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Prunus mira Koehne and Prunus armeniaca L. in Nepal Himalaya: distribution, use, and conservation

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Abstract

Prunus mira and Prunus armeniaca are the two prominent fruit-bearing plant species in the Nepal Himalaya and possess notable ethnobotanical significance. These two species represent relatively unexplored edible resources in Nepalese flora and are characterized by the presence of glands in their leaves and fruits with stony endocarp. Subsequent to an on-site investigation and personal interviews with 90 respondents, we accumulated comprehensive data related to folk nomenclature, distribution, ethnobotanical, threats, and conservation status of P. mira and P. armeniaca in the Nepal Himalaya. We recorded a total of nine vernacular names for P. mira and six for P. armeniaca. P. mira was found to be distributed in six districts at an elevation of 2200–3600 m and P. armeniaca in nine districts within the range between 1500 and 3500 m. The use reports of P. mira were more than 454 and that of P. armeniaca were 367 with significant difference (W = 5485, p < 0.05). Site-wise, the use report of P. armeniaca was significantly different (χ2 = 44.317, df = 5, p < 0.01) but the use report of P. mira was less significant. Both species are economically valuable, growing in the farmyards and homestead areas. However, the modifications to agricultural practices posed an additional threat to the survival of these species. Establishing contemporary harvesting infrastructure, develo** sustainable marketing goods, and disseminating conservation awareness throughout the Nepal Himalaya areas are necessary to ensure their preservation.

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Acknowledgements

We are highly indebted to all respondents who took part in the survey. We thank Satyam Kumar Chaudhari and Fei Fei Li for hel** with data management. We would like to thank the Department of Forest and Soil Conservation for permitting us to do this work and Sheyphoksundo National Park, Annapurna Conservation Area and Divisional Forest Offices Jumla, Humla, Mugu, Manang, Mustang and Dolpa and Nepal Agriculture Research Council (NARC), Mustang and Jumla for their cooperation during fieldwork.

Funding

This research was funded by the Science and Technology Projects in Guangzhou, Grant number 202102021016.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangdong Key Laboratory for Innovative Development and Utilization of Forest Plant Germplasm, College of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China

    Dipak Khadka, Dafang Cui & Shi Shi

  2. GoldenGate International College, Tribhuvan University, Battisputali, Kathmandu, Nepal

    Dipak Khadka & Sijar Bhatta

  3. Environment Protection and Study Center (ENPROSC), Baneshwor, Kathmandu, Nepal

    Dipak Khadka

  4. Gandaki University, Pokhara, Nepal

    Ripu Mardhan Kunwar

  5. Institute of Biological Resources, Kathmandu, Nepal

    Bikash Baral

  6. Central Department of Environmental Science, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal

    Sijar Bhatta

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  1. Dipak Khadka
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  2. Ripu Mardhan Kunwar
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  3. Bikash Baral
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  4. Sijar Bhatta
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  5. Dafang Cui
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  6. Shi Shi
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Contributions

Conceptualization, DK, RMK, BB, SS, and DFC; methodology, DK; software, DK, BB; validation, DK, RMK, BB, SS, SB, and DC; formal analysis, DK investigation, DK, SB, resources, DK, SB, SS, DC; data curation, DK writing—original draft preparation, DK writing—review and editing, DK, BB, RMK SS, DC, visualization, BB, RMK supervision, RMK, DC, SS; project administration, DC, SS; funding acquisition, SS, DC. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Dafang Cui or Shi Shi.

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We followed the International Society of Ethnobiology (http://www.ethnobiology.net/). We acquired consent from the respondents prior to the survey.

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Khadka, D., Kunwar, R.M., Baral, B. et al. Prunus mira Koehne and Prunus armeniaca L. in Nepal Himalaya: distribution, use, and conservation. Genet Resour Crop Evol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-024-01923-6

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