

Used the random sampling and recommendation, 30 households of Mongolian in Horqin Juun Garon Country were selected to compare with 10 households of Han nationality which lives in the region of nearby. Forty sampling plots of homegardens were investigated. The results indicates that the perpendicular structure of homegarden plants in Mongolian and Han nationality can be classified to 0-1m, 1-2m, 2-5m, 5-10m, and higher than 10m. The perpendicular structure lower than 5m is predominance in both large and small homegardens. Comparing the cultivation pattern in two nationality, Mongolia still stay in the level of vegetable cultivation which relaled to the daily life, the plants for view and admire are very few at present. But Han nationality have started attaching importance to the view and admire homegarden plants. Besides, this research applied the software MVSP to analyze the type of homegardens and indacates that the homegarden of Mongolian in Horqin Juun Garon Country have four categories, and Han nationality have three categories. The results indicate that there are many differences between Mongolian and Han nationality. This is caused by the differences between the two nationalities in traditional farming culture, animal husbandry culture, the area of homegarden, the history of homegarden, the management of homegarden, and the traditional botanical knowledge on plant species utilization.     

Can Homegardens Conserve Biodiversity in Bangladesh?

In managed landscapes, tree-dominated habitats often show promise for biodiversity conservation. In Bangladesh where natural forest cover is less than 10 percent, homegardens, which are maintained by at least 20 millions households, represent one possible strategy for biodiversity conservation. This study investigated the floristic and structural diversity of 402 homegardens from six regions across southwestern Bangladesh. All plants were censused, totaling 419 species (59% native), including six IUCN Red Listed. The median homegarden (800 m²) contained a mean of 34 species. Each region contained a mean of 293 species in a mean of 67 homegardens. A total of 49,478 individuals (107 per homegarden and 1003 per hectare) of trees and shrubs were counted from 45.2 ha total sampled area. Thus, significant botanical richness was exhibited in the homegardens across southwestern Bangladesh. However, most species were rare: 82 percent of all species including 189 native were found in 50 or fewer homegardens, and 63 species (36 native) were found in only one or two homegardens. Sixty percent of all tree and shrub species had 50 or fewer individuals each. Thus, whereas richness across the landscape was high, serious effort must be made to increase the populations of most species. We propose three main conservation activities: (1) awareness building; (2) protection of existing individuals of rare species; and (3) propagation. Overlaying all of these activities is the inclusion of local communities in the process, who were the ones to retain these species in homegardens in the first place, and the stakeholders who will determine whether homegardens indeed act as long-term repositories to biodiversity conservation.     

Homegardens and their role as a main source of medicinal plants in mountain regions of Catalonia (Iberian peninsula)

In this paper the validity of the homegardens in Catalonia is analyzed from data obtained in two ethnobotanical studies carried out in the districts (comarques) of Pallars Jussà and Pallars Sobirà (Pyrenees) and in the Montseny Massif (Catalan Prelittoral Range). We classified nine groups of plants by their uses and their situation in the homegarden. We centered our analysis on medicinal plants lato sensu (curative, palliative, symptomatic, prophylactic, used for diagnosis, placebos or with other health uses). More than 50% of the species used in these regions are in the homegardens, either expressly cultivated, wild, or indirectly favored by agricultural practices. If the whole range of human daily activity is considered (including the ruderal and weedy flora, and plants cultivated in fields and orchards) the proportion surpasses 80%.     

Homegardens in Smallholder Farming Systems: Examples From Bangladesh

Homegardens are integral part of rural households in Bangladesh. The present study examines some physical, biological, and socioeconomic characteristics of 32 homegardens randomly selected from four villages representing different agro-ecological conditions, variable population densities, and market opportunities. The study results suggest that large numbers of plant and animal species occupy homegardens, and their composition and intensity of cultivation vary directly with the household physiologic density and access to urban markets, and inversely with environmental constraints to agriculture. Homegardens form the activity space for household women and children, who perform most homegarden farming tasks. Uses of home generated inputs at no or low cost make homegardens economically more efficient and sustainable compared to non-homegarden rice farming. In the context of the intensive subsistence agriculture patterns that dominate Bangladesh, homegardens contribute significantly to smallholder household income.     

