Introduction

Around 40% of the world’s land area is covered by forests that play a vital role in the conservation of biodiversity, providing different ecosystem goods and services, and enhancing numerous opportunities for climate change mitigation (Gebeyehu et al. 2019; Lim et al. 2022; Ali et al. 2024). India stands among 17 global mega-diverse nations constituting 7% flora of the world by accounting for ~ 45,000 species of plants (Saikia and Khan 2018; Kumar and Saikia 2020a). A sum of 1,44,000 plant species are cultivated in India out of 3,74,000 reported from all over the world (Christenhusz and Byng 2016). A significant number of medicinal plants used in the medieval period have been reported from the Indian subcontinent (Bagchi et al. 2011). India’s various topographic, edaphic, and climatic conditions support a rich biodiversity, especially the floral wealth of the nation accompanying cultural history and traditional knowledge (Roy and Pradhan 2022). Tribal communities rely on forest-based products for their livelihood and have extensive knowledge of the traditional uses of plants and plant-based products (Haq et al. 2021). Traditional knowledge is one of the preservation conventions, strategies, and protocols initiated worldwide for the preservation of biological diversity (Haq et al. 2021). Since the beginning of human civilization, plant resources have been one of the major suppliers of food and medicine (Shaheen et al. 2012; Raj and Jhariya 2023) with high nutritional and health benefits, low cost, high accessibility, and strong acceptance by a significant number of populations in many rural and isolated villages (Mir et al. 2022). As per the World Health Organization (WHO), 80% of the population especially in the developing world relies on traditional medicines in the twenty-first century (Goeniowski et al. 2006). A sum of 25,000 plant species is used in traditional medicinal system by ca. 1.5 million traditional healers and practitioners in India, of which only 10% are used by pharmaceutical companies (Mir et al. 2021, 2022).

Plant supplies a range of ecosystem goods including fuelwood, fodders, wild edibles, and traditional medicines that considerably provide inexpensive healthcare access and livelihood security to local tribal communities (Jordan et al. 2010; Yang et al. 2014). Overexploitation and unsustainable harvesting of forest products to satisfy the needs and greed leads to forest degradation (Kumar and Saikia 2020b). Hence, proper maintenance, sustainable management and conservation are necessary to limit the further exploitation of plant resources from their natural habitats. Local communities inhabiting the forests play an important role in controlling, managing, monitoring, conserving, and sustainable harvesting of plant resources to prevent their extensive exploitation (Singh and Pandey 2019). To stop commercial agriculture from growing and to protect natural forests, it is necessary to either expand protected areas or guarantee tenure rights for tribal and indigenous communities (Soares-Filho et al. 2010).

Jharkhand is known for its rich floristic diversity with high forest cover (28.09%) (FSI 2021) and is the hospice of numerous tribal communities (Roy et al. 2023). 26.21% of the total population are tribes (FSI 2021) that predominantly inhabit forest edges and depend on forest-based products to fulfil their sustenance needs (Kumar and Saikia 2020a). Forest resources are the backbone of rural tribal communities since they link with their socio-cultural life and satisfy most livelihood requirements (Singhal et al. 2021). A majority of the local villagers use flowers, fruits, barks, stems, roots, and other parts of the plant for foods, medicines, furniture-making, oil-yielding, dye-extraction, and raw materials for domestic uses (Shikha and Kumar 2023). Local villagers have extensive ecological knowledge of the rapidly endangered folk plants (Molnár and Berkes 2018). Several research studies were conducted in Palamau Tiger Reserve based on the medicinal uses of plant species and the economic importance of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) (Kumari et al. 2017, 2018), but, research works focusing on the overall utilitarian perspective of plant species are not attempted yet.

Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the forest composition along with the indigenous knowledge pertaining to the utilitarian perspectives of plant resources of Palamau Tiger Reserve (PTR), Eastern India to fulfill the sustenance needs of the local tribes of Jharkhand.

Materials and methods

Study area

The study was conducted in four forest ranges (Garu East range, Garu West range, Baresnar range, and Mahuadanr range) of PTR, Eastern India out of eight. PTR is situated on the western part of the Chotanagpur Plateau in the Palamau district of Jharkhand (23° 25′ to 23° 55′ N latitude and 83° 50′ to 84° 36′ E longitude) at an elevation from 200 to 1100 m above sea level. It became one of the tiger reserves under Project Tiger in 1974 covering a core area of 576 sq. km and a buffer area of 731 sq. km. The reserve encompasses Palamau Wildlife Sanctuary (979 sq. km) and Betla National Park (226 sq. km) surrounded by rivers Koel, Auranga, and Burha. The total number of villages in PTR is 191, of which Morwai Kalan, Chumma, Juruhar, Wopag, Nawadih, Lat, Harhe, Bere, Hesag, Garu, Bartoli, Netarhat, and Ladi are major villages located at non-forested zones (Kumari et al. 2020).

