Traditional Utilization of Weeds and Ethnic Ecological Wisdom in Longsheng Terraces—A Study Based on Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems

Traditional Utilization of Weeds and Ethnic Ecological Wisdom in Longsheng Terraces—A Study Based on Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Traditional Utilization of Weeds and Ethnic Ecological Wisdom in Longsheng Terraces—A Study Based on Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems Wanli Ma, Yu Zeng, Jiurun Zhou, Renchuan Hu, Haiou Liu, Yujing Liu This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7378301/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 24 Nov, 2025 Read the published version in Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine → Version 1 posted 11 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background Weeds, which are long seen as nutrient competitors for crops, have made chemical weeding mainstream in agriculture. However, in Guangxi’s Longsheng Terraces, a global agricultural heritage site, the Zhuang, Yao and Dong peoples value them as medicine, food, feed and even tools. This undocumented traditional knowledge, under chemical agriculture and tourism pressures, is on the verge of extinction. Methods This study integrates research methods from ethnobotany and weed science and conducts a survey on 189 weed species across 11 types of farmlands, including paddy fields and corn fields in the Longsheng Terraces. It focuses on traditional knowledge of weed utilization among the Zhuang, Yao, and Dong ethnic groups. Through semistructured interviews, data on the local names, uses, utilized parts, and frequency of use of these weeds were recorded. Additionally, indicators such as frequency of citation (FC), informant consensus factor (Fic), use value (UV), and relative importance (RI) were employed to analyze their value quantitatively. Results Among the 189 weed species, 49 have traditional utilization value, covering four major categories: medicinal use (41 species, accounting for 81.6%), edible, forage, and tool material use. Among them, Phytolacca americana , Polygonum hydropiper , Plantago asiatica , and Erigeron annuus had the highest relative importance. In terms of usage consensus, there was a high level of consensus within the community regarding weed utilization knowledge for conditions such as coryza and snake bites. Notably, 29 medicinal weeds were not included in the Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China , and among the 14 weeds included therein, 9 species remain unrecorded, indicating that these weeds have potential development value. Analysis of ethnic differences revealed that the Yao ethnic group utilized the most abundant weed species, followed by the Zhuang and the Dong. The similarity coefficient analysis revealed that the Zhuang and Yao ethnic groups presented the highest similarity in weed utilization knowledge, whereas the similarity between the Zhuang and Dong ethnic groups was the lowest. The inheritance of traditional knowledge showed a significant intergenerational decreasing trend, with no gender difference observed. Additionally, the impact of tourism development on the weed utilization rate did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions This study reveals the multidimensional value of weeds in the Longsheng Terraces and the traditional ecological wisdom they embody, providing significant reference values for biodiversity conservation, traditional knowledge inheritance, and sustainable agricultural development at global agricultural cultural heritage sites. Moreover, systematic research and protective measures are needed to prevent the loss of these valuable resources due to improper management. Weed traditional utilization Ethnobotany Globally important agricultural heritage system (GIAHS) Ethnic differences Agrobiodiversity conservation Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files AppendixA.xlsx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 24 Nov, 2025 Read the published version in Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 25 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 25 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 16 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 15 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 14 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 14 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 22 Aug, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 18 Aug, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 18 Aug, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 18 Aug, 2025 First submitted to journal 15 Aug, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7378301","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":504649747,"identity":"115823b4-6405-4b9a-99e8-7fb37e6d4c49","order_by":0,"name":"Wanli Ma","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Nanjing Agricultural University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Wanli","middleName":"","lastName":"Ma","suffix":""},{"id":504649751,"identity":"b1427036-039a-4258-b9df-2dab87cc5a70","order_by":1,"name":"Yu Zeng","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Nanjing Agricultural 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Systems\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"journal-of-ethnobiology-and-ethnomedicine","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"jeet","sideBox":"Learn more about [Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine](http://ethnobiomed.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"13002","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/13002/3","title":"Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine","twitterHandle":"@ethnobiomed","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC/SO AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Weed traditional utilization, Ethnobotany, Globally important agricultural heritage system (GIAHS), Ethnic differences, Agrobiodiversity conservation","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7378301/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7378301/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003eBackground\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eWeeds, which are long seen as nutrient competitors for crops, have made chemical weeding mainstream in agriculture. However, in Guangxi\u0026rsquo;s Longsheng Terraces, a global agricultural heritage site, the Zhuang, Yao and Dong peoples value them as medicine, food, feed and even tools. This undocumented traditional knowledge, under chemical agriculture and tourism pressures, is on the verge of extinction.