Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine最新文献

{"title":"Wild edible plants of the Yao people in Jianghua, China: plant-associated traditional knowledge and practice vital for food security and ecosystem service.","authors":"Qiong Fang, Zhuo Cheng, Ruifei Zhang, Binsheng Luo, Chunlin Long","doi":"10.1186/s13002-024-00724-6","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13002-024-00724-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and practice associated with wild edible plants (WEPs) is an important part of local culture of the Yao people in Jianghua Yao Autonomous County, which possesses the biggest population of Yao ethnic group in China. Economic development, urbanization, and transition of lifestyle and changing interests of the younger generations risk loss of such valuable knowledge. However, no record had been reported about WEPs from the Yao communities of Jianghua County. It is urgent to assemble data on the major WEPs and their uses in Jianghua. This can be used to educate and stimulate new interest in these WEPs, to aid inheritance and improvement of cultural identity and confidence, to enhance local resilience to various changes and to suggest pathways for novel and value-added applications to create new local business opportunities.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>To record WEPs associated with TEK and practice, we conducted field surveys in 2018, 2019 and 2023. The ethnobotanical methods such as free-listing, participatory observation, semi-structured interview, and market survey were adopted in the field investigations. Information about WEPs including vernacular names, parts used, ways of use, and collection time were recorded. Voucher specimens were collected, identified, and deposited in the herbarium at Minzu University of China, in Beijing.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Totally, 81 Yao people from 12 villages were interviewed. WEPs traditionally play a crucial role in Yao peoples' daily lives. A total of 130 plant species from 89 genera and 49 families were recorded. The plants collected showed great diversity and reflected unique local culture. Most (54.5%) WEPs were also used as medicines. Baba can be defined as a cultural identity food, and WEPs are commonly used as tea substitutes for their health benefits.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>We conclude that WEPs use is facing great challenges in a rapidly changing era. Preservation of WEPs related practice and knowledge is not only important for conserving local biocultural diversity, but also valuable in providing potential functional and healthy materials for food security and future economic development. Cultivation of young generations' interest in nature and biodiversity, combined with local policy to enhance public awareness are recommended.</p>","PeriodicalId":49162,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine","volume":"20 1","pages":"80"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11360554/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142094096","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Conservation of wild food plants from wood uses: evidence supporting the protection hypothesis in Northeastern Brazil.","authors":"Roberta de Almeida Caetano, Emilly Luize Guedes da Silva, Luis Fernando Colin-Nolasco, Rafael Ricardo Vasconcelos da Silva, Adriana Rosa Carvalho, Patrícia Muniz de Medeiros","doi":"10.1186/s13002-024-00719-3","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13002-024-00719-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The interplay between different uses of woody plants remains underexplored, obscuring our understanding of how a plant's value for one purpose might shield it from other, more harmful uses. This study examines the protection hypothesis by determining if food uses can protect woody plants (trees and shrubs) from wood uses. We approached the hypothesis from two distinct possibilities: (1) the protective effect is proportional to the intensity of a species' use for food purposes, and (2) the protective effect only targets key species for food purposes.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The research was conducted in a rural community within \"Restinga\" vegetation in Northeast Brazil. To identify important food species for both consumption and income (key species) and the collection areas where they naturally occur, we conducted participatory workshops. We then carried out a floristic survey in these areas to identify woody species that coexist with the key species. Voucher specimens were used to create a field herbarium, which, along with photographs served as visual stimuli during the checklist interviews. The interviewees used a five-point Likert scale to evaluate the species in terms of perceived wood quality, perceived availability, and use for food and wood purposes. To test our hypothesis, we used Cumulative Link Mixed Models (CLMMs), with the wood use as the response variable, food use, perceived availability and perceived quality as the explanatory variables and the interviewee as a random effect. We performed the same model replacing food use for key species food use (a binary variable that had value 1 when the information concerned a key species with actual food use, and value 0 when the information did not concern a key species or concerned a key species that was not used for food purposes).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Consistent with our hypothesis, we identified a protective effect of food use on wood use. However, this effect is not directly proportional to the species' food use, but is confined to plants with considerable domestic food importance. Perceived availability and quality emerged as notable predictors for wood uses.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>We advocate for biocultural conservation strategies that enhance the food value of plants for their safeguarding, coupled with measures for non-edible woody species under higher use-pressure.