Potential of Traditional Knowledge of Plants in the Management of Arthropods in Livestock Industry with Focus on (Acari) Ticks.
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ABSTRACT: Antitick plants and related ethnoknowledge/ethnopractices with potential for integrated tick control and management strategies to improve livestock production are reviewed. About 231 plants reviewed showed a variety of bioactive properties, namely, being toxic, repellent, antifeedant, and antiovipositant and ability to immobilize target tick species. These ethnobotanical substances are potentially useful in developing sustainable, efficient, and effective antitick agents suitable for rural livestock farmers. Majority of these plants are holistic in action, economically affordable, user friendly, easily adaptable and accessible, and environmentally friendly and help develop community-driven tick control interventions well suited to local conditions and specific to different livestock communities. Such a multipurpose intervention best fits the recent ascendancy of individual livestock owners as the key players in tick control programmes, particularly following the withdrawal of subsidies accorded to tick control programmes by most African government agencies since mid-1980s. However, scientific validation of antitick ethnobotanicals on their efficacy and formulation of packages easily handled by local communities is necessary to achieve a significantly increased use of such remedies. It is envisaged that the results of validation may lead to the discovery of effective and affordable antitick products. The effectiveness of these "best bets" ethnopractices can be greatest, if they are appropriately blended with conventional technologies.
Project description:(1) Urbanization threatens biodiversity, yet urban native plants support native biodiversity, contributing to conservation and ecosystem services. Within urban agroecosystems, where non-native plants are abundant, native plants may boost the abundance and richness of beneficial arthropods. Nevertheless, current information focuses on pollinators, with little attention being paid to other beneficials, like natural enemies. (2) We examined how the species richness of native plants, garden management, and landscape composition influence the abundance and species richness of all, native, and non-native bees, ladybeetles, ants, and ground-foraging spiders in urban agroecosystems (i.e., urban community gardens) in California. (3) We found that native plants (~10% of species, but only ~2.5% of plant cover) had little influence on arthropods, with negative effects only on non-native spider richness, likely due to the low plant cover provided by native plants. Garden size boosted native and non-native bee abundance and richness and non-native spider richness; floral abundance boosted non-native spider abundance and native and non-native spider richness; and mulch cover and tree and shrub abundance boosted non-native spider richness. Natural habitat cover promoted non-native bee and native ant abundance, but fewer native ladybeetle species were observed. (4) While native plant richness may not strongly influence the abundance and richness of beneficial arthropods, other garden management features could be manipulated to promote the conservation of native organisms or ecosystem services provided by native and non-native organisms within urban agroecosystems.
Project description:Medicinal plants are the primary material basis for disease prevention and treatment in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The conservation and sustainable utilization of these medicinal plants is critical for the development of the TCM industry. However, wild medicinal plant resources have sharply declined in recent decades. To ameliorate the shortage of medicinal plant resources, it is essential to explore the development potential of the TCM industry in different geographical regions. For this purpose, we examined the spatial distribution of commonly used medicinal plants in China, the number of Chinese medicinal material markets, and the number of TCM decoction piece enterprises. Specifically, multispecies superimposition analysis and Thiessen polygons were used to reveal the optimal range for planting bulk medicinal plants and the ideal regions for building Chinese medicinal material markets, respectively. Furthermore, we quantitatively analyzed mismatches between the spatial distribution of commonly used medicinal plant richness, Chinese medicinal material markets, and TCM decoction piece enterprises. We found that the areas suitable for growing commonly used medicinal plants in China were mainly distributed in Hengduan Mountain, Nanling Mountain, Wuling Mountain, and Daba Mountain areas. The Thiessen polygon network based on Chinese medicinal material market localities showed there are currently fewer markets in southwestern, northwestern, and northeastern China than in central and southern China. TCM decoction piece enterprises are concentrated in a few provinces, such as Hebei and Jiangxi. We found that the distribution of commonly used medicinal plants, Chinese medicinal material markets and TCM decoction piece enterprises are mismatched in Henan, Shaanxi, Hunan, Hubei, Zhejiang, Fujian, Chongqing, and Xizang. We recommend strengthening development of the TCM industry in Henan, Hunan, Zhejiang, Shaanxi, Hubei, Chongqing, Fujian, and Xizang; building more Chinese medicinal material markets in southwestern, northwestern, and northeastern China; and establishing medicinal plant nurseries in resource-rich provinces to better protect and domesticate local medicinal plants.
