Vernacular Taxonomy, Cultural and Ethnopharmacological Applications of Avian and Mammalian Species in the Vicinity of Ayubia National Park, Himalayan Region
by
, , , , , ,
Sayda Maria Bashir
1,†,
Muhammad Altaf
2,†,
Tanveer Hussain
2,
Muhammad Umair
3,
Muhammad Majeed
4,*,
Wali Muhammad Mangrio
5,
Arshad Mahmood Khan
6,7
,
Allah Bakhsh Gulshan
8, 
M. Haroon Hamed
9,
Sana Ashraf
10,
Muhammad Shoaib Amjad
11,
Rainer W. Bussmann
12,13
,
Arshad Mehmood Abbasi
14,
Ryan Casini
15,
Abed Alataway
16,
Ahmed Z. Dewidar
16,17,
Mohamed Al-Yafrsi
18,
Mahmed H. Amin
18 and
Hosam O. Elansary
16,18,* 1
Department of Zoology, Women’s University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Bagh 12500, Pakistan
2
Department of Forestry, Range and Wildlife Management, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan
3
College of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
4
Department of Botany, University of Gujrat, Hafiz Hayat Campus, Gujrat 50700, Punjab, Pakistan
5
Department of Zoology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur 66111, Pakistan
6
Department of Botany, Government Hashmat Ali Islamia Associate College Rawalpindi, Rawalpindi 46300, Pakistan
7
Department of Botany, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Rawalpindi 46300, Pakistan
8
Department of Botany, Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan 32200, Punjab, Pakistan
9
Department of Zoology, Wildlife and Fisheries, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
10
Department of Zoology, University of Lahore, Sargodha 40100, Pakistan
11
Department of Botany, Women’s University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Bagh 12500, Pakistan
12
Department of Ethnobotany, Institute of Botany and Bakuriani Alpine Botanical Garden, Ilia State University, 0105 Tbilisi, Georgia
13
Department of Botany, State Museum of Natural History, 76133 Karlsruhe, Germany
14
Department of Environment Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan
15
School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, 2121 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA
16
Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water Chair, Prince Sultan Institute for Environmental, Water and Desert Research, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
17
Department of Agricultural Engineering, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
18
Department of Plant Production, College of Food & Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Biology 2023, 12(4), 609; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12040609
Submission received: 15 February 2023
/
Revised: 8 April 2023
/
Accepted: 10 April 2023
/
Published: 17 April 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Conservation and Evolution of Wildlife in the Context of Climate Change and Human Population Growth)
Simple Summary
Birds and mammals are strongly embedded in anthropological culture around the world. This study article discusses the cultural and therapeutic value of avian and mammalian species in the Ayubia National Park, KPK, Pakistan. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first quantitative study of the cultural utilization of avian and mammalian species in the studied region. This study’s ethno-biological findings indicate that the huge diversity of avian and mammalian species plays an essential role in the culture and health of native communities. These findings might aid in the long-term utilization of avian and mammalian species in the local healthcare system. For the sustainable utilization of avian and mammalian species, conservation efforts should be conducted with the involvement of conservation authorities.
Abstract
Numerous investigations on plant ethnomedicinal applications have been conducted; however, knowledge about the medicinal use of wild animals is still limited. This present study is the second on the medicinal and cultural meaning of avian and mammalian species used by the population in the surrounding area of the Ayubia National Park, KPK, Pakistan. Interviews and meetings were compiled from the participants (N = 182) of the study area. The relative frequency of citation, fidelity level, relative popularity level, and rank order priority indices were applied to analyze the information. Overall, 137 species of wild avian and mammalian species were documented. Of these, 18 avian and 14 mammalian species were utilized to treat different diseases. The present research showed noteworthy ethno-ornithological and ethno-mammalogical knowledge of local people and their connection with fauna, which might be useful in the sustainable utilization of the biological diversity of the Ayubia National Park, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Furthermore, in vivo and/or in vitro examination of the pharmacological activities of species with the highest fidelity level (FL%) as well as frequency of mention (FM) might be important for investigations on faunal-based new drugs.
