A Paradigm Shift is Expected in Ethnobiology: Challenges and Opportunities Post-COVID-19.

Documentation of the folk knowledge of indigenous communities forms an integral part of the subject "ethnobiology". Pursuing leads obtained through ethnobiological documentation has played a key role in maintaining human health and wellbeing. The current pandemic that we are passing through is expected to strengthen the subject with many challenges and opportunities. In this paper, we highlight the avenues and the role of the subject in the times to come. We strongly believe a paradigm shift in ethnobiology is lurking around the corner.

Documentation and validation of climate change perception of an ethnic community of the western Himalaya.

The high-altitude regions of Himalaya are among the best indicators of climate change yet noticeable for the lack of climate monitoring stations. However, they support ethnic communities whose livelihood activities are climate driven. Consequently, these communities are keen observers of the same and documenting their perception on changing climate is now an important area of global research. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the prime objective of documenting the climate change perception of Bhangalis-a resident community of western Himalaya, and analyzing variation in their perceptions in relation to age and gender. For this, respondent surveys (household, n = 430; individual interviews, n = 240) were carried out and the collected data were subjected to statistical analyses. The study also validated the perception of Bhangalis using the available weather data (1974-2017) through the Mann-Kendall test. The results reveal that Bhangalis perceived 11 indicators of changing climate, of which decrease in snowfall was the most prominent (reported by ~ 97% of the respondents). The perceptions varied between the two genders with males having significantly higher proportion of responses for all the 11 indicators. Similarly, differences in perception among the age groups were also observed, elderly people reported higher proportion of climate change indicators as compared to respondents of lower age. Notably, patterns of temperature and rainfall perceptions by the Bhangalis agreed with the trends of meteorological data. This highlights the importance of the study in documenting knowledge of ethnic communities especially from areas that lack monitoring stations. It argues for involving them in climate change programs.

Plant-derived utility products: knowledge comparison across gender, age and education from a tribal landscape of western Himalaya.

BACKGROUND: Plant-derived utility products (PDPs) play an important role in sustaining humans, especially tribal communities. Despite this, knowledge on PDPs is declining. METHODS: The present study was therefore carried to document the PDPs used by Bhangalis, a tribal community of western Himalaya, through door-to-door surveys (n=420) and detailed questionnaire recordings (n=240). In addition to taxonomic richness, frequency of species used; use value (UV), use diversity (UD), and cultural importance index (CI) were also analysed. Knowledge comparison between genders, four identified age groups (group 1: 16-32 years, group 2: 33-49 years, group 3: 50-66 years, group 4: >66 years), and level of education of the respondents was also carried out using multiple regression in SPSS. RESULTS: Bhangalis reported 55 PDPs under five use categories namely tools (34), artefacts (7), construction and storage (6 each), and miscellaneous (2). For making these PDPs, 20 plant species representing 12 families were used. Picea smithiana (16.54%), Cedrus deodara (14.96%), Cotoneaster bacillaris (12.60%) and Quercus semecarpifolia (11.02%) reported the highest use frequency. On an average 15.13±0.25 PDPs per respondent was noted. Similarly, Picea smithiana (UV=0.088) and Cedrus deodara (UV= 0.079) reported the highest UV when compared to other species. Amongst all the species, maximum UD was revealed for Juglans regia in the tool category (0.91). On the other hand, maximum CI was also recorded for Picea smithiana (CITotal=2.91). With respect to gender, males were found to be more knowledgeable than females (B=6.370, p=0.001). Amongst the four age groups, respondents in group 1 (B=-13.302, p=0.001) and group 2 (B=-5.867, p=0.001) were less knowledgeable in comparison to respondents in the third and fourth age groups. Similarly, education also had a significant negative coefficient (B=-0.275, p=0.037), with educated respondents having lesser knowledge. It was observed that alternates available in the market seem to be limiting the use of PDPs. CONCLUSIONS: Bhangalis still use PDPs that have a crucial role in their lifestyle. However, their use is declining. A multipronged strategy that not only focusses on socio-economic characteristics but also on awareness especially at school levels is desired.

Why they eat, what they eat: patterns of wild edible plants consumption in a tribal area of Western Himalaya.

BACKGROUND: From time immemorial, wild plants have been used for edible purposes. They still continue to be a major source of nutrition for tribal people. However, unfortunately, their use is now declining. This has implications in food security, narrowing genetic base, and future leads. The present study was, therefore, carried out in Chhota Bhangal region of Western Himalaya to analyze uses of wild edible plants (WEP) and the motivations behind their use or abandonment. METHODS: Field surveys were conducted to the study area from January 2016 to March 2017. Household surveys, group discussions, free listing, and structured questionnaires were used to elicit information on WEP. WEP use was categorized into six categories (vegetables, fruits, chutney, flavoring food, raw food, and local brew). Trends of use (continuing, decreasing, increasing, and not used) and motivations (environmental, economic, sociocultural, agriculture and land use practices, and human-wildlife conflict) behind their use were analyzed. RESULTS: Fifty plant species were used by the local people for edible purposes under six WEP categories. Mean and median of WEP used per respondent was 22.3 and 21, respectively. Highest number of these were used as vegetable (mean 8.9) while lowest were used as brew (mean 0.4). Out of the 50 WEP used, 20 were prioritized for motivation analyses. Though plant use is still maintained in the area, changes are evident. Almost 50% of the respondents revealed that they still continue the use of WEP while 36% reported trends of declining use as compared to 5-10 years back. Close to 10% respondents have stopped consuming WEP now and ~ 3% reported an increase in the use of WEP. Among the WEP categories, use of chutney showed an increasing trend. Sociocultural motivations were found to play a prime role, both, in limiting and promoting WEP use. Taste and aroma were the major sociocultural reasons behind using WEP while modernization and changing lifestyle were the main reasons behind declining use of WEP. CONCLUSIONS: The study concludes that though use of WEP is still maintained in the area, changes in consumption trends are evident. Sociocultural motivations guided use of WEP in the area.

Heavy metal accumulation in Pyrrosia flocculosa (D. Don) Ching growing in sites located along a vehicular disturbance gradient.

Monitoring of environment is a key contemporary issue that has necessitated search for bio-indicators. The very fact that epiphytes do not have a direct contact with soil and absorb nutrients from the environment puts them among the best indicators of environmental conditions. We, therefore, selected Pyrrosia flocculosa (D. Don) Ching-an epiphytic fern that commonly occurs in the Himalaya for this study. The study focused on analyzing heavy metal concentrations in the fronds of P. flocculosa growing along a disturbance gradient. For this, three sites representing different levels of disturbance viz., least disturbed, moderately disturbed, and highly disturbed, were identified in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. From each site, fronds of P. flocculosa were collected, categorized into three growth stages (juvenile, young, and mature), and brought to the laboratory for analyses. After drying and powdering, the samples were analyzed for Pb, Cd, Fe, Ni, Cu, Mn, and Zn using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The results obtained were statistically compared using the software package Statistica. As expected, concentration of the metals varied among the sites and also among the identified growth stages of the species. In general, concentration of the metals was in the order Fe (639.28 ± 81.63) > Ni (56.03 ± 4.97) > Mn (7.54 ± 0.69) > Zn (6.51 ± 0.36) > Cd (4.01 ± 0.86) > Cu (1.93 ± 0.74). Barring Mn, concentration of all the metals increased with disturbance and was positively correlated to it. However, except for Cd and Fe, none of the metals reported higher than threshold values. Effective monitoring of the environment can thus be done using P. flocculosa.