Assessing the Impacts of Agrobiodiversity Maintenance on Food Security Among Farming Households in Sri Lanka’s Dry Zone

Farmers’ maintenance of agrobiodiversity is fundamental to global food security, particularly in a world increasingly affected by climate change. Biodiversity helps to buffer agroecosystems from stresses like climatic variability, and the crop genetic diversity conserved with biodiverse agroecosystems is critical for plant breeding both locally and globally. Yet, despite these benefits, few studies have directly assessed the implications of household–level agrobiodiversity maintenance on household food security. Drawing on survey data collected in Sri Lanka’s Hambantota District, we evaluated the plant diversity maintained by small–scale farming households in both homegardens and crop fields and determined the relationships between this diversity and their households’ food security. We also considered how a suite of additional demographic, household, community, and farm characteristics relate to both the plant diversity maintained by a household and their food security. Similar to previous studies, the age of the agricultural decision-maker and the age and size of households’ homegardens positively correlated with the overall species richness of farming systems. Older homegardens were also identified to be more evenly distributed in their species abundance, and market–oriented households had significantly higher species richness but lower Shannon Indices. Most notably, household socioeconomic status and material wealth were important to both agrobiodiversity maintenance and household food security, while no significant relationships between species richness and food security measures were detected. These findings suggest that effort aiming to increase the food security of small–scale farming households in Sri Lanka, and elsewhere, should target those farming households with a paucity of socioeconomic assets, as these households lack both agroecological and economic resources to overcome shocks, such as those associated with climate change.     

Ethnobotanical Study of Traditional Building Materials from the Island of Bali,Indonesia

Ethnobotanical Study of Traditional Building Materials from the Island of Bali, Indonesia. Local knowledge of plant-based building materials has long been part of Balinese tradition. In order to better understand this particular tradition, we carried out a comprehensive ethnobotanical study of 13 aga villages. The data were obtained through semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. Seventy-eight species of plants were identified, comprising 63 genera and 34 families, of which 46% are native to the Flora Malesiana floristic region, 20% to the Indian floristic region, and 17% to the Indochinese floristic region. Ninety-one percent were trees. The most frequently used part was the stem (88%). The main use categories reported for building materials were houses (58%), religious uses (Balinese Hindu temple; 35%), stables (5%), and barns (2%). Thirty-eight percent appeared in more than one use category. Arenga pinnata (Wurmb) Merr. and Magnolia champaca (L.) Baill. ex Pierre were the two species that possessed the highest values in the preference ranking for use value (UV) followed by Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. Species richness differed substantially between villages according to their different levels of traditional knowledge preservation. Despite the impact of the fast-growing tourist industry and the decline of local knowledge, the Balinese who live in the study areas still depend on locally available indigenous plant species for their building materials. The cultivation of these indigenous plants is in a period of crisis, especially with regard to conservation.     

Role of plant dehydrins in antioxidation mechanisms

Plant antioxidation system is composed of a series of complex mechanisms, in which many antioxidants including some special proteins are involved. Dehydrins are a family of late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins which usually accumulate in plants during late embryogenesis or in response to environmental stresses. They were suggested to be associated with specific protective functions in plant cells, such as preventing coagulation of macromolecules and maintaining integrity of crucial cell structures. In recent years, many studies implied that dehydrins also play an antioxidative role to alleviate oxidative damage in stressed plants. They were proposed to scavenge radicals directly and sequester metals which are sources for radical generation to avoid the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this paper, we will discuss the novel putative role of dehydrins in plant antioxidation mechanisms and how dehydrins perform their antioxidative activity.     

The Banana Forests of Kilimanjaro: Biodiversity and Conservation of the Chagga Homegardens

Natural flora, vegetation, diversity and structure of 62 traditional coffee–banana plantations on Kilimanjaro were investigated and compared with the other vegetation formations on this volcano on basis of over 1400 plots following the method of Braun-Blanquet. The vegetation of the so-called Chagga homegardens belongs floristically to the formation of ruderal vegetation forming two main communities that are determined by altitude. These coffee–banana plantations maintain a high biodiversity with about 520 vascular plant species including over 400 non-cultivated plants. Most species (194) occurring in the Chagga homegardens are forest species, followed by 128 ruderal species, including 41 neophytes. Typical of the agroforestry system of the Chagga homegardens is their multilayered vegetation structure similar to a tropical montane forest with trees, shrubs, lianas, epiphytes and herbs. Beside relicts of the former forest cover, which lost most of their former habitats, there are on the other hand (apophytic) forest species, which were directly or indirectly favoured by the land use of the Chagga people. High demand of wood, the introduction of coffee varieties that are sun-tolerant and low coffee prizes on the world marked endanger this effective and sustainable system.     

