1,721,059 research outputs found
Fertility and fontanels : women’s knowledge of medicinal plants for reproductive health and childcare in western Africa
Full text linkWomen__s knowledge of medicinal plants has largely been understudied in the field of ethnobotany. In addition to this gender bias, most ethnobotanical research has focused on the expert knowledge of traditional healers, overlooking the domestic knowledge of women. This is a particular concern for African women__s knowledge of reproductive health and childcare, since gynecological morbidity and infant mortality are among the most severe health problems in African countries. This dissertation sought to unravel the relationship between women and plants by assessing women__s medicinal plant knowledge and plant use practices for reproductive health and childcare in B_nin, West Africa and Gabon, Central Africa. Through the use of ethnobotanical questionnaires, botanical specimen collection, and herbal market surveys this study assesses (1) which types of vegetation women harvest for medicinal plants, (2) how closely women__s health perspectives, plant knowledge, and plant use practices reflect the statistical causes of maternal mortality (3) which infant illnesses mothers know how to treat with medicinal plants and for which illnesses they seek biomedical care or traditional healers, and (4) which species, volume, and value of medicinal plant products are sold on herbal markets in GabonUBL - phd migration 201
Floristic composition and diversity of three swamp forests in northwest Guyana
No full textThis paper reviews the floristic composition, vegetation structure, and diversity of three types of swamp forest
that cover a considerable part of Guyana’s North-West District. Trees, shrubs, lianas, herbs, and hemi-epiphytes
were inventoried in three hectare plots: one in Mora forest, one in quackal swamp, and one in manicole swamp.
The Mora forest, flooded annually by white water, was dominated by relatively few, large individuals of Mora
excelsa. The very dense, thin-stemmed quackal forest, almost permanently flooded by black water, was characterized
by Tabebuia insignis and Symphonia globulifera and contained few palms. The somewhat less dense manicole
swamp, flooded regularly by brackish water, was distinguished by large numbers of Euterpe oleracea.
Although the three swamps showed little overlap in floristic composition and densities of dominant species, they
represent some of the lowest diversity forest in the Neotropics, with an -diversity of 7.4 for the Mora forest, 8.2
for the quackal forest and 5.7 for the manicole swamp. When compared with similar vegetation types in the
Guiana Shield, the swamp forests in this study show some interesting differences in species composition and
density. The wetlands of the North-West District form the last stretch of natural coastline in Guyana and play an
important role in the protection of riverine ecosystems. Furthermore, there is commercial potential for the extraction
of non-timber forest products from these low-diversity forests. Nevertheless, in prolonged dry periods,
large tracts of quackal forest are being burnt to give way to almost treeless, flooded savannas. For these reasons,
adequate management and conservation strategies must be developed for the area
Non-timber forest products of the North-West District of Guyana
No full textThis thesis describes the use of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) by indigenous peoples of northwest Guyana.
Part I contains a general analysis of NTFP harvesting in northwest Guyana
Part II is an illustrated field guide of the useful plants encountered.
Chapter 1: introduction
Chapter 2: floristic composition and vegetation structure of well-drained mixed forest and 20- and 60-year old secondary forests. Previous forest inventories predicted a general low diversity for the North-West District, but the present forest plots turned out to rank among the most diverse studied in Guyana so far.
Chapter 3: floristic composition and vegetation structure of three types of swamp forests in the region: 1) Mora forest, flooded annually by white water, 2) Quackal swamp, almost permanently flooded by black water, 3) Manicole swamp, flooded regularly by brackish water, with large numbers of Euterpe oleracea. These low-diversity wetlands are quite important for the extraction of commercial NTFPs.
Chapter 4: quantitative assessment of the useful species in the seven forest types. Variations in useful species between the plots were caused by floristic diversity, socio-economic and cultural differences. High floristic diversity is not a prerequisite for sustainable NTFP extraction. Craft-producing hemiepiphytes are among the few species that have a potential to preserve this forest, as standing forest is needed for the required products. Dominated by economically important species, low-diversity forests offer the best opportunities for sustainable NTFP harvesting.
