articleScienceJan 18, 2024GREEN OA

The global distribution of plants used by humans

SPSamuel PirononIOIan OndoMDMauricio DiazgranadosRARobert AllkinꝉACAndrea C. Baquero

UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre · Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew · +11 more institutions

PubMed
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Abstract

Plants sustain human life. Understanding geographic patterns of the diversity of species used by people is thus essential for the sustainable management of plant resources. Here, we investigate the global distribution of 35,687 utilized plant species spanning 10 use categories (e.g., food, medicine, material). Our findings indicate general concordance between utilized and total plant diversity, supporting the potential for simultaneously conserving species diversity and its contributions to people. Although Indigenous lands across Mesoamerica, the Horn of Africa, and Southern Asia harbor a disproportionate diversity of utilized plants, the incidence of protected areas is negatively correlated with utilized…

Citation impact

111
total citations
FWCI
59.44
Percentile
100%
References
111
Citations per year

Authors

21

Topics & keywords

Topics
Keywords
  • Species richness
  • Biodiversity
  • Indigenous
  • Geography
  • Distribution (mathematics)
  • Diversity (politics)
  • Ecology
  • Agroforestry
UN Sustainable Development Goals
  • Life in Land
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