Background
Review
Literature search
Subjects | Criteria description |
---|---|
Inclusion criteria | The subject is about medicinal plants |
The purpose is to conserve or sustainably use | |
It has a detailed description of the strategy of conservation, sustainable use or resource management | |
Consistent to the three items simultaneously | |
Exclusion criteria | The subject is not related to medicinal plants (e.g. animals or mineral substances) |
The purpose is not for conservation or sustainable use of medicinal plants (e.g. herb extraction, drug discovery, chemical constituent or pharmacological property) | |
It has no description of the strategy of conservation, sustainable use or resource management of medicinal plants |
Diversity of medicinal plants used worldwide
Factors related to species rarity of medicinal plants
Sources | Objectives | Features and study design | Findings and conclusions |
---|---|---|---|
Andel and Havinga [24] | 249 medicinal plants in Suriname | Carried out a market survey to look for signs of overharvesting by analyzing the market, harvesters and post-harvest survival of the medicinal plants | Less than half of the medicinal plants were harvested exclusively from the wild, and leaves were the main products. Most medicinal plants were harvested from secondary forest or man-made vegetation. It didn’t invariably lead to the resource decline or species loss |
Semwal et al. [26] | Ten rare and endangered medicinal plants | Based on the density, occurrence habitats and pressure level to evaluate the distribution pattern, population structure and conservation status of medicinal plants | It grouped the medicinal plants into restricted distribution with high pressure and well distributed with low pressure, providing insights for the conservation and management strategies of medicinal plants |
Long et al. [32] |
Amorphophallus, Paris, Musella lasiocarpa, and Camellia sinensis
| Dealt with strategies for agrobiodiversity conservation and promotion based on studies of the medicinal plants in the Yunnan Province of China | Strategies (e.g. in situ and ex situ conservation, as well as the promotion and conservation of agrobiodiversity through sustainable uses) should be adopted to conserve and promote agrobiodiversity |
Strandby and Olsen [41] |
Abies guatemalensis
| From December 2004 to August 2007 conducted a nation-wide survey with plantation owners (n = 26), retailers (n = 67) and urban consumers (n = 993) | It emphasized the importance of increasing legal supplies through decreasing plantation production costs and involving local communities in managing in situ resources |
Yu et al. [44] |
Rheum tanguticum
| Employed a GIS-based program TCMGIS-II to integrate geographic, climate and soil type databases of China to predict the potential distribution of R. tanguticum
| It found the potential habitats sharing similar ecological factors with native habitats appropriate for R. tanguticum growth. It is useful in the conservation planning and regional management of medicinal plants |
Yuan et al. [47] |
Scutellaria baicalensis
| Estimated the genetic diversity and structure of 28 wild and 22 cultivated populations of S. baicalensis using three polymorphic chloroplast fragments | The conservation-by-cultivation is effective in protecting genetic resources, while the wild resources still need to be protected in situ. The evolutionary consequences of extensive seed exchange should be monitored carefully |
Maunder et al. [49] | 27 threatened medicinal plants | Surveyed 119 botanic gardens in 29 European countries, and 25 botanic gardens in 14 countries undertaking 51 conservation projects | Most medicinal plants were in a small number of collections and out of the range countries, without being included in any specific conservation project. Botanic garden collections were skewed towards ornamental species, and did not fully reflect conservation priorities |
Conservation strategies
In situ conservation
Natural reserves
Wild nurseries
Ex situ conservation
Botanic gardens
Seed banks
Cultivation practice
Characteristics | Wild resource | Cultivated species |
---|---|---|
Advantages | It is open access resource without investment | It relieves harvesting pressure on rare and threatened species |
It is natural resource and free from pesticides | It can keep genotypes being standardized or improved | |
Wild resource is supposed to be more efficacious | It guarantees continuing supply of raw medicinal materials | |
Production volume and price can be stable for longer periods | ||
Disadvantages | Wild resource is becoming scarce and threatened by over-harvesting | It needs substantial investment before and during production |
There exists a risk of adulterations and resource exhaustion | It narrows genetic diversity in gene pool of wild populations | |
Uncontrolled harvesting leads to the extinction of ecotype and species | Reintroduced plants can cause genetic pollution of wild resource | |
There is a lack of resource inventories and related management practices | Cultivated species may have negative impacts on ecosystems | |
There is a lack of successful cultivation techniques for some species |
Good agricultural practices (GAP)
Subjects | Characteristics and advantages of organic farming |
---|---|
Medicinal plants | To produce material in optimal quality and sufficient quantity |
To increase growth rate and biomass yield of medicinal plants | |
To enhance the biosynthesis of efficacious substances | |
To maintain the genetic diversity of medicinal plants | |
To protect medicinal plants against pests and disease | |
Environmental effects | To prohibit the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers |
To promote sustainable use and proper care of production systems | |
To enhance plant diversity and biotype conservation | |
To protect wildlife habitats (e.g. micro-organisms, soil fora and fauna) | |
To enhance soil rich in macro and microelements | |
To conserve soil properties, fertility, productivity and system stability | |
To use organic fertilizers and renewable resources to minimize all forms of pollution | |
Economic prospects | To increase market opportunity |
To maintain high market price | |
To achieve optimal quality and economic returns | |
To secure economic growth and social stability |
Sustainable use
Life form | Percent (%) | Leave | Flower/bud | Fruit/seed | Bark | Root | Whole plant |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Herb | 52 | Medium | Medium | High | None | High | High |
Shrub | 16 | Low | Low | Low | High | High | High |
Tree | 22 | Low | Low | Low | High | High | High |