Habitat preferences of some red‐listed alpine plants in Scandinavia

Scandinavian alpine vascular plants are red‐listed (R‐L) according to criteria defined by IUCN. These are based on an evaluation of their risk for extinction in the future, which for most alpine plants have been related to possible effects of climate change. In the present study, ecological characteristics of R‐L alpine plants are inferred from their occurrence in previously studied alpine plant communities. In total, data on 231 communities were compiled from studies in Norway and Sweden, and a total of 39 red‐listed vascular plants were found in 142 of them. The data were analysed by numerical analyses in order to assess if and how communities with and without R‐L species differ in terms of floristic composition and environmental conditions. The analysies show that most of the R‐L plants are situated at the ends of the main floristic gradients extracted by Detrended Correspondense Analysis (DCA). These extremes are interpreted to represent high‐altitudinal communities with long‐lasting snow cover. In productive communities dominated with herbs and ferns, R‐L plants are few or missing. A Principal Components Analysis (PCA) indicated that the R‐L species form a heterogeneous group both in terms of ecology, abundance, and geographic distribution. Some of the communities were considered to be especially valuable because they included several (up to eight) R‐L plants. Such communities are found in the upper part of the middle alpine or high alpine zone (460–675 m above the forest limit) and on calcareous substrate. It may generally be assumed that alpine plants with optima at the edges of the floristic gradients may be especially vulnerable to climate changes.     

Cultural,economic, and ecological factors influencing management of wild plants and mushrooms interchanged in Purépecha markets of Mexico

Background

Traditional markets outstandingly contribute to conservation of biocultural diversity, social relations, and cultural values. These markets reflect life strategies and forms people of a region interact with their biodiversity and territories, as well as traditional ecological knowledge and management practices. To understand the factors motivating plant and mushroom management, we analyzed the resources cultural and economic values, their role in people’s subsistence, and the relation of these values with the resources spatial and temporal availability. Our study based on the supposition that traditional markets are settings of interchange of resources with the highest importance for people’s life in a region. Also, that the cultural, economic, and ecological factors influence values of the resources, and the demand on them determine pressures on the most valuable resources which, when scarce, motivate management innovation, otherwise become extinct.

Methods

We documented cultural, economic, and ecological aspects, as well as management techniques of wild and weedy plants and mushrooms interchanged in three traditional markets of the Pátzcuaro Lake region, in central-western Mexico. For doing that, from February 2015 to March 2018, we conducted 175 visits to markets and 89 semi-structured interviews to producers, gatherers, and sellers of wild and weedy plants and mushrooms. Based on participant observation and interviews, we identified variables related to culture, economic, and ecological aspects, as well as management regimes of resources and management systems, which were documented and used as indicators for quantitative analyses. Through principal components analyses (PCA), we determined the indexes of cultural and economic importance (ICEI), management intensity (IMI), and ecological risk (IR) of the resources studied. For conducting that, we classified plant and mushroom species according to their cultural, economic, ecological, and technological indicators, respectively. The score of the first principal component was considered as the index for each group of variables, respectively. To identify relations between cultural importance and risk, we performed linear regression analyses between ICEI and IR indexes.

Results

We recorded 57 species of wild and weedy plants used as food, medicine, and ornamental, and 17 species of edible mushrooms. The variables with the highest weight in the ICEI are related to the need of a resource according to people, its recognizing, the number of communities and markets offering it in markets, its explicit preference expressed by people, the effort invested in obtaining it, and the form it is interchanged. Gathering is practiced in all mushrooms and wild and weedy plants from forests and agricultural areas; 11 species in addition receive 1 or more forms of management (enhancing, selective let standing, propagation through seeds or vegetative parts, transplantation, and/or protection). The management intensity and complexity are explained by variables related to management practices and systems. Plants receiving selective management have the higher management intensity. Silvicultural management (in situ management in forests) was recorded in all species of mushrooms, as well as in more than 80% of medicinal, ceremonial and ornamental plants, and in more than 50% of the edible plants. In agricultural systems, people manage more than 90% of the edible plants recorded to be under a management regime, 25% of the managed medicinal plants, and 30.7% of the managed ceremonial and ornamental plants. In homegardens, people manage 41.6% of the medicinal plants recorded and 26.6% of the edible plants, to have them available near home. Nearly 63% of the species interchanged in the markets studied are gathered in forests without any other management form. In this group are included all mushroom species, 61.5% of ceremonial/ornamental plants, 50% of medicinal, and 33.3% of edible plants. The linear regression between ICEI an IER is significantly negative for edible species with high management intensity R²?=?0.505 (p?=?0.0316), because of their management. But in medicinal and ornamental plants, the risk is high if the cultural importance increases, even when management practices like transplanting and propagation in homegardens are carried out.

Conclusions

Traditional markets are settings of interchange of products, knowledge, and experiences, where the ongoing factors and processes motivating management innovation can be identified and documented. This approach allows documenting processes occurring at regional level but would be benefited from deeper studies at local level in communities.