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Understanding cultural preferences toward different ecosystem services is of great importance for conservation and development planning. While cultural preferences toward plant species have been long studied in the field of plant utilisation, the effects of ethnicity on ecosystem services identification and valuation has received little attention. We assessed the effects of ethnicity toward different ecosystem services at three similar forest islands in northern Kenya inhabited by Samburu and Boran pastoralists. Twelve focus groups were organised in each mountain, to evaluate the ecosystem services provided by the forest, and assess which plant species are most important for provisioning different ecosystem services. While water was always identified as the most important ecosystem service, the second most important differed; and some were only mentioned by one ethnic group or in one location. Preferred plant species for food, fodder, medicine resources, poles and firewood followed the same pattern. Our results showed that ethnicity and location affect ecosystem services’ identification and importance ranking. This should be taken into account by decision-makers, e.g. as restricted access and regulated extraction is likely to affect people differently. Conservation and development projects would be more effective if they were initiated with an understanding of how people already use and value their forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is evidence that hunter-gatherer societies of both the Middle and the Later Stone Ages in the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) used many plant species, particularly those with underground storage organs (USOs), as sources of carbohydrate. In the CFR, USOs – mostly monocotoledon geophytes – are particularly diverse and abundant. However, little is known about which species were targeted by hunter-gatherers. Here we use, for the first time in the CFR, ethnobotanical methods to survey the use of indigenous edible plant species amongst contemporary people of Khoe-San descent, in an attempt to gain insight on hunter-gatherer resource use. Specifically we surveyed 18 participants living in rural areas around Still Bay. They identified 58 indigenous edible plant species (from a potential list of over 140). The identified species had 69 uses, almost half of which were for fruit and a quarter for vegetable foodstuffs. Plants bearing USOs comprised only 12% of uses. As a group, species that produced fruit had the highest popularity, followed by nectar producing species and lastly plants with USOs. The popularity of this last-mentioned group was largely underpinned by the strong preference for the tubers from two Cyphia species. Knowledge of edible geophytes belonging to the Iridaceae was low, despite that these species were widely documented as important carbohydrate sources in the ethnographic, historical and archaeological literature. Shrubs were the most frequent growth form 34% of edible plant species identified by the survey group. Geophytes and trees both comprised 21% of species identified. Species of Thicket Biome affinity dominated the sample (52%) followed by the Fynbos Biome (38%); wetlands contributed the remainder at 10%. The diverse array of different biomes, each with their own suite of edible plant resources, would have been important for sustaining hunter-gatherer communities on the Cape south coast. With the exception of the edible apical meristems of palmiet ( Prionium serratum ), which occurs rarely in the study area, the survey failed to identify species that could have formed a staple source of carbohydrate for the pre-colonial Khoe-San peoples of the Cape south coast. This is almost certainly due to the loss of hunter-gatherer lifestyles after colonisation in the 1700s and the concomitant introduction of cereal crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starch grains, phytoliths and plant tissue fragments from Upper Paleolithic stone artifacts provide direct evidence of plant use activities in Northwest China during late MIS 3. These results demonstrate the considerable role of edible plants during the last glacial epoch. The chosen plant species can also help us understand the development of human plant exploitation, for which we have limited knowledge for the Paleolithic. This research also suggests the survival and adaptation patterns of ancient occupants in this cold and dry highland area of East Asia during the Upper Paleolithic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This ethnobotanical study was conducted to identify which wild plants were used for fuel by a rural population of the Patagonian steppe. We studied the species used, gathering patterns, socio-economic factors, preference criteria, and alternative fuel sources. Semi-structured and open interviews were conducted with one member of each family unit. It was found that firewood is a vital resource, since it is the main fuel used for heating. The gathering of firewood is performed mainly on foot and is gender-independent. The inhabitants reported a decrease in the availability of firewood because each year they have to travel greater distances to find dead wood and preferred species. This study recorded 27 species used for fuel, of which 22 were wild native bushes and 5 were exotic trees planted by inhabitants. The four preferred species for firewood were: Schinus jhonstonii, Schinus marchandii (Anacardiaceae), Prosopis denudans (Fabaceae) and Monttea aphylla (Scrophulariaceae). Resources used as alternative energy were: Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), cow dung, and to a lesser degree, horse dung. The findings indicated that 64% of inhabitants depended solely on the gathering of firewood, 32% on gathering and purchasing, and 4% on purchasing alone. Purchased firewood consisted of local bush species from the neighboring Patagonian region, and also species from the northern and central areas of the country. The inhabitants'' capacity to adapt to this harsh environment seems to be based on their intensive use of local flora, which is at the same time controlled by their protectionist worldview and care of the plants and environment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Vegetation dynamics during the Pleistocene–Holocene transition and the beginning of farming are major topics for palaeoenvironmental sciences, especially interesting in ecologically sensitive areas, such as in North Africa. However, there are still important geographic and chronological gaps of environmental information in this region. Archaeobotanical record from Gueldaman GLD 1 deals with these issues, as it presents the longest archaeobotanical sequence available nowadays for Algeria, which includes these moments of major changes in landscapes. This topic has been approached from an interdisciplinary point of view, focused on the analysis of various types of plant remains that result in the reconstruction of both environment and use of plant resources. Results reveal the existence of a postglacial phase of plant colonization with Cupressaceae formations, which are gradually integrating some elements of sclerophyllous vegetation, such as several species of Pistacia , well documented both in charcoal and seed records. Neolithic levels show a shift in vegetation composition, as Olea europaea dominates the spectra, accompanied by strawberry tree and evergreen Quercus , among others. The presence of Olea in earlier chronologies has resulted from intrusions from the Neolithic levels: a set of radiocarbon dates has made it possible to evidence this process and detect the extent of the intrusions, which are inherent to cave records. • North Africa is a key region to know the dynamics of postglacial vegetation in the Mediterranean. • Gueldaman has provided archeobotanical information for a long sequence in Algeria. • Postglacial plant colonization and a later spread of sclerophyllous vegetation have been documented. • A taphonomic analysis has shown that the pre-Neolithic presence of Olea has resulted from intrusions from upper levels. • During Neolithic, Olea is a species of great economic relevance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]