Project description:This study aimed to explore the knowledge and attitudes of livestock farmers from the United Kingdom regarding agroforestry planning and management issues. The farmers (n = 48) answered an online survey with demographic, open, closed and Likert scale questions. Almost half of the participants said they need more information to successfully plan and manage an agroforestry system, and self-reported low knowledge on management practices related to trees. Participants stated they did not expect to receive technical support from governmental agencies to maintain the agroforestry area. However, they would like to improve their knowledge through field days, courses, and Internet sources. Benefits to the environment, animals and farm profitability were considered central to successful agroforestry systems. In conclusion, participants cannot successfully plan and manage agroforestry, but they are willing to improve their knowledge and skills.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10457-024-01115-2.
Project description:An updated and increased compilation of georeferenced tick locations in Germany is presented here. This data collection extends the dataset published some years ago by another 1448 new tick locations, 900 locations of which were digitized from literature and 548 locations are published here for the first time. This means that a total of 3492 georeferenced tick locations is now available for Germany. The tick fauna of Germany includes two species of Argasidae in the genera Argas and Carios and 19 species of Ixodidae in the genera Dermacentor, Haemaphysalis, and Ixodes, altogether 21 tick species. In addition, three species of Ixodidae in the genera Hyalomma (each spring imported by migratory birds) and Rhipicephalus (occasionally imported by dogs returning from abroad with their owners) are included in the tick atlas. Of these, the georeferenced locations of 23 tick species are depicted in maps. The occurrence of the one remaining tick species, the recently described Ixodes inopinatus, is given at the level of the federal states. The most common and widespread tick species is Ixodes ricinus, with records in all 16 federal states. With the exception of Hamburg, Dermacentor reticulatus was also found in all federal states. The occurrence of the ixodid ticks Ixodes canisuga, Ixodes frontalis, Ixodes hexagonus and I. inopinatus were documented in at least 11 federal states each. The two mentioned argasid tick species were also documented in numerous federal states, the pigeon tick Argas reflexus in 11 and the bat tick Carios vespertilionis in seven federal states. The atlas of ticks in Germany and the underlying digital dataset in the supplement can be used to improve global tick maps or to study the effects of climate change and habitat alteration on the distribution of tick species.
Project description:Ticks and tick borne diseases (TBDs) undermine livestock production with considerable economic losses to livestock producers in endemic areas worldwide. Despite the impact of ticks and TBDs in livestock production, there is a paucity of information on ticks and diseases they transmit in Botswana. To address this gap, a cross-sectional study was conducted to determine (i) the seroprevalence of selected tick borne (TB) pathogens and (ii) the diversity and abundance of ixodid ticks among 301 cattle foraging around two protected areas in northern Botswana, differing by the presence or absence of a physical barrier (fence) separating wildlife and livestock. Competitive inhibition enzyme linked immuno-sorbent assay (cELISA) was used to test for Anaplasma spp. infection and Indirect Fluorescence Antibody Test (IFAT) was used to test for Theileria parva, Babesia bovis, and B. bigemina. Ticks were identified morphologically at either genus or species level. Seroprevalence of cattle was found to be 90% for Anaplasma spp., followed by 38.6% for Babesia spp. and 2.4% for T. parva. Except for Babesia spp., comparisons of the seroprevalence of the selected haemoparasites between the two wildlife-livestock interface areas were not significantly different. The overall prevalence of ticks was found to be 73.4% with Amblyomma variegatum being the most abundant (53.1%) followed by Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi (31.7%) and R. (B.) decoloratus (7.7%). Except for Babesia spp., comparisons of the seroprevalence of the selected haemoparasites between the two study areas were not significantly different while comparisons of the burden of tick infestation between the study sites revealed significant difference for A. variegatum and R. evertsi evertsi with both tick infestations higher where there is no barrier. Our work provided baseline data on TBD pathogens and tick infestation in cattle populations exposed to different levels of contact with adjacent buffalo populations. The presence of a veterinary fence did not significantly influence the seroprevalence of the selected TBD pathogens (except for Babesia spp.) but seemed to reduce tick burdens in cattle. Findings from this study can be used for guiding future epidemiological study designs to improve our understanding of ticks and TBDs dynamics in northern Botswana.
