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Abstract Background The Naxi people, living in Southwest China, have a long history and rich characteristic culture. Their ancestors recorded their life practices by ancient hieroglyphs and gradually formed the Dongba Sutras, which, among other knowledge, included the traditional knowledge of Naxi medicine. In the past, most studies on the Dongba Sutras focused on the humanistic culture of Naxi people, whereas studies have rarely focused on Naxi herbal medicinal plants and fungi described in the Dongba Sutras. Studying this aspect is helpful for exploring the traditional culture of Naxi people from the perspective of traditional medicine.
Methods From February to September 2019, we screened the medicinal plants and fungi from the Dongba Sutras with the help of Dongba. Then, we carried out field investigations and collected voucher specimens of traditional medicinal plants and fungi with the help of 104 Naxi folk healers. The specimens were identified and stored in the Herbarium of Yunnan Branch, Institute of Medicinal Plants, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (IMDY). Through semi-structured interviews, we obtained ethnobotanical information of medicinal plants and fungi. The obtained quantitative data were analyzed using the informant consensus factor (ICF) method and the number of citations.
Results A total of 85 species of medicinal plants and fungi belonging to 51 families and 71 genera were recorded in the Dongba Sutras. Among them, 25 species were endemic to China, and eight species were only distributed in Naxi distribution areas. These medicinal plants and fungi were mainly obtained from the wild, and 22 species could be used as food. The most frequent method of taking medicinal materials was oral-taking after decoction, followed by topical and sometimes buccal. The methods of processing these medicinal materials included water decoction, warm water flushing, and drinking after soaking. The medicinal plants and fungi in the Dongba Sutras are used to treat 96 conditions classified into 13 disease groups according to the International Classification of Primary Care second edition. Further analysis indicated that most of these species were utilized for treating diseases from the digestive (D) group, followed by those from the respiratory (R) group, musculoskeletal (L) group, general, and unspecified (A) group. Moreover, the Naxi people have a high consensus on the treatments of diseases from these four pathological groups.
Conclusions The Naxi traditional medicine is characterized by simple materials, easy operation, and distinctive national characteristics. The ancient Naxi people recorded their highly developed medical culture in the Dongba Sutras. Natural plant resources found around them were their primary choices for both medicine and diet therapy. The ecological ethics of Naxi people have positive significance for the conservation of wild resources in their area.
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Abstract Grazing effects on arid and semi‐arid grasslands can be constrained by aridity. Plant functional groups (PFGs) are the most basic component of community structure (CS) and biodiversity & ecosystem function (BEF). They have been suggested as identity‐dependent in quantifying the response to grazing intensity and drought severity. Here, we examine how the relationships among PFGs, CS, BEF, and grazing intensity are driven by climatic drought. We conducted a manipulative experiment with three grazing intensities in 2012 (nondrought year) and 2013 (drought year). We classified 62 herbaceous plants into four functional groups based on their life forms. We used the relative species abundance of PFGs to quantify the effects of grazing and drought, and to explore the mechanisms for the pathway correlations using structural equation models (SEM) among PFGs, CS, and BEF directly or indirectly. Grazers consistently favored the perennial forbs (e.g., palatable or nutritious plants), decreasing the plants’ relative abundance by 23%–38%. Drought decreased the relative abundance of ephemeral plants by 42 ± 13%; and increased perennial forbs by 20 ± 7% and graminoids by 80 ± 31%. SEM confirmed that annuals and biennials had negative correlations with the other three PFGs, with perennial bunchgrasses facilitated by perennial rhizome grass. Moreover, the contributions of grazing to community structure (i.e., canopy height) were 1.6–6.1 times those from drought, whereas drought effect on community species richness was 3.6 times of the grazing treatment. Lastly, the interactive effects of grazing and drought on BEF were greater than either alone; particularly, drought escalated grazing damage on primary production.
Synthesis . The responses of PFGs, CS, and BEF to grazing and drought were identity‐dependent, suggesting that grazing and drought regulation of plant functional groups might be a way to shape ecosystem structure and function in grasslands.