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMethods\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis study integrates research methods from ethnobotany and weed science and conducts a survey on 189 weed species across 11 types of farmlands, including paddy fields and corn fields in the Longsheng Terraces. It focuses on traditional knowledge of weed utilization among the Zhuang, Yao, and Dong ethnic groups. Through semistructured interviews, data on the local names, uses, utilized parts, and frequency of use of these weeds were recorded. Additionally, indicators such as frequency of citation (FC), informant consensus factor (Fic), use value (UV), and relative importance (RI) were employed to analyze their value quantitatively.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eAmong the 189 weed species, 49 have traditional utilization value, covering four major categories: medicinal use (41 species, accounting for 81.6%), edible, forage, and tool material use. Among them, \u003cem\u003ePhytolacca americana\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003ePolygonum hydropiper\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003ePlantago asiatica\u003c/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eErigeron annuus\u003c/em\u003e had the highest relative importance. In terms of usage consensus, there was a high level of consensus within the community regarding weed utilization knowledge for conditions such as coryza and snake bites. Notably, 29 medicinal weeds were not included in the \u003cem\u003ePharmacopoeia of the People\u0026rsquo;s Republic of China\u003c/em\u003e, and among the 14 weeds included therein, 9 species remain unrecorded, indicating that these weeds have potential development value. Analysis of ethnic differences revealed that the Yao ethnic group utilized the most abundant weed species, followed by the Zhuang and the Dong. The similarity coefficient analysis revealed that the Zhuang and Yao ethnic groups presented the highest similarity in weed utilization knowledge, whereas the similarity between the Zhuang and Dong ethnic groups was the lowest. The inheritance of traditional knowledge showed a significant intergenerational decreasing trend, with no gender difference observed. Additionally, the impact of tourism development on the weed utilization rate did not reach statistical significance.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eConclusions\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis study reveals the multidimensional value of weeds in the Longsheng Terraces and the traditional ecological wisdom they embody, providing significant reference values for biodiversity conservation, traditional knowledge inheritance, and sustainable agricultural development at global agricultural cultural heritage sites. Moreover, systematic research and protective measures are needed to prevent the loss of these valuable resources due to improper management.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Traditional Utilization of Weeds and Ethnic Ecological Wisdom in Longsheng Terraces—A Study Based on Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-08-26 22:02:26","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7378301/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-09-25T18:24:00+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-09-25T18:01:03+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-09-16T15:21:53+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-09-15T10:58:33+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"79716916541756768378938184674662905563","date":"2025-09-15T02:11:02+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"93371063519940742986348749702639949809","date":"2025-09-14T16:04:35+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"158195288991808744082255761351547142441","date":"2025-08-22T08:15:26+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-08-18T08:18:14+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-08-18T08:17:02+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-08-18T04:18:03+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine","date":"2025-08-15T04:19:17+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"journal-of-ethnobiology-and-ethnomedicine","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"jeet","sideBox":"Learn more about [Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine](http://ethnobiomed.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"13002","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/13002/3","title":"Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine","twitterHandle":"@ethnobiomed","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC/SO AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"b6f666a2-5fb3-4df2-be6a-dab3c8d6f7e7","owner":[],"postedDate":"August 26th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-12-01T15:59:01+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-7378301","link":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-025-00832-x","journal":{"identity":"journal-of-ethnobiology-and-ethnomedicine","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine"},"publishedOn":"2025-11-24 15:56:50","publishedOnDateReadable":"November 24th, 2025"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-08-26 22:02:26","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1186/s13002-025-00832-x","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-025-00832-x","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7378301","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7378301","identity":"rs-7378301","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}