Ecological status of high altitude medicinal plants and their sustainability: Lingshi, Bhutan

Abstract

BackgroundHuman beings use plants for a multitude of purposes of which a prominent one across the globe is for their medicinal values. Medicinal plants serve as one of the major sources of income for high altitude inhabitants in the Himalaya, particularly in countries like Nepal, and Bhutan. People here harvest huge volumes of medicinal plants indiscriminately, risking their sustainability. This paper attempts to identify some of the priority medicinal plant species harvested in the wild and assess their ecological status for their judicious utilization, and to help provide policy guidance for possible domestication and support strategic conservation frameworks.ResultsOut of the 16 priority species identified by the expert group, collectors’ perception on ecological status of the priority species differed from survey findings. Chrysosplenium nudicaule (clumps) ranked as most threatened species followed by Corydalis dubia, and Meconopsis simplicifolia. Onosma hookeri, Corydalis crispa and Delphinium glaciale were some of the species ranked as threatened species followed by Halenia elliptica (not in priority list). Percent relative abundance showed irregular pattern of species distribution. High species evenness was recorded among Nardostachys grandiflora, Chrysosplenium nudicaule, Saussurea gossypiphora and Aconitum orochryseum with average species density of 8 plant m−2. Rhodiola crenulata, and Dactylorhiza hatagirea followed by Meconopsis horridula and Meconopsis simplicifolia were ranked as most threatened species with average species density of 0.4, 0.4, 5.6 and 6.0 plant m−2, respectively. The most abundant (common) species was Onosma hookeri (plant m−2). Species composition and density also differed with vegetation, altitude, slope and its aspects.ConclusionPriority species identified by expert group were found vulnerable and patchy in distribution. Survey results and collectors’ perceptions tally to an extent. Some of the species (Dactylorhiza hatagirea, Rhodiola crenulata, Meconopsis simplicifolia and Meconopsis horridula) were critically low in plant density with less than a plant per m2 while Delphinium glaciale, Fritillaria delavayi and Aconitum orochryseum were confined to narrow altitude range. Collectors were aware that most species identified in priority list are threatened and existing harvesting plan are hardly implemented as it is not pragmatic. Moreover, major chunk of medicinal plants harvested remain unaccounted as illegal harvest and marketing seemed to occur across the borders. Policing and monitoring would continue to be a challenge given the rugged terrain and harsh climate. In-depth study and further monitoring of low density species is suggested to ensure its sustainability through long term strategy development.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12898-016-0100-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Natural drug sources for respiratory diseases from Fritillaria: chemical and biological analyses

“…The research focuses on the collection of both Bei Mu materials from certain Himalayan medicinal species or other high-altitude species, several of which are registered as proprietary medicines with a cross-border trade among China, Nepal, Australia, Canada, and Singapore [ 19 ]. Moreover, the narrow altitude range of several species is a restraining factor resulting in high-profit Bei Mu materials and expensive herbs that are popular research objectives [ 50 ].…”

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“…[26][27][28][29] The degree of acceptability and most probable scope of medicinal plants investigations have broadened to the environmental and ecological sciences as environmental purifiers and decontaminators, 30 in phytoremediation for heavy metals 31 or all together for ecological mapping for various habitats. [31][32][33] Similarly, medicinal plants research and data now constitute a sizeable amount of the contents of databases related to cell biology, molecular biology, [34][35][36][37] bioinformatics and system biology, 38 39, 40 and in Microbiology, where medicinal plants have been investigated extensively for antimicrobial properties 41 or the interactions of medicinal plants with the microbiome of various microhabitats. [42][43][44][45] Topmost productive researchers The top ten most productive Nigerian affiliations authors collectively contributed 523 publications on medicinal plants, constituting a 1.58% share of the total output for the study period (2009 -18).…”

Population Status of <i>Hagenia abyssinica</i> and <i>Myrica salicifolia</i>: A Reflection from Rungwe District, Mbeya Region, Tanzania

“…-90% are wild [7] [8]. Medicinal plants are important for managing HIV/AIDS related infections, and have been widely used by HIV/AIDS patients [1] [9] [10].…”

“…By 2010's the HIV patients were reported to constitute one billion people who partly relied on medicinal plants [11], adding more pressure on the wild population of medicinal plants [7] [8].…”

“…The trend of using plant medicine is associated with their availability all year long and affordability, both of which are not the case with modern drugs [13]. This has increased the extractive activities of most medicinal plants which contribute to alteration of their population status in the wild [8].…”