Abstract:Background: This study has focused on the Garrigues district, one of the most arid regions in Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula), which, in general terms, has remained unexplored from the ethnobotanical point of view. This area, of 22,243 inhabitants, comprises 33 municipalities distributed across 1123.12 km 2. The natural vegetation is dominated by holm oak forests and maquis called 'garriga', the latter giving its name to the district. During the last few decades, this landscape has been transformed by agricul… Show more
“…In the above-referred geographical area, as in general in Europe and worldwide, the predominant ethnobotanical research has been an ethnofloristic one [11,12]. Nevertheless, efforts are being devoted toward finding other complementary approaches, such as studies focused on plants used for ailments related to a determined system, and on the validation of the ethnobotanical evidence with chemical or pharmacological data [13].…”
Studies suggesting that medicinal plants are not chosen at random are becoming more common. The goal of this work is to shed light on the role of botanical families in ethnobotany, depicting in a molecular phylogenetic frame the relationships between families and medicinal uses of vascular plants in several Catalan-speaking territories. The simple quantitative analyses for ailments categories and the construction of families and disorders matrix were carried out in this study. A Bayesian approach was used to estimate the over- and underused families in the medicinal flora. Phylogenetically informed analyses were carried out to identify lineages in which there is an overrepresentation of families in a given category of use, i.e., hot nodes. The ethnobotanicity index, at a specific level, was calculated and also adapted to the family level. Two diversity indices to measure the richness of reported taxa within each family were calculated. A total of 47,630 use reports were analysed. These uses are grouped in 120 botanical families. The ethnobotanicity index for this area is 14.44% and the ethnobotanicity index at the family level is 68.21%. The most-reported families are Lamiaceae and Asteraceae and the most reported troubles are disorders of the digestive and nutritional system. Based on the meta-analytic results, indicating hot nodes of useful plants at the phylogenetic level, specific ethnopharmacological research may be suggested, including a phytochemical approach of particularly interesting taxa.
“…In the above-referred geographical area, as in general in Europe and worldwide, the predominant ethnobotanical research has been an ethnofloristic one [11,12]. Nevertheless, efforts are being devoted toward finding other complementary approaches, such as studies focused on plants used for ailments related to a determined system, and on the validation of the ethnobotanical evidence with chemical or pharmacological data [13].…”
Studies suggesting that medicinal plants are not chosen at random are becoming more common. The goal of this work is to shed light on the role of botanical families in ethnobotany, depicting in a molecular phylogenetic frame the relationships between families and medicinal uses of vascular plants in several Catalan-speaking territories. The simple quantitative analyses for ailments categories and the construction of families and disorders matrix were carried out in this study. A Bayesian approach was used to estimate the over- and underused families in the medicinal flora. Phylogenetically informed analyses were carried out to identify lineages in which there is an overrepresentation of families in a given category of use, i.e., hot nodes. The ethnobotanicity index, at a specific level, was calculated and also adapted to the family level. Two diversity indices to measure the richness of reported taxa within each family were calculated. A total of 47,630 use reports were analysed. These uses are grouped in 120 botanical families. The ethnobotanicity index for this area is 14.44% and the ethnobotanicity index at the family level is 68.21%. The most-reported families are Lamiaceae and Asteraceae and the most reported troubles are disorders of the digestive and nutritional system. Based on the meta-analytic results, indicating hot nodes of useful plants at the phylogenetic level, specific ethnopharmacological research may be suggested, including a phytochemical approach of particularly interesting taxa.
