The global distribution of plants used by humans

Pironon, S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8937-7626, Ondo, I. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7816-5882, Diazgranados, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0448-5706, Allkin, R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2107-4036, Baquero, A. C., Cámara-Leret, R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7705-0602, Canteiro, C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6588-4773, Dennehy-Carr, Z. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8054-0255, Govaerts, R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2991-5282, Hargreaves, S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7058-9901, Hudson, A. J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6034-3978, Lemmens, R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-9963-5251, Milliken, W. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3926-6661, Nesbitt, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9588-4296, Patmore, K. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7497-9782, Schmelzer, G. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2353-5318, Turner, R. M., van Andel, T. R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4951-1894, Ulian, T. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8298-256X, Antonelli, A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1842-9297 and Willis, K. J. (2024) The global distribution of plants used by humans. Science, 383 (6680). pp. 293-297. ISSN 1095-9203 doi: 10.1126/science.adg8028

Abstract/Summary

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 species richness. Finding mechanisms to preserve areas containing concentrations of utilized plants and traditional knowledge must become a priority for the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/114889
Identification Number/DOI	10.1126/science.adg8028
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Biological Sciences > Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Uncontrolled Keywords	Multidisciplinary
Publisher	American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
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