The concept of hybridization and its contribution to urban ethnobiology

Both ethnozoological and ethnobotanical studies carried out in cities mention the complexity of these cases and the need for shortcuts to aid understanding of the different social, cultural, economic and ecological processes which interact. In this work we propose and discuss a possible shortcut that could be useful in studies related to urban ethnobiology, the use of the concept of process of hybridization. Particularly, we show in the case of the study of medicinal plant use in cities that the hybridization process can be detected and described in a more complete way if we take into account some sub processes such as: fusion or juxtaposition, re-localization, recombination, restructuring, special segregation, new developments in production, circulation and consumption and simultaneous coexistence of different symbolic universes. We propose that these seven processes could be used as a quali-quantitative check list in future urban ethnobiological studies in order to visualize, contextualize and characterize hybridization more profoundly.Fil: Ladio, Ana Haydee. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación En Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue; ArgentinaFil: Albuquerque, Ulysses Paulino. Universidade Federal Rural Pernambuco. Departamento de Biologia. Laboratorio de Etnobotanica Aplicada; Brasi

Is Ethnobotany and Ecological Science? Steps towards a complex Ethnobotany

There are different links between ecology and ethnobotany. In principle, because they have some common interests, like the conservation of plant resources. Nevertheless, the consolidation of the ecology as a science of synthesis that is based on the complexity of relationships between organisms and their surroundings, allows the ecology to provide a conceptual framework for more complex and comprehensive ethnobotany. This is also, for origin, a science of synthesis. In this contribution we discuss the basic aspects of ecology that can become guides for a complex framework of ethnobotany, which acts as a context in which their contributions to acquire significance. It also discusses various aspects of ethnobotany which, by its own complexity, are linked to the theoretical framework of ecology. Finally, we consider ethnobotany as an ecological science, from which certain assumptions are given, that can guide investigations based on the complex relationships between people and plants, the object of study of this science.Fil: Hurrell, Julio Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Laboratorio de Etnobotánica y Botánica Aplicada; ArgentinaFil: Albuquerque, Ulysses Paulino de. Universidade Federal Rural Pernambuco. Departamento de Biología. Laboratorio de Etnobotanica Aplicada; Brasi

The First Report on the Medicinal Use of Fossils in Latin America

There have been very few ethnopharmacological studies performed on the traditional use of fossil species, although a few records have been conducted in Asia, Africa, and Europe. This study is the first ever to be performed on the use of Testudine (turtle) fossils for folk medicine in Latin America. An investigation was conducted in the Araripe Basin, which is one of the most important fossil-bearing reserves in the world due to the diversity, endemism, and quality of preservation of its fossils. We propose the formalization of a new discipline called ethnopaleontology, which will involve the study of the dynamic relationship between humans and fossils, from human perception to direct use

Ethnobotany in Intermedical Spaces: The Case of the Fulni-ô Indians (Northeastern Brazil)

We analyzed the Fulni-ô medical system and introduced its intermedical character based on secondary data published in the literature. Then we focused on the medicinal plants known to the ethnic group, describing the most important species, their therapeutic uses and the body systems attributed to them. We based this analysis on the field experience of the authors in the project Studies for the Environmental and Cultural Sustainability of the Fulni-ô Medical System: Office of Medicinal Plant Care. This traditional botanical knowledge was used to corroborate the hybrid nature of local practices for access to health. We show that intermedicality is a result not only of the meeting of the Fulni-ô medical system with Biomedicine but also of its meeting with other traditional systems. Finally, we discuss how traditional botanical knowledge may be directly related to the ethnogenesis process led by the Fulni-ô Indians in northeastern Brazil

A New Application for the Optimal Foraging Theory: The Extraction of Medicinal Plants

The Optimal Foraging Theory was used to identify possible patterns in bark extraction and the selective cutting of Anadenanthera colubrina (Angico), a medicinal plant. The hypotheses were built on two approaches: selection of collection place and bark exploitation occurrence in only one of these resource areas. The results suggest that the distance that must be traveled to reach each gathering site determines the extent of the extraction process, showing that people minimize the time and energy spent in A. colubrina collection. The availability of each site appears not to influence the operation. The resource amount was the optimized variable for bark extraction, which was analyzed in only one collection zone. In contrast to the phenomenon of collection place selection, the distance between angico individuals, the management period, and the tannin content did not affect bark extraction. This study also discusses how certain cultural aspects influence the extraction of angico

