[MPWG] Article on Ranking tool for AT-RISK medicinal plants

[Susan Leopold]

United Plant Savers would like to share with the MPWG the recent published article in Ethnobiology Letters, see abstract and link below for full article. I welcome all feedback and comments in regards to this article to be sent to susan at unitedplantsavers.org. We certainly hope that the tool and the article will further discussion of conservation in regards to medicinal plants. 

We have a wonderful page set up on the tool to make it easy for folks to use on our new website for the United Plant Saver's Goldenseal Sanctuary.
http://www.goldensealsanctuary.org/species-at-risk-assessment-tool


I want to acknowledge all those who have contributed to the development of this project over the years!

Ranking Tool Created for Medicinal Plants at Risk of Being Overharvested in the Wild
Lisa Marie Castle, Susan Leopold, Rachel Craft, Kelly Kindscher

Abstract

We developed an adaptable, transparent tool that can be used to quantify and compare vulnerability to overharvest for wild collected medicinal plants. Subsequently, we are creating a list of the most threatened medicinal plants in temperate North America. The new tool scores species according to their life history, the effects of harvest, their abundance and range, habitat, and demand. The resulting rankings, based on explicit criteria rather than expert opinion, will make it easier to discuss areas of vulnerability and set conservation priorities. Here we present scores for 40 species assessed using the At-Risk Tool and discuss the traits that led to different scores for six example species: echinacea (Echinacea angustifolia DC. Asteraceae), peyote (Lophophora williamsii (Lem. ex Salm-Dyck) J.M. Coult. Cactaceae), sandalwood (Santalum spp. L. Santalaceae), stinging nettle (Urtica dioica L. Urticaceae), American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L. Araliaceae) and mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum L. Berberidaceae).




http://ojs.ethnobiology.org/index.php/ebl/article/view/169


Susan Leopold, PhD
Executive Director, UpS
703-667-0208
susan at unitedplantsavers.org





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