Medicinal plants associated with Polylepis tarapacana forests in the highlands of Jujuy: Richness and coverage in geographic, topographic and forest structure gradients
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25260/EA.22.32.3.0.1905Keywords:
queñoa de altura, elevation, alpine vegetation, species richnessAbstract
The use of medicinal plants in traditional medicine is common among the peoples of the Argentinean highlands, where only one tree-like species grows: Polylepis tarapacana. Until now, this resource of medicinal plants has not been quantified, ignoring the richness and coverage throughout its distribution and in different environments. The objective was to quantify the richness and coverage of medicinal plants in geographic, topographic and forest structure gradients in P. tarapacana forests. The forests were categorized into 5 zones, where 93 plots were surveyed. In each forest, medicinal plants were sampled using the point-intercept method. Twenty-one medicinal species (16 genera and 8 botanical families) were recorded. The family with the highest representation is Asteraceae (12 species, 9 genera), while the species showing the highest frequency and coverage were Baccharis tola ssp. tola (97.8%, 2.37%), Azorella compacta (82.8%, 1.21%) and Parastrephia lucida (81.7%, 0.66%). The richness of medicinal plants showed differences depending on elevation and northern aspect (ExN), where richness decreases with increasing elevation and northern aspect. From the total of 21 medicinal plants found, 11 presented significant relationships between their coverage and geographic, topographic and forest structure variables. It was observed that within the wide distribution of P. tarapacana forests in Argentina, the medicinal plants found correspond to different plant associations from Bolivia and Chile. This information will facilitate the establishment of guidelines for adequate management and protection of these resources.
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