Diversity of Medicinal Plants among Different Forest-use Types of the Pakistani Himalaya

Datos Bibliográficos

ID8919844
AutoresMuhammad Adnan (0000-0001-9224-3824, Kohat University of Science and Technology, autor de correspondencia), Dirk Hölscher (0000-0002-7097-3102, University of Göttingen)
Año2012
Volumen66
Número4
Páginas344-356
Fecha de publicación2012-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaEconomic Botany (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0013-0001 • E-ISSN: 1874-9364
EditorialSpringer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1007/s12231-012-9213-4
PMID23293378
PMCIDPMC3531507
OpenAlexW2071708052
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas37

Diversity of Medicinal Plants among Different Forest-use Types of the Pakistani Himalaya Medicinal plants collected in Himalayan forests play a vital role in the livelihoods of regional rural societies and are also increasingly recognized at the international level. However, these forests are being heavily transformed by logging. Here we ask how forest transformation influences the diversity and composition of medicinal plants in northwestern Pakistan, where we studied old-growth forests, forests degraded by logging, and regrowth forests. First, an approximate map indicating these forest types was established and then 15 study plots per forest type were randomly selected. We found a total of 59 medicinal plant species consisting of herbs and ferns, most of which occurred in the old-growth forest. Species number was lowest in forest degraded by logging and intermediate in regrowth forest. The most valuable economic species, including six Himalayan endemics, occurred almost exclusively in old-growth forest. Species composition and abundance of forest degraded by logging differed markedly from that of old-growth forest, while regrowth forest was more similar to old-growth forest. The density of medicinal plants positively correlated with tree canopy cover in old-growth forest and negatively in degraded forest, which indicates that species adapted to open conditions dominate in logged forest. Thus, old-growth forests are important as refuge for vulnerable endemics. Forest degraded by logging has the lowest diversity of relatively common medicinal plants. Forest regrowth may foster the reappearance of certain medicinal species valuable to local livelihoods and as such promote acceptance of forest expansion and medicinal plants conservation in the region. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12231-012-9213-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Agriculture · Agroforestry · Biodiversity · Biology · Ecosystem · Endemism · Forest ecology · Forest farming · Forest restoration · Geography · Livelihood · Logging · Old-growth forest · Secondary forest · Species diversity · African Botany and Ecology Studies · Ecology · Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies · Ethnobotanical and Medicinal Plants Studies · Forestry