This study provides information on plants used for medicinal purposes in Pirot District (southeastern Serbia). The population of 157 villages in four municipalities of Pirot District (631 informants) ...completed questionnaires about the knowledge and use of medicinal herbs; the questionnaires included information about respondents and specific issues related to the applications of medicinal herbs. There were 4817 URs (use reports) on plants used for different ailments classified in various categories. The informant consensus factor (ICF) for the most frequently reported taxa and a comparison of nationality and gender in the use of plants for most frequent medical indications were calculated by ICF analysis. The overlap of plant taxa and URs recorded for three ethnic groups (Serbian, Bulgarian, and Roma) in the study area is also presented. Multivariate correspondence analysis was performed. A total of 182 medicinal plant taxa belonging to 68 families were recorded, of which 53 are included in European Pharmacopoeia 10.2. The most frequently mentioned families were Lamiaceae (1322 URs), and Compositae (899 URs).
Hypericum perforatum
and
Matricaria chamomilla
were the most used plant species. Aerial parts and leaves were the most frequently used plant parts. Infusion and oil extracts were the most reported preparations of medicinal herbs. Among 14 categories, respiratory (1235 URs), and digestive (911 URs) groups of diseases were the most frequently reported. Data on the knowledge and use of medicinal plants in Pirot District could be a good starting point for further ethnopharmacological investigations.
The Košutnjak forest in the city of Belgrade, Serbia, with an area of 259 ha, provides ecological and social benefits to its inhabitants, but its composition has changed in the last 20 years: forest ...areas have decreased, people have become irresponsible towards the forest and forest soil, and forest degradation is evident. The question is whether the forest has the potential to regenerate and survive. The horizontal assessment of attributes was carried out using data from the official forest database of the administrative unit “Košutnjak (2007–2016)”, which, in conjunction with the basic forest, defines indicators of change, stability, and self-renewal, which assume sustainability and can be a useful tool for sustainable forest management. The attributes and indicators are processed on a three-level alphanumeric scale in Microsoft Excel, and the data collected and analyzed are mapped using ArcGis 9.3. The ability of forests to survive without human intervention was evaluated using the EEFS method of ecological assessment of forest sustainability, which was used for the first time in this study. The results showed that forest change was significant, stability was medium, and self-renewal was low on most sections, so forest sustainability was rated as unlikely. The EEFS method used provided results that can form the basis for a forest management strategy in the city and a platform for the long-term monitoring of forest condition.
Various biotic and abiotic factors are the cause of the decline of coniferous forests throughout Europe. Trees weakened by unfavorable weather conditions create an ideal environment for a possible ...outbreak of bark beetles. The damage caused by bark beetles costs billions of dollars worldwide every year. Extreme climate events are responsible for the enormous forest losses in Tara National Park in the last ten years, leading to a massive bark beetle infestation. The understanding of the diversity and role of mites as biological control agents is still insufficient. In this study, we summarize the current knowledge on the diversity of mites associated with Ips typographus L. in Europe and provide information on the diversity of these mites in Serbia. Paraleius leontonychus, Uroobovella ipidis, Dendrolaelaps quadrisetus, Histiostoma piceae, and Trichouropoda polytricha were detected for the first time in Serbia. Moreover, the occurrence of Paraleius leontonychus represents the southernmost occurrence of this species.
Ethnoveterinary knowledge in Pirot County (Serbia) Marković, Marija S.; Pljevljakušić, Dejan S.; Nikolić, Biljana M. ...
South African journal of botany,
March 2021, 2021-03-00, 20210301, Letnik:
137
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
•The local inhabitants of Pirot County in Eastern Serbia were interviewed about plant's application in veterinary ethnopharmacology.•It was noticed 46 veterinary plants and 206 use reports.•It was ...found 22 plants not mentioned and 9 plants with different use in neighboring regions.•A good starting point for new phytopharmacological studies.
