J. Molero Mesa

Vascular plant diversity and climate change in the upper zone of Sierra Nevada, Spain

Abstract This study examines the effects of altitudinal, temperature and aspect gradients on vascular plant species richness on mountain tops in Sierra Nevada (Spain) at different spatial scales (1 m2 quadrats, plot clusters of 4 m2, upper summit area down to the 5-m contour line, entire summit down to the 10-m contour line). The methodology follows the Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA) programme. Floristic and soil temperature data of eight summits sites in two neighbouring regions of the high part of Sierra Nevada (from 2668 m to 3327 m a.s.l.) were used in this study. In total, 102 taxa were recorded (84 genera; 29 families). The species richness decreased, whereas the proportion of endemic taxa increased with elevation. There were significant linear relationships between species richness and altitude and average soil temperature at each spatial scale. However, there was no significant relationship between species richness and aspect variables. Facing continued climate change, the high-altitude flora of Sierra Nevada is expected to be particularly vulnerable and prone to warming-induced biodiversity losses due to the high proportion of endemic taxa, ranging from 23% at lower elevations up to 67% at higher ones.

Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) and abortion.

The correspondence of Zias et al. (1993), related the finding of carbonized matter containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive component of marijuana, in the abdomen of an adolescent girl who apparently died in childbirth around 400 AD. The researchers’s hypothesis was that Cannabis was administered to women in child birth to relieve pains and increase uterine contractions because at this time assisting women in labour by physicians was prohibited. Prioreschi and Babin (1993) criticized the hypothesis of Zias et al., arguing that in ancient medicine many plants were used for this purpose. They said that if Cannabis was used in a difficult delivery, it doesn’t prove that it was used because of it’s pharmacological properties stated, and they asked why Zias et al. believed ‘that in antiquity physicians were prohibited by law from attending women in labour’. These authors concluded that in ancient Mesopotamia physicians presumably attended deliveries as they performed caesarean sections. In the Rif, the northern zone of Morocco, the Cannabis crop is linked to local population history. Herbal remedies were commonly used to treat different ailments because many communities and villagers live in remote areas where health facilities are not available. An intensive and systematic survey was conducted in fourteen districts of the Rif region for folklore information about drugs plants used for abortion. Midwives, whose knowledge in attending women in chilbirth was very appreciated, control the use of traditional herbal preparations to provoke abortion in the Rif zone. Eight midwives from 58 to 74 years old were inquired, each one having up to 20 of experience. Interviews reveal that each one had assisted around ten women in delivery per year and that they recognized the use of abortive preparation in case of accidental pregnancy although it was prohibited by muslim religion. In their careers our eight informants have practiced abortion with success; they recognized around 14 abortion cases, a number that we consider below to the real situation. Ethnobotanical data shows that two polyberbal preparations were used to induce abortion. * Corresponding author. Fax: +34-958-243912. E-mail address: merzouki@platon.udr.es (A. Merzouki).