</p>","PeriodicalId":49162,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine","volume":"20 1","pages":"81"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11360515/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142094095","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Faith healing: the threat of \"Surucucu\" and the local cure of Amazon floodplain dwellers.","authors":"Beatriz Nunes Cosendey, Juarez Carlos Brito Pezzuti","doi":"10.1186/s13002-024-00715-7","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13002-024-00715-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Snakebites are considered a neglected tropical disease responsible for many accidents, some fatal, and are related to poverty. The Brazilian Amazon has the highest incidence of snakebites per inhabitant, with the state of Pará having the most reported cases. For those who have difficult access to hospitals and pharmacies, this issue is even more urgent.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this research, we worked together with the population of five riverine communities in Aritapera (Santarém-PA), a fluvial island located in the Lower Amazon floodplain (várzeas), in order to identify the species of venomous snakes and create a record of snakebites in the region and treatments carried out.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Dwellers reported a high frequency of encounters throughout the year and mentioned five venomous ethnospecies, although we identified only Bothrops atrox. Approximately 28.7% of the participants had already been bitten, and in 15.8% of the interviews, they mentioned deaths from snakebites. The treatments varied between hospitalization (42.8%), home treatments (23.8%), both together (25.4%) and healers (7.9%). There were cases where no treatment, or just religious treatment, was performed. In general, no serious sequelae were reported. Although home treatments were more common in the past, many people maintained the practice of using them before going to the hospital. Among the most used are Pau X and the fat of the Amazon River Dolphin. The latter appears to be a recent discovery by locals and is considered very efficient both for humans and animals.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Difficult access to health centers, a lack of energy to store antivenom and a high rate of encounters with snake place Aritapera dwellers in a vulnerable situation regarding snakebite accidents. In this context, they discovered treatments that improved their well-being until hospitalization. As the Amazon River dolphin is an endangered species, the use of its fat requires attention. In this sense, the dissemination of this knowledge is important to encourage studies that investigate which properties of this fat act as counterpoisons. By discovering substitutes that can be incorporated in other rural and remote communities, an economic and ecologically viable option for the health of residents can be promoted, in addition to valuing traditional knowledge.</p>","PeriodicalId":49162,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine","volume":"20 1","pages":"79"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11342604/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142047409","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Socioeconomic benefits associated with bats.","authors":"Siya Aggrey, Innocent B Rwego, Eric Sande, Joyce D Khayiyi, Robert M Kityo, Charles Masembe, Rebekah C Kading","doi":"10.1186/s13002-024-00720-w","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13002-024-00720-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>While bats are tremendously important to global ecosystems, they have been and continue to be threatened by loss of habitat, food, or roosts, pollution, bat diseases, hunting and killing. Some bat species have also been implicated in the transmission of infectious disease agents to humans. While One Health efforts have been ramped up recently to educate and protect human and bat health, such initiatives have been limited by lack of adequate data on the pathways to ensure their support. For instance, data on the role of bats in supporting different components of human welfare assets would be utilized as a stepping stone to champion conservation campaigns. Unfortunately, these data are limited and efforts to synthesize existing literature have majorly focused on few components human welfare leaving other important aspects.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Here, we analyze benefits associated with bats in the context of welfare economics considering all the asset components. We surveyed scientific and gray literature platforms utilizing particular keywords. We then classified these values using integrated approaches to understand different values across human welfare assets of \"health,\" \"material and immaterial assets,\" \"security or safety\" and \"social or cultural or spiritual relations\".</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We found 235 papers from different countries indicating that bats play fundamental roles in supporting human welfare. These benefits were more prevalent in Asia and Africa. In terms of the use of bats to support welfare assets, bats were majorly utilized to derive material and immaterial benefits (n = 115), e.g., food and income. This was followed by their use in addressing health challenges (n = 99), e.g., treatment of ailments. There was a similarity in the benefits across different regions and countries.