This paper provides essential information on medicinal plant uses in the veterinary ethnopharmacology of Pirot County in Eastern Serbia, known as a relatively isolated, multiethnic, and a traditional agricultural area. The aim of the study was to collect, analyze, and evaluate the medicinal plants' ethnoveterinary knowledge in a Pirot County (2761 km2, total 92,479 inhabitants, of which 34,672 in the rural area). The local inhabitants of the rural area were interviewed by a semi-structured questionnaire to determine how many of them are familiar with the plants' application in veterinary ethnopharmacology. Interviews were conducted in four municipalities of the Pirot County, where the samples of the local rural population included 631 respondents (mean age 50; 45.59% women, 53.41% men) at 144 sites, of which 148 respondents from 92 villages reported the use of plants in veterinary medicine. The data are presented in a tabular manner and include scientific and local names, the part used, pharmaceutical form, therapeutic indication, and mode of administration, followed with several reports. Furthermore, most frequently reported taxa are systemized for each therapeutic group municipality-wise with calculated informant consensus factor. A comparison with previously published data collected from surrounding territories on the Balkan Peninsula was performed by considering the Jaccard index. The survey revealed 192 plants used by the local population for various health indications, of which 46 species were reported for use in veterinary medicine. Plants reported for the treatment of health issues in livestock (206 reports) were distributed in 30 families out of which the main ones being Asteraceae (8 species), Lamiaceae (4 species), Rosaceae (4 species) and the most abundant were Asteraceae (43 reports), Hypericaceae (28 reports), Polygonaceae (26 reports) and Ranunculaceae (23 reports). The most frequently used plants in veterinary ethnopharmacology were Cichorium intybus, Hypericum perforatum, and Rumex patientia. Aerial plant parts were exploited more frequently than underground parts. The mode of administration was primarily oral in the water extract form. The primary reported therapeutic groups were diarrhea (98 reports), wounds (27 reports), dermatological diseases (scabies and pediculosis) (14 reports), and elevated temperature (10 reports). The use of 22 plant species was not reported in other ethnoveterinary surveys in the Balkan Peninsula. Knowledge of plants for veterinary use is still constrained among the population of the rural parts of Pirot County. The study identified plant species used by the local population to deal with health issues in domestic animals. The presented findings of this study can be a good starting point for new phytopharmacological investigations in the veterinary domain.
Essential oils (EOs) derived from evergreen conifer trees are recognized as complex sources of agents with various biological activities. In this study, the biological activities of the EOs derived ...from Chamaecyparis lawsoniana (A.Murray bis) Parl. (CLEO) and Thuja plicata Donn ex D.Don (TPEO) were investigated. The third instar larvae of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster were used as a model organism to determine the in vivo toxicity, genotoxicity, and antigenotoxicity of five different concentrations of CLEO and TPEO, ranging from 0.19% to 3%. Artemia salina was used for acute toxicity assessment and determination of LC50 after 24 h and 48 h. The antimicrobial activity of the CLEO and TPEO was tested against fourteen bacterial and two fungal strains using the microdilution method. The larvicidal activity and developmental time of D. melanogaster increased as the concentrations of the EOs rose. CLEO and TPEO produced a dose-dependent increase in DNA damage compared with the negative control. Both oils, at concentrations up to 1.5%, demonstrated the ability to reduce the genotoxic effect induced by ethyl methanesulfonate, with a reduction rate exceeding 60%. CLEO and TPEO were highly toxic against Artemia salina nauplii. The results indicate that the tested EOs act as antimicrobial agents against some pathogenic bacteria and fungi. CLEO and TPEO show promising potential as a source of antimicrobial and antigenotoxic agents and as potential biocides against pest insects and arthropods.
The survival of marginal/peripheral silver fir (
Mill.) populations in the broader region of Southeast Europe is endangered due to climate change and population decline. This study aimed to determine ...the level and pattern of variability for the anatomical traits of needles and the possibility of linking the pattern of phenotypic variability with environmental factors. In most of the analyzed needle traits, the statistically significant variability between populations was determined. According to the results of the multivariate principal component analysis, it is evident that the populations are distinct from each other, in three groups. The climatic factors Hargreaves reference evaporation, mean annual temperature, and growing degree-days, were statistically significantly correlated. The altitude and heating degree-days are statistically significantly correlated with the following three environmental factors: Hargreaves reference evaporation, mean annual temperature and growing degree-days, but negatively with others. The paper's findings indicate significant moderate and high correlations between the anatomical traits of the needles' central bundle diameter with the resin duct diameter, the distance between the vascular bundle and the resin duct and the epidermis thickness with cuticle, the resin duct diameter with the distance between the vascular bundle and the resin duct and the epidermis thickness with cuticle, as well as the distance between the vascular bundle and the resin duct with the hypodermis height and the epidermis thickness with cuticle. The results of agglomerative hierarchical clustering analysis, performed for anatomical and climatic traits, confirmed the existence of three groups of tested populations according to the altitude gradient. Research results provide knowledge on the diversity and structure of
populations of Southeast Europe, important for further research and guidelines for the species' conservation and genetic variability preservation in the southern marginal distribution area and keeping in line with climate change projections.
PDF
