Ethnobotany of the Mountain Regions of Eastern Europe
Autor: Rainer W. Bussmann , Narel Y. Paniagua-zambrana , Zaal Kikvidze
Número de Páginas: 3015Natural resources and associated biological diversity provide the basis of livelihood for humans, particularly in the rural areas and mountain regions around the world. Over centuries, indigenous peoples, traditional societies, and local communities have developed their own specific knowledge regarding plant use, management, and conservation. The history of plant use by humans as food and to treat diverse ailments dates back to ancient civilizations. Even though the advent of allopathic medicine has somehow minimized the role of medicinal plants in favor of synthetic drugs, a number of modern drug discoveries have been based on medicinal plants used by indigenous peoples. Ethnobiology is the burgeoning interdisciplinary scientific field, which covers all types of interactions between plants and people, and Eastern Europe is recognized as a plant diversity hot spot. This new Major Reference Work on the Ethnobotany of Mountain Regions of Eastern Europe: Carpathians covers in detail the mountains and vallies of this region, which are known to be rich in unique medicinal and food plant species. Local communities residing in the mountain regions of Eastern Europe possess unique...