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These results indicate potential opportunities for strengthening bat conservation programs. We recommend more primary studies to enhance understanding of these benefits as well as their effectiveness in deriving the perceived outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":49162,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine","volume":"20 1","pages":"78"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11337575/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142009833","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The nexus between ecology of foraging and food security: cross-cultural perceptions of wild food plants in Kashmir Himalaya.","authors":"Syed Waseem Gillani, Mushtaq Ahmad, Muhammad Manzoor, Muhammad Waheed, Zafar Iqbal, Riaz Ullah, Andrea Pieroni, Lixin Zhang, Naji Sulaiman, Mousaab Alrhmoun","doi":"10.1186/s13002-024-00721-9","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13002-024-00721-9","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background: &lt;/strong&gt;Wild food plants (WFPs) play an important role in the traditional dietary habits of various indigenous communities worldwide, particularly in mountainous regions. To understand the dynamics of food preferences, cross-cultural studies on food plants should be conducted across diverse ethnic groups in a given area. In this context, the current study investigated the use of WFPs by seven different cultural groups in the Kashmir Himalayan Region. In this area, people gather wild plants and their parts for direct consumption, traditional foods, or sale in local markets. Despite this reliance, documentation of the food system, especially concerning WFPs, is notably lacking. Hence, our research aimed to document WFPs, along with associated traditional ecological knowledge, and identify major threats to their long-term sustainability in Division Muzaffarabad.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methods: &lt;/strong&gt;Through a comprehensive approach involving questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, and market surveys, we gathered data from 321 respondents. PCA was performed to analyze threats and plant use using \"factoextra\" in R software. Origin Pro was used to create a chord diagram, while R software was used to generate a Polar heat map. Additionally, a Venn diagram was created using Bioinformatics software.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;The study included 321 informants, of whom 75.38% were men and 24.61% were women. In total, 113 plant taxa from 74 genera and 41 botanical families were reported. Polygonaceae and Rosaceae accounted for the majority (17 species each), followed by Lamiaceae (7 species). Leaves were the most used part as food sources (41.04%), followed by fruits (33.33%). Most of the species are consumed as cooked (46.46%) and as raw snacks (37.80%). A total of 47 plant species were collected and cooked as wild vegetables, followed by 40 species used as fruits. This study is the first to describe the market potential and ecological distribution of WFPs in the study area. Cross-comparison showed that utilization of WFPs varies significantly across the region and communities, including their edible parts and mode of consumption. Jaccard index (JI) value ranged from 5.81 to 25. Furthermore, the current study describes 29 WFPs and 10 traditional food dishes that have rarely been documented in Pakistan's ethnobotanical literature. Climate change, invasive species, expansion of agriculture, and plant diseases are some of the most significant threats to WFPs in the study area.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions: &lt;/strong&gt;The older age group has more knowledge about WFPs compared to the younger generation, who are not interested in learning about the utilization of WFPs. This lack of interest in information about WFPs among the younger generation can be attributed to their limited access to markets and availability of food plants in the study area. Traditional gathering of food plants has been reduced in younger generations during recent years;","PeriodicalId":49162,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine","volume":"20 1","pages":"77"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11330618/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142001123","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Do socioeconomic factors and local human preference determine the hybridization of knowledge in local medical systems?","authors":"Jorge Izaquiel Alves de Siqueira, Gustavo Taboada Soldati, Washington Soares Ferreira-Júnior, Flávia Rosa Santoro, Luci de Senna Valle","doi":"10.1186/s13002-024-00722-8","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13002-024-00722-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Hybridization between the local medical systems (LMSs) and biomedicine has been the focus of different studies in ethnobiology, primarily due to the increasing access to biomedicine by indigenous peoples and local communities. Studies on hybridization allow for an understanding of the process of developing and evolving local knowledge systems. In this study, we propose a hybridization score to determine how individuals' socioeconomic characteristics and preference between LMS and biomedicine determine the complementarity of therapeutic options.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted semistructured interviews and applied free listing technique in a rural community in Northeast Brazil to assess the treatments the local population sought and which were preferred.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our analyses showed that the level of schooling was the socioeconomic factor that negatively affected the hybridization process. Individuals with higher levels of schooling tended to prefer LMS strategies less and, consequently, showed a lower probability of hybridizing the two systems. Additionally, older people who preferred LMS strategies showed a greater tendency to adopt hybridization in human health-seeking behavior.