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The Relationship Between Plant Use and Plant Diversity in the Bolivian Andes, with Special Reference to Medicinal Plant Use

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Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between plant use and plant diversity in 36 transects of 50 × 2 m2 laid out in the surroundings of Apillapampa, a community of Quechua subsistence farmers in the Bolivian Andes. Use data were obtained through individual interviews with 13 local key participants and were organized in eight plant use categories. Regression slope analysis showed that for nearly all plant use categories the proportion of used species to available species decreased with increasing plant diversity in transects. Two main groups of plant use categories could be distinguished: diversity followers, for which the number of useful plant species in transects keeps abreast with increasing plant diversity (e.g. medicine) and diversity laggards, for which the number of useful plant species increases only moderately with increasing diversity (e.g., food). We hypothesize that the main difference between both groups is related to the human process of plant selection. In categories that are diversity followers, plants are partly selected and used in an immediacy context, whereby emic perception of efficacy may be of secondary importance. By contrast, plant use in categories of diversity laggards is strongly guided by emic perception of efficacy because plant use takes place in a context in which plants are generally not needed on a short notice.

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Acknowledgements

This research was financed by a doctoral research grant of the Bijzonder Onderzoeksfonds (BOF) of Ghent University to Evert Thomas (Grant Number: B/03801/01 FONDS IV 1). We are grateful to Ben Michiels, Lisa De Munk, Trees Cousy, Frieke Heens and David Douterlungne for collaboration during data collection. Logistic support in Bolivia was provided by the Centre of Biodiversity and Genetics and the Herbarium Martin Cardenas of the Universidad Mayor de San Simon in Cochabamba. Special thanks are due to the inhabitants and Subcentral of the community of Apillapampa for their kind assistance in making this project successful. We are also indebted to the professional botanists who identified several collections. They are S. Beck (flora of Bolivia), S. Clemants (Chenopodiaceae), E. Emshwiller (Oxalidaceae), H.-J. Esser (Euphorbiaceae), R. Faden (Commelinaceae), A. Freire (Polygalaceae), P. Goldblatt (Iridaceae), D. Goyder (Asclepiadaceae), I. Jiménez (Bolivian Pteridophyta), A. Krapovickas (Malvaceae), G. Lewis (Adesmia, Fabaceae), J. Müller (Baccharis and Hieracium, Asteraceae), G. Navarro (Cactaceae), M. Nee (Solanaceae), A. Planchuelo (Lupinus, Fabaceae), J. Pruski (Asteraceae), L. Rico (Fabaceae), C. Ulloa (Berberidaceae), R. Vasquez (Bromeliaceae and Orchidaceae), D. Wasshausen (Asclepiadaceae), J. Wood (Asclepiadaceae and Salvia, Lamiaceae) and C. Xifreda (Dioscorea, Dioscoreaceae).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture and Ethnobotany, Ghent University, Coupure links 653, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Evert Thomas & Patrick Van Damme

  2. Institute of Economic Botany, The New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Boulevard, New York, NY, 10458, USA

    Ina Vandebroek

  3. Research Group Spermatophytes, Department of Biology, Ghent University, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Paul Goetghebeur

  4. Asociación de Jampiris de Apillapampa, Apillapampa, Bolivia

    Sabino Sanca

  5. Centro de Biodiversidad y Genética, Universidad Mayor de San Simón, Parque La Torre frente Plazuela Sucre, Casilla 538, Cochabamba, Bolivia

    Susana Arrázola

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  1. Evert Thomas
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Correspondence to Evert Thomas.

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Table 2 Plant species sampled in transects in Apillampa
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Thomas, E., Vandebroek, I., Goetghebeur, P. et al. The Relationship Between Plant Use and Plant Diversity in the Bolivian Andes, with Special Reference to Medicinal Plant Use. Hum Ecol 36, 861–879 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-008-9208-z

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