Vegetation sampling and analysis

PTR has a total of 90 (4 km \(\times\)4 km) forested grids (Fig. 1), of which sampling has been done by laying one belt transect (each of 0.50 ha) in 53 grids. Shrubs and tree saplings were sampled in nine random quadrats each of 5 m \(\times\)5 m, while herbs and tree seedlings in 1 m \(\times\)1 m quadrats (Fig. 2). A close-ended (locals knowing the significance of the surrounding plant species) interview-based fieldwork was conducted where a list of queries (Appendix I in Supplementary) was asked and based on the individual’s response the quantitative analysis was done. The interview-based fieldwork was conducted to gather information regarding the traditional use of various plant species and their parts by interviewing locals (N = 53) (17 females and 36 males) in different age groups (32–69 years). The information ratio for the utilitarian perspective varied based on the knowledge of the respondent about the plant use and the availability of the locals. Quantitative ethnobotanical indices have been used to assess the species values based on their relevance and relative importance among the locals. Fifty three individuals (traditional healers, local ayurvedic doctors, forest trackers, forest guards, NTFP gatherers, etc.) were interviewed for data collection for further quantitative analysis. All the species were further classified into seven major use categories based on their prime utilization patterns such as fuelwoods, furniture and building materials, medicinal, edibles (raw), edibles (cooked), fodder, and miscellaneous (including dye yielding, used in textiles and fibre, religious rituals, ornamental, spiritual, and with various ecological significance).

Fig. 1
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Map of the study site showing the sampled grids with red dots

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Fig. 2
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Sampling design used for the vegetation sampling in the PTR, Eastern India

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To identify plants with unique intercultural importance and their utilization potential for various purposes, an informant consensus factor (FIC) was determined to examine the uniformity of respondents’ responses (Trotter and Logan 1986).

$${\text{F}}_{{{\text{IC}}}} = {\text{N}}_{{{\text{ur}}}} - {\text{N}}_{{\text{t}}} /{\text{N}}_{{{\text{ur}}}} - {1}$$

where Nur represents the number of respondents; Nt represents the number of users among the respondents. The value of FIC varies from 0.00 to 1.00, where the value near 1.00 represents higher utilization potential for the specific purpose, while the value near 0.00 represents lower utilization potential for the specific purpose.

Likewise, to analyze the relative importance of each species in the particular category based on the relative use by the respondents, a use-value index (UVi) was calculated for particular species (Phillips and Gentry 1993).

$${\text{UV}}i = \sum {{\text{U}}i/{\text{N}}i}$$

where i represents the particular species, Ui represents the no. of users of a particular species for the particular category, and Ni represents the no. of respondents who were interviewed for a particular plant species.

Similarly, the fidelity level (FL) is calculated to determine the reliability of a particular species for a specific purpose, it is the ratio of the number of informants used by the particular species for a particular purpose with respect to the total number of informants interviewed for similar purpose (Friedman et al. 1986).

$${\text{FL}}\,\left( \% \right) = {\text{N}}_{{\text{p}}} \times {1}00/{\text{N}}$$

where Np is the number of informants using the particular species for a particular purpose and N is the total number of informants interviewed for similar purposes. The value of FL ranges from 0 to 100, where 100% FL signifies that all the informants use that particular plant species for similar purposes.