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our findings provide further evidence of the complementarity between different medical systems and demonstrate that socioeconomic factors can affect local knowledge and are responsible for differences in individual propensity to hybridize distinct medical systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":49162,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine","volume":"20 1","pages":"76"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11330609/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141996750","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used to treat human ailments in Quara district, northwestern Ethiopia.","authors":"Daniel Tadesse, Getinet Masresha, Ermias Lulekal","doi":"10.1186/s13002-024-00712-w","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13002-024-00712-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Ethiopia is recognized as one of the centers of origin for the diversity of many plant species, including medicinal plants. Throughout the country, a large proportion of the population relies on these therapeutic plant species for primary healthcare. While such traditional medicinal knowledge has been documented in some regions, there is a lack of information from the Quara district of northwestern Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to document the indigenous and local knowledge of the use of medicinal plants among three ethnic groups residing in the area.</p><p><strong>Methodology: </strong>An ethnobotanical study was conducted from August 2022 to October 2023 in ten kebeles of the Quara district. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, field walks, and focus group discussions with 286 informants using snowball, purposive, and random sampling techniques. Quantitative analyses included Rahman's similarity index (RSI), informant consensus factor (ICF), and direct matrix ranking (DMR). Descriptive statistics were used to analyze basic ethnobotanical data.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 128 medicinal plant species from 112 genera and 50 families were documented and used to treat 14 disease categories. There was a 28% overlap in medicinal plant knowledge among the three ethnic groups studied. Fabaceae was the most represented family with 22 species. Trees accounted for the majority of the documented plants (37.5%), and leaves were the most commonly used plant parts (23.1%). Oral administration (56.7%) of plant extracts was the primary mode of remedy preparation and use. The highest ICF value (0.93) was recorded for circulatory and blood-related disorders. The study identified nine plants and 39 therapeutic uses not previously reported in Ethiopia. The RSI showed high overlap with neighboring areas and low similarity with distant areas. Top-ranked multipurpose plants were Ziziphus spina-christi and Terminalia leiocarpa, with agricultural expansion and fuelwood collection identified as major threats.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The findings demonstrate the rich diversity of medicinal plants and associated traditional knowledge in the Quara district. The high ethnobotanical indices warrant further phytochemical and pharmacological investigations. Integrated conservation efforts are recommended to address the challenges facing these valuable plant resources.</p>","PeriodicalId":49162,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine","volume":"20 1","pages":"75"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11317005/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141914352","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Beyond the border: comparative ethnobotany in Valmalenco (SO, Italy) and Valposchiavo (Canton of Grisons, Switzerland).","authors":"Fabrizia Milani, Martina Bottoni, Lorenzo Colombo, Paola Sira Colombo, Piero Bruschi, Claudia Giuliani, Gelsomina Fico","doi":"10.1186/s13002-024-00718-4","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13002-024-00718-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The ethnobotanical analysis of two bordering areas allows for the in-depth understanding of the dynamics of Local Ecological Knowledge, which mirrors the naturalistic, historical, and sociopolitical features of each area. As part of the Interreg Italy-Switzerland B-ICE&Heritage and GEMME projects, this work is an ethnobotanical comparative study of two neighboring Alpine territories: Valmalenco (Italy) and Valposchiavo (Switzerland).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A total of 471 informants were interviewed on different fields of use (medicinal, food, veterinary, etc.). All data were organized in Excel™ spreadsheets. Informant Consensus Factor was calculated for the pathologies reported. Jaccard's similarity indices were calculated to compare the Valmalenco and Valposchiavo areas. Subsequently, another comparison between Valmalenco/Valposchiavo and Italian/Swiss Alpine neighboring areas was carried out.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The number of taxa for Valmalenco was 227 (77 families) and 226 in Valposchiavo (65). Out of the 10 most cited species, 7 were mentioned in both. Arnica montana L. was the most cited in Valmalenco, and Sambucus nigra L. in Valposchiavo. The 5 most cited families were the same. Regarding the medicinal and food fields, the similarity indices were fairly low (0.31 and 0.34 for the species; 0.22 and 0.31 for the uses). Concerning the comparison with Italian and Swiss Alps, similarity values were slightly higher with Italy (Valmalenco food species: 0.38 with Italy and 0.26 with Switzerland, medicinal: 0.26 IT and 0.14 SW; Valposchiavo food species: 0.36 with IT and 0.26 with SW, medicinal: 0.21 IT and 0.14 SW).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Although Valmalenco and Valposchiavo partly share natural environment, language, history, and culture, they had low similarity indices. They both seemed to have more similarities with Italy than Switzerland, maintaining low values with the surrounding territories too. They showed a common core of Local Ecological Knowledge with several divergent branches possibly due to pivotal historical happenings, as well as more modern external influences.