The ethnobotany of the Mestizo people of Suni Miraño, Peru

The present invasion and depletion of the Peruvian forest continues to erode the traditional knowledge accumulated in the Amazon Basin. Many Indigenous cultures have flourish in the Amazon Basin for at least the last 3,000 years (Lathrap, 1970) while Mestizo culture began approximately 500 years ago, with the arrival of European and other Old World explorers. The richness in biological and cultural diversity of Amazonia forest has inspired many fundamental ethnopharmacological studies on the botany and chemistry of hallucinogenic used in healing practices. These studies have provided us with some information on disease and etiology (Kampinnen, 1988); the uses of medicinal and magical plants (Luna, 1984) and on diet and acculturation (Holmes, 1992). However, many gaps still remain. This research incorporates ethnobotanical field research and laboratory research on the medicinal plants used by Mestizo in Suni Mirano, Peru. Ethnobotanical information on 54 medicinal plants was documented, and 31 crude extracts of some selected plants were submitted to microbiological assays to test for antibiotic and antifungal activity. Included is a description of some illnesses as perceived by Mestizo, diagnosis, etiologies, the patient's role, and how some of the healing procedures are implemented. This information may allow for the explanation and understanding of illness causality, distribution, and treatment/dosage efficacy in medicine as practiced by Amazonian Mestizo. A large number of Amazonia Mestizo communities are dependent on their traditional medical knowledge as their only source of health care. This medical knowledge has been associated with a long tradition of curanderismo and sorcery among Mestizo. It has played a key role in the administration of traditional medicine. Mestizo traditional knowledge, which in some cases may have been adapted from extinct or endanger indigenous cultures (Phillips and Gentry, 1993) has been enhanced by the high capacity of people's mobility in the Amazon flooded forests. Mestizo healer use entheogens, plant able to generate god within it (Ruck, 1979), to interact with the spirit of the forest and receive medical knowledge. This wisdom is embedded in the oral tradition. The rapid depletion of the Peruvian forest by timber companies, oil drilling, agriculture and settlement project is causing serious implications to traditional medical systems and is deteriorating the quality of life in general. The complexity of forest ecosystems provides a significant number of plants used in the formulation of traditional remedies, the loss of these ecosystems will take away the foundation of traditional knowledge and the only medical resources of Aboriginal and Mestizo peoples in Amazonia. Amazonian Mestizo can be assisted in their efforts to achieve the formulation of future management policies for natural resources use, and in the development of sustainable models seeking to provided health, shelter, clothing and food to their communities.Science, Faculty ofBotany, Department ofGraduat

Aspects of the biology of entomogenous fungi and their associations with arthropods

I investigated several aspects of the biology of entomogenous fungi (mostly Clavicipitaceae with few species of Hypocreaceae). My primary motive in this research was to gain an understanding of the interactions between entomogenous fungi and arthropods. My study included field collections and identification of entomogenous fungi from BC and a few collections from Peru and Idaho. I addressed some aspects of the interactions among arthropods and fungi, life histories of fungi under laboratory conditions, and observations of chemical changes of fungi growing in the presence of heavy metals. About fifty entomogenous fungi were collected in the province, mainly as anamorphs, but this permitted isolation and cultivation of many species. Of special interest is a small group of fungi parasitic on spiders some of which may be new records for western Canada. Interactions of entomogenous fungi and heavy metals yielded a cerebroside not detected, or known to be produced, in the absence of heavy metals. This compound showed antibiotic activity against Staphylococcus aureus. The induction of this cerebroside by exposure to copper also is a promising approach to obtaining new drugs, or to increase the yield of selected compounds, from these organisms. The biological activities of other extracts were assessed, demonstrating additional compounds of interest (e.g., antiviral, antibacterial, phototoxic and antifungal substances). Cultures grown on substances rich in oils and proteins (nuts and seeds) appeared to induce development beyond the anamorph stage to early teleomorph form. No perithecia developed although large synnemata and relatively bright pigmentation were observed. The ability to induce complete development of ascocarps would be of laboratory interest in the possible production of substances from wild ascocarps. Cultures obtained in this study will be deposited in the Canadian National Culture Collection, Ottawa, in the Canadian Culture Collection (UBC). Further research remains necessary to fully understand the relationship between teleomorph and anamorph stages of entomogenous fungi, their nutritional requirements, for the production of teleomorph stages under laboratory conditions, and particularly to establish systems that may allow a chemical exploration for new drugs. The preliminary studies of anti-arthropod activity by entomogenous fungi were partially successful in controlling a variety of laboratory-reared and naturally growing arthropods. The production of bio-pesticides is currently of great interest because of the problems with chemical pesticides and environmental pollution. Gaining a better understanding of the biology of these organisms will allow us to develop new genetic strains of species for both biopesticides and biosynthetic applications. Both kinds of substances can contribute to maintain the health and equilibrium of the coastal temperate rainforest of the Pacific Northwest.Science, Faculty ofBotany, Department ofGraduat