Results and discussion

Forest composition

The present study recorded a total of 170 plant species belonging to 143 genera and 58 families in 53 forested grids of PTR, Eastern India of which 88 are trees, 32 shrubs, and 50 herbs (Table 1). Similar studies in different tropical deciduous forests in Jharkhand recorded comparatively poor species richness like 77 plant species belonging to 41 families in the tropical deciduous forests of Ranchi (Kumar and Saikia 2020a), 62 plant species belonging to 41 families in the forests of Jharkhand (Linda 2020), 139 plant species belonging to 56 families in PTR and Betla National Park (Kumari et al. 2017), 95 plant species belonging to 51 families in Hazaribag (Lal and Singh 2012), and 80 plant species belonging to 50 families in Gumla, Simdega, Latehar, and east Singhbhum (Tomar et al. 2012). Out of all recorded plant species, 142 species are of native Indian origin, while 28 species are introduced intentionally or unintentionally. Some native plant species recorded in the present study are Adina cordifolia (Roxb.) Brandis, Andrographis paniculata (Burm.f.) Wall. ex Nees, Blumea lacera (Burm.f.) DC., Cajanus scarabaeoides (L.) Thouars, and Dillenia pentagyna Roxb., while Ageratum conyzoides L., Ageratum houstonianum Mill., Bauhinia galpinii N.E.Br., and Chromolaena odorata (L.) R.M.King & H.Rob. are some of the introduced plant species. A very high percentage of the total plant species (63 plant species; 37%) are in the IUCN red lists, of which the majority are Least Concern (LC: 60 spp.) followed by Near Threatened (NT: 02 spp.) and Endangered (EN: 01 sp.). Tectona grandis L.f. is the Endangered tree recorded in the tropical deciduous forests of Jharkhand, Aegle marmelos (L.) Correa and Pterocarpus marsupium Roxb. are the Near Threatened tree species. Critical LC plant species recorded in the present study include Adenanthera pavonina L., A. conyzoides, Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth., Bauhinia tomentosa L., and Bridelia retusa (L.) A.Juss. The highest diversity of species is recorded in the family Fabaceae (30 spp.), while 32 families are monotypic (Fig. 3). In conformity with the present report, Fabaceae was the most dominant family in the tropical forests of Ranchi, Jharkhand (Kumar and Saikia 2020a), West Bengal (Mandal and Rahaman 2022), and Singhori Wildlife Sanctuary, Madhya Pradesh (Soni and Modak 2014). The dominance of the Fabaceae signifies a high rate of nitrogen fixation that ultimately results in a better forest regeneration status leading to high species richness and diversity of different growth forms in the tropical deciduous forests of Jharkhand.

Table 1 List of species recorded (N = 170) in PTR, Eastern India with family, habit, origin, IUCN category, and their major use category
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Fig. 3
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Families with the number of species and the number of families in the study area

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Plant utilization pattern

Low land revenue and limited ownership in Jharkhand lead to the development of a diverse range of occupations by the local villagers and tribal communities such as daily labour, crafting, local businesses such as fruits and vegetable vendors, cobblers, carpenters, and other necessities in the streets. After agriculture, forests are the second largest source of income for the locals in Jharkhand. Locals’ dependence on forests for livelihood has shown a strong positive link with socioeconomic circumstances (Islam et al. 2015). The collaborative work of local women, from collecting NTFPs in the forest to selling them in the market for economic sustainability or domestic use, has played an important role in maintaining family livelihoods (Sinha and Tripathi 2017). Additionally, they gather leaf litter and wood for heating and cooking, fruit and vegetables for household consumption and to sell in the market. Various plant species are used to make plates and containers, while forest herbs are used to make essential oils that can be traded or used in the home. Due to high species richness and diversity, the forest offers a wide range of livelihood opportunities through self-employment, business groups, self-help groups, etc. (Shendage et al. 2009). The present study reported that the majority of the plant species were used by the local villagers for miscellaneous purposes (170 spp.) followed by medicinal uses (147 spp.), edibles (raw) (62 spp.), fuelwoods as well as, furniture and building materials (35 spp. each), edibles (cooked) purposes (32 spp.), and fodder (22 spp.) (Table 2 and Fig. 4). A similar study was conducted in two upper Assam districts (Golaghat and Jorhat) of northeast India especially on the use of plant species for different purposes highlights that 18% of species showed utilization potential for timber and miscellaneous categories followed by other categories (Saikia et al. 2012). Plants used for construction purposes (97%) hold the higher value followed by edible purposes (27%), and fuelwood (10%) in Sainte Luce and Mandena regions of south-eastern Madagascar (Račevska et al. 2022). Community well-being, societal demands, and moral and ethical principles must be taken into care for the sustainable use of forests and related land resources as it will enhance the conservation perspective and the diversity of forests. Therefore, a multidisciplinary approach to sustainable harvesting of forest goods must be implemented to avoid over-exploitation and further degradation of forests.

