Status of medicinal and aromatic plants in - Inia

PRESENTED PAPERS 51
• Factors playing a role in the decrease of the Hungarian MAP production potential and
biodiversity
The scientific study of the Hungarian indigenous flora has a long tradition. However the
detailed study of populations utilized as MAPs (coenological, chemical and yield characters
was undertaken only recently, in the early 1960s. This seems to be a very important
phenomenon, especially in the case of medicinal plants which became protected or
endangered. On the basis of recent investigations, the factors having an adverse effect on
MAP productivity can be divided into two main groups:
1. Direct factors limiting the spectrum and productivity of indigenous MAP populations
- Overexploitation of MAP populations by intensive and inconsiderate collecting may
result in irreversible damage. Owing to profit seeking and lack of scientific control, more
and more species have to be included in the list of endangered species. Examples include
Adonis vernalis, Primula spp. and Dictamnus albus, which became protected due to their
unregulated exploitation from the wild.
- The overall reduction of forest areas resulting from progressive industrialization limits
both the spectrum and productivity of MAP populations. The decrease in the populations
of Dryopteris filix-mas, Crataegus nigra, Primula vulgaris, Veronica officinalis, etc., can be
explained by this phenomenon.
- Drainage of marshy-moist ecosystems as a result of the political decision of the former
socialist administration (especially in the 1950s) has had an adverse effect on the
medicinal plant populations after many years. The most valuable species in this respect,
which have had to be removed from the list of utilized plants, are Acorus calamus and
Menianthes trifoliata.
- There are huge losses to former ruderal MAP populations, gathered from cultivated field
headlands, meadows, farmyards, etc. The biodiversity of these systems has been reduced
drastically. Species which were collected from these habitats on a large scale, such as
Marrubium vulgare and Fumaria schleicheri, have become very rare and botanists consider
there is a need for their protection.
- The natural distribution of MAPs is limited by pollution. Because of the increasing
quality requirements, the production area has to be farther from the main roads,
industrial facilities, etc. This means that more and more territories are withdrawn from
the production of medicinal and aromatic plants. Some species, especially Arnica montana
and Vaccinium spp., are very susceptible to pollution.
2. Indirect factors limiting the spectrum and productivity of indigenous MAP populations
The overall reduction in the species range in natural plant communities, which is a general
phenomenon throughout Europe (plants becoming endangered, rare or extinct) is also
observable in Hungary. Medicinal and aromatic plants, as constituents of the different
ecosystems, are affected by any factor that damages plants generally. The severe reduction
of biodiversity affects all Europe and is reflected in the large number of species now extinct
(Bernáth 1988). This reduction also means the extinction of some chemotaxa existing in
given natural systems, which may have had potential therapeutic use but are lost forever.
Several indirect factors such as industrial pollution, increasing amount of agrochemicals,
harmful human influences, etc., damage the natural ecosystems continuously, including
plant species utilized as MAPs.