An ethnobotany survey of wild plants used by the Tibetan people of the Yadong River Valley, Tibet, China

Abstract

Introduction Plant resources gathered from the wild are important sources of livelihood needs, especially for low-income populations living in remote areas, who rely on these plants for food, fuelwood, medicine and building materials. Yadong County is a valley at the border between the China, India and Bhutan in southern Tibet. Yadong is rich in biodiversity and culture, but ethnobotanical knowledge has not been systematically studied. This study aimed to document the ethnobotanical knowledge of Tibetans in Yadong County. Methods Ethnobotanical data were documented through free listings, key informant interviews, and semi-structured interviews during fieldwork. The culture importance index (CI) and informant consensus factor index (FIC) were used as the quantitative indices. Results In total, 163 informants (46 women and 117 men). A total of 3,031 use reports and 121 plant species belonging to 52 families and 91 genera were included. These use reports were then classified into 20 categories belonging to 9 major categories. The utilisation category that containing the most plant species was food, followed by economic, medicine, animal feed, social uses, other uses, environmental uses, materials and fuels. Among the economic plants, 32 medicinal plants are traditionally used in the local region. Plants with high CI included Fritillaria cirrhosa, Neopicrorhiza scrophulariiflora, Betula utilis, Rheum nobile, and Urtica hyperborean. Conclusion This research demonstrates the diversity of the types and functions of Yadong Tibetan traditional plant knowledge. Knowledge of edible and medicinal plants in this area is prominent, reflecting the ability to cope with the lack of fruits and vegetables and basic family medical care. There were exchanges between the traditional plant culture in the study area and its surroundings. With socioeconomic development, the commercial value of medicinal plants has increased, and locals are also seeking ways to adoptsustainable development to cope with the excessive consumption of plant resources.

An ethnobotanical study on wild plants used by Tibetan people in Gyirong valley, Tibet, China

“…We compared our study with other comprehensive ethnobotanical studies of the Tibetan people that have been performed in the Himalayan region. We mainly compared the differences in wild useful plant species among Gyirong (with a total of 110 species), Burang (with a total of 75 species) [27], and Yadong (with a total of 121 species) [22]. The results showed that 36 species of plants in the catalog of Gyirong and Yadong were the same, but only 17 species were the same in Gyirong and Burang.…”

“…This plant is widely distributed in the Himalayas of China and northern India and Nepal [57]. It is also used as an edible plant in many areas, for example, in Yadong County, Tibet, it has the same usage as Gyirong [22]. In Litang, Sichuan, China, the Tibetans also use the fresh bulb of the plant as a wild vegetable and spice [32].…”

“…Tibetans are one of the 56 ethnic minorities in China, mainly living in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with an average altitude of over 4000 m [20,21]. They have extensive knowledge of wild useful plants [22][23][24][25][26]. As one of the nations living in the Qinghai -Tibet Plateau for generations, Tibetans can adapt to the harsh climate on the plateau, which is inseparable from the use of wild plants, while it is still relatively lacking of research.…”

“…As one of the nations living in the Qinghai -Tibet Plateau for generations, Tibetans can adapt to the harsh climate on the plateau, which is inseparable from the use of wild plants, while it is still relatively lacking of research. Ethnobotanical research on Tibetans in China is mainly concentrated in Yadong and Purang in the Himalayas, Qinghai, Gansu and Sichuan in western China [22,[27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. As for foreign countries, they are mainly concentrated in Nepal, Bhutan and other regions [32,[34][35][36][37][38][39].…”

An ethnobotanical study on wild plants used by Tibetan people in Gyirong Valley, Tibet, China

“…Tibetans are one of the 56 ethnic minorities in China, mainly living in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, with an average altitude of over 4000 m [ 20 , 21 ]. They have extensive knowledge of wild useful plants [ 22 – 26 ]. As one of the nations living in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau for generations, Tibetans can adapt to the harsh climate on the plateau, which is inseparable from the use of wild plants, while it is still relatively lacking research.…”