Aprovechamiento de Arceuthobium vaginatum (muérdago enano) con fines medicinales en función del manejo forestal en bosques de Pinus hartwegii en alta montaña

Abstract

In Mexico, mistletoe represent the second biological agent of disturbance in temperate forests; these provides diverse ecosystem services such as water; however, the provision depends greatly on the conservation of forests ecosystems that allow to capture and the infiltration of rain water. For example, in the Natural Protected Area Nevado de Toluca, Mexico, temperate forests cover near 70 % of their territory, represented by the genders Pinus spp. (pine) and Abies religiosa (fir). The runoffs that are originated on the hillsides of this Natural Protected Area provide water for two of the most important hydrological basins in the country, the Lerma and Balsas rivers that supply water for Toluca and Mexico City. These forest ecosystems represent health problems due to the presence of parasitic plants, standing out the gender Arceuthobium spp. (dwarf mistletoe), with use in traditional Mexican medicine. In this context, the objective of the present research was to analyse the use of Arceuthobium vaginatum and Arceuthobium globosum for medicinal purposes in the Natural Protected Area Nevado de Toluca according to the sanitation pruning as one of the forest management practices and its effect for the control of this parasitic plant in pines forest (Pinus hartwegii). The research was carried out in two independent but complementary stages; in the first one through semi-structured interviews in five communities the local/traditional knowledge about dwarf mistletoe was documented and in the second stage through monitoring in pine forests of two ejidos where sanitation pruning was applied, its effect on dwarf mistletoe was evaluated. It was determined that in the Natural Protected Area Nevado de Toluca the dwarf mistletoe is used for different medicinal purposes: A. vaginatum “black dwarf mistletoe” is used for the treatment of cough, hoarseness and nerves, and Arceuthobium globosum “yellow dwarf mistletoe” to relieve cough; and for playful purposes as a toy for both species and as an ink for Arceuthobium vaginatum. Likewise, it was determined that sanitation pruning in Pinus hartwegii forests of the Natural Protected Area Nevado de Toluca reduces the incidence of dwarf mistletoe by less than 12.1 % in sites with pruning compared to sites without it, where the incidence is greater than 61.8 %. It is emphasized that the use of dwarf mistletoe for medicinal proposes in Pinus hartwegii forests of the Natural Protected Area Nevado de Toluca could be affected by the reduction of the population of this parasitic plant in treated forests.