“…The inland territory has been, until very recent times, scarcely prospected [ 35 ]. Ethnofloristic studies performed in the arid districts of Garrigues and a part of Segrià [ 33 ], and in the district of Bages [ 34 ] are beginning to fill the existing gaps. Fig.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The species relationship between the Ruscinic and Catalanidic zones, which is also high, is comprehensible due to their both sharing the coastal area, with a similar flora. If the Ruscinic zone is added to the latter two zones, the coincidence in taxa is also logical, since the Ruscinic zone, with mountains of up to 1500 m and littoral plain areas, is a kind of hinge between the Pyrenees and the Alt Urgell [26], Cerdanya [27,28], Garrotxa [29], Pallars Jussà and Pallars Sobirà [30], Ripollès [31], and Vall d'Aran [32] Inland territory (inland) Garrigues and a part of Segrià [33], Sant Feliu Sasserra [34], and Segarra [35] Littoral and pre-littoral territories (littoral) Anoia [36], Alt Empordà [37], Baix Llobregat [38], Gallecs [39], Gavarres [40], Gironès [41], Guilleries [42], Montseny [43], Serra de Collserola [44], Serra de Prades [45], Ulldemolins [46], and Vall del Tenes [47] Catalanidic zone. The degree of coincidence is also high when considering the intersection of four zones, all but the Olositanic and Sicoric zones, and the intersection of five zones, all but the Sicoric zone, the latter with a quite specialized flora conditioned by the arid or semi-arid climate.…”
Section: Physiographic Distribution Of the Ethnofloramentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The inland territory has been, until very recent times, scarcely prospected [35]. Ethnofloristic studies performed in the arid districts of Garrigues and a part of Segrià [33], and in the district of Bages [34] are beginning to fill the existing gaps. A total of 394 taxa (47.82%) were reported in only one out of the three areas, of which 217 are exclusive to the ethnoflora reported in the Pyrenean territory, 132 in the inland territory, and 45 in the littoral territory.…”
Section: Distribution Of the Ethnoflora In The Three Major Geographicmentioning
Background
Catalonia (in the north east of the Iberian Peninsula) is among the most prospected territories in Europe, from the ethnobotanical point of view. The aim of the present paper is to undertake a global analysis in the area considered, including plants, plant life forms, and ethnobotanical data within a physiographic and geographic framework.
Methods
Data from 21 ethnobotanical prospection areas in Catalonia were collected, analyzed, and compared, with the focus on plant life forms and geographic divisions.
Results
A total of 824 taxa constitute the Catalan ethnoflora, and 316 of them are shared by the six physiographic zones recognized in Catalonia. When three major geographic areas are considered (Pyrenean, inland, and littoral), 394 taxa have been reported in only one out of the three areas.
Concerning life forms, phanerophytes and chamaephytes together, i.e., those taxa present all through the year, are the most cited (37.12%).
Conclusions
This first study constitutes a new approach to ethnobotanical data analysis. The results show the particular importance of plants with a large distribution area and plants with available biomass throughout the year. Apart from this, other kind of plants, e.g., those present in only one territory, are of interest for its originality and sometimes for the local significance.
“…The globalization process is affecting rural societies all over the world, making them more dependent on external inputs and disconnecting them from their local resources, such as wild plants or landraces (Jackson et al, 2007). In many western rural societies, such as some Romanian, Italian, or Spanish territories, this change has happened several decades ago (Rey Benayas et al, 2007;Pascual and Herrero, 2017;Gras et al, 2020;Kalle et al, 2020;Mattalia et al, 2020a,b). In Spain, the crisis of traditional agrarian society started in 1960, associated with the industrialization of agriculture production based on fossil fuels, chemicals, and mechanization (Naredo, 2004).…”
Despite the increasing scientific and public interest in wild food plants, their traditional knowledge is undergoing a deep cultural erosion process at a global scale. The paper assesses past and present use of wild food plants in Sierra Norte de Madrid (Spain) in order to understand which are the main drivers of its evolution. We interviewed 132 informants and analyzed the cultural importance and present use of the following: (1) the human food use-category compared with all the other use-subcategories, (2) the food plant species, and (3) the human food use-subcategories (e.g., vegetables, fruits, condiments, or beverages). The useful wild flora included 252 plant species, of which 74 were traditionally used as human food, which is the most culturally important use-category. The most important species were three vegetables consumed cooked (Scolymus hispanicus, Bryonia dioica, and Silene vulgaris), other two greens that were eaten raw (Rumex papillaris and Montia fontana), a condiment (Thymus zygis), and a fruit (Rubus ulmifolius). Among food use-categories, vegetables was the category with a higher cultural importance index, but beverages and condiments had the lowest cultural erosion rate. We found several drivers of change in the use of wild food plants, some enhancing the trend of abandonment that affects differently certain uses and species, and others encouraging their maintenance. Factors that may explain the general erosion trend are linked to the abandonment of traditional agricultural practices and shepherding: (1) the decrease in the abundance and quality of wild food plants; (2) wild food plants are no longer necessary for subsistence; (3) the reduction of time spent in the countryside; and (4) the negative connotations of some species that are considered famine food. On the other hand, there are several motivations for gathering and using wild food plants: (1) gathering is seen as a leisure and community building activity; (2) the intense flavor of wild plants, which cannot be substituted by cultivated or commercial ones; (3) positive values associated with some species consumed as everyday food that are now considered delicatessen; and (4) the medicinal role of food, mainly food uses closer to medicine such as beverages and condiments.
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