Wild Plants Used by Tibetans in Burang Town, Characterized by Alpine Desert Meadow, in Southwestern Tibet, China

Jing Li,Yixue Jiao,Changan Guo,Haowen Feng,Yuhua Wang,Xiaoyong Ding,Xiong Zhang

doi:10.3390/agronomy12030704

Abstract

This study documented the wild plants used by Tibetans and the related traditional knowledge in Burang Town (Karnali River Valley). Ethnobotanical surveys, including semi-structured interviews and participatory observations, were conducted in five Tibetan communities in July 2020 and August 2021. The informant consensus factor (ICF) and cultural importance index (CI) were used for data analyses. In total, 76 wild species belonging to 58 genera and 30 families were determined to be used. These included 26 edible, 29 medicinal, 34 fodder, 21 fuel, 17 incense, three economic, three dye, two ritual, two handicraft, and one species for tobacco plants species; many of these have multiple uses. The top five important plants are Carum carvi (CI = 1.88), Hippophae tibetana (CI = 1.45), Rheum moorcroftianum (CI = 0.87), Urtica dioica (CI = 1.45) and Chenopodium album (CI = 0.75). Of the wild plant species used, 53 were recorded in croplands and 25 were found in alpine pastures. This pattern of use is influenced by local livelihood patterns and culture. Plants in highland cropland have diverse ethnobotanical values that are often overlooked. These findings will inform strategies and plans for local communities and governments to sustainably use and protect plants at high altitudes.

Highlights

Various wild plants are an important part of the culture and livelihood of the people in the Himalayas, as they are used by the local people for food, medicine, fodder, fuel, dyes, rituals, and other products and services [1–7]
We aimed to answer the following questions: (1) Which plants are used by Tibetans in the Karnali River Valley? (2) What are the characteristics of the plant used? We hypothesised that the number of edible plants in the Karnali River Valley is less than that in the southern Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau (QTP), but the structure of the plants used is similar, and there are few plants that are used commonly in different regions
We documented a total of 76 wild species belonging to 58 genera and 30 families, which were used by Tibetans in Karnali River Valley (Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

Various wild plants are an important part of the culture and livelihood of the people in the Himalayas, as they are used by the local people for food, medicine, fodder, fuel, dyes, rituals, and other products and services [1–7]. Inconve‐ nient transportation, limited arable land, and seasonal economy are significant challenges to food and nutrition security in the Himalayas [8], wild edible plants are an important source of carbohydrates and nutrition for local people, especially in such high‐altitude areas [1,9–11]. Healthcare of the local communities is an important challenge and tra‐ ditional medicine has always been a means of health care in the local community [12–15]. An important problem is that a large area of the Himalayas is not covered by forests, and that there are large areas of alpine meadows, such as the Ngari area in China [19]. Compared with the communities living in or close to forests, few ethnobotanical studies have examined the non‐forest areas in high mountains [2,3]

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