Diversity and Distribution of Traditional Home Gardens Along Different Disturbances in a Dry Tropical Region, India

Abstract

Home gardening is an indigenous practice of cultivation that has effectively adapted to local ecological conditions over generations. This study examined the effects of disturbance and garden size on biodiversity to develop a better understanding of vegetation cover and its role in livelihood and provision of forest management in the Vindhyan highlands. Data were collected from 60 gardens which were classified into large (> 650 m2), medium (400–650 m2), and small (< 400 m2), based on size and disturbance gradients viz., high, medium, and low. A total of 133 species from 50 families were recorded, in which trees (47.4%) were dominant followed by shrubs (18%) and herbs (16.5%). With respect to disturbance, the highest number of tree species (39) were found at low disturbance (LD) followed by 33 species in medium disturbance (MD) and 32 species in high disturbhance (HD). The total mean richness of species was greater at LD (20.3 ± 2.3) and lowest at HD (18.5 ± 2.2). Tree density was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) higher at LD (293.75 ± 16.1 individual ha–1) as compared to MD (221 ± 11.5 individual ha–1) and HD (210 ± 10.3 individual ha–1). However, the results for shrubs and herbs density were considerably different, where shrubs density was highest at HD (70 ± 6.9 individual per 1,000 m2) and lowest at LD (62.5 ± 5.8 individual per 1,000 m2), while the maximum density of herbs was recorded at MD (466.25 ± 29.8 individual per 100 m2) and minimum at LD (370 ± 21.4 individual per 100 m2). The summed dominance ratio indicated frequent use of garden plants in bio-fencing, vegetables, ornamental, and ethnomedicine. Diversity (P < 0.01) and species richness (P < 0.05) showed a significant positive correlation with garden size. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed that the first component (PC1) accounted for 28.6% of variance, whereas the second explained 21.9% of variance in both disturbance and garden size with a cumulative variance of 50.5%. These components depicted the positive association with HD (14.34), SDiv (13.91), TCD (12.47), and HDiv (12.09). We concluded that the diversity of home gardens changed with disturbance, which crucially served as a refuge for native tree species in a degraded landscape. This pattern highlighted the importance of home gardens for plant biodiversity conservation and local livelihood, which must be a viable option for regeneration of deforested dry tropics, while also reducing the burden on dry tropical forest regions.

Lamiaceae Plants in Bulgarian Rural Livelihoods—Diversity, Utilization, and Traditional Knowledge

“…Complementary to the initial interest in the medicinal properties, we observed that the purchased plants were often appreciated as ornamental and aromatic plants. Still, utilization of Lamiaceae taxa for their healing properties was found to be an important factor for plant domestications in gardens which was found to be a useful approach to alleviate pressure on the natural populations of medicinal plants [33,95,96].…”

Ethnoecology of home garden landscapes on Seliu Island, Belitung District, Indonesia

“…Based on home garden size, Seliu Island has three categories: narrow with a size of <100 m 2 (10 home gardens), medium with a size of 100-200 m 2 (11 home gardens), and a broad category with a size of >200 m 2 (11 home gardens). Variations in home garden size are common worldwide, including in the Vindhyan Plateau, India; their home garden size is divided into three categories: large size (> 650 m 2 ), medium (400-650 m 2 ), and small (< 400 m 2 ) (Patel et al 2022). In addition, in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, the average size of home gardens is 288 m 2 (Ngcaba and Maroyi 2021); Western Kenya varies from 0.25 ha to 1 ha (Hansen et al 2023).…”

“…A home garden is a landscape formed from human interaction with their environment, which is considered a small cultivated valuable area for plant domestication and conservation (Avilez-López et al 2020). Home gardening is a land-use practice involving the deliberate preservation of multipurpose vegetation in intimate association with crops and livestock within the complex of individual houses (Patel et al 2022). Home garden systems intentionally combine forest plant species with crops and mostly semi-domesticated plant species (Moreno-Calles et al 2016).…”

Valuation of provisioning ecosystem services and household dependency for livelihood: Empirical evidence from a tropical dry forest, India

“…Few studies have been done on the forest provisioning ecosystem services in India (Joshi and Negi 2011;Jena 2020;Chhetri et al 2021;Yadav et al 2021). Despite this, the dry deciduous forests of Vindhyan highlands provide a variety of valuable services that are signi cant (Sharma et al 2021;Patel et al 2022) but mostly unexplored.…”

“…The income generated from the sale of leaves were higher in large households(1,85,218.18 ± 14254.14, 1,96,327.27 ± 14202.54, 1,51,842.85 ± 10238.39 INR year − 1 family − 1 ) compared to small households (46,781.25 ± 4193.12, 32,640.76 ± 1977.19, 18,060.00 ± 1517.44INR year − 1 family − 1 ) (Fig.5a).The collection from wild edibles was observed and documented to be the lowest in small size families (678.78 ± 60.21, 501.05 ± 19.66, 479.47 ± 13.99 kg year − 1 family − 1 ) and highest in large size families (4067.72 ± 249.01, 3972.27 ± 124.18, 3069.43 ± 219.22 kg year − 1 family − 1 ) in all three villages (Fig.4b). The cost of wild edibles varies from small households (1639 47. ± 143.76, 1209.54 ± 47.87, 1161.28 ± 34.55 INR year − 1 family − 1 ) to large households (10,143.80 ± 192.77, 9,938.92 ± 346.04, 8,051.81 ± 378.08INR year − 1 family − 1 ) (Fig.5b).The highest quantity of medicines were collected by large size households (2834.09 ± 82.07, 2712.72 ± 74.83, 1957 ± 150.40 kg year − 1 family − 1 ) both for selling and healthcare treatment, while small size households collected the lowest (321.03 ± 29.44, 247.97 ± 17.79, 214.32 ± 9 kg year − 1 family − 1 ) in Gardarva, Saudih and Rajkhar respectively (Fig.4c).…”