Front cover image for Ethnobotany : a methods manual

Ethnobotany : a methods manual

Gary J. Martin (Author)
Ethnobotany, the study of the classification, use and management of plants by people, draws on a range of disciplines, including natural and social sciences, to show how conservation of plants and of local knowledge about them can be achieved. Ethnobotany is critical to the growing importance of developing new crops and products such as drugs from traditional plants.This book is the basic introduction to the field, showing how botany, anthropology, ecology, economics and linguistics are all employed in the techniques and methods involved. It explains data collection and hypothesis testing and
eBook, English, 2004
earthscan, Abingdon, Oxon, 2004
Handbooks and manuals
1 online resource (293 pages) : illustrations.
9781844070848, 9781849775854, 1844070840, 1849775850
1117900488
Ethnobotany A Methods Manual; Copyright; Contents; The 'People and Plants' Initiative; International panel of advisers; Internal panel of advisers; Foreword; Preface; Introduction; 1 Data collection and hypothesis testing; 1.1 Choosing an approach; 1.2 Six disciplines which controbute to an ethnobotanical study; 1.3 Rapid ethnobotanical appraisal; 1.4 Planning a long-term project; 1.5 Describing the field site; 1.6 Ethnobotanical data; 1.7 Visual aids; 1.8 The law of diminishing returns; 1.9 Hypothesis testing and theory; 2 Botany; 2.1 Collecting and identifying plants 2.2 Preparing an ethnobotanical reference collection2.3 Herbaria and the curation of plant specimens; 2.4 Judging the completeness of a plant survey; 3 Ethnopharmacology and related fields; 3.1 Proceeding with a phytochemical analysis; 3.2 Screening; 3.3 Collecting plants for phytochemical analysis; 3.4 The ethics of searching for new plant products; 3.5 Bringing phytochemistry back home; 4 Anthropology; 4.1 Talking with local people; 4.2 Searching for ethnobotanical information in folklore; 4.3 Surveys and analytical tools; 5 Ecology 5.1 Describing microenvironments and quantifying their plant resources5.2 Qualitative approaches; 5.3 Bridging the gap between qualitative and quantitative approaches; 5.4 Quantitative approaches; 6 Economics; 6.1 Economics and ethnobotany; 6.2 The value of the environment; 6.3 The value of forest products; 6.4 Surveys of community and household economy; 6.5 Local markets; 7 Linguistics; 7.1 Learning a local language; 7.2 Colaborating with linguists; 7.3 Where there is no linguist; 7.4 Transcribing the local language; 7.5 Linguistic analysis in ethnobotany; 7.6 Free listing 7.7 Systematic surveys of local plant knowledge7.8 Categories of ethnobiological classification; 7.9 The correspondence between folk and scientific classification; 8 Ethnobotany, conservation and community development; 8.1 Applying traditional ecological knowledge; 8.2 Ethnobotanical research and community development; 8.3 Forests; 8.4 Conservation of wild crop relatives and endangered useful plants; 8.5 Education; 8.6 Use of protected areas; 8.7 The local perspective on ethnobotanical research; 8.8 The path ahead; References; Further reading; Index