Caroline S Weckerle

University of Zurich | UZH · Institut für Systematische Botanik

Is ethnobotanical knowledge conserved in space and time? A case study in rural Kurdish communities in Iran

Medicinal plant knowledge in Central Europe can be traced back from the present to antiquity, through written sources. Approximately 100 medicinal plant taxa have a history of continuous use. In this paper, we focus on use patterns over time and the link between historical and traditional uses with the current scientific evidence. We discuss our fi...

Background Little is known about the medical material and practices of tribes in the western border areas of Pakistan. The local population has inhabited this remote and isolated area for centuries, and gained medicinal knowledge with personal experiences and knowledge learned from forefathers. Due to the geographical isolation of the communities i...

Background Local plant knowledge typically is unevenly distributed within a community. This knowledge variation is important in understanding people’s relationship with their environment. Here we ask about knowledge variation among farmers’ families in the Napf region of Switzerland. Methods In 2008 and 2009, 60 adults and children living on 14 fa...

Ethnopharmacological relevance: What are the minimum methodological and conceptual requirements for an ethnopharmacological field study? How can the results of ethnopharmacological field studies be reported so that researchers with different backgrounds can draw on the results and develop new research questions and projects? And how should these f...

The Shuhi of Muli County, Sichuan Province, are one of multiple ethnic groups inhabiting the river gorges of the Qinghai-Gansu-Sichuan corridor between the Tibetan plateau and the Chinese lowlands. The Shuhi have grown paddy rice since times immemorial at an unusually high altitude (ca. 2,300 m above sea level). This article aims to explain this co...

The Shuhi of Muli County, Sichuan province, inhabit the Tibetan-Chinese borderlands. In this paper, we focus on Shuhi kinship practices that accord the house the importance it appears to have for the Shuhi themselves. We demonstrate that the Shuhi engage in kinship practices that are ‘hearthoriented’ (Hsu 1998b: 67–99) in a dynamic process affected...

This study presents results of interdisciplinary fieldwork in Southwest China by a team of linguists and ethnobotanists. It is based on a comparative analysis of 70 common plant names in five Tibeto-Burman languages spoken in Shuiluo Valley. The discussion focuses on (a) names for locally important field crops and (b) plant names that are shared be...

Background: Herbal medicine is a popular part of primary health care in Switzerland. Following an ethnobotanical approach, in this study we seek to identify Swiss herbalists with broad, empirical medicinal plant knowledge and use. We aim to consider different areas of the medicinal landscape including biomedicine, complementary and alternative med...

This paper investigates the socio-ecological differences and interactions between upland and lowland areas in Shaxi Valley, Yunnan Province, Southwest China. As an analytical tool we used an extended Human–Environment System Framework by focusing particularly on the dynamics and sustainability of livelihood strategies and mountain–valley interactio...

Background: Discussions surrounding ethnobiological classification have been broad and diverse. One of the recurring questions is whether classification is mainly based on the "inherent structure of biological reality" or on cultural, especially utilitarian needs. So far, studies about ethnobotanical classification have mainly been done in indigen...

In recent years, large development and market integration programs have altered the socioeconomic structures and cultural identity of rural communities and ethnic minorities in Southwest China and influenced the management of natural resources. This article analyzes livelihood strategies in the Shuiluo Valley, a remote area of the Sino-Tibetan bord...

Studies have been carried out in the proposed area to asses, record and report the Ethno-botanical potential of the area. Forty five individuals were selected through snow ball sampling and interviewed in details, equally distributed in the three main sites of the area. A total of 66 ethnobotanically important species were found, belonging to 37 fa...

Ethnopharmacological relevance The study documents current medicinal plant knowledge and use in two Andean communities and depicts the dynamic nature of ethnobotanical relationships by illustrating cultural integration of biomedicine and local plant medicine into a complementary system. Aim of the study In order to elucidate the importance of medic...

We use the IDM model to test for over- and underuse of plant taxa as source for medicine. In contrast to the Bayes approach, which only considers the uncertainty around the data of medicinal plant surveys, the IDM model also takes the uncertainty around the inventory of the flora into account, which is used for the comparison between medicinal and...

Ritual and religious uses of plant-derived smoke are widespread throughout the world. Our research focuses on Southwest China, where the use of incense is very common. This study aims to document and analyze contemporary ritual plant uses by the Bai people of Shaxi Township (Jianchuan County, Dali Prefecture, Yunnan Province), including their relat...

Characterization and comparative analysis of the main VOCs (volatile organic compounds) present in the smoke of 11 experimentally combusted plant species used as incense in Shaxi, Southwest China. Substances which may be responsible for the pleasant smell of the smokes as well as substances with a potential pharmacological activity are discussed. W...