Project description:BackgroundMost of the traditional knowledge about plants and their uses is fast disappearing as a consequence of socio-economic and land use changes. This trend is also occurring in areas that are historically exposed to very few external influences, such as Sardinia (Italy). From 2004 to 2005, an ethnobotanical investigation was carried out in the area of Monte Ortobene, a mountain located near Nuoro, in central Sardinia.MethodsData were collected by means of semi-structured interviews. All the records - defined as 'citations', i.e. a single use reported for a single botanical species by a single informant - were filed in a data base ('analytical table'), together with additional information: i.e. local names of plants, parts used, local frequencies, and habitats of plants, etc. In processing the data, plants and uses were grouped into general ('categories') and detailed ('secondary categories') typologies of use. Some synthetic indexes have also been used, such as Relative Frequency of Citation (RFC), Cultural Importance Index (CI), the Shannon-Wiener Index (H'), and Evenness Index (J).ResultsSeventy-two plants were cited by the informants as being traditionally used in the area. These 72 'ethnospecies' correspond to 99 botanical taxa (species or subspecies) belonging to 34 families. Three-hundred and one citations, 50 secondary categories of use, and 191 different uses were recorded, most of them concerning alimentary and medicinal plants. For the alimentary plants, 126 citations, 44 species, and 13 different uses were recorded, while for the medicinal plants, there were 106 citations, 40 species, and 12 uses. Few plants and uses were recorded for the remaining categories. Plants and uses for each category of use are discussed. Analyses of results include the relative abundance of botanical families, wild vs. cultivated species, habitats, frequency, parts of plant used, types of use, knowledge distribution, and the different cultural importance of the species in question.ConclusionThe study provides examples of several interesting uses of plants in the community, which would seem to show that the custom of using wild plants is still alive in the Monte Ortobene area. However, many practices are no longer in use, and survive only as memories from the past in the minds of elderly people, and often only in one or just a few informants. This rapidly vanishing cultural diversity needs to be studied and documented before it disappears definitively.
Project description:Genders differ in traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) about plants, but how gender influences TEK sharing is still poorly understood. Here, we examined how gender is associated with the diversity, transmission, and structure of TEK. We tested whether women and men differ in terms of plant knowledge (species richness, α-diversity), knowledge heterogeneity (β-diversity), and in the structure of social-ecological networks they form. The study was carried out in a suburban community in the city of Ouro Preto, Southeastern, Brazil. Using the snow-ball technique, semi-structured interviews, guided tours, and participant observation, we gathered information from 33 women and 33 men in the community. We collected information about their culture, social-economic profiles, and plant knowledge from which we identified 291 plant species in 10 use categories. Overall, our results indicated that the cognition and sharing of ethnobotanical knowledge are structured by gender. Women rated better in their plant knowledge repertory (greater α-diversity), while plant knowledge among men was more heterogeneous (greater β-diversity), suggesting less information sharing among them. We observed that the network among women is more connected, exhibited greater information sharing, with a greater number of central individuals, who likely provide the cohesion and maintenance of TEK in the community. Our findings indicate how social-ecological networks can provide insights and information to unveil social patterns of knowledge transmission. Understanding how TEK is fostered and shared among community members will favor better planning of ethnobotanical studies, as well as inform decision-makers about strategies for the conservation of plant TEK.
