Woody Plant Diversity in Urban Homegardens in Northern Thailand

Abstract

© 2016, The New York Botanical Garden. Woody Plant Diversity in Urban Homegardens in Northern Thailand. Homegardens are traditional farming systems located within homesteads and are found in many countries throughout the world. The main functions of the homegardens are providing food and other goods for the household and also contributing to the generation of cash income. The number of species found in homegardens is an important trait that reflects their versatility and multiple uses. Woody homegarden plants are important because, being perennial, they represent stability from year to year, and they also produce large amounts of fruits and leaves which are important for food security and income generation. Most homegarden studies have focused on rural areas while urban homegardens have received little attention. In this study we show the importance of homegardens in an urban area by investigating woody plant diversity and the factors that drive this trait in a village in northern Thailand. We identified 94 woody plant species, most of which had edible fruits. The most common was mango (Mangifera indica), whereas economically the most important woody plant was the white fig (Ficus virens), which generated about USD 40 two times a year per tree. Thirteen household characteristics were examined using nonlinear principle analysis (NLPCA) in three dimension. Only the household head’s level of education, occupation, and the age of the household were significantly correlated with diversity indices. Moreover, diversity (Shannon and Gini-Simpson indices) of woody plants was significantly correlated with abundance and overall species richness. However, evenness was negatively correlated with abundance.