</p>","PeriodicalId":49162,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine","volume":"20 1","pages":"74"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11304819/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141903390","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Farmers' knowledge in the Swiss canton Valais: cultural heritage with future significance for European veterinary medicine?","authors":"Laura Arcangela Holzner, Matthias Hamburger, Maja Dal Cero, Ariane Maeschli, Christian R Vogl, Beat Meier, Michael Walkenhorst, Theresa Schlittenlacher","doi":"10.1186/s13002-024-00716-6","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13002-024-00716-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The demand for natural product-based treatment options for livestock is increasing by animals' owners, veterinarians and policy makers. But at the same time, the traditional knowledge about it is at risk of falling into oblivion in Europe. The present study recorded this knowledge for the linguistically and geographically interesting Swiss canton of Valais.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Open, semi-structured interviews were used to collect detailed information on formulations and applications, including plant species and natural substances, origin of material, extraction and preparation of herbal products, indication and type of application, dosage, sources of knowledge, frequency of usage and self-assessment of the treatment.</p><p><strong>Results and discussion: </strong>In the course of 43 interviews, 173 homemade single species herbal remedy report (HSHR) were recorded. They included 53 plant species from 30 botanical families. Plant species from the botanical families of Asteraceae, Rubiaceae and Cupressaceae were mentioned the most, while the most frequently documented plant species were Coffea arabica L., Juniperus sabina L., Arnica montana L. and Matricaria chamomilla L. For the 173 HSHR, a total of 215 uses were mentioned, most of which were for the treatment of gastrointestinal and metabolic disorders, followed by skin lesions and genito-urinary tract problems. Regional peculiarities emerged, such as the use of Leontopodium alpinum Cass. for diarrhea in the French-speaking Valais, while Matricaria chamomilla and Camellia sinensis L. were used in the German-speaking part instead. In comparison with other regions of Switzerland, 10 plants were reported for the first time, including Juniperus sabina with 18 use reports.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The daily use on farms and the high satisfaction of farmers with homemade herbal remedies demonstrate their high practical relevance. In conclusion, the traditional regional knowledge about the use of medicinal plants is not only a cultural heritage worth protecting, but also an essential resource for the further development of European veterinary medicine.</p>","PeriodicalId":49162,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine","volume":"20 1","pages":"73"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11301829/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141894746","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ethnozoological study of medicinal animals used by the inhabitants of the Kucha District, Gamo Zone, Southern Ethiopia.","authors":"Meselech Mengistu, Mulugeta Kebebew, Victor Benno Meyer-Rochow","doi":"10.1186/s13002-024-00714-8","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13002-024-00714-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>An ethnozoological study of medicinal animals in the Kucha district, Gamo zone, Southern Ethiopia, was conducted to investigate and document the use of traditional medicinal animals and the associated indigenous knowledge. Tribal people still make abundant use of animals and their parts to manage diseases in humans and even livestock.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>A cross sectional study design and purposively sampling techniques were used. Data were collected from 132 respondents based on semi structured questionnaires. Focus group discussions (FGD) and Key informant interviews (KII) were conducted; Fidelity level (FL), Relative frequency of citation (RFC) and Informants' consensus factor (ICF) were used to analyze species preference and importance.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 24 medicinal animals were identified with 13 species (54.2%) being mammals of which 5 species (20.8%) dominated. They were followed by arthropods, reptiles and fishes. Seven out of the total were domestic species (29%) and 17 (70%) were wild animals. The majority of these animals, i.e. 22 (91.7%), were used to treat human ailments; whereas 2 (8.3%) were used to treat livestock ailments. The ICF values varied from 0.8 to 1.The highest FL value (98%) was linked to the cow (cattle), the lowest (1.5%) to the scorpion. The RFC value (1.0) was highest for the cow and lowest (0.02) for the scorpion. Honey, milk, and butter were the most commonly used therapeutic animal products, but regarding direct uses, fresh/raw meat dominated. Out of ten ailment categories, headaches had the lowest ICF value (0.8). All others scored at least 0.9.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In rural areas, sick people often do not only have limited access to modern medical facilities, they actually prefer traditional treatments considering them to be more reliable and effective. It is therefore important to focus on documenting, conserving, and safeguarding the indigenous knowledge so that strategies to manage the traditional wisdom can be implemented in the future. To achieve these goals, it is important to make sure that medicinal animal species are available in sufficient numbers and neither threatened by habitat changes or overexploitation.</p>","PeriodicalId":49162,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine","volume":"20 1","pages":"72"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11295582/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141876465","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}