Is Ethnobotany and Ecological Science? Steps towards a complex Ethnobotany

There are different links between ecology and ethnobotany. In principle, because they have some common interests, like the conservation of plant resources. Nevertheless, the consolidation of the ecology as a science of synthesis that is based on the complexity of relationships between organisms and their surroundings, allows the ecology to provide a conceptual framework for more complex and comprehensive ethnobotany. This is also, for origin, a science of synthesis. In this contribution we discuss the basic aspects of ecology that can become guides for a complex framework of ethnobotany, which acts as a context in which their contributions to acquire significance. It also discusses various aspects of ethnobotany which, by its own complexity, are linked to the theoretical framework of ecology. Finally, we consider ethnobotany as an ecological science, from which certain assumptions are given, that can guide investigations based on the complex relationships between people and plants, the object of study of this science.Fil: Hurrell, Julio Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Laboratorio de Etnobotánica y Botánica Aplicada; ArgentinaFil: Albuquerque, Ulysses Paulino de. Universidade Federal Rural Pernambuco. Departamento de Biología. Laboratorio de Etnobotanica Aplicada; Brasi

Does environmental instability favor the production and horizontal transmission of knowledge regarding medicinal plants?: a study in southeast Brazil

Greater socio-environmental instability favors the individual production of knowledge because innovations are adapted to new circumstances. Furthermore, instability stimulates the horizontal transmission of knowledge because this mechanism disseminates adapted information. This study investigates the following hypothesis: Greater socio-environmental instability favors the production of knowledge (innovation) to adapt to new situations, and socio-environmental instability stimulates the horizontal transmission of knowledge, which is a mechanism that diffuses adapted information. In addition, the present study describes “how”, “when”, “from whom” and the “stimulus/context”, in which knowledge regarding medicinal plants is gained or transferred. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews from three groups that represented different levels of socio-environmental instability. Socio-environmental instability did not favor individual knowledge production or any cultural transmission modes, including vertical to horizontal, despite increasing the frequency of horizontal pathways. Vertical transmission was the most important knowledge transmission strategy in all of the groups in which mothers were the most common models (knowledge sources). Significantly, childhood was the most important learning stage, although learning also occurred throughout life. Direct teaching using language was notable as a knowledge transmission strategy. Illness was the main stimulus that triggered local learning. Learning modes about medicinal plants were influenced by the knowledge itself, particularly the dynamic uses of therapeutic resources.Fil: Taboada Soldati, Gustavo. Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora; BrasilFil: Hanazaki, Natalia. Universidade Federal Da Santa Catarina; BrasilFil: Crivos, Marta Alicia. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Cs.naturales y Museo. Laboratorio de Invest. En Etnografia Aplicada; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Albuquerque, Ulysses Paulino. Universidade Federal Rural Pernambuco; Brasi

Does environmental instability favor the production and horizontal transmission of knowledge regarding medicinal plants? A study in Southeast Brazil

Greater socio-environmental instability favors the individual production of knowledge because innovations are adapted to new circumstances. Furthermore, instability stimulates the horizontal transmission of knowledge because this mechanism disseminates adapted information. This study investigates the following hypothesis: Greater socio-environmental instability favors the production of knowledge (innovation) to adapt to new situations, and socio-environmental instability stimulates the horizontal transmission of knowledge, which is a mechanism that diffuses adapted information. In addition, the present study describes "how", "when", "from whom" and the "stimulus/context", in which knowledge regarding medicinal plants is gained or transferred. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews from three groups that represented different levels of socio-environmental instability. Socio-environmental instability did not favor individual knowledge production or any cultural transmission modes, including vertical to horizontal, despite increasing the frequency of horizontal pathways. Vertical transmission was the most important knowledge transmission strategy in all of the groups in which mothers were the most common models (knowledge sources). Significantly, childhood was the most important learning stage, although learning also occurred throughout life. Direct teaching using language was notable as a knowledge transmission strategy. Illness was the main stimulus that triggered local learning. Learning modes about medicinal plants were influenced by the knowledge itself, particularly the dynamic uses of therapeutic resources.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

Plant Stem Bark Extractivism in the Northeast Semiarid Region of Brazil: A New Aport to Utilitarian Redundancy Model

We use the model of utilitarian redundancy as a basis for research. This model provides predictions that have not been tested by other research. In this sense, we sought to investigate the stem bark extraction between preferred and less-preferred species by a rural community in Caatinga environment. In addition, we sought to explain local preferences to observe if preferred plants have a higher content of tannins than less-preferred species. For this, we selected seven preferred species and seven less-preferred species from information obtained from semistructured interviews applied to 49 informants. Three areas of vegetation around the community were also selected, in which individuals were tagged, and were measured the diameter at ground level (DGL) diameter at breast height (DBH), and measurements of available and extracted bark areas. Samples of bark of the species were also collected for the evaluation of tannin content, obtained by the method of radial diffusion. From the results, the preferred species showed a greater area of bark removed. However, the tannin content showed no significant differences between preferred and less-preferred plants. These results show there is a relationship between preference and use, but this preference is not related to the total tannins content