Ethnobotanical Knowledge and Population Density of Threatened Medicinal Plants of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, Western Himalaya, India

Abstract

The present study was carried out to investigate the population density, collection pattern and documentation of ethnobotanical knowledge of threatened medicinal plants (TMP) used by the inhabitants of Buffer zone villages in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (NDBR). A total of 36 TMP species belonging to 20 botanical families have been identified that are used in the treatment of various diseases in traditional health care system (THCS). The average population density of TMP species was ranges maximum for Allium stracheyi (0.71–1.64\xa0Ind/m2) followed by Pleurospermum angelicoides (0.52–1.56\xa0Ind/m2) and Arnebia benthamii (0.82–1.41\xa0Ind/m2), respectively in the Biosphere Reserve (BR). Allium stracheyi (0.98), Angelica glauca (0.91), Picrorhiza kurroa (0.89), Arnebia benthamii (0.87), Allium humile (0.82), Pleurospermum angelicoides (0.81), Bergenia stracheyi (0.80) with higher use value (UV) were the most used medicinal plants in the villages of BR. The study could be a pilot to reinforce the conservation measures across the Protected Area Network (PAN) by understanding the traditional knowledge of local inhabitants, dynamics of anthropocentric activities and its resultant impacts on medicinal plant diversity.