We introduce and explain the advantages of the Bayesian approach and exemplify the method with an analysis of the medicinal flora of Campania, Italy. The Bayesian approach is a new method, which allows to compare medicinal floras with the overall flora of a given area and to investigate over- and underused plant families. In contrast to previously...

Livelihood and Conservation Aspects of Non-wood Forest Product Collection in the Shaxi Valley, Southwest China. The Shaxi Valley in Yunnan Province, P.R. China, is inhabited by Tibeto-Burman ethnic groups. We found a clear dichotomy between household strategies in the valley bottom and the mountain areas, with significantly lower household income i...

The caterpillar mushroom Ophiocordyceps sinensis (syn. Cordyceps sinensis) is among the most valuable mushrooms in the world, and plays a major role for the local economies in its distribution area on the Tibetan Plateau and adjacent regions. Large proportions of its habitat fall into protected areas, and best practice of sustainable harvest is und...

Aim of the study: Plant use has been the subject of many codices, documents and books and still is the subject of many scientific articles, trivial books and brochures. These texts, both historical and recent, exert a strong influence on local plant use, a means of knowledge transmission in particular European studies neglect to consider. Therefor...

A new species, Chelonopsis praecox Weckerle & F. Huber (Lamiaceae, Lamioideae) from southwest China, is described and illustrated, and its relationship to morphologically similar species is discussed. Chelonopsis praecox differs from the other species of the genus by its characteristic to bear flowers and fruits in springtime and early summer, befo...

The study focuses on medicinal plant knowledge among the Bai in the Shaxi Valley, Northwest Yunnan, where no ethnobotanical study has been conducted so far. In an area of high biodiversity, distinct medicinal plant knowledge is documented and the influence of herbals on local knowledge is revealed. To analyse current medicinal plant knowledge among...

This contribution presents preliminary results of an ongoing PhD project which aims to explore linkages between plant diversity and local plant knowledge in the Napf‐region in Switzerland. The central part of the Napf is a cultural landscape listed in the Federal Inventory of Landscapes and Natural Monuments of National Importance. Cultural Domain...

Maianthemum G. Weber ex Wigg. (Liliaceae) is a popular wild vegetable in Southwest P.R. China, the consumption and trade of which has recently been stimulated by local government polices and increasing tourism. We interviewed 68 stakeholders in Northwest Yunnan to document uses, harvest methods and amounts, and locally perceived conservation status...

Bakera, a steam bath prepared with various plants, is a traditional method used in Minahasa (North Sulawesi, Indonesia) for recuperation after childbirth. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 midwives and 166 mothers in different villages of Minahasa, in order to document the preparation and plants used for the bakera. Overall, the use...

The Shuhi are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group of around 1,500 people living exclusively in the Shuiluo Valley, southwest China. We documented their plant knowledge concerning wild collected species, and analyzed food, medicine, and ritual uses. Overall, uses, collection sites, and use frequencies of 136 plant species were documented. The plants were d...

The present ethnobotanical field study conducted during summer 2003 in two distinct regions of the Cilento National Park (Mt Vesole and Ascea) documents the local use of 90 different plant species for medicinal, food and domestic purposes. Overall, 59 people native to the area were interviewed, and 883 use-reports have been recorded. The scientific...

Despite an emphasis on fruit characters in Paullinieae taxonomy, few detailed morphological and anatomical studies of the gynoecia, fruits and seeds exist. The aims of the present study were (1) to provide a detailed documentation of gynoecium, fruit and seed structure and ontogeny in selected Paullinieae taxa; (2) to determine whether the gynoeciu...

Walnuts among the Shuhi in Shuiluo, eastern Himalayas.—Walnut (Juglans regia L.) is an ancient crop plant (1, 2). Its center of diversity is in central Asia (3), whereas its natural distribution stretches from southeastern Europe to western China (4). The species is cultivated throughout its native area and has been introduced worldwide. It is cult...

Among the few purine alkaloid-containing genera consumed as stimulants, Paullinia is the least investigated with respect to both chemotaxonomy and within-the-plant allocation of caffeine and its allies. Since purine alkaloids (PuA) have been proved to be valuable marker compounds in chemotaxonomy, 34 species of Paullinia and related genera were scr...

The Neotropical genus Averrhoidium (Sapindaceae) is classified in Doratoxyleae (Radlkofer 1934) and comprises four species with disjunct distribution: Averrhoidium dalyi is found in east Peru and northwest Brazil, Averrhoidium gardnerianum in east Brazil, Averrhoidium paraguaiense in Paraguay, and Averrhoidium spondioides in west Mexico. All specie...

An overview of the subspecies of Paullinia obovata in Peru is presented, recognizing five subspecies. One new subspecies, P. obovata subsp. flava Weckerle & Igersheim, is described. Paullinia brentberlinei is transferred to the rank of subspecies of P. obovata. Three varieties of P. obov-ata, i.e., var. obovata, var. polymorpha, var. subro-tunda, a...