Swertia chirayta, a Threatened High-Value Medicinal Herb: Microhabitats and Conservation Challenges in Sikkim Himalaya, India

Pradhan, Bharat Kumar; Badola, Hemant K.

doi:10.1659/mrd-journal-d-14-00034.1

Cited by 9 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Some representative ecological research on the flora of the KL include those by Acharya et al., 2010, Chettri et al., 2002, Dey et al., 2015, Moktan et al., 2009, Singh and Sundriyal, 2005, Subba et al., 2015, Pradhan and Badola, 2015, Tambe and Rawat, 2010. A small number of studies are related to new records of floral species (for instance, Chettri et al., 2012, Chettri et al., 2012, Chowdhury et al., 2013, Thapa and Lama, 2015) and exploration of newer populations of rare rhododendrons (Badola and Pradhan, 2010a, Badola and Pradhan, 2010b) and micro-habitat diversity and conservation aspects of threatened species (Pradhan and Badola, 2015). This indicates the high biodiversity value of the KL in terms of species richness, which may increase with more intensive and systematic exploration in the less explored areas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The evaluation of threats being faced by the biodiversity of the KL shows that rapid population growth has led to widespread logging, habitat fragmentation and extensive clearing of forests, and grasslands for cultivation and large scale infrastructural development, including construction of highways and large dams (Gurung, 2006, Grumbine and Pandit, 2013, Krishna et al., 2002, Pandit and Grumbine, 2012). Only one study in the KL assessed the disturbance indices of threatened herbs in Sikkim, which highlighted human movement and NTFP collection as top conservation threats (Pradhan and Badola, 2015). The geospatial analyses of land cover in the KL reveals the conversion of forests and rangeland to other land uses, particularly transformation of pristine habitats into extensive monocultures of tea and cardamom, which may greatly reduce the species richness of the landscape.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The geospatial analyses of land cover in the KL reveals the conversion of forests and rangeland to other land uses, particularly transformation of pristine habitats into extensive monocultures of tea and cardamom, which may greatly reduce the species richness of the landscape. Additional major threats to floral diversity throughout the KL include invasive species, livestock overgrazing, erosions and landslides caused by deforestation of extremely steep slopes, and unsustainable and/or illegal extraction and utilization of economically important species (Chaudhary et al., 2015, ICIMOD et al., 2017, Pradhan and Badola, 2015, Uprety et al., 2016, O'Neill et al., 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These publications have broadened our knowledge on species distribution, composition, abundance, biogeography and traditional knowledge for utilization and conservation of flora of the KL, and the field of botany in the Himalayas in general. The primary objective of many publications, except those pertaining to ecological research (Carpenter, 2005, Ohsawa et al., 1986, Tambe and Rawat, 2010, Pradhan and Badola, 2015; Manish and Pandit, 2018) and new records (Das and Verbeken, 2012, Sharma and Pandit, 2009, Thapa and Lama, 2015), included listing the floral species occurring in some parts of the landscape. However, except for scattered information often severely limited to certain parts of the landscape, no attempt has been made to provide cumulative data on the flora of the entire landscape.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Plant diversity of the Kangchenjunga Landscape, Eastern Himalayas

et al. 2019

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The Kangchenjunga Landscape (KL) in the Eastern Himalayas is a transboundary complex shared by Bhutan, India, and Nepal. It forms a part of the ‘Himalayan Biodiversity Hotspot’ and is one of the biologically richest landscapes in the Eastern Himalayas. In this paper, we use secondary information to review and consolidate the knowledge on the flora of the KL. We reviewed 215 journal articles, analysed the history of publications on the flora of the KL, their publication pattern in terms of temporal and spatial distribution and key research areas. Our review shows that the landscape has a long history of botanical research that dates back to the 1840s and progressed remarkably after the 1980s. Most of the studies have been carried out in India, followed by Nepal and Bhutan. The majority of these have been vegetation surveys, followed by research on ethnobotanical aspects and Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs). This paper describes the forest types and characteristic species of the KL and details the species richness, diversity and dominant families of seed plants. A total of 5198 species of seed plants belonging to 1548 genera and 216 families have been recorded from the landscape, including 3860 dicots, 1315 monocots and 23 gymnosperms. Among families, Orchidaceae is the most diversely represented family in terms of species richness. This paper also draws attention to the threatened and endemic flora of the KL, including 44 species that are threatened at national and global level and 182 species that are endemic. Finally, the paper reviews the major challenges facing the KL, the conservation efforts and practices that are currently in place and recommends systematic and comprehensive floral surveys, particularly long-term data collection and monitoring and transboundary collaboration, to address the existing knowledge gaps on floral diversity of the KL.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Plant diversity of the Kangchenjunga Landscape, Eastern Himalayas

et al. 2019

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“…Many studies show the importance of ecological assessment in the sustainable management of MP [234][235][236]. In this paper, we found eight examples, such as: (1) Rapid inventory of medicinal plant population in Sri Lanka, (2) rapid vulnerable assessment of Tibetan medicinal plants, (3) assessment of a threatened high-value medicinal plant, Swertia chirayita for conservation purpose in India (4) using IUCN guidelines to determine threats to selected endemic species in Kashmir Himalaya, (5) distribution assessment of threatened species on hotspots in China, (6) questionnaire survey for screening endangered species in Bangladesh, and (7) studying CITES-listed species to reveal the international trade impacts, and (8) ten years monitoring of threatened medicinal plants in Himalaya [41,227,[237][238][239][240][241][242].…”

Section: • Ecological Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Asian Medicinal Plants’ Production and Utilization Potentials: A Review

2019

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Medicinal plants research in Asia continues to receive significant national and international attention, particularly concerning its multiple roles in poverty alleviation and health care support. However, scientific information on the institutional arrangements, the potentials of different medicinal plants production systems, and the utilization methods, remain highly fragmented. This incomprehensive information base shades the development of a comprehensive research agenda to improve the current body of knowledge, at least in the context of Asia. To address this impasse and propose future research perspectives, we systematically reviewed 247 journal articles, 15 institutional reports, and 28 book chapters. From the reviews, five key lessons are drawn: (i) Asian medicinal plant production systems demonstrate some dynamics, characterized by a gradual but continuous shift from wild gathering to cultivation, (ii) sub-regional variations exist with regards to the appreciation of medicinal plants potentials for traditional healing, modern healthcare and livelihoods support, (iii) knowledge on the effect of multi-scale institutional arrangements (formal and informal) on medicinal plant management practices is fragmented, (iv) very few studies dwell on the challenges of medicinal plants commercialization, particularly with regards to the role of middlemen, boom–bust cycle, raw material readiness, and product quality, and (v) law enforcement, benefit and knowledge sharing, and research and development should be prioritized to serve the interest of medicinal plants production actors. To further extend the body of knowledge on medicinal plants in Asia, we advance the need for empirical investigations on the performance of medicinal plants production systems and their contribution to livelihoods in diverse institutional contexts.

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