Ecologia e genetica da mandioca na agricultura itinerante do litoral sul paulista : uma analise espacial e temporal

Orientador : Paulo Yoshio KageyamaTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de BiologiaResumo: O enfoque deste estudo está centrado nas inter-relações entre o homem, o ambiente de cultivo, e as espécies vegetais domesticadas, sob o ponto de vista da dinâmica evolutiva de plantas cultivadas. Neste contexto, o objetivo geral foi avaliar os aspectos relacionados à conservação, à perda e à amplificação de diversidade varietal de mandioca (Manihot esculenta Crantz), cultivada por populações humanas locais em sistemas agrícolas itinerantes. Através de uma abordagem interdisciplinar, a conservação, as perdas e a amplificação da diversidade varietal foram contextualizadas em três unidades de escala diferentes e interdependentes: a unidade geográfica, representando lima escala regional no espaço físico; a unidade cultural, representando a escala em nível das comunidades humanas locais; e a unidade evolutiva, considerando então as unidades familiares e as roças cultivadas. Foram integradas informações de cunho etnobotânico, ecológico e genético sobre a diversidade cultivada de mandioca por populações caiçaras. As análises foram conduzidas tanto sob o aspecto espacial como temporal, e subdivididas em capítulos. No primeiro capítulo a amostra de agricultores estudados é caracterizada e descrita, assim como o uso dos solos das roças itinerantes. As amostras de solos das roças caiçaras da região do complexo estuarino-lagunar de Iguape-Cananéia-Ilha Comprida, na Mata Atlântica, são também comparadas as amostras de solos de roças caboclas, manejadas na região do baixo e médio Rio Negro, na Amazônia. Este capítulo trata especificamente do contexto local do manejo de roças e visa uma descrição geral dos ambientes de cultivo sob o contexto edáfico. O segundo capítulo trata do contexto regional das mudanças da cobertura vegetal nas áreas de uso agrícola tradicional na região do litoral sul de São Paulo. Com uma abordagem centrada na análise de mudanças espaciais e temporais, são analisadas imagens de satélite entre os anos de 1975 e 1999. O terceiro capítulo analisa o contexto regional do manejo de espécies e variedades de espécies cultivadas por agricultores caiçaras. Visa discutir o contexto amplo da conservação, assim como das perdas de variedades cultivadas, ou de erosão genética. A mandioca é analisada como uma parte do manejo das variedades e espécies cultivadas pelas populações caiçaras. No quarto capítulo são analisadas as características morfológicas das variedades de mandioca. São avaliados os principais critérios de identificação de variedades usados pelos caiçaras. Neste capítulo é analisado também o fluxo de variedades entre agricultores, com base na localização das variedades no espaço. No quinto capítulo, a análise da diversidade das variedades de mandioca é aprofundada, sob o aspecto da diversidade genética. Utilizando uma abordagem da genética de populações, é avaliado como a diversidade está distribuída e estruturada no espaço. Neste quinto capítulo são analisados tanto os fatores de conservação genética, como de amplificação da diversidade intra-específica da espécie. No sexto capítulo, alguns fatores de interação entre o manejo itinerante e componentes da história vital da espécie são analisados. Alguns processos evolutivos de amplificação de diversidade de mandioca são discutidos. Ações de trocas intencionais e não intencionais de variedades em nível regional criam um efeito tampão às perdas locais. A estratégia de cultivo multivarietal, e o comportamento alógamo da espécie, favorecem cruzamentos inter e intra- específicos em nível de roça. Em função da estrita relação dos ciclos itinerantes com a amplificação da diversidade, a redução da atividade agrícola tende a reduzir a frequência de incorporação de diversidade genética resultante destes cruzamentos e de mutações aleatórias. Diversos fatores são responsáveis pela redução das atividades e perda de diversidade cultivada. A recuperação das áreas de floresta nas áreas de cultivo é um forte indicador do abandono da atividade agrícola. Com a idade avançada dos agricultores e com a reduzida participação da mão-de-obra familiar, as perdas de diversidade varietal, e do conhecimento tradicional associado ao cultivo e ao uso desta diversidade, tendem a ser irreversíveis. Apesar disto, o estoque de diversidade genética conservada pelos caiçaras é muito grande, o que torna a região uma área prioritária para a conservação de recursos genéticos cultivados on farm, seja sob atividades de cultivo itinerantes ou nãoAbstract: This study focuses the inter-relationships between the men, the farm environment, and the domesticated crop species, under the perspective of the evolutionary dynamics of cultivated plants. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the features related to the conservation, loss, and amplification of the varietal diversity of manioc (Manihot esculenta Crantz), cultivated by local populations in itinerant agricultural systems. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the conservation, loss, and amplification of varietal diversity were framed in three different scales: the geographic unit, representing an regional scale in the space; the cultural unit, representing the scale in the human community level; and the evolutionary unit, representing the household level and the cultivated plots. Ethnobotanical, ecological, and genetic information about the manioc cultivated diversity by caiçara populations were integrated. The analysis encompasses spatial and temporal scales, and is subdivided in chapters. 1n the first chapter, the sample of studied agriculturists is characterized and described, as well as the use of the soils of the itinerant plots. Soil samples from the region of the estuarine-lagoon complex of Cananéia-1guape-Ilha Comprida, in the Atlantic Forest, are also compared to soil samples from caboclo plots, managed in the region of the middle and lower Negro River, in the Amazon. This chapter focuses in the local context of the plot management, describing the environments under an edaphic milieu, The second chapter focuses on the regional context of changes in the Vegetal land cover, in the areas of traditional agricultural use, in the southern coast of São Paulo state. The approach is centered in the analysis of spatial and temporal changes, with the examination of satellite images between 1975 and 1999. In the third chapter, the regional context of the management of species and varieties is analyzed. The broad framework of conservation, loss and genetic erosion is discussed. Cassava is analyzed as a part of the whole management of species and varieties cultivated by caiçaras. In the fourth chapter the morphological characteristics of cassava were analyzed, as well as the major criteria of varietal identification used by caiçaras. The flow of varieties between agriculturists, based on the spatial position of These varieties, is also analyzed. In the fifth chapter, the analysis of the cassava varietal diversity is deepened, under the aspect of genetic diversity. Using a population genetics approach, the spatial distribution and structure of cassava are evaluated. Genetic conservation and amplification of infra-specific diversity were also analyzed in the fifth chapter. In the sixth chapter, some characteristics of the relationship between itinerant management and life history traits of the species were analyzed, and some evolutionary processes of amplification of the diversity were discussed. Intentional and non-intentional interchanges of varieties in a regional level create a buffer effect to the local losses. The strategy of policultural farming, and the allogamous behavior of the species, allow the infra and intra-specific outcrossing in the plot level. Due to the strict relationship between itinerant agricultural cycles and the amplification of diversity, the reduction of the agricultural activity tend to decrease the frequency of the incorporation of genetic diversity, produced by these outcrossing and by random mutations. Many factors are responsible to the decrease il1 the agricultural activities and loss of cultivated diversity. The forest regeneratioI1 in the cultivated areas is a strong indicator of the abandonment of agricultural activities. With the ageing of agriculturists and the reduced family labor, the losses of both the varietal diversity and the traditional knowledge associated to the farming and to the use of this diversity, tend to be irreversible. However, the gel1etic diversity stock conserved by caiçaras is considerable, which makes the region a priority area to the conservation of genetic resources on farm, under agricultural activities being itinerant or notDoutoradoDoutor em Biologia Vegeta

