Flora Of Davanagere District Karnataka India

This new 2-volume set aims to share and preserve ethnic and traditional knowledge of herbal medicine and treatments, while also emphasizing the link between biodiversity, human nutrition, and food security. Ethnic Knowledge and Perspectives of Medicinal Plants is divided into two volumes, with volume 1 focusing on the traditional use of curative properties and treatment strategies of medicinal plants, and volume 2 addressing the varied nutritional and dietary benefits of medicinal plants and the practice of Ayurveda. Both volumes stress the importance of bioresources for human nutrition and nutraceuticals based on ethnic knowledge and the need for efforts to protect biodiversity in many regions rich with medicinal plants. Exploring the benefits of medicinal plants in disease prevention, treatment, and management, Volume 1 discusses the traditional use of medicinal plants as promising therapeutics for cancer, liver conditions, COVID-19, and other human ailments. It examines the efficacy of Ayurvedic and Chinese herbal medicine, Indian traditional medicine, and other ethnic herbal practices used by indigenous peoples of Azerbaijan, South America, Turkey, India, etc. A variety of plants are discussed, and the ethnomedicinal applications of over 100 wild mushrooms for their medicinal and healthcare purposes are elaborated on. While volume 1 focuses primarily on natural plant resources for addressing specific health issues, volume 2 looks at traditional medicinal plant use for their nutritional and dietary benefits, while also encouraging the preservation of biodiversity for healthy and sustainable diets. The volume presents information on over 2200 vascular plant taxa from 127 families as well as many taxa from leaf parts, fruits, underground parts, floral parts, seeds, and more that have potential use as edible food plants. Ethnic knowledge on the wild edible mushrooms is an emerging area, which is unique and is dependent on the folk knowledge of tribals; this volume discusses the unique nutritional attributes of wild edible mushrooms (206 species belonging to 73 genera) in Southern India. The authors look at various lichens as nutritional aids and medicine and as flavoring agents and spices. Fucoidans derived from the seaweeds (and spirulina) are described for their antioxidant activity, nutritional and anti-aging properties, antiviral activities, anti-cancer properties, anti-diabetic properties, and more. The authors also examine how ethnicity affects healthcare/nutritive systems at different levels through various dynamics such as lower income, inability for services uptake, disputes among different ethnic groups, cultural attitudes (some ethnic group are vegetarian), lack of socio-economic resources, and disease prevalence. Together, these two important volumes aim to preserve and disseminate the valuable ethnic knowledge of medicinal plants gained over thousands of years and to promote the value of integrating and safeguarding biodiversity.

Dry Deciduous Forests of Karnataka – Adding Years to Their Life, and to Ours attempts at highlighting various aspects of the dry deciduous forests which once covered large parts of the state of Karnataka and which now occur only in a few, scattered pockets, having been almost entirely wiped out from two vast regions covering three-fourths of the state, namely, interior Karnataka and the Eastern Plains. Although not as imposing as the moist deciduous, semi-evergreen and evergreen forests that are met with in the western part of the state, the dry deciduous forests have high ecological value in terms of biodiversity, soil and water conservation, climate moderation, medicinal properties, protection of agricultural land, etc. Although now restricted in patches dispersed over an almost limitless landscape, these forests have tremendous impact on the surrounding environment. More importantly, these are the last vestiges of natural vegetation in an expansive, open and parched region where the ominous signs of desertification are already perceptible. Conservation and development of these forests, by any means and before it is too late, is of utmost importance for the overall protection and amelioration of the surrounding environment of the state. An attempt has been made in the book in analyzing the various factors that were responsible for pushing these forests to their present dismal state, and in offering a few suggestions regarding restoration and rejuvenation of the vanishing forests.

Blessed with extensive tracts of natural forest harboring the sandal tree (Santalum album L.), the Indian state of Karnataka was a leading producer of sandalwood, the most valuable product of the tropical forest. However, due to rampant smuggling during the last three-four decades, Karnataka’s sandalwood production slipped to abysmally low levels, with hardly any mature sandal tree being left in the forests. What, however, is providential about the sandal is its resilience to fight for survival in the face of hostile situations. Because of this resilience, sandal has been able not only to survive in areas where it occurred naturally but also to surface in areas where it was not known to have existed in the past. This extraordinary ability of sandal to survive, adjust and propagate against heavy odds provides a beacon of hope that it is still possible to restore the lost glory of sandal in Karnataka’s forests. The book, ‘Down, but Not Out – Sandal in Karnataka’, attempts at sharing some information about the extensive sandal-bearing forests that existed throughout the length and breadth of Karnataka and how they responded to management interventions during the past two hundred years. It also dwells upon the challenges associated with the management of sandal in the context of its rapidly dwindling population and suggests ways and means to re-establish and replenish its depleted stock, ensuring that the new crop of sandal does not face the same fate as the old crop did in the past.

The book provides an overview of the various types of forests occurring in the Indian state of Karnataka. Some of the most magnificent tropical forests of the Western Ghats are found here, including evergreen, semi-evergreen, moist deciduous, dry deciduous, thorn, shola, swamp and mangrove. Although scattered information about these forests is available, such information for the whole state is not available in the form of a comprehensive document. The book, while providing district-wise information about Karnataka’s forests, also dwells upon the interplay of different factors that have led to the formation and transformation of these forests. It critically analyzes the salient features about tropical forests, their past management and present status; this is relevant not only to Karnataka’s forests but also to the tropical forests of peninsular India, in particular, and Indian forests in general. The book provides a brief description about some 325 tree species—some endemic to the Western Ghats, some stretching from Australia to Africa and many pan-India—touching upon their ecology, habitat, field characteristics, tips for identification and utilization, including traditional medicinal uses. These trees represent a very wide spectrum of the trees from tropical forests.

The book Medicinal Plants and Healing of Human Health Focuses on different aspect of the importance of medicinal plants and human health. Every civilization has employed herbal medicine to cure and prevent illness throughout history. The resources used in each culture were those that were accessible in the area and catered to regional health issues. Cultural traditions were exposed through immigration and trade, where they were frequently supplanted by contemporary scientific ideas and medical procedures. It included contemporary topics like the role of natural products and, emerging drug discovery trends in the field of Oncology, Forgotten Wisdom: Reviving the Legacy of Ethnomedicine through Plant-Based Remedies, Indian medicinal plants used in hair problems, Ethnopharmacological application of medicinal plants to cure skin diseases and in folklore cosmetics among the major tribal communities of India and Antibacterial Activity Of Artabotrys Flower Oil On Atopic Dermatitis Pathogen Causes Skin Infection.

Ethnopharmacology and Biodiversity of Medicinal Plants provides a multitude of contemporary views on the diversity of medicinal plants, discussing both their traditional uses and therapeutic claims. This book emphasizes the importance of cataloging ethnomedical information as well as examining and preserving the diversity of traditional medicines. It also discusses the challenges present with limited access to modern medicine and the ways in which research can be conducted to enhance these modern practices. The book also explores the conservation procedures for endangered plant species and discusses their relevance to ethnopharmacology. Each chapter of this book relays the research of experts in the field who conducted research in diverse landscapes of India, providing a detailed account of the basic and applied approaches of ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology. The book reviews multiple processes pertaining to medicinal plants, such as collecting the traditional therapeutic values and validation methods. It also explores developments in the field such as the diversity and medicinal potential of unexplored plant species and applications in drug formulation to fight against anti-microbial resistance (AMR).