Integrating ecological and ethnobotanical priorities into riparian restoration

Abstract

The riparian vegetation along many rivers is so modified by farming and grazing that forest restoration targets are far from obvious, and initial steps are hard to plan. The Ayuquila River in southern Mexico offered the opportunity to test an approach that integrates ecological data and ethnobotanical information to identify reference sites that could serve as restoration targets and prioritize woody species for initiating restoration. In this case study, data from 12 sites along a 90 km section of the river included 125 herbaceous species (98 genera, 47 families in a total sampling area of 120 m2) and 77 woody plant species (58 genera, 36 families in a total sampled area of 6,000 m2). Of the woody plants, 37 were known to have one or more human uses. We employed one ranking protocol to select reference sites (based on diversity, forest structure, and ethnobotanical use) and another to prioritize the woody plants for potential reintroduction (based on five species attributes). The latter protocol yielded 15 species that deserve further testing for their ability to establish in restoration sites. The site/species selection protocol proved useful in selecting restoration targets and prioritizing species-two early steps in projects designed to conserve biodiversity, maintain associated cultural values, and catalyze community involvement in riparian ecosystem restoration. © 2010 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System.