Wine, Beer, Snuff, Medicine, and Loss of Diversity - Ethnobotanical travels in the Georgian Caucasus

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Plant and fungal use in Tusheti, Khevsureti, and Pshavi, Sakartvelo (Republic of Georgia), Caucasus

In this study, we documented traditional plant use in Tusheti, Khevsureti, and Pshavi and hypothesized that (i) plant use knowledge in general would be higher in isolated high elevation communities, and that (ii) use of home gardens would be much more restricted to lower elevation settings. Fieldwork was conducted in Khevsureti, Pshavi, and Tusheti. Interviews using semi-structured questionnaires were conducted with 74 participants. In the present study, we encountered 317 plant species belonging to 203 genera of 80 families being used in the research region. Of these, 197 species were exclusively wild-harvested, 73 were grown in homegardens, and 47 were both grown in gardens and sourced in the wild. The ordinations in plant-space and in use-space were significantly fit by elevation of informant community, and community itself. Age and gender did not significantly fit the distribution of informants across either plant-space or use-space, respectively. Number of use-reports was highest across all communities in the food and medicinal use-categories, and informant consensus. Species with especially high use-diversity (UD) tended to be woody species although. Species with high use-value (UV) were mostly managed/domesticated species from home orchards, gardens, or farms. Plant species, and uses, found in our study, showed clear relations to the wider Eurasian cultural complex. The species number found was, however, far higher than in any published study from either the region or the wiser Mediterranean and Eurasia. The maintenance of home gardens in Georgia serves as socio-ecological memory. While the great variety of plant species used in the Georgian Caucasus might provide a reservoir for food security climate change is starting to affect both natural floristic diversity and gardens both in the Caucasus as well as continent wide

Astonishing diversity—the medicinal plant markets of Bogotá, Colombia

Abstract Background Despite the importance of local markets as a source of medicinal plants in Colombia, comparatively little comparative research reports on the pharmacopoeiae sold. This stands in contrast to wealth of available information for other components of plant use in Colombia and other countries. The present provides a detailed inventory of the medicinal plant markets in the Bogotá metropolitan area, hypothesizing that the species composition, and medicinal applications, would differ across markets of the city. Methods From December 2014 to February 2016, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 38 plant vendors in 24 markets in Bogotá in order to elucidate more details on plant usage and provenance. Results In this study, we encountered 409 plant species belonging to 319 genera and 122 families. These were used for a total of 19 disease categories with 318 different applications. Both species composition and uses of species did show considerable differences across the metropolitan area—much higher in fact than we expected. Conclusions The present study indicated a very large species and use diversity of medicinal plants in the markets of Bogotá, with profound differences even between markets in close proximity. This might be explained by the great differences in the origin of populations in Bogotá, the floristic diversity in their regions of origin, and their very distinct plant use knowledge and preferences that are transferred to the markets through customer demand. Our study clearly indicated that studies in single markets cannot give an in-depth overview on the plant supply and use in large metropolitan areas

No consensus in “traditional” medicine - Medicinal plants and their uses in the markets of Bogotá (Colombia), La Paz/El Alto (Bolivia) and Trujillo/Chiclayo (Perú)

494-498Local markets are an important source of medicinal plants in Bolivia, Colombia and Peru, and detailed information on larger markets in the countries has become available over the last decades. However, little comparative research reports on the pharmacopoeiae sold and the use-diversity between the markets of different countries. The present study provides a detailed comparison of medicinal plant markets in Bolivia, Peru and Colombia, hypothesizing that the species composition, and medicinal applications, should show similarities, based in the common colonial roots of medicinal plant use in the region. In this study, we encountered that both species composition and uses of species did show much larger differences across the evaluated countries than expected. Even in case of introduced species, we did hardly find any coincidence between the markets of the three countries. This might be explained by the great differences in the origin of populations, the floristic diversity, and the very distinct plant use knowledge and preferences of migrant populations in the respective cities that are transferred to the markets through customer demand. Our study clearly indicated that studies in single markets cannot give an in-depth overview on the plant supply across related regions

The influence of socioeconomic factors on traditional knowledge: a cross scale comparison of palm use in northwestern South America

We explored the power of 14 socioeconomic factors for predicting differences in traditional knowledge about palms (Arecaceae) at the personal, household, and regional levels in 25 locations in the Amazon, Andes, and Chocó of northwestern South America. Using semistructured interviews, we gathered data on palm uses from 2050 informants in 53 communities and four countries (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia ). We performed multilevel statistical analyses, which showed that the influence of each socioeconomic factor differed depending on whether the analysis was performed on the overall palm knowledge or on individual use categories. At the general palm knowledge level, gender was the only factor that had a significant association in all five subregions, and showed that men had more knowledge than women, and age had a positive significant association only in the lowlands. Most of the analyzed socioeconomic factors had a greater influence on the lowland ecoregions of the Amazon and Chocó, although there were mixed trends in these ecoregions. Our results show that there are no regional patterns in the predictive power of socioeconomic factors and that their influence on palm-use knowledge is highly localized. We can conclude that (1) conservation strategies of traditional knowledge of palm use in the region should be developed mainly at the local level, and (2) large-scale comparable ethnoecological studies are necessary to understand indigenous communities' livelihoods at different scales

