How does urbanization affect perceptions and traditional knowledge of medicinal plants?

Abstract

Background: Use and knowledge of medicinal plants play an essential role in community health in rural Mexico. They are part of the local inheritance and constitute an economic alternative. Nevertheless, knowledge of their use has declined due to factors like accelerated urbanization processes. Some authors have proposed that by reducing natural spaces, urbanization generates changes which will impact recognition, use and management of natural resources. We evaluate how urbanization affects knowledge, use and perception of medicinal plants in a Biosphere Reserve in Mexico. Methods: Using a mixed methodology including quantitative and qualitative analyses, we generate a list of medicinal plants, methods of preparation, prevalence of illness, and use. Results: 210 medicinal plants were identified. The more urbanized community used greater number of introduced plants; whereas the less urbanized used and had more knowledge about wild plants. One of the factors explaining these differences was occupation. People who work outdoors have greater knowledge of wild plants. The more urbanized community knew and used more introduced species. Conclusions: This can lead to a loss of knowledge of use and management of wild species, with implications for the conservation of biocultural heritage. Substitution of native by introduced plants shows disinterest and disuse, which could be reflected in their ecosystems.

Is it the plants we know that we use? Unraveling the determining factors of ethnobotanical knowledge in a rural community in Central Mexico

“…Overall, a great proportion (40.76%) of these medicinal plants was recorded in homegardens, which explains the relevance of this place as a driver to the local reservoir of native and exotic species in the community (Additional File 1). Future research may confirm the level of TBK that is fostered in homegardens in El Zapote, as well as the environmental and sociocultural factors that impact the knowledge and use of medicinal plants and enrich the local ethnopharmacopeia, as has been suggested by other authors in urban and rural localities (Arjona-García et al 2021;Ávila et al 2015); which in turn would contribute to theoretical knowledge about the diversification hypothesis in ethnobotany (Gaoue et al 2017). The last is in addition to the local interest in the conservation of these resources, particularly when medicinal use is linked to their magical-religious importance (Silva et al 2021), which potentiates the benefits of homegardens as socio-ecological systems for human well-being (Rajagopal et al 2021).…”

“…According to Casas et al (2001), the dominance of these life forms may be as a result of in situ management and artificial selection of this group of resources in the environment. But as observed in the study area, it may also be due to the anthropogenic transformation process that has occurred in the landscapes of Central Mexico in recent decades (Monroy-Martínez and Ayala 2003), which has promoted secondary forests and synanthropic flora, with high representation of herbaceous plants (Arjona-García et al 2021;Guerrero 2020). Another possible explanation is the cultural relevance of trees and shrubs as firewood in the community, which are the principal vegetable elements used locally in the preparation of several traditional 2017), this can be attributed to the fact that these morphological structures have greater succulence with respect to the rest of the plant parts and are directly related to food and health care, which are the main social needs that require attention in the community.…”

“…Approaching this cognitive phenomenon can provide: i) information about the processes associated with the selection and management of a specific group of plant resources, ii) key clues about the factors that influence decisions about which resources to use based on the knowledge background, and iii) novel data on the variation in the knowledge and use of plants in communities that interact greatly with urban areas, such as some peasant communities in Central Mexico (Arjona-García et al 2021;Beltrán-Rodríguez et al 2014;Tegoma 2019). In a comprehensive manner, this analysis will provide theoretical elements on the mechanisms that favor the creation, loss, and persistence of intracommunity traditional botanical knowledge, in order to avoid its erosion (Fabrega and Silver 1973;Garro 1986).…”

“…In the state of Morelos, Mexico, the change in land use associated with urban growth has exacerbated the deterioration of biotic resources and the TBK that the inhabitants have (Arjona-García et al 2021;Guerrero 2020;Monroy-Martínez and Ayala 2003). The southern of this region is an interesting site for ethnobotanical research, given the transformation that ecosystems have undergone in recent decades, having environmental and social impacts.…”

“…For example, the Tropical Deciduous Forest (TDF), the dominant ecosystem in the region shows a decrease in its territorial extension of approximately 80% (Guerrero 2020). It has induced changes regarding the knowledge, use and disuse of local floristic resources (Arjona-García et al 2021;Monroy-Ortíz et al 2013). It has also encouraged the population to make adaptations in their spaces to conserve species of daily use in small managed areas (Ortiz-Sánchez et al 2015).…”