Evaluating Two Quantitative Ethnobotanical Techniques

A critical evaluation of two quantitative techniques used in ethnobotanical studies was undertaken using data concerning plant use in a rural community in the semi-arid region of Pernambuco State, northeastern Brazil. The relative importance of 36 native woody species reported as being useful by 98 informants was calculated employing the Use-Value (UV) and Relative Importance (RI) techniques. Both techniques place value on a given taxon based on the number of uses attributed to it. Results obtained for both techniques are positively correlated, suggesting that they can be used interchangeably to evaluate local knowledge of a given resource. The implications and interpretation limitations of these two techniques are discussed in detail

Huertos familiares en la bahía de Cispatá, Córdoba, Colombia

Los estudios etnobotánicos relacionados con las comunidades que habitan los alrededores de las zonas estuarinas y aprovechan los bosques de mangle en Colombia son escasos. Por esto, con el fin de apoyar futuros proyectos de manejo y conservación se realizó un primer acercamiento al conocimiento de los huertos familiares de las comunidades campesinas que habitan en la bahía de Cispatá en el Caribe colombiano. Se analizó la estructura, la composición florística y los usos de las especies leñosas presentes en los huertos familiares. En un área total de 29950 m2, correspondiente a doce huertos familiares, se registraron 1798 individuos (DAP > 2,5 cm), correspondientes a 83 especies de árboles y palmas, asociadas a 32 familias botánicas. La familia Leguminosae s. l. presentó el mayor número de especies (12), seguida de Annonaceae, Arecaceae y Moraceae (6). La categoría que presentó mayor número de especies fue Comestible (46), seguida de Medicinal (34) y Construcción (33). Según el índice de Saliencia la palmera Cocos nucifera es la especie más importante en los huertos. Se encontró una relación positiva entre el número de individuos por especie y su importancia cultural. Por otra parte, se recomienda incluir en futuros planes de conservación a las especies nativas que presentan un manejo dentro de los huertos

The Influence of the Evolutionary Past on the Mind: An Analysis of the Preference for Landscapes in the Human Species

According to some evolutionary psychologists, landscapes preferences in the human species are influenced by their evolutionary past. Because the Pleistocene savanna is the least inhospitable landscape, it was the most suitable environment for survival and influenced the evolution of hominids in such a way that even today the human being has a universal preference for these environments. However, there is controversy regarding this statement, because in some studies it was evidenced that people prefer images of landscapes that are similar to those of the environment where they live. In this sense, we want to test whether there is indeed a preference for images of the savanna landscape and how the current environmental context may influence this preference. We performed a study in three environmental contexts with different landscapes in order to be able to observe the influence of the familiar landscape on landscape preference, of which two rural communities — one presenting a landscape similar to the deciduous seasonal forest and another presenting a savanna-like landscape — that totaled 132 participants and one urban community with 189 participants. The stimulus consisted of 12 images representing the six major terrestrial biomes and two images of urban landscapes. The variables analyzed were the emotional responses and the preference of the participants in relation to the images of landscapes. We analyzed the data using the Kruskal–Wallis test. The obtained result did not corroborate the idea of universal preference for images of savanna landscape. The image of Rainforest landscape was the preferred one among all the three environmental contexts studied. In this way, the preference for landscape may have been shaped at different periods of human evolutionary history, and not just during the period when hominids lived on the savannah. As much as selective pressures of the Pleistocene savanna have shaped the human mind during the evolutionary history, other factors and different types of environments may have influenced human preferences for landscapes. Thus, evolutionary psychologists who analyze human preferences for images of landscapes, guided by the idea of the past influencing the present, must be cautious before generalizing their results, especially if other variables such as the cultural ones are not controlled

Sampling problems in Brazilian research: a critical evaluation of studies on medicinal plants

This work compiled Brazilian articles regarding medicinal plant use by local communities in order to analyze the most common sampling problems and if research characteristics can influence the presence of sampling irregularities. We focused on studies about medicinal plants that present a species-indications list and had a quantitative nature. The proportion of works with and without sampling problems was evaluated considering the journal impact factor, period of publication, community status (urban x rural), sample type, presence of testing hypothesis and presence of research questions. We found that an alarming proportion of papers had some kind of sampling problems (48.39% serious and 19.35% moderate). The most common problems were related to: lack of information regarding the sample size or the universe, small sample sizes and selection of specialists based on obscure criteria. We could not find a significant influence between our tested variables and the occurrence of sampling problems, except for the community status (urban x rural). Results indicate that a significant amount of intracultural diversity is not properly captured, taking into consideration both the population as a whole and a group of interest in the community (= healers)

Three new varieties in Ocimum L. (Lamiaceae)

Three new infraspecifc taxa in Ocimum are described from Northeastern Brazil, which were based in vegetative morphology, habit, stem indumentum or purple pigmentation; these were O. minimum var. religiosum Albuquerque var. nov., O. campechianum var. pubescens Albuquerque var. nov. and O. campechianum var. congestifolium Albuquerque var. nov.<br>São descritas três novas variedades no gênero Ocimum, encontradas no Nordeste do Brasil, com base na morfologia vegetativa, hábito, indumento do caule ou pigmentação; são elas: O. minimum var. religiosum Albuquerque var. nov., O. campechianum var. pubescens Albuquerque var. nov. e O. campechianum var. congestifolium Albuquerque var. nov

Huertos familiares en la bahía de Cispatá, Córdoba, Colombia

Los estudios etnobotánicos relacionados con las comunidades que habitan los alrededores de las zonas estuarinas y aprovechan los bosques de mangle en Colombia son escasos. Por esto, con el fin de apoyar futuros proyectos de manejo y conservación se realizó un primer acercamiento al conocimiento de los huertos familiares de las comunidades campesinas que habitan en la bahía de Cispatá en el Caribe colombiano. Se analizó la estructura, la composición florística y los usos de las especies leñosas presentes en los huertos familiares. En un área total de 29950 m2, correspondiente a doce huertos familiares, se registraron 1798 individuos (DAP &gt; 2,5 cm), correspondientes a 83 especies de árboles y palmas, asociadas a 32 familias botánicas. La familia Leguminosae s. l. presentó el mayor número de especies (12), seguida de Annonaceae, Arecaceae y Moraceae (6). La categoría que presentó mayor número de especies fue Comestible (46), seguida de Medicinal (34) y Construcción (33). Según el índice de Saliencia la palmera Cocos nucifera es la especie más importante en los huertos. Se encontró una relación positiva entre el número de individuos por especie y su importancia cultural. Por otra parte, se recomienda incluir en futuros planes de conservación a las especies nativas que presentan un manejo dentro de los huertos.</p