Whence useful plants? A direct relationship between biodiversity and useful plants among the Dusun of Mt. Kinabalu

Abstract

Traditionally the Dusun indigenous people of Borneo consider Mt. Kinabalu the home of spirits and ancestors, and they are loath to climb the summit without good cause and plentiful propitiation. In apparent accordance with these beliefs, Projek Etnobotani Kinabalu has recorded few useful plants at high elevations on Mt. Kinabalu. We ask the question: is this an ecological relationship with fewer useful plants being collected at high elevations, or is it an ethnological product of belief with fewer plants collected where people fear to tread? With an indigenous Dusun plant expert (second author) well versed with all areas of Mt. Kinabalu, data on the number and kinds of useful plants were collected for dominant and indicator plant species (168 spp.) among all ecologically identified vegetation types. Results indicate that there are more useful plant species at lower elevations – but there are also more unused species. Once the data are corrected for change in the number of plant species with elevation (useful spp./total spp.), the proportion of useful species are not significantly different over elevation. Thus, useful species are a function of overall biodiversity (i.e., number of useful spp. are correlated with number of plant species, a secondary ecological factor) and not a direct ecological correlate with elevation. The number or kinds of uses also correlates with total number of plant species. In support of direct ecological causation, there is evidence that edaphic conditions (i.e., ultramafic and other poor soils) are associated with reduced proportions of useful species. Ultimately, both ethnological and ecological factors contribute to patterns of people's use of plants with many implications for conservation and biodiversity.