Useful palms (Arecaceae) near Iquitos, Peruvian Amazon

This paper describes the uses of 64 species of palms in 28 villages in Departamento de Loreto, Peru. There, the palms are of great use as food (Bactris gasipaes, Mauritia flexuosa, Euterpe precatoria, Oenocarpus bataua), for fiber production (Astrocaryum chambira, Aphandra natalia), for construction of houses (Euterpe precatoria, Iriartea deltoidea,Socratea exorrhiza), thatching (many species of Attalea, Lepidocaryum tenue) and for many medicinal purposes (Euterpe precatoria, Oenocarpus bataua)

Palmas (Arecaceae) útiles en los alrededores de Iquitos, Amazonía Peruana

Se presenta información etnobotánica sobre usos de 64 especies de palmas encontradas en 28 comunidades en el Departamento de Loreto, Perú. Las palmas tienen gran importancia como fuente de alimento (Bactris gasipaes, Mauritia flexuosa, Euterpe precatoria, Oenocarpus bataua), para la obtención de fibras (Astrocaryum chambira, Aphandra natalia), en la construcción de viviendas (Euterpe precatoria, Iriartea deltoidea, Socratea exorrhiza), para su techado (muchas especies de Attalea, Lepidocaryum tenue) y para usos medicinales (Euterpe precatoria, Oenocarpus bataua).This paper describes the uses of 64 species of palms in 28 villages in Departamento de Loreto, Peru. There, the palms are of great use as food (Bactris gasipaes, Mauritia flexuosa, Euterpe precatoria, Oenocarpus bataua), for fiber production (Astrocaryum chambira, Aphandra natalia), for construction of houses (Euterpe precatoria, Iriartea deltoidea, Socratea exorrhiza), thatching (many species of Attalea, Lepidocaryum tenue) and for many medicinal purposes (Euterpe precatoria, Oenocarpus bataua)

Plants in the spa – the medicinal plant market of Borjomi, Sakartvelo (Republic of Georgia), Caucasus

25-34As part of a larger ethnobotanical inventory of Skartvelo (Republic of Georgia) we studied the medicinal plant market in Borjomi Spa since 2013. All of the venders in Borjomi featured the same set of medicinal plant mixtures, and essentially no plants were sold separately. Overall, the same 17 distinct mixtures were sold by all venders. Plants, according to the venders, were collected by them in the wider surroundings of Borjomi, and all mixtures were prepared at home. Although the preparations of medicinal plant mixtures in Borjomi seemed very controlled and standardized, the separation of all mixtures into their respective ingredients revealed that most mixtures either contained contaminants, and/or lacked ingredients claimed to be included. This study underlines that in many cases natural remedies sold in markets can be problematic, and that great care should be taken before using any medicine, whether allopathic or complimentary. Linguistic explanations for all plant names and indications are given

Ethnobotany of Samtskhe-Javakheti, Sakartvelo (Republic of Georgia), Caucasus

7-24Samtskhe-Javakheti was formed in the 1990s in southern Georgia from the historical provinces of Meskheti, Javakheti and Tori. The majority of the inhabitants are ethnically Armenian, with a Georgian minority. We documented traditional plant use in Samtskhe-Javakheti, and hypothesized that (1) plant use knowledge in general would be higher in isolated high elevation communities, and that (2) use of home gardens would be much more restricted to lower elevations. Fieldwork was conducted July–August 2013, July–August 2014, and September–October 2015, using semi-structured questionnaires. We encountered 261 plant species belonging to 161 genera of 70 families being used in the region. Of these, 160 species were exclusively wild-collected, 81 grown in homegardens, and 20 were both grown in gardens and collected wild. Most species and uses were widely used across the region, with some particular species in the low lying villages, that allowed a wider variety of species to be grown and gathered. The elevation of informant community significantly fit the ordination in plant-space and use-space. In addition, community significantly fit the ordination for both plant-space and use-space. Informant age significantly fit the plant-space ordination only, while informant gender was not significant in either space

Unequal brothers – Plant and fungal use in Guria and Racha, Sakartvelo (Republic of Georgia), Caucasus

7-33Guria and Racha are historical provinces of Republic of Georgia, located on the South-facing macro-slope of the western part of the Greater Caucasus (Racha) and East of the Lesser Caucasus towards the Black Sea (Guria).In this study we documented traditional plant use in Guria and Racha, and hypothesized that (1) plant use knowledge in general would be higher in isolated high elevation communities, and that (2) use of home gardens would be much more restricted to lower elevation settings. Fieldwork was conducted in Lechkhumi in July–August 2014, and in Guria and Racha in July-August 2016. Interviews using semi-structured questionnaires were conducted with 32 participants (10 women and 22 men), with oral prior informed consent. We encountered 338 plant species belonging to 252 genera of 101 vascular plant families, 4 undetermined species, and 20 fungal species and 15 undetermined fungi, belonging to at least 16 genera of 16 families being used in the research region. Of these 223 species were exclusively wild-collected, 110 were grown in home gardens, and 56 were both grown in gardens and collected in the wild. Plants and their uses mostly overlapped among the areas within the region, with a slightly wider divergence in uses than in plants. The environmental fit analysis showed that a large degree of this variation was explained by differences among participant communities. The elevation of the participant community significantly fit the ordination in plant-space and explained a large degree of the variation in plant species reported but not in use-space. Gender was not significant in plant-space or use-space