Market status and the sustainable utilization strategy of wild earthworm (earth dragon) for medicinal use

doi:10.17520/biods.2022478

Abstract

Abstract:

Aim: Earthworm (also known as earth dragon) is a commonly used animal traditional Chinese medicine resource. It has high medicinal value, particularly for treating cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. In the recent decade, “electric shocking” methods using electric earthworm machines have been used to increase the harvesting yield of wild earthworms. While such a method can improve harvesting efficiency, it may be unsustainable, threatening wild earthworm populations and negatively affecting soil habitats. This paper aims to analyze the potential effect of “electric shocking” on the national earth dragon market.

Methods: We used the largest national dataset on market price (1998.2‒2022.7), the market supply (2004‒2021) and the market demand (2004‒2021) to analyze market characteristics and their relationships. To better understand the potential effect of “electric shocking” on the national earth dragon market, we used Bayesian structural time-series models to analyze the impact of “electric shocking” on supply quantity and market price.

Results: Our results showed that: (1) From 1998 to 2022, the price of earth dragons has been on the rise, with seasonal fluctuations, and the highest price attained was 175 yuan/kg; (2) The market value of earth dragons increased yearly, but the current price appeared to be below the commodity value, thus the market was in an unstable state; (3) Even after controlling for market demand, compared with the predicted results without the popularization of the “electric shocking” methods, the popularization of the “electric shocking” harvesting methods in 2013 had significantly increased the supply quantity of earth dragons, yet the market price had decreased significantly. The average supply has increased by 40% prior to 2013, however the market price has decreased by 44%.

Suggestions: We strongly recommend that the pharmaceutical management department does the following: (1) accelerating the establishment of a market monitoring and early warning mechanism for wild medicinal animal resources; (2) strengthening the rectification and standardization of the market regulations, and (3) integrating sustainability evaluation for the trade of wild animal medicine.

Key words: medicinal resources, price, supply and demand, conservation and utilization, sustainability

Jingjing Zhao, Haibin Jia, Tien Ming Lee. Market status and the sustainable utilization strategy of wild earthworm (earth dragon) for medicinal use[J]. Biodiv Sci, 2023, 31(3): 22478.

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URL: https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/10.17520/biods.2022478

https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/Y2023/V31/I3/22478

Figures/Tables 4

Fig. 1 Time series analysis of earth dragons (earthworms) market price between 1998 and 2022. (A) Decomposition of the market price time series of earth dragons (earthworms); (B) The seasonal fluctuation of earth dragons price after detrending analysis.

Fig. 2 The characteristics of earth dragons (earthworms) price, supply and demand changes and analysis of supply and demand curves from 2004 to 2021. (A) The characteristics of earth dragons (earthworms) supply and demand changes during 2004?2021; (B?H) Supply-demand curves during different year duration. In Figures B?H, the points are the equilibrium price, which is the intersection of the supply curve and the demand curve.

Fig. 3 The effect of using “electric shocking” methods to harvest earthworm on supply quantity and market price. (A) The effect of harvest on supply (A) after controlling the demand variable; The effect of harvest on market price (B) after controlling for demand and supply and (C) after controlling for demand; (D) The supply changes of earth dragons across various main provinces from 2004 to 2021; (E) The proportion changes of supply of earth dragons across various main provinces from 2004 to 2021. For Figures A, B, and C: In the top panel row, the solid line represents the original value, while the dotted line represents the predicted value based on the original results for the counterfactual prediction (i.e., if the “electric shocking” methods was not popularized), and the shaded area represents the 95% confidence interval. The middle panel row is the difference value between the original value and predicted value in the upper panel. The bottom panel row is the sum of the values of the middle panel, reflecting a plot of the cumulative effect of the “electric shocking” methods.

Table 1 Posterior inference of impacts on supply quantity and market price

模型名称 Model name	模型1 Model 1		模型2 Model 2		模型3 Model 3
响应变量 Response variable	供应 Supply quantity (t)		价格 Price (yuan/kg)		价格 Price (yuan/kg)
控制变量 Control variable	需求量 Demand quantity		供应量与需求量 Supply & demand quantity		需求量 Demand quantity
控制变量 Control variable	平均 Average	累计 Cumulative	平均 Average	累计Cumulative	平均 Average	累计Cumulative
平均实际值 Actual	1,205	9,643	119	836	119	836
平均预测值(标准差) Prediction (SD)	858 (203)	6,866 (1,621)	183 (42)	1,281 (294)	214 (42)	1,496 (292)
95%置信区间 CI	[458, 1,270]	[3,662, 10,158]	[99, 265]	[691, 1,856]	[132, 299]	[921, 2,091]
绝对效应(标准差) Absolute effect (SD)	347 (203)	2,778 (1,621)	?63 (42)	?444 (294)	?94 (42)	?659 (292)
95%置信区间 CI	[?64, 748]	[?515, 5,981]	[?146, 21]	[?1,019, 145]	[?179, ?12]	[?1,255, ?85]
相对效应(标准差) Relative effect (SD)	40% (24%)	40% (24%)	?35% (23%)	?35% (23%)	?44% (20%)	?44% (20%)
95%置信区间 CI	[?7.5%, 87%]	[?7.5%, 87%]	[?80%, 11%]	[?80%, 11%]	[?84%, ?5.7%]	[?84%, ?5.7%]
后验尾区概率 P Posterior tail-area probability P	0.04		0.07		0.01
因果影响的后验概率 Posterior probability of a causal effect	95.6%		93.0%		99.7%

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