Zootherapeutic uses of wildmeat and associated products in the semiarid region of Brazil: general aspects and challenges for conservation.

Background: Hunting wildlife for medicinal purposes is a widespread practice throughout Brazil; however, studies about the animals used for zootherapeutic practices have been performed almost exclusively with traders (herbalists) and end consumers, and not hunters. This makes it difficult to completely understand the market chain, trade strategies, and drivers of this practice. The present study investigated the species hunted or trapped for traditional medicinal uses by collecting data about the use and trade of the zootheurapeutic species.

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.

Information Retrieval during Free Listing Is Biased by Memory: Evidence from Medicinal Plants.

Free listing is a methodological tool that is widely used in various scientific disciplines. A typical assumption of this approach is that individual lists reflect a subset of total knowledge and that the first items listed are the most culturally important. However, little is known about how cognitive processes influence free lists.

Knowledge and extractivism of Stryphnodendron rotundifolium Mart. in a local community of the Brazilian Savanna, Northeastern Brazil.

Background: This study aims to understand how the stem bark of Stryphnodendron rotundifolium Mart. is used by a rural community in the savanna of Northeastern Brazil, associated with a preliminary assessment involving plant population structure and extractivism in the main sites of collection.

Methods: A population structure study and analysis of bark extractivism was conducted in two sites: one within the forest and another at its edge.

An ethnopharmacological assessment of the use of plants against parasitic diseases in humans and animals.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Ethnobotanical surveys are detecting an increasing frequency of exotic plant species in pharmacopeias, which has led researchers to investigate the role of such species in traditional medical systems. According to the diversification hypothesis, exotic species are included to complete pharmacopeias, i.e.

Bark regeneration and tannin content in Myracrodruon urundeuva Allemão after simulation of extractive damages--implications to management.

Due to the current exploitation and consequent extinction of native medicinal plants around the world, new strategies have been proposed to address the sustainable use of this resource. Accordingly, the goal of this study is to assess the speed of bark regeneration of Myracrodruon urundeuva Allemão and to compare the tannin content before and after tissue regeneration. Twenty individuals from an area of Caatinga in Caruaru, Pernambuco State (NE Brazil), were selected.

Dynamics of medicinal plants knowledge and commerce in an urban ecosystem (Pernambuco, Northeast Brazil).

Given the importance of markets and fairs for the commerce of medicinal plants, an ethnobotanical study was undertaken at the Caruaru Fair (Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil) to compare the richness of species sold and their values of relative importance (RI) using two datasets collected with a 4-year interval. The seasonality of these plants' supplies was also analyzed. The Caruaru Fair is located in the 18 de Maio Park.