Homegardens In A Micro-regional Scale: Contributions To Agrobiodiversity Conservation In An Urban-rural Context

Homegardens are conservation units for native plants and reservoirs of exotic species from different origins. We analysed the species composition and diversity of edible plants on three groups of homegardens in a gradient from urban to rural situations, but under the same historical and cultural contexts, and verified how these homegardens can favour the conservation of plants from different origins. The size of each homegarden was measured and complete inventories were carried out to assess the total edible plant diversity. Plants were collected for taxonomic identification or identified in the field, and were classified for their biogeographic origin. We compared species richness and diversity among the groups of homegardens (urban, periurban and rural), and analysed their floristic similarity. A total of 109 homegardens were studied (39 urban, 60 periurban, and 10 rural). We registered a total of 101 species, 45 botanical families and 41 varieties, with 71% of the species occurring in less than 10% of the homegardens. Rural homegardens were more diverse than periurban ones, and periurban and urban homegardens are equally diverse. We found a low but significant correlation between floristic similarity and geographic distance to the urban area. Most plants were introduced, with different origins, especially from South America Lowlands. A significant amount of plants were exchanged between relatives and neighbours. These homegardens can be considered agrobiodiversity reservoirs in a micro-regional scale, being important areas for in situ and on farm conservation and including native and exotic plants.