Project description:This research purpose was focused to document the traditional ethnobotanical knowledge (TEK) associated with important wild plants and indigenous communities residing in mountainous zone of District Sudhnoti of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan and to determine their conservation status with suggestions and recommendations to protect and propagate the rare and endangered wild flora of the area for sustainable use. The data regarding traditional ethnomedicines (TEMs) and phytogeography with conservation analysis of wild plants were collected via structured and semi structured interviews of 150 participants belonging to various professions and of both genders. Prior consent and permission were obtained from family heads and from all the participants, and the data were shared with all the informants through the local female translator guide. To validate the collected data, various microstatistical tools, such as the informant consensus factor (ICF), fidelity level (FL) and data matrix ranking (DMR) were used. The relative frequency of citations (RFC) and rank order of popularity (ROP) were also calculated to determine and authenticate the relative importance of TEMs which may be further studied in future research and used for drug discovery. In the present study, 150 locally important plants belonging to 69 families were documented, and the Rosaceae was the most dominant and prevalent family. The results indicated that many locally important plants have multiple uses such as food, medicine, fodder, shelter, ornamental and fuel. The TEMs obtained from these plants have been known to be useful for curing various infirmities such as flu, renal disorders, fever, malaria, cough, migraine, whooping cough, influenza, skin rashes, allergies, stomach aches, wounds and bruises, diabetes, tumours and joint pains. The ICF analysis revealed that renal calculus, malaria, fever, whooping cough, rheumatoid arthritis and arthritis were prevalent infirmities of the mountainous area. The FL analysis indicated the popularity of these plants used in various TEMs and among these Artemisia maritima and Berberis lycium were the most common. The DMR indicated that Pinus roxburghii was the most common species being used for multipurpose by the indigenous communities. The highest use value index was found for Indigofera linifolia. The relative frequency of citations was calculated to determine the importance of plants in traditional ethnomedicine, highlighting Morus nigra, Pinus wallichiana, and Rosa indica as significant species. The Jaccard index indicated a high level of novelty in the research which can be exploited for neo-drug discovery and drug development. In conclusion, this study has successfully documented the ethnobotanically and ethnomedicinally important plants in District Sudhnoti, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan. The findings of this research contribute to the preservation and documentation of cultural heritage, as well as provide a foundation for further studies in ethnobotany, ethnopharmacology and biodiversity conservation efforts for sustainable provision of wild flora to the indigenous communities which will also assist in combating drasting climatic changes.
Project description:Knowledge management is a multifaceted, complex, end-to-end organizational process dealing with collecting and using data, information, and knowledge generated by a group of individuals. The current study examines the changes required in companies' quality systems to enhance intergenerational learning and knowledge retention. Our primary objective was to understand the factors that influence the development of an organizational culture encouraging innovation, knowledge sharing, organizational learning, openness, and providing opportunities to create up-to-date knowledge. We collected the viewpoints and needs of industry professionals by using interviews and a survey. Then, we analyzed the factors that influence knowledge management quality and transfer between workforce generations. The professionals' primary goal is to introduce, integrate, and improve knowledge in their organization. Their second goal is to facilitate knowledge sharing and transfer between workforce generations. Improving transgenerational knowledge sharing and reducing the loss of knowledge are challenges for all industries. A cutting-edge industry such as the defense field deals with sensitive data, and knowledge management is a strategic need in a competitive context. Quality management standards propose guidelines for developing and enhancing the overall knowledge-related processes. However, implementing them requires a shift in the corporate culture team. Organizational knowledge resilience must be developed by involving the workforce in implementing knowledge management systems.
Project description:Traditional herbal remedies are used worldwide for treating both human and livestock health issues. Though such uses are relatively well-explored for humans, the ethnoveterinary uses of plant-based remedies in the healthcare choices of livestock in Nepal and associated knowledge are largely ignored. This is important as sustainable livestock production is an emerging issue. This study reviews the existing ethnobotanical studies conducted in Nepal and reports the use of 393 species of plants from 114 botanical families in ethnoveterinary practices. Thirty-four different ailments were treated using these plants. The present review revealed that Nepal has a rich diversity of ethnoveterinary plants. This study shows that traditional herbal medicine plays a significant role in meeting the livestock healthcare needs of Nepali farmers and hence is a viable practice. The study also contributes a wealth of knowledge about ethnoveterinary practices for further planning and use. This will provide an option for livestock farmers who cannot afford allopathic medicine or who are not allowed to use such medicine under organic farming schemes that are likely to be a part of sustainable livestock farming programs in Nepal soon.