Theories and Major Hypotheses in Ethnobotany

Ethnobotany has evolved from a discipline that largely documented the diversity of plant use by local people to one focused on understanding how and why people select plants for a wide range of uses. This progress has been in response to a repeated call for theory-inspired and hypothesisdriven resea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Economic botany Vol. 71; no. 3; pp. 269 - 287
Main Authors: Gaoue, Orou G., Coe, Michael A., Bond, Matthew, Hart, Georgia, Seyler, Barnabas C., McMillen, Heather
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: New York Springer & The New York Botanical Garden 01.09.2017
Springer US
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Critical mass
Discipline
ecology
Ethnobotany
Hypotheses
Integration
Life Sciences
meta-analysis
people
Plant Anatomy/Development
Plant diversity
Plant Ecology
Plant Physiology
Plant Sciences
Plant Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography
prediction
Review
statistical analysis
Statistical methods
utilitarian redundancy model
theory in ethnobotany
taboo as luxury
medicinal plant selection
Hypothesis-driven research
optimal defense theory
ISSN:0013-0001, 1874-9364
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Ethnobotany has evolved from a discipline that largely documented the diversity of plant use by local people to one focused on understanding how and why people select plants for a wide range of uses. This progress has been in response to a repeated call for theory-inspired and hypothesisdriven research to improve the rigor of the discipline. Despite improvements, recent ethnobotanical research has overemphasized the use of quantitative ethnobotany indices and statistical methods borrowed from ecology, yet underemphasized the development and integration of a strong theoretical foundation. To advance the field of ethnobotany as a hypothesis-driven, theoretically inspired discipline, it is important to first synthesize the existing theoretical lines of research. We review and discuss 17 major theories and hypotheses in ethnobotany that can be used as a starting point for developing research questions that advance our understanding of people-plant interactions. For each theory or major hypothesis, we identify its primary predictions and testable hypotheses and then discuss how these predictions have been tested. Developing research to test these predictions will make significant contributions to the field of ethnobotany and create the critical mass of primary literature necessary to develop meta-analyses and to advance new theories in ethnobotany.
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ISSN:0013-0001
1874-9364
DOI:10.1007/s12231-017-9389-8