Although Myanmar exports millions of dollars of rattan cane each year, the last systematic treatment of rattans in this country was done over 100 years ago, and virtually nothing has been written about the collection and trade of this important forest resource. Here we report the results from a study of rattans in the Hukaung Valley Tiger Reserve in northern Myanmar. A total of 15 species of rattan were encountered; seven species are new records for Myanmar and two species are new to science. Inventory transects revealed that the density of commercial rattans in local forests averages 40.5 canes ≥4 m long/hectare. Populations of all species appear to be actively regenerating. The current pattern of rattan exploitation, however, is largely uncontrolled and will eventually lead to resource depletion unless some form of management is implemented.

Medicinal plants and their endophytes are important resources for discovery of natural products. Several previous studies have found a positive correlation between total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and total phenolic content (TPC) of many medicinal plant extracts. However, no information is available on whether such a relationship also exists in their endophytic fungal metabolites. We investigated the relationship between TAC and TPC for 292 morphologically distinct endophytic fungi isolated from 29 traditional Chinese medicinal plants. The antioxidant capacities of the endophytic fungal cultures were significantly correlated with their total phenolic contents, suggesting that phenolics were also the major antioxidant constituents of the endophytes. Some of the endophytes were found to produce metabolites possessing strong antioxidant activities. Several bioactive constituents from the fungal cultures and host plant extracts were identified. This investigation reveals that the metabolites produced by a wide diversity of endophytic fungi in culture can be a potential source of novel natural antioxidants.

This study of changes in agrobiodiversity documents the domesticated species and, to a limited degree, the landraces, cultivated in the Siwa oasis of Egypt in 1919, 1924, 1968–1969, and 2004–2006. Siwa is ecogeographically and culturally isolated by more than 300 kilometers (km) from other agrarian communities and, perhaps because of this, detailed observations were made there by a number of agricultural scientists and geographers in a way that provides time-series data lacking from many other agrarian landscapes. Although I have drawn upon Siwan names for crops first published in 1890, this report may be the first substantive record of Tasiwit (Eastern Berber) folk names for traditional crops that allows ethno-linguistic comparisons with Cairene Arabic and other Northern Berber (Tamazight) dialects in North Africa. The perennial crop inventory of Siwan Berbers has remained relatively stable through time and few traditionally cultivated annual species or landraces have been lost. However, additional crop species from other parts of Egypt have been adopted since a paved road was completed to Siwa in 1986 and more Awlad Ali Bedouins have settled and begun dooryard gardens. The reasons for the relative stability of Siwan agrobiodiversity are discussed, and may relate to both the need for crop ecotypes adapted to the challenging alkaline conditions found in Siwan agroecosystems and Siwan pride in and adherence to its traditional cuisine.

Benincasa hispida, from tropical Asia, is cultivated primarily for its edible fruit. To explore its domestication and ethnobotany, we made collections from two regions where it may have been domesticated: (1) Southern China/Southeast Asia, represented by southern Yunnan Province (China) and northern Laos; and (2) the Indian subcontinent, represented by southeastern Nepal. Domestication has resulted in diverse fruit sizes, shapes, and colors; seed sizes and shapes; and, in some accessions, the loss of tendrils. Modern cultivars have larger fruit, earlier flowers, and lower nutritional content than traditional cultivars. Allozyme diversity was low, divergence between these two regions was low, and these results do not clarify the place of domestication. The greater morphological diversity of plants from Yunnan and Laos, as compared to Nepal, suggests domestication in the former region. In all accessions, male flowers precede females. Benincasa hispida is prominent in some traditional stories and rituals.

Passport data for Mexico's Guanajuato State were used to locate the sites where maize was collected in the 1940s and 1950s in an effort to document and conserve diversity. A map presenting survey points illustrates that collections have occurred repeatedly in the same locations. Observations of these locations reveal that urbanization and industrialization, not high yielding varieties, are displacing traditional varieties. Non-linear principal components analysis was used to assess associations between variables in areas where maize persists. Landraces appear to be associated with mountains and mesas, mixed cropping, little or no access to irrigation and areas classified as having low agricultural capacity; conversely, landraces have more commonly been replaced in areas of high agricultural capacity. The areas of high agriculture capacity, located in the riparian areas and plains, also have been the easiest to develop for urban and industrial use. Increasingly high rates of urbanization and development in areas of high agriculture capacity will impede the conservation of crop diversity in these areas.

The handicrafts made from Syngonanthus nitens scapes have been an important source of income for rural communities in the Jalapão region of Brazil since the late 1990s. This study analyzed S. nitens harvest and management techniques and the economic importance of the handicrafts. We also tested the effects of harvest on S. nitens population ecology. Handicrafts provide about US$1,800/year per artisan, being especially important to women. Experimental scape harvesting in mid-October, which is when knowledgeable artisans harvest and when the seeds are mature, had no consistent effects on population density, plant survival, or reproduction (clonal or sexual) after one year. Since 40% of the new recruits come from seeds, harvest after seed maturation, combined with removal of only the scapes and not the flowerheads, can allow for S. nitens seeds to remain in the populations and help ensure sustainability of the growing S. nitens handicraft activity. Important economic aspects of S. nitens harvest sustainability include the high value of the handicrafts and the fact they are not perishable.

Echinacea angustifolia DC. (Asteraceae) is a major North American medicinal plant that has been harvested commercially in north-central Kansas for 100 years, making it one of the longest documented histories of large-scale commercial use of a native North American medicinal herb. We have compiled historical market data and relate it to harvest pressure on wild Echinacea populations. Interviews with local harvesters describe harvesting methods and demonstrate the species' resilience. Conservation measures for E. angustifolia also should address the other threats faced by the species and may include restoration and management of its mixed-grass prairie habitat and protection by private landowners.