Convergent adaptations: bitter manioc cultivation systems in fertile anthropogenic dark earths and floodplain soils in central Amazonia

Shifting cultivation in the humid tropics is incredibly diverse, yet research tends to focus on one type: long-fallow shifting cultivation. While it is a typical adaptation to the highly-weathered nutrient-poor soils of the Amazonian terra firme, fertile environments in the region offer opportunities for agricultural intensification. We hypothesized that Amazonian people have developed divergent bitter manioc cultivation systems as adaptations to the properties of different soils. We compared bitter manioc cultivation in two nutrient-rich and two nutrient-poor soils, along the middle Madeira River in Central Amazonia. We interviewed 249 farmers in 6 localities, sampled their manioc fields, and carried out genetic analysis of bitter manioc landraces. While cultivation in the two richer soils at different localities was characterized by fast-maturing, low-starch manioc landraces, with shorter cropping periods and shorter fallows, the predominant manioc landraces in these soils were generally not genetically similar. Rather, predominant landraces in each of these two fertile soils have emerged from separate selective trajectories which produced landraces that converged for fast-maturing low-starch traits adapted to intensified swidden systems in fertile soils. This contrasts with the more extensive cultivation systems found in the two poorer soils at different localities, characterized by the prevalence of slow-maturing high-starch landraces, longer cropping periods and longer fallows, typical of previous studies. Farmers plant different assemblages of bitter manioc landraces in different soils and the most popular landraces were shown to exhibit significantly different yields when planted in different soils. Farmers have selected different sets of landraces with different perceived agronomic characteristics, along with different fallow lengths, as adaptations to the specific properties of each agroecological micro-environment. These findings open up new avenues for research and debate concerning the origins, evolution, history and contemporary cultivation of bitter manioc in Amazonia and beyond

Influência da despolpa do fruto e do choque térmico na germinação de Butia catarinensis Noblick & Lorenzi

Butia catarinensis Noblick & Lorenzi is a palm tree endemic to the coast of southern Brazil, with socio-economic importance for local people who collect Butia fruits. This research presents a test of germination of B. catarinensis from 12 different matrices from the sandy banks of Areais da Ribanceira of Imbituba, Santa Catarina. We selected 600 fruits with no signals of predation, which were separated into three treatments: (T1) entire fruit, with epicarp and mesocarp (control); (T2) no pulp, or fruits which epicarp and mesocarp were removed; and (T3) no pulp with thermal shock of 60 oC for 1 minute; with four replications for each treatment. The germination of the seeds occurred after the 12th month of the experiment and after 18 months of monitoring it had positive results in the following percentages: 7.5% control, 3.5% no pulp and 1.0% no pulp with thermal shock. Contrary to what was expected, the control treatment had a higher germination percentage than the other two treatments.Butia catarinensis Noblick & Lorenzi é uma palmeira endêmica do litoral sul do Brasil, possuindo uma grande importância sócio-econômica com a população local que coleta seus frutos. Este trabalho apresenta um teste de germinação de sementes de B. catarinensis obtidas de 12 matrizes diferentes da região de restinga dos Areais da Ribanceira de Imbituba, Santa Catarina. Foram selecionados 600 frutos, sem sinais de predação, distribuídos em três tratamentos: (T1) fruto inteiro, com epicarpo e mesocarpo (controle); (T2) fruto despolpado (retirada do epicarpo e do mesocarpo); e (T3) despolpado (retirada do epicarpo e do mesocarpo) com choque térmico de um minuto imerso em água a 60 °C, com quatro repetições para cada tratamento. A geminação das sementes ocorreu somente no 12º mês do experimento e após 18 meses o tratamento controle apresentou uma taxa de germinação de 7,5%, seguido pelo fruto despolpado (3,5%) e o fruto despolpado com choque térmico (1,0%). Ao contrário do que era esperado, o tratamento controle teve uma maior porcentagem de germinação quando comparado aos outros dois tratamentos

I eat the manofê so it is not forgotten : Local perceptions and consumption of native wild edible plants from seasonal dry forests in Brazil

Background: There is little information available on the factors influencing people's selection of wild plants for consumption. Studies suggest a suitable method of understanding the selection of edible plants is to assess people's perceptions of these resources. The use and knowledge of wild resources is disappearing, as is the opportunity to use them. This study analyzes people's perceptions of native wild edible plants in a rural Caatinga (seasonal dry forest) community in Northeast Brazil and the relationships between the use of these resources and socioeconomic factors.Methods: Semi-structured interviews with 39 people were conducted to form a convenience sample to gather information regarding people's perceptions of 12 native wild edible plant species. The relationships between variables were assessed by simple linear regression analysis, Pearson and Spearman correlation analyses, and in the case of nominal variables, contingency tables. The discourse of participants regarding their opinions of the use of wild plants as food was analyzed through the collective subject discourse analysis technique.Results: Perceptions were classified into 18 categories. The most cited category was organoleptic characteristics of the edible part more specifically, flavor. Flavor was the main positive perception associated with plant use, whereas the negative perception that most limited the use of these plants was cultural acceptance. Perceptions of the use of wild edible plants were directly correlated with both interviewee age and income.Conclusion: Within the studied community, people's perceptions of native wild edible plants are related to their consumption. Moreover, the study found that young people have less interest in these resources. These findings suggest that changing perceptions may affect the conservation of plants, traditional practices and the associated knowledge. © 2014 Cruz et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Wish you were here: How defaunated is the Atlantic Forest biome of its medium- to large-bodied mammal fauna?

