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The ethnobotanical importance and conservation value of native plants in eastern Arabian Peninsula
Author(s) -
Heneidy Selim Z.,
Halmy Marwa Waseem A.,
Bidak Laila M.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
feddes repertorium
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.24
H-Index - 25
eISSN - 1522-239X
pISSN - 0014-8962
DOI - 10.1002/fedr.201600024
Subject(s) - geography , ethnobotany , native plant , overgrazing , peninsula , sustainability , agriculture , habitat , ecosystem , ecosystem services , agroforestry , ecology , introduced species , medicinal plants , environmental science , biology , grazing , archaeology
The eastern coastal area of the Arabian Peninsula is subject to overgrazing, agricultural activities, oil pollution and urban encroachments. These activities cause habitat destruction and may have changed species composition. The current study aimed at assessing conservation and ethnobotanical importance of plants and how they are affected by environmental threats. The natural vegetation composition was studied and the ethnobotanical relative importance ( RI ) index and the species conservation index ( SCI ) were calculated. The results showed that native plants provide many ecological and socioeconomic services, including the provisioning of food, medicine, and energy. The native species (>77%) were reported to potentially be used for more than 170 therapeutic applications and for curing various human ailments. The medicinal plants (15%) attained RI value >50% reflecting high versatility and importance in local pharmacopeia. The number of threats to species showed significant positive association with SCI index and insignificant positive association with RI index. The study indicated that the current human activities may have negatively impacted provisioning of ecosystem services especially those offered by native plants. The ability of the natural ecosystems to sustainably provide services will be enhanced by adoption of land management practices that restore species and reduce pressure on native plants.