Indigenous knowledge for plant species diversity: a case study of wild plants' folk names used by the Mongolians in Ejina desert area, Inner Mongolia, P. R. China

Indigenous knowledge is the systematic information that remains in diverse social structures. It is usually unwritten and preserved only through oral tradition, and it refers to the knowledge system of indigenous people and minority cultures. Traditional knowledge of biodiversity concerns the names, uses, and management of plants and animals as perceived by the local and or indigenous people of a given area. Folk names of plants and animals are the roots of traditional biodiversity knowledge. Berlin has indicated a strong need for linking the scientific and folk systems of classification [1]. Examples of such links have been quoted by Berlin et al. who has looked at the relationship between folk names and scientific names [1‐4]. For this reason, it has been brought into "Convention on Biological Diversity" (CBD). Precisely, in article 8 of CBD which describes that "subject to its national legislation, respect, preserve and maintain knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and promote their wider application with the approval and involvement of the holders of such knowledge, innovations and practices and encourage the equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of such knowledge, innovations and practices". Besides, folk systems of naming and classification transmitted from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment. In this case, it undoubtedly fell into the category of "Intangible Cultural Heritage" (ICH) of humanity. In "Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage", "oral traditions and expressions, including language as a vehicle of the intangible cultural heritage" and "knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe" were domains of the ICH.

In pace with social change and development, the Mongols are changing from nomadic people into settlement residents. The knowledge concerning grassland ecosystems is vanishing gradually because the related knowledge is no longer useful to the Mongols who are settled down or engaged in farming or other economic pursuits. The Mongolians in Inner Mongolia have been influenced by the Chinese culture, e.g. in some areas Han Chinese words, including plant names, are more or less mixed up with the Inner Mongolians' spoken language. This may be leading to the Mongols forgetting traditional botanical knowledge related to the language of plant folk names and classifications.

Both artificial and natural factors lead to degradation of the grassland and desertification. As a result, plant diversity that Mongolians traditionally named and used has decreased. The reduction of plant diversity may also lead to the extinction of the related knowledge of biodiversity. Thus it will be impossible to hand down to future generations. For this reason, collection and analysis of plant folk names of the Mongolians is extremely important.

Ethnobotanical studies in Inner Mongolia have been carried out since the 1980s, having studied useful plants of herdsmen [5], folk nomenclature [6, 7]. However, ethnobotanical findings are still preliminary and fragmentary. Particularly, indigenous Mongolian traditional knowledge of desert plant diversity has been neglected by biologists and anthropologists. Biodiversity has social, economic, ecological and ethical value. Understanding ecological functions of biodiversity, respecting the ethics and social importance of biodiversity, and the appropriate exploitation and use of biodiversity are the global issues facing biodiversity today. Scientists have paid close attention to the relationships between biodiversity and cultural diversity [8‐11].

Mongolian traditional knowledge of biodiversity includes aspects of folk nomenclature, and traditional use and management of regional biodiversity. In this paper, in accordance with the ethnobotanical collections of the Mongolian folk names of wild plants in the Ejina desert area, the relationship between folk names and scientific names are studied, and the structure of Ejina Mongolian folk botanical nomenclature is also analyzed.

During 2001 to 2005, the authors have been to the Ejina Banner 6 times. Field work was done in 12 villages and 55 local Mongol herdsmen (informants) were interviewed. Methods of ethnobotanical interviewing, including key informant interviews, free-listing, and open-ended questionnaires were used. After going to each village, the authors identified elder herdsmen's families and paid a formal visit. Mongolian oral language was used as the working language and findings were originally recorded in Mongolian written language. Scientific names of plants are defined through collection and identification of voucher specimens.

A total of 119 folk names of local plants are recorded. Based on the results of identifying the specimens, the folk names corresponded with 91 scientific species which belong to 26 families and 70 genera. The rate of Correspondence was 76.47% between folk Mongol names and scientific names (table 1).

The high correspondence between folk names and scientific names shows the scientific meaning of folk botanical nomenclature and classification. Ejina Mongolians' folk botanical nomenclature and classification is an important part of their natural culture. This type of knowledge and culture has a great effect on their adaptation to the desert environment, utilization of plant resources and traditional biodiversity management on the community level. The collection and analysis of plant and animal folk names is very useful to the inventory of biodiversity, especially among the rapid rural appraisal (RRA) in studying biodiversity at the community level. Sometimes the folk names lead to finding new species records in a given area. In this study the plant folk name burgas was recorded in advance and based on the descriptions of the plant's characteristics and habitats specimens were collected afterwards by local herdsmen. The result of the identification of specimens shows that the scientific name of burgas is Salix cheilophila Schneid. Thus a folk name led to finding this species in this area for the first time.