Mammals represent the largest-bodied elements of the world’s surviving megafauna and provide several key ecosystems services, yet their populations are often under steep decline throughout the tropics. Anthropogenic defaunation is one the most important contemporary threats to modern mammal faunas. Although the Atlantic Forest biome of South America shows several clear signs of defaunation, the extent to which this biome has lost its mammal fauna remains poorly understood. Here, we collate and analyze a comprehensive body of secondary data to quantitatively assess the spatial patterns of defaunation of all medium- to large-bodied Atlantic Forest mammals which were then classed by morpho-ecological traits. We used a Defaunation Index, which was scaled-up to the entire biome using kriging interpolation, to examine the integrity of site-specific mammal faunas. We further use environmental and socioeconomic predictors to explain the drivers of defaunation. Our results show high levels of defaunation (>0.5) for most of the Atlantic Forest. Apex predators, other carnivores, large-bodied mammals and large herbivores were among the most defaunated functional groups. Remaining native vegetation cover, forest fragment size, and the largest neighboring forest remnant were the main negative predictors of defaunation. We conclude that medium- to large-bodied Atlantic Forest mammals are under high levels of threat due to historical population losses that continue today. A conservation action plan thus becomes imperative to prevent this biome from becoming an even “emptier forest”, severely compromising patterns of diversity, ecological processes and ecosystem functioning

Landscapes with Araucaria in South America: Evidence for a Cultural Dimension

South American Araucaria species include Araucaria araucana (Mol.) C. Koch (Argentina and Chile) and Araucaria angustifolia (Bert.) O. Kuntze (Brazil and Argentina). Both species produce nut-like seeds (piñones, pinhões) that have, since pre-Columbian times, formed part of the traditional diet of local societies: Kaingang (A. angustifolia) and Mapuche-Pehuenche (A. araucana). In this work, we compared and analyzed converging and diverging characteristics of these species founded on ecological and ethnobotanical evidence. We also studied the role of human groups in the construction of Araucaria forests. The methodology used was based on a bibliographical analysis that included a wide range of sources, from ecological to social sciences. Our results show that both species hold strong cultural and symbolic significance for associated human groups. The ecological characteristics of both species have favored their rapid territorial expansion since the Holocene; however, palynological, archaeological, and ethnobotanical evidence reinforces the hypothesis that the human groups involved played a key role in this process. For both societies, there are records of past and present practices related to the transport, storage, and processing of the seeds. The landscapes where A. araucana and A. angustifolia are present also reflect use patterns that hold a level of significance that goes beyond merely utilitarian purposes. For the Kaingang and the Mapuche-Pehuenche, the Araucaria forests are associated with the concept of territoriality and play a key role in determining their identity. Our approach to cultural landscapes, which considers the importance of societies in the modelling of natural landscapes, can offer new perspectives for conservation policies and action in both forests.Fil: Reis, Mauricio Sedrez Dos. Universidade Federal Da Santa Catarina; BrasilFil: 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: Peroni, Nivaldo. Universidade Federal Da Santa Catarina; Brasi

People's migrations and plants for food: a review for fostering sustainability

Human movements via migrations facilitate the transport of plants and knowledge. Migrations were always present in our human history, but conflicts and environmental changes are contributing to the increase in people’s movements to and from different parts of the world. In this literature review, our focus is on the ethnobotany of food plants and migrations, and the adaptations following this process. We analyzed 58 studies dealing with human migrations and food plants, including both internal migrations and international ones, over a wide period from several centuries to the present but with the predominance of migrations since the second half of the twentieth century. Most studies reported migrations between countries or regions (80%) in which people search for better economic opportunities. Other reasons for migrations were refugees, mandatory displacements, and slavery. The studies included cultivated plants, gathered plants (foraged), and food plants purchased on markets or obtained via exchanges or importation. We discuss the identitarian role of food plants in the processes of maintenance, abandonment, replacement, and incorporation of plants; although the evidences of abandonment are the most difficult to track. After the migration, the maintenance of a food identity will depend on several variables, including how important it is to keep a distinct identity, the plant resources available, the people’s agency of the plant resources, and also the reasons for each migratory movement. Finally, we discuss the implications of this ethnobotanical knowledge and practices related to food plants for sustainability