How can local representations of changes of the availability in natural resources assist in targeting conservation?

The use and appropriation of natural resources by human groups may be strongly related to the perception that these groups have of the abundance or scarcity of these resources. Researches on environmental representation can be useful to understand the criteria involved in the selection and use of natural resources, to verify if people realize changes in the availability of these resources and the possible causes of these changes and to elaborate conservation strategies, if necessary. However, if people are not realizing these changes, of if they do not perceive themselves as a cause of such scarcity, the developing of conservation strategies will be very difficult to implement.

Impact of collection on bark regeneration from Stryphnodendron rotundifolium Mart. in northeastern Brazil.

The growing commercial demand for products with medicinal use has caused overexploitation of several plant species worldwide. To prevent the decline of these populations, the collection of these resources should be done in a sustainable way considering the time of its replacement in natural stocks. This study was designed to identify the relationship between different intensities of extraction of bark from the trunk of Stryphnodendron rotundifolium Mart.

Local health practices and the knowledge of medicinal plants in a Brazilian semi-arid region: environmental benefits to human health.

Background: The concept of eco-cultural health considers the dynamic interaction between humans and ecosystems, emphasizing the implications of the health of the ecosystem for the health and well-being of human populations. Ethnobotanical studies focusing on folk medicine and medicinal plants can contribute to the field of eco-cultural health if they incorporate the perspective and local knowledge of communities. We investigated the local health practices in three rural communities living within the vicinity of a protected area of sustainable use in a semi-arid region of Brazil.

The apparency hypothesis applied to a local pharmacopoeia in the Brazilian northeast.

Background: Data from an ethnobotanical study were analyzed to see if they were in agreement with the biochemical basis of the apparency hypothesis based on an analysis of a pharmacopeia in a rural community adjacent to the Araripe National Forest (Floresta Nacional do Araripe - FLONA) in northeastern Brazil. The apparency hypothesis considers two groups of plants, apparent and non-apparent, that are characterized by conspicuity for herbivores (humans) and their chemical defenses.

Methods: This study involved 153 interviewees and used semi-structured interviews.

Caatinga revisited: ecology and conservation of an important seasonal dry forest.

Besides its extreme climate conditions, the Caatinga (a type of tropical seasonal forest) hosts an impressive faunal and floristic biodiversity. In the last 50 years there has been a considerable increase in the number of studies in the area. Here we aimed to present a review of these studies, focusing on four main fields: vertebrate ecology, plant ecology, human ecology, and ethnobiology.