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Ethnobotany, the study of the classification, use and management of plants by people, draws on a range of disciplines, including natural and social sciences, to show how conservation of plants and of local knowledge about them can be achieved. Ethnobotany is critical to the growing importance of developing new crops and products such as drugs from traditional plants.
This book is the basic introduction to the field, showing how botany, anthropology, ecology, economics and linguistics are all employed in the techniques and methods involved. It explains data collection and hypothesis testing and provides practical ideas on fieldwork ethics and the application of results to conservation and community development. Case studies illustrate the explanations, demonstrating the importance of collaboration in achieving results.
Contents: The ’People and Plants’ Initiative • Internal Panel of Advisers • Foreword by Professor G. T. Prance • Preface • Introduction • Data Collection and Hypothesis Testing • Choosing an approach • Six disciplines which contribute to an ethnobotanical study • Rapid ethnobotanical appraisal • Planning a long-term project • Describing the field site • Ethnobotanical data • Visual aids • The law of diminishing returns • Hypothesis testing and theory • Botany • Collecting and identifying plants • Preparing an ethnobotanical reference collection • Herbaria and the curation of plant specimens • Judging the completeness of a plant survey • Ethnopharmacology and Related Fields • Proceeding with a phytochemical analysis • Screening • Collecting plants for phytochemical analysis • The ethics of searching for new plant products • Bringing phytochemistry back home • Anthropology • Talking with local people • Searching for ethnobotanical information in folklore • Surveys and analytical tools • Ecology • Describing microenvironments and quantifying their plant resources • Qualitative approaches • Bridgins the gap between qualitative and quantitative approaches • Quantitative approaches • Economics • Economics and ethnobotany • The value of forest products • Surveys of community and household economy • Local markets • Linguistics • Learning local language • Collaborating with linguists • Where there is no linguist • Transcribing the local language • Linguistic analysis in ethnobotany • Free listing • Systematic surveys of local plant knowledge • Categories of ethnobiological classification • The correspondence between folk and scientific classification • Ethnobotany, Conservation and Community Development • Applying traditional ecological knowledge • Ethnobotanical research and community development • Forests • Conservation of wild crop relatives and endangered useful plants • Education • Use of protected areas • The local perspective on ethnobotanical research • The path ahead • References • Further Reading • Index.
ISBN - 1844070840
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Pages : 296
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