Traditional knowledge of medicinal plants in the Serra de Mariola Natural Park, South-eastern Spain

Abstract

The present study aims to inventory and analyse the ethnobotanical knowledge about medicinal plants in the Serra de Mariola Natural Park. In respect to traditional uses, 93 species reported by local informants were therapeutic, 27 food, 4 natural dyes and 13 handcrafts. We developed a methodology that allowed the location of individuals or vegetation communities with a specific popular use. We prepared a geographic information system (GIS) that included gender, family, scientific nomenclature and common names in Spanish and Catalan for each species. We also made a classification of 39 medicinal uses from ATC (Anatomical, Therapeutic, Chemical classification system). Labiatae (n=19), Compositae (n=9) and Leguminosae (n=6) were the families most represented among the plants used to different purposes in humans. Species with the most elevated cultural importance index (CI) values were Thymus vulgaris (CI=1.431), Rosmarinus officinalis (CI=1.415), Eryngium campestre (CI=1.325), Verbascum sinuatum (CI=1.106) and Sideritis angustifolia (CI=1.041). Thus, the collected plants with more therapeutic uses were: Lippia triphylla (12), Thymus vulgaris and Allium roseum (9) and Erygium campestre (8). The most repeated ATC uses were: G04 (urological use), D03 (treatment of wounds and ulcers) and R02 (throat diseases). These results were in a geographic map where each point represented an individual of any species. A database was created with the corresponding therapeutic uses. This application is useful for the identification of individuals and the selection of species for specific medicinal properties. In the end, knowledge of these useful plants may be interesting to revive the local economy and in some cases promote their cultivation.

Turning Meadow Weeds Into Valuable Species for the Romanian Ethnomedicine While Complying With the Environmentally Friendly Farming Requirements of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy

“…In the European herbal medicine this plant was used as an infusion for the treatment of whooping cough, as well as in the treatment of kidney and urinary tract inflammations (Medbouhi et al, 2018). In Eastern European TM field eryngo roots and leaves are used for their anti-inflammatory, antiscorbutic, diaphoretic, antitussive, diuretic, expectorant, appetitestimulant, and aphrodisiac properties, and to treat hemorrhoids, rheumatism, and infertility (Küpeli et al, 2006;Belda et al, 2013;Güneşet al, 2014;Conea et al, 2015;Kikowska et al, 2016;Soumia, 2018). In Turkey is used to treat intestinal disorders, flatulence, hepatitis, digestion disorders, and muscle pain (Akgul et al, 2018) but is also used fresh for human consumption (Demirci and Özkan, 2014).…”

Can spatial distribution of ungulates be predicted by modeling camera trap data related to landscape indices? A case study in a fragmented Mediterranean landscape

“…Natural land cover predominates (67 %), followed by some areas with rain-fed crops (24 %), residential areas (5 %), abandoned crops (3 %), and irrigated crops (1 %) (Belda et al 2016). Finally, this natural park also holds great biodiversity in plants and animals, highlighting a large variety of carnivorous mammals, ungulates, and game species (Belda et al 2012). In order to better understand the sustainability of this semi-natural environment, we have been observing and analyzing its composition for almost one decade.…”

Mapping and Assessment of Ethno-Medicinal Trees in Built Up Areas - University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria

“…The inventories were not carried out within an institution, except in the work of Jimoh et al [17] in the University of Agriculture Campus, Makurdi, Nigeria. The mapping of ethno-medicinal trees with the use of geo-information technologies such as GIS in natural forest and agro-ecosystem was carried out in Pakistan and Spain [18,19], but such work is rare, especially in institutionalbased environment, such as universities, research Institutes and teaching hospitals globally. This study therefore focused on mapping and assessing the ethno-medicinal trees within the University Park of the University of Port-Harcourt with a view to examining their spatial variation in terms of composition and diversity between the residential and non-residential areas of the Park.…”