The ethnobotanical heritage of Lotkuh, a high-altitude tribal haven of Chitral, the Eastern Hindu Kush, Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: In northwestern Pakistan, Lotkuh is a high-altitude terrain nestled within the eastern Hindu Kush region. Enclaved by towering peaks and harboring a unique culture, the region mirrors the geographical and cultural diversity of Pakistan. In this geographically isolated region, a treasure trove of ethnobotanical knowledge unfolds through generations of interaction between the inhabitants and indigenous plants, resulting in a profound understanding of the plant uses in nutritional, medicinal, cultural, and ritual contexts. Thus, the study seeks to gather, analyze, and document the indigenous knowledge of plant utilization of the distinct tribal culture. METHODS: Through semi-structured questionnaires, inventory interviews, and participatory workshops, data were collected by engaging a cohort of 120 local respondents. The collected data were then classified into nine distinct use categories, following which quantitative indices were calculated. RESULTS: The research identified a total of 150 plant species spanning across 59 different families and categorized them into 9 distinct usage groups. Among these, Astragalus oihorensis, Astragalus owirensis, Cicer nuristanicum, Geranium parmiricum, and Rochelia chitralensis stand out as novel species with distinctive applications. Notably, medicinal use garnered 600 reports, while animal feed, veterinary applications, human consumption, and toxicity recorded 500, 450, 425, and 104 reports, respectively. Informant consensus was high ranging between 0.8 and 0.9 with most agreement on human food and animal feed category. Platanus orientalis and Juglans regia, with RFC 0.91, were the most cited. The Family Importance Value (FIV) of Juglandaceae and Platanaceae, each with an FIV of 0.91, and Capparidaceae with an FIV of 0.83 indicate the intricate role the families play. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we explore 150 ethnobotanical species, uncovering novel entries within ethnobotanical literature. Among these, several species showcase unique uses previously undocumented in Pakistani literature. Our research sheds light on the intricate interaction between plants and the distinct cultural landscape of the Lotkuh region.

Mainstreaming Flora Conservation Strategies into the Mitigation Hierarchy to Strengthen Environmental Impact Assessment.

The application of the mitigation hierarchy (MH) to mining projects is challenging in situations of locational overlap between endemic flora and mineral deposits. We review flora surveys conducted in connection with the environmental impact assessment of several iron ore mining projects in an area of high degree of endemism in Eastern Amazon to discuss the practical implications of anticipating conservation strategies. Desktop studies and secondary data review were conducted to guide field searches to determine the distribution of endemic flora, resulting in 45 out of 46 endemic plant species having their known distribution extended to new areas. A framework for positioning flora conservation strategies in the MH is presented. Specific habitat requirements and scarce knowledge about endangered and endemic flora species are a conservation obstacle, since essential information to define species conservation strategies may be lacking. We show that anticipating conservation strategies can minimize time-lag uncertainties related to restoration success and biodiversity offsets. The more effort is placed in the preventative steps of the MH, the smaller the time-lag between impact (biodiversity losses) and conservation outcomes (biodiversity gains), decreasing uncertainties and reducing risks to biodiversity.

An annotated nomenclatural checklist of endemic vascular plants distributed in the Ukrainian Carpathians.

Background: The current paper presents a nomenclatural checklist for vascular plants validated being (sub)endemic to and present in the flora of the Ukrainian Carpathians. This checklist is a part of the work targeted on an inventory of endemic plants distributed in the Ukrainian Carpathians. It is mainly based on the analysis of primary sources (i.e. original protologues and monographic works), but also uses the data provided in the recent online taxonomic aggregators, such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Catalogue of Life (CoL), Plants of the World Online (POWO), Euro+Med PlantBase, World Flora Online (WFO) and others. Over 7,000 specimens deposited in the leading Ukrainian herbaria were also revised and used as a supporting data source during the work on the checklist. New information: The checklist provides a revised nomenclature, including corrections on publication dates, rediscovered taxonomic protologues, corrected authorships and revised taxonomic status for (sub)endemic (sub)species of vascular plants occurring in the Ukrainian Carpathians. It contains 1,101 names, from which 78 species and subspecies have been accepted as valid and 1023 species and infraspecific taxa are provided as synonyms. It is completed with critical notes on the nomenclature of problematic taxa and brief annotations regarding their distribution in the Ukrainian Carpathians, indicating the endemicity range and sozological status for all analysed (sub)species.The current checklist is linked with the GBIF taxonomic backbone, provides notes on detected issues and primarily focuses on its update and correction of the nomenclatural issues and taxonomic inconsistencies, but also aims at discussing issues in other popular taxonomic databases.Sabulinapauciflora is proposed as a new combination to comply with a recent revision of the genus Sabulina.

Vascular plant species diversity of Mt. Etna (Sicily): endemicity, insularity and spatial patterns along the altitudinal gradient of the highest active volcano in Europe.

