Browsing by Author "Ashagre Mersha"

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    Ethnobotanical Study of Medicinal Plants in Guji Agro-pastorilists, Blue Hora District of Borana Zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia
    (Addis Ababa University, 2011-04) Ashagre Mersha; Kelbessa Ensermu (Professor)
    An ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants and associated indigenous knowledge was conducted between March and June 2010 in Bule Hora District, Southern Oromia, Ethiopia. The objective of the study was to collect, record, organize and analyze information on the use, management and conservation of medicinal plants as well as status of indigenous knowledge of the local people. This area lies between latitudes 50 30 and 50 50 North and longitudes 380 0 and 380 30 East. The study involved traditional healers, knowledgeable elders and local communities. Different ethnobotanical techniques were used to collect and analyze the data such as semi – structured interview, guided field walk and observation, group discussion, preference ranking and paired comparison, use diversity matrix and fidelity level index, combined with descriptive statistical analysis. Sixty informants from eight kebeles were included in the study. A total of 106 plant species distributed in 98 genera and 46 families were collected from the study area and identified. In terms of number of species, Asteraceae appeared as the most prominent family that contains ten species in eight genera, followed by Rubiaceae containing nine species in eight genera and Lamiaceae that contain seven species in seven genera. From the total collected plants, 62 species (58.4%) are used for the treatment of 37 human ailments and 22 species (20.8%) for 25 livestock ailments, while 22 species (20.8%) are used to treat both livestock and human ailments. Widely used plant parts for human and livestock health care include leaves, roots, seeds, fruits and stems. Higher numbers of species (56.1%) were harvested for their leaves followed by roots, bark and stems (14.4%, 9.85% and 8.3% respectively). Large numbers (91.5%) of medicinal plants were cited to be used in fresh form. Shrub elements constitute the largest number with 45 species (42.5%) followed by herbaceous, 29 species (27.4%) and trees make the third growth forms with 17 species (16.0%) harvested for medicinal value.Oral administration is the dominant route (67.2%), followed by dermal (21.1%) in which pounding, crushing, chewing, rubbing, dry bath etc are recorded methods of preparation techniques. Modernization, introduction of new religion and acculturation have contributed in making the younger generation unwilling to practice and retain traditional knowledge. Even though the study area possesses diverse natural vegetation, the environment is under serious threat, mainly due to human induced pressure such as agricultural activities, fire wood collection, charcoal production and the need for construction materials. These have great effects on the availability of medicinal plants in particular and natural resources in general. Awareness raising on sustainable utilization of medicinal plants and their in – situ and ex- situ conservation are recommended. Key words: Ethnobotany, indigenous knowledge, ailments, medicinal plants.
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    Vascular Plants Diversity and Ethnobotany with Emphasis to Traditional Medicinal and Wild Edible Plants in Dugda Dawa District of Borana Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia
    (Addis Ababa Universty, 2017-04) Ashagre Mersha; Asfaw Zemede (Professor)
    This research is aimed at documentation and analysis of plant diversity in Dugda Dawa District along with the ethnobotanical knowledge associated with traditional medicinal and wild edible plants used by the local people. Vegetation data were collected from 60 plots laid preferentially, 20 m x 20 m for trees and shrubs and 1m x 1m subplots for herbs. Woody species with a diameter at breast height (DBH) > 3 cm were counted and cover abundance values estimated. Shannon-Wiener diversity index was used to assess species richness and evenness. Both Sorensen's similarity coefficient and Jaccardʼs index of similarity were used to measure similarities among communities in Dugda Dawa District vegetation, and only Sorensen's similarity coefficient to measure between this and other woodland vegetations types in Ethiopia. A hierarchical cluster analysis with PC-ORD was used to identify plant communities and synoptic values for detection of the dominant species for naming each plant community type. Frequency, density, DBH, basal area and importance value indices (IVI) of woody species were also computed. Ethnobotanical data were collected by interviewing 392 informants (290 males and 102 females). Guided field walk and discussion (group or individual discussion) were used in collecting the data.Quantitative approaches were used to determine informant consensus factor (ICF), fidelity level (FL), and use value (UV). Ethnomedicinal knowledge apprehended by different informant categories was compared using t-tests with R- software. The study area yielded 343 vascular plant species of which 12 were endemic and four were new records for the floristic region belonging to 227 genera and 81 families. The vegetation was classified into four community types, namely Prunus africana - Calpurnia aurea, Ehretia cymosa - Juniperus procera, Boscia mossambicensis - Lannea schimperi and Celtis africana - Podocarpus falcatus community types based on hierarchical cluster analysis. The overall Shannon- Wiener diversity and evenness values of Dugda Dawa District vegetation were 4.87 and 0.54 respectively. The percentage distribution of individual shrub and tree species across different DBH classes indicated relatively high proportion (53.9%) of individuals in DBH class 3 - 10 cm. Four representative woody plant population structures were identified. Results of the ethnobotanical study revealed 127 medicinal plant species in 123 genera and 82 fanilies; and 71 wild edible plant species belonging to 52 genera and 37 families in different vegetation formations of the study area. The family Fabaceae with 10 (7.9%) species of medicinal and 7 (9.9%) species of wild edibles was dominant followed by the Lamiaceae (7, 5.5%) species of medicinal plants and Anacardiaceae ( 7, 9.9%) species of wild edibles were the families represented by more species in the district. Plants in which leaves are used as medicine and fruits are used as wild food were more dominant (36.6% and 65.4% respectively) than other plant parts in the district. Significant difference (P < 0.05) was seen in the mean number of medicinal plants reported by informants in different age classes, education levels, and experiences. Similarly significant difference (P < 0.05) was observed in the mean number of wild edible plants reported by informants in different age classes and experiences. The highest ICF value (0.93) was recorded for human musculoskeletal and nervous system disease category. The highest fidelity level values were recorded for Ocimum urticifolium (97%) and Cyphostema serpens (97%). Dry evergreen afro-montane forest vegetation which encompasses community one, two and four in Dugda Dawa District is under great anthropogenic pressure including selective cutting of big trees in community four, medicinal plants (e.g. Prunus africana and Zanthoxylum chalybeum) as well as wild edible plants (e.g. Cordia africana and Syzygium guineense) which need strict conservation measures. Thus, priority conservation action should be given to the dry afromontane vegetation type which encompasses plant communities one, two, and four as they contain high plant species number (295) and high useful species (214) though the other vegetation types are also under threat and community - based conservation activities should be applied to create sustainable usage of resources. Warburgia ugandensis and Psophocarpus grandiflorus should be given cultivation and chemical analysis priority for their medicinal and food values respectively. Key words: Dugda Dawa District, ethnobotany, medicinal plants, plant diversity, wild edible plants