Table 2 Plant species and their parts used in day-to-day necessities with special emphasis on medicinal plants
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Fig. 4
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Percentage of species used for different purposes

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Different indices showed a wide range of dispersion in different use categories (Table 3). The higher FIC values were assessed in the case of fuelwood collection (137 spp.), furniture and building materials purposes (137 spp.), medicinal purposes (25 spp.), edibles (raw) purposes (110 spp.), edibles (cooked) purposes (140 spp.), fodder purposes (150 spp.), and for miscellaneous uses (98 spp.). The use-value index (UVi) signifies higher values in fuelwood category (32 spp.), furniture and building materials category (34 spp.), medicinal (61 spp.), edibles (raw) category (6 spp.), edibles (cooked) category (17 spp.), fodder category (21 spp.), and miscellaneous use category (7 spp.). The 100% fidelity level (FL) had been found in the case of 32 spp. in the fuelwood category, 34 spp. in furniture and building materials, 61 spp. in the medicinal, 6 spp. in the edibles (raw) category, 17 spp. in edibles (cooked) category, 21 spp. in the fodder category, and 7 spp. in the miscellaneous category. Out of the seven use categories, Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre was the only species having the highest utilization potential, satisfying six use categories followed by 11 different plant spp. that satisfied five use categories, 24 plant spp. satisfied four use categories, 25 plant spp. satisfied three use categories, 58 plant spp. satisfied two use categories, and 48 plant spp. satisfied only one-use category (Table 3). Psidium guajava L., Dysphania ambrosioides (L.) Mosyakin & Clemants, Ruta chalepensis L., Byrsonima crassifolia (L.) Kunth, and Cissampelos pareira L. were the important medicinal plants with higher potential for the treatment of a range of ailments reported in a similar study conducted in Mexico based on FIC (Heinrich et al. 1998). On the other hand, Croton macrostachyus Hochst. ex Delile and Zehneria scabra (L.f.) Sond. were the most used medicinal plant for malaria, while Cynoglossum coeruleum Hochst. ex A.DC. for mich that had been reported by the majority of the informants in Ethiopia (Giday et al. 2007). In New Guinea, it is observed that the majority of plant species (88 spp.) were used for the treatment of tuberculosis (Case et al. 2006). Likewise, Matricaria chamomilla L., Hypericum perforatum L., and Mentha × piperita L. were the plant species having higher values for curing different diseases in the Pčinja district of South-Eastern Serbia (Živković et al. 2020). Information gathered based on the utilization potential of different plant species for several purposes and various ailments signifies the exploitation of species for that particular purpose for more than one generation. The higher values of the FIC index, use value, and fidelity level with a large number of plant species manifest the overuse of plant resources by the locals to fulfil their sustenance needs. All the species recorded in the study are either economically valuable or ecologically significant. The majority of them are overharvested by the locals for domestic and economic purposes leading to ecological imbalance, loss of canopy cover, and decreased biodiversity. Therefore, management, monitoring, and sustainable utilization of natural forests through capacity-building programmes should take utmost priority based on the aspects of protection, conservation, and sustainable development as entirely and moderately dependent populations' livelihood reliance on forests varies among regions and this should be taken into account in devising management plans for safeguarding forests from further depletion.

Table 3 Quantitative analysis through ethnobotanical indices (informant consensus factor (FIC), use-value index (UVi), and fidelity level (FL)) of use categories with number of species (N = 53) in PTR, Eastern India
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Plants used in traditional medicines, especially in women’s health

