Floristic Features, Distribution, and Ethnobotany of Plants Gathered and Used by Local People from the Mediterranean Forest in Northern Jordan
Floristic Features, Distribution, and Ethnobotany of Plants Gathered and Used by Local People from the Mediterranean Forest in Northern Jordan
Date
2014
Authors
Nawash, Oraib
Al-Assaf, Amani
El-oqlah, Ahmad
Omari, Mohammad
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Botany Department, University of Hawaii at Manoa
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Abstract
Understanding the distribution and floristic features of native forest plants, as well as the reasons that lead local people to collect them, is of great value for planning and implementing forest conservation and rehabilitation projects in the Mediterranean forest involving local communities. The aims of this study were to (1) investigate the distribution pattern, (2) analyze the floristic features, and (3) investigate the main uses of plants gathered from three Mediterranean forest ecosystems in Northern Jordan. We sampled 14 villages that were selected according to their location on the edge and within the three Mediterranean forest types in Northern Jordan. Three hundred informants were interviewed face to face using a semi-structured questionnaire. The data obtained included a list of plants collected and their uses. A Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) was carried out to investigate the distribution of plant species collected from the three forest types. Also, important indices were calculated including Informant Consensus Factor (ICF), Fidelity Level (FL%), and uses totaled. The DCA showed that there are common plant species gathered intensively from all three forest types, namely Origanum syriacum L., Malva parviflora L., and Arum palaestinum Boiss., and that some plant species are collected from a particular forest type. The main uses of the collected plants are food and medicine. The study results suggest value in taking into account the behavior of people who collect native forest plants when designing fragile forest ecosystem restoration programs. These programs should be community-based in order to achieve ecosystem sustainability and prevent biodiversity erosion.
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Nawash, O., Al-Assaf, A., El-oqlah, A., Omari, M. 2014. Floristic Features, Distribution, and Ethnobotany of Plants Gathered and Used by Local People from the Mediterranean Forest in Northern Jordan. Ethnobotany Research & Applications 12: 385-396.
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12 pages
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