TY -JOUR
AU -Muhammad Waheed
AU -Fahim Arshad
TI -Indigenous plant knowledge and ethnobotanical patterns in District Kasur and surrounding regions of Punjab, Pakistan
PY -2026
DA -2026-03-31
JO -Taiwania
VL -71
IS -2
SP -284
EP -296
UR -https://taiwania.ntu.edu.tw/abstract/2171
AB -Indigenous plant knowledge is central to biodiversity use and livelihood support in subtropical lowland agroecosystems, yet its association with land-use–defined settlement types remains insufficiently documented. This study aimed to document and compare ethnobotanical diversity and plant-use patterns across five settlement types in Punjab, Pakistan. Ethnobotanical data were collected from 2022 to 2024 through open-ended interviews with 300 respondents representing forest, riverine, farmland, rural, and urban settlements. Field walks, specimen collection, and taxonomic identification were conducted using the Flora of Pakistan and Plants of the World Online. Species overlaps were examined using Venn diagrams, and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to assess settlement-wise knowledge patterns. A total of 373 plant species belonging to 69 families were recorded across the study area. Medicinal plants constituted the dominant use category (297 species), followed by fodder, ornamental, timber, vegetable, and fruit plants. Forest settlements showed the highest species richness (215 species), while urban areas recorded the lowest (89 species), although several taxa were unique to urban habitats. Six culturally important species were consistently reported across all settlement types, indicating broad ecological tolerance. High species overlap occurred between forest and riverine as well as forest and farmland settlements. Farmland communities documented numerous cultivated and semi-wild taxa, whereas rural settlements integrated both wild and managed resources. Urban respondents preferentially maintained ornamentals and fruit trees associated with cultural value and managed landscapes. The spatial distribution of shared and exclusive taxa reflects localized ecological knowledge structured by land-use heterogeneity in subtropical lowlands.
DO -10.6165/tai.2026.71.284