BACKGROUND: Altitudinal variation in vascular plant richness and endemism is crucial for the conservation of biodiversity. Territories featured by a high species richness may have a low number of endemic species, but not necessarily in a coherent pattern. The main aim of our research is to perform an in-depth survey on the distribution patterns of vascular plant species richness and endemism along the elevation gradient of Mt. Etna, the highest active volcano in Europe. METHODS: We used all the available data (literature, herbarium and seed collections), plus hundreds of original (G Giusso, P Minissale, S Sciandrello, pers. obs., 2010-2020) on the occurrence of the Etna plant species. Mt. Etna (highest peak at 3,328 mt a.s.l.) was divided into 33 belts 100 m wide and the species richness of each altitudinal range was calculated as the total number of species per interval. In order to identify areas with high plant conservation priority, 29 narrow endemic species (EE) were investigated through hot spot analysis using the "Optimized Hot Spot Analysis" tool available in the ESRI ArcGIS software package. RESULTS: Overall against a floristic richness of about 1,055 taxa, 92 taxa are endemic, of which 29 taxa are exclusive (EE) of Mt. Etna, 27 endemic of Sicily (ES) and 35 taxa endemic of Italy (EI). Plant species richness slowly grows up to 1,000 m, then decreases with increasing altitude, while endemic richness shows an increasing percentage incidence along the altitudinal gradient (attributed to the increased isolation of higher elevation). The highest endemic richness is recorded from 2,000 up to 2,800 m a.s.l., while the highest narrow endemic richness (EE) ranges from 2,500 up to 2,800 m a.s.l. Life-form patterns clearly change along altitudinal gradient. In regard to the life-form of the endemics, the most represented are the hemicryptophytes, annual plants (therophytes) are prevailing at lower altitudes and show a decreasing trend with increasing elevation, while chamaephytes are featured by an increasing trend up to 3,100 m of altitude. Furthermore, the results of the hotspot analysis emphasize the high plant conservation priority areas localized in oro-mediterranean (1,800-2,400 m s.l.m.) and cryo-mediterranean (2,400-2,800 m) bioclimatic belts, in correspondence of the oldest substrates of the volcano. CONCLUSIONS: High plant speciation rate caused by increasing isolation with elevation is the most plausible explanation for the largest active volcano in Europe. The high degree of endemic species on Mt. Etna is linked to its geographical, geological and climatic isolation, all important drivers of speciation acting on the population gene flows. The hot spot map obtained represents a useful support for help environmental decision makers to identify priority areas for plant conservation.

Exploring threatened traditional knowledge; ethnomedicinal studies of rare endemic flora from Lesser Himalayan region of Pakistan

ABSTRACT Himalayas are one among the world biodiversity hotspots harboring many endemic medicinal plants. Despite augmentation in the documentation of ethnopharmacological knowledge of medicinal plant species, information regarding endemic species is still underway. Current paper highlights the traditional medicinal uses of rare endemic and unexplored group of plants having potential for novel chemical constituents with effective pharmacological activities. In total, 142 informants (91 male and 51 female) including seventeen traditional healers were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaire, personal observations and group discussions. Interviews were taken in field or otherwise photographs were shown for identification. Females were interviewed indirectly through male family members. For data analysis, quantitative analytical approach was adopted using ethnopharmacological indices as Relative frequency of citations and Fidelity Level. In total, 38 endemic plant species belonging to nineteen families were utilized by the local inhabitants. Highest number of endemics was belonging to Ranunculaceae (7), followed by Gentianaceae and Rosaceae (4 each) with respect to number of species. Highest number of endemics was used in fever, wound healing, throat infection and tonic (4 species each). Root was the most widely used part (36.17%) in cure of diseases and the leading mode administered was decoction (25.49%). Highest use reports and RFC values were recorded for Pimpinella stewartii (58 citations, 0.41 RFC), Caltha alba var. alba (52 citations, 0.37 RFC). Endemic plant species considerably contribute toward ethnomedicinal knowledge and despite rarity, the communities prefer their utilization. Conservation of endemics is necessary for future availability to the local communities.

Usefulness of pioneer vegetation for the phytomanagement of metal(loid)s enriched tailings: grasses vs. shrubs vs. trees.

The goal of this work was to assess the selection of the most suitable combination of plant species for the phytomanagement of mine tailings, by comparing among different plant life-forms (grasses, shrubs and trees). A comparison on induced rhizosphere changes generated by four plant species (the grass Piptatherum miliaceum, the shrub Helichrysum decumbens, and the trees, Pinus halepensis and Tetraclinis articulata) and high density vegetation patches (fertility islands) at a mine tailing located at Southeast Spain and the description of their physiological status employing stable isotopes analyses were carried out. The edaphic niches for plant growth were determined by salinity, organic matter and total soil nitrogen while metal(loid)s concentrations played a minor role. Induced changes in plant rhizospheres had a significant impact in soil microbiology. While grasses and shrubs may play an important role in primary ecological succession, trees seem to be the key to the development of fertility islands. The low δ(15)N values (-8.00‰) in P. halepensis needles may reflect higher ectomycorrhizal dependence. Large differences in leaf δ(18)O among the plant species indicated contrasting and complementary water acquisition strategies. Leaf δ(13)C values (-27.6‰) suggested that T. articulata had higher water use efficiency than the rest of species (-29.9‰). The implement of a diverse set of plant species with contrasting life forms for revegetating tailings may result in a more efficient employment of water resources and a higher biodiversity not only in relation to flora but soil microbiology too.

Hamiguitan Range: A sanctuary for native flora.

Hamiguitan Range is one of the wildlife sanctuaries in the Philippines having unique biodiversity resources that are at risk due to forest degradation and conversion of forested land to agriculture, shifting cultivation, and over-collection. Thus, it is the main concern of this research to identify and assess the endemic and endangered flora of Hamiguitan Range. Field reconnaissance and transect walk showed five vegetation types namely: agro-ecosystem, dipterocarp, montane, typical mossy and mossy-pygmy forests. Inventory of plant species revealed 163 endemic species, 35 threatened species, and 33 rare species. Assessment of plants also showed seven species as new record in Mindanao and one species as new record in the Philippines. Noteworthy is the discovery of Nepenthes micramphora, a new species of pitcher plant found in the high altitudes of Hamiguitan Range. This species is also considered site endemic, rare, and threatened. The result of the study also showed that the five vegetation types of Mt. Hamiguitan harbor a number of endangered, endemic, and rare species of plants. Thus, the result of this study would serve as basis for the formulation of policies for the protection and conservation of these species and their habitats before these plants become extinct.