Traditional Use of Plant Resources in Aathbiskot Municipality, Rukum West District, Western Nepal

Abstract

An ethnobotanical study focusing on the uses of various categories of plants was conducted in the Aathbiskot Municipality of Rukum West District. The study spanned three field visits taking place during the periods of 17-26 July, 16-28 October 2021 and 5-20 2022. The area was chosen due to the presence of diverse groups of inhabitants along caste group Bhandari, BK, Budha magar, Sarki, Thapa, Bista, Oli, Damai, Bohora, and others, who have been residing in this area for an extended period. The main objective of this research work was to document the traditional knowledge regarding the utilization of plants in the Aathbiskot Municipality. To achieve this, quantitative ethnobotanical methods were employed to assess the usefulness of various plant species. A total of 201 plant species, belonging to 89 families and 166 genera were recorded as useful. The useful plant species were grouped into 10 use categories. Of the 201 species, the majority (68.16%) of species were valued as medicine, followed by food (wild edible) (42.85%), timber (23.88%), fodder (21.39%), social uses (religious and cultural) (16.42%), agricultural implements (14.43%), vegetables (7.96%), fiber yielding (5.47%), fermentation (2.99%) and poisonous (1.99%). Rosaceae was the dominant family followed by Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Moraceae, Pineaceae, and Poaceae. Of the total 166 genera, Ficus was the most dominant followed by Rubus, Quercus, Allium, Berberis, Solanum, Abies, Agave and Ampelocissus. Angiosperms were distributed in 75 families, 148 genera, and 178 species. Likewise, dicots were 85% of the total flowering plants. Among total useful plants, 69 species had single use, 79 species had double uses, 31 species had triple use, 13 species had quadrupled, 7 species had quintuple use, and 2 species had sextuple use. The majority of the useful species were herbs (45.27%), followed by trees (31.34%), shrubs (16.42%), and climbers (3.48%). Altogether, 14 different plant parts were used in the study area. The value of the informant consensus factor ranges from 0.19 to 0.94 with a mean value of 0.72.The genito-urinary problem had highest Fic (0.94) while gastrointestinal

disorders had lowest (0.19). The most frequently used species of the study area (calculated as use frequency) were Pouzolzia rugulosa (0.73), Terminalia alata (0.71), Desmostachya bipanata (0.71), Diploknema butyracea (0.71), Grewia serrulata (0.69), Berberis aristata (0.65), Phanera vahlii (0.65), Leibnitzia nepalensis vii (0.59), Cuscuta reflexa (0.59), Ficus nerifolia (0.52), and Woodfordia fruticosa (0.55). The most useful plant species in terms of overall use-value considering all use categories were Grewia serrulata (UV = 3.13), Diploknema butyracea (2.91), Eulaliopsis binata (2.55), Cannabis sativa (2.22), Zanthoxylum oxyphyllum(2.22), Lindera megaphylla (2.2), Juglans regia (2.05), Cinnamomum tamala (2) Girardinia diversifolia (2) and Phanera vahlii (1.94). Due to various socio-economic factors, the knowledge concerning the utilization of plants is diminishing. Therefore, the comprehensive documentation of this knowledge can serve as valuable foundational information for future investigations Keywords: Ethnobotany, Documentation, Medicinal plants, Wild edible species, Quantitative ethnobotany