Almost 70% of modern pharmaceuticals are used in India’s traditional and indigenous medical systems, and many of their synthetic counterparts are made using plant extracts from the country’s natural forests (Shi et al. 2021). Around 1200–1800 plant species were used in ayurvedic medicine throughout the globe, meanwhile in India, 7500 plant species were used in various remedies by indigenous and tribal communities (Sen and Chakraborty 2017). The present study recorded a majority (147 plant species belonging to 129 genera and 56 families) of the total recorded plant species having medicinal utilities of which a maximum is woody (73 trees and 29 shrubs), and few are non-woody herbs (45 herbs). Comparatively poor medicinal plant richness in the present study (147 spp.) as compared to the earlier records (160 spp.) in Jharkhand (Sharma et al. 2016) may be due to the prevalence of ecological disturbances in the form of grazing, overharvesting, fuelwood and forage collection, lopping, timber felling, disposal of plastic wastes, soil removal, and forest fire in the studied forest patches. Meanwhile, being a protected area the diversity of the medicinal plants in the present study was higher as compared to other studies reported in Jharkhand (Lal and Singh 2012; Mondal and Rahaman 2012; Kumari et al. 2018; Kumar and Saikia 2020a, b). On the other hand, similar studies throughout the globe have recorded contradictory information regarding the maximum number of medicinal plants belonging to the herbaceous community (Srivastava et al. 2012; Rao et al. 2015; Jan et al. 2021; Roy et al. 2022). The leaves and young shoots (62 spp.) were reported as the most used plant parts followed by flowers and fruits (52 spp.), stems and barks (47 spp.), roots and tubers (39 spp.), and seeds (28 spp.) (Fig. 5). Similar findings with leaves as the most often used plant part for medicinal purposes have been recorded in different parts of India and throughout the world (Rao et al. 2015; Mir et al. 2021; Roy et al. 2022), while some other studies reported roots and tubers (Marandi and Britto 2014) as well as flowers (Bhattarai et al. 2006) as the most used plant parts. Local healers and traditional practitioners have extensive knowledge of a variety of herbal remedies, their preparations, and therapeutic characteristics that are effective in treating different ailments (Majumdar et al. 2006). The majority of plant species were used as an oral decoction, infusion, maceration, chewed, powdered, raw, cooked, juice, paste, dried, fumes, and poultice, while a limited number of species were used externally (by rubbing, as a bandage, oil, etc.), especially for pain relief, wound, skin infection, ulcer, menstrual disorders, and other ailments (Table 2). Supplements like milk, honey, jaggery, clarified butter, black pepper, and warm water were also used along with plant extracts for oral consumption and external uses in different formulations. Some of the plant species that were entirely utilized for medicinal purposes where every plant part of these species have certain ethnomedicinal uses (Fig. 6). Most of the plant species were used by the locals in the treatment of common ailments like cough, cold, pain, wound, etc., while a total of 48 plant species were specifically used by local women for a range of gynaecological disorders including menstrual pain, abortion, as contraceptives, increase lactation, increase fertility and chances of pregnancy, leucorrhea, vaginal itching, vaginal infection, menorrhagia, labour pain, and other problems during menstruation, pregnancy, and after pregnancy (Table 2 and Fig. 7). In conformity with the present report, earlier studies also reported the use of a range of species for the treatment of gynaecological disorders in various parts of the country. A total of 23 plant species were reported in the Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, India (Singh and Singh 2012), while 60 plant species in the Baramulla district of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir (Jan et al. 2021) and 66 plant species in Vedaranyam (Taluk), Nagapattinam district of south India (Balamurugan et al. 2018) used for the treatment related to women health. Long-term reliance on plants for medical purposes has resulted in the formation of regional medicinal products (Hussain et al. 2022) for the treatment of ailments, including gynaecological disorders, however, the dosages of these formulations are not standardized and typically taken with the advice of the elders, traditional healers, and practitioners. The forests and the locals have a mutualistic connection that ensures the fulfilment of their daily needs and the preservation of the forests in return. Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDGs 1, 2, 3, 6, 13, and 15, will be made possible by community involvement in forest stewardship through ownership and access rights.

Fig. 5
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Plant parts used for medicinal purposes

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Fig. 6
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Some of the species that are entirely used for medicinal purposes a Mimosa pudica L., b Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers., c Ageratum conyzoides L., d Emilia sonchifolia (L.) DC

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Fig. 7
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Highly used plant species to treat major ailments related to women’s health

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Conclusions

Forests are crucial for the livelihood of the local and indigenous people of Jharkhand as they provide a huge range of goods (food, fodder, shelter, timber, fuelwood, furniture, fruits, medicines, etc.) and services (provisional, cultural, supporting, and regulating). The moderate climate, numerous ecosystems, and indigenous communities with diverse cultural and societal norms may all contribute to abundant plant diversity (170 spp.) in the studied forests. The utilization of different plant species for numerous purposes revealed a serious threat to these species for further survival. Species with higher utilization potential may eventually vanish from their natural habitats if unsustainable harvesting of these species continues from their natural habitat. The current study and analysis have uncovered a wide range of information regarding the traditional uses of 170 plant species recorded in the 53 forested grids of PTR, Eastern India. All the species have certain utilization potential and the majority of them were used in traditional medicines. Different plant species are utilized for several purposes such as medicine, furniture and building materials, fodder, fuelwood, edibles (cooked), edibles (raw), and other miscellaneous uses are the precursors of the diverse flora in PTR. Therefore, it is necessary to preserve these irreplaceable plant species and harvest them sustainably to meet local needs. More focus should be placed on the conservation measures for such important plant species to protect them from further depletion. The findings of this research will assist policymakers in promoting certain regional and local plant species to increase the dietary and food security of forest-dependent communities.