Medicinal flora and ethnoecological knowledge in the Naran Valley, Western Himalaya, Pakistan

Datos Bibliográficos

ID5296641
AutoresShujaul Mulk Khan (0000-0003-1217-6612), Susan Page (0000-0002-3392-9241), Sue Page, Habib Ahmad (0000-0002-2686-8217), Hamayun Shaheen (0000-0001-5978-192X), Zahid Ullah (0000-0002-5179-896X), Mushtaq Ahmad (0000-0002-0585-2080), David M Harper
Año2013
Volumen9
Número1
Páginas4-4
Fecha de publicación2013-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1746-4269 • E-ISSN: 1746-4269
EditorialSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1186/1746-4269-9-4
PMID23302393
PMCIDPMC3570439
OpenAlexW2096669105
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas41
Referencias citadas30

Background Mountain ecosystems all over the world support a high biological diversity and provide home and services to some 12% of the global human population, who use their traditional ecological knowledge to utilise local natural resources. The Himalayas are the world's youngest, highest and largest mountain range and support a high plant biodiversity. In this remote mountainous region of the Himalaya, people depend upon local plant resources to supply a range of goods and services, including grazing for livestock and medicinal supplies for themselves. Due to their remote location, harsh climate, rough terrain and topography, many areas within this region still remain poorly known for its floristic diversity, plant species distribution and vegetation ecosystem service. Methods The Naran valley in the north-western Pakistan is among such valleys and occupies a distinctive geographical location on the edge of the Western Himalaya range, close to the Hindu Kush range to the west and the Karakorum Mountains to the north. It is also located on climatic and geological divides, which further add to its botanical interest. In the present project 120 informants were interviewed at 12 main localities along the 60 km long valley. This paper focuses on assessment of medicinal plant species valued by local communities using their traditional knowledge. Results Results revealed that 101 species belonging to 52 families (51.5% of the total plants) were used for 97 prominent therapeutic purposes. The largest number of ailments cured with medicinal plants were associated with the digestive system (32.76% responses) followed by those associated with the respiratory and urinary systems (13.72% and 9.13% respectively). The ailments associated with the blood circulatory and reproductive systems and the skin were 7.37%, 7.04% and 7.03%, respectively. The results also indicate that whole plants were used in 54% of recipes followed by rhizomes (21%), fruits (9.5%) and roots (5.5%). Conclusion Our findings demonstrate the range of ecosystem services that are provided by the vegetation and assess how utilisation of plants will impact on future resource sustainability. The study not only contributes to an improved understanding of traditional ethno-ecological knowledge amongst the peoples of the Western Himalaya but also identifies priorities at species and habitat level for local and regional plant conservation strategies

Agroforestry · Biodiversity · Biology · Distribution (mathematics · Ecosystem · Ecosystem services · Flora (microbiology · Floristics · Geography · Grazing · Mountain range (options · Population · Range (aeronautics · Species richness · Vegetation (pathology · African Botany and Ecology Studies · Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies · Ethnobotanical and Medicinal Plants Studies · Ecology