Chapter 5: Palm heart harvesting from Euterpe oleracea. Supporting a canning industry worth US4.2 million per year. Most products have an ecological potential for commercial extraction.
Chapter 7: fish poisons currently used in northwest Guyana. Fish poisons also play an important role in magic rituals and traditional medicine. Particularly striking was the use of Lonchocarpus spp. and Tephrosia sinapou in the treatment of cancer and AIDS.
Chapter 8: indigenous herbal medicine in northwest Guyana. 294 medicinal plant species were found, mostly harvested from the wild. The highest number of plants was used to treat common colds and coughs, followed by skin sores and malaria. Quite some medicinal species are sold in the capital, very few are commercialised in the interior.
Chapter 9: discussion and conclusions.
Part II of this thesis contains scientific and vernacular plant names, botanical descriptions and uses of 471 useful species. For the 85 major NTFPs, detailed descriptions, illustrations and information on habitat preference and seasonal availability are provided
Phylogenetic conservatism in the relationship between functional and demographic characteristics in Amazon tree taxa
Full text linkNaturali
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Icones Plantarum Malabaricarum: early 18th century botanical drawings of medicinal plants from colonial Ceylon
Full text linkEthnopharmacological relevanceFrom 1640–1796, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) occupied the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Several VOC officers had a keen interest in the medicinal application of the local flora. The Leiden University Library holds a two-piece codexentitled: Icones Plantarum Malabaricarum, adscriptis nominibus et viribus, Vol. I. & II. (Illustrations of Plants from the Malabar, assigned names and strength). This manuscript contains 262 watercolour drawings of medicinal plants from Sri Lanka, with handwritten descriptions of local names, habitus, medicinal properties and therapeutic applications. This anonymous document had never been studied previously.Aim of the studyTo identify all depicted plant specimens, decipher the text, trace the author, and analyse the scientific relevance of this manuscript as well as its importance for Sri Lankan ethnobotany.Materials and methodsWe digitised the entire manuscript, transcribed and translated the handwritten Dutch texts and identified the depicted species using historic and modern literature, herbarium vouchers, online databases on Sri Lankan herbal medicine and 41 botanical drawings by the same artist in the Artis library, Amsterdam. We traced the origin of the manuscript by means of watermark analysis and historical literature. We compared the historic Sinhalese and Tamil names in the manuscript to recent plant names in ethnobotanical references from Sri Lanka and southern India. We published the entire manuscript online with translations and identifications.ResultsThe watermarks indicate that the paper was made between 1694 and 1718. The handwriting is of a VOC scribe. In total, ca. 252 taxa are depicted, of which we could identify 221 to species level. The drawings represent mainly native species, including Sri Lankan endemics, but also introduced medicinal and ornamental plants. Lamiaceae, Zingiberaceae and Leguminosae were the best-represented families. Frequently mentioned applications were to purify the blood and to treat gastro-intestinal problems, fever and snakebites. Many plants are characterised by their humoral properties, of which ‘warming’ is the most prevalent. Plant species were mostly used for their roots (28%), bark (16%) or leaves (11%). More Tamil names (260) were documented than Sinhalese (208). More than half of the Tamil names and 36% of the Sinhalese names are still used today. The author was probably a VOC surgeon based in northern Sri Lanka, who travelled around the island to document medicinal plant use. Less than half of the species were previously documented from Ceylon by the famous VOC doctor and botanist Paul Hermann in the 1670s. Further archival research is needed to identify the maker of this manuscript.ConclusionsAlthough the maker of this early 18th century manuscript remains unknown, the detailed, 300-year-old information on medicinal plant use in the Icones Plantarum Malabaricarum represents an important ethnobotanical treasure for Sri Lanka, which offers ample opportunities to study changes and continuation of medicinal plant names and practices over time.Plant science
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