Cantalice Aníbal Silva, Gonçalves-Souza Thiago, Albuquerque Ulysses Paulino
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Etnobiologia e Conservação da Natureza, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil.
Laboratório de Ecologia e Evolução de Sistemas Socioecológicos (LEA), Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Prof. Moraes Rego, Cidade Universitária, Recife, Pernambuco, 50740‑600, Brazil.
J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2025 Jan 24;21(1):5. doi: 10.1186/s13002-025-00757-5.
Ethnobiological studies at local scales have shown that knowledge of medicinal species tends to decrease as socioeconomic status and the extent of human-modified landscapes increase. However, it remains largely unknown whether these same factors can predict knowledge of useful species at broader scales and whether their interaction might create scenarios that enhance knowledge of medicinal species.
To address this, we tested whether knowledge of woody medicinal species-measured as the number of species known-is influenced by socioeconomic status, human-modified landscapes, and their interaction. We compiled and curated data on woody medicinal species from a systematic review encompassing diverse communities across the Caatinga region in North-east Brazil. Using the locations of these communities, we extracted data on socioeconomic status (measured by the Human Development Index, HDI) and human-modified landscapes (quantified as the percentage of forest loss).
Our results indicate that forest loss reduces the knowledge of medicinal woody species among Indigenous People and Local Communities. The interaction between human-modified landscapes and socioeconomic status revealed a significant nonlinear relationship, with different combinations yielding varying levels of knowledge about woody medicinal species. Interestingly, socioeconomic status alone does not appear to influence this knowledge. These findings underscore that the processes shaping knowledge of medicinal species differ across scales and suggest the existence of yet unidentified emergent properties that influence medicinal species knowledge at broader scales.
The conversion of habitats for anthropogenic use poses a significant risk to the well-being of these populations, as it reduces the availability of species used for prophylactic purposes. In contrast, the cultural traditions of Indigenous People and Local Communities, along with the implementation of regional public policies, may explain why socioeconomic status does not affect local knowledge. Moreover, our study highlights that the processes influencing knowledge of medicinal species at broader scales are not simply the aggregation of local-scale observations. Finally, we propose strategies to advance the field of macroethnobiology.
局部尺度的民族生物学研究表明，随着社会经济地位的提高和人类改造景观程度的增加，药用植物知识往往会减少。然而，在更大尺度上，这些相同因素是否能预测有用物种的知识，以及它们之间的相互作用是否会创造出增强药用植物知识的情景，在很大程度上仍不为人知。
为解决这一问题，我们测试了以已知物种数量衡量的木本药用植物知识是否受社会经济地位、人类改造景观及其相互作用的影响。我们通过系统综述汇编并整理了巴西东北部卡廷加地区不同社区的木本药用植物数据。利用这些社区的位置，我们提取了社会经济地位（以人类发展指数，即HDI衡量）和人类改造景观（量化为森林损失百分比）的数据。
我们的结果表明，森林损失减少了原住民和当地社区对木本药用植物的了解。人类改造景观与社会经济地位之间的相互作用呈现出显著的非线性关系，不同组合产生了关于木本药用植物的不同知识水平。有趣的是，仅社会经济地位似乎并不会影响这种知识。这些发现强调，塑造药用植物知识的过程在不同尺度上存在差异，并表明存在尚未确定的涌现特性，这些特性在更大尺度上影响药用植物知识。
将栖息地转变为人类用途对这些人群的福祉构成了重大风险，因为这减少了用于预防目的的物种的可获得性。相比之下，原住民和当地社区的文化传统以及区域公共政策的实施，可能解释了为什么社会经济地位不会影响当地知识。此外，我们的研究强调，在更大尺度上影响药用植物知识的过程并非简单地是局部尺度观察结果的汇总。最后，我们提出了推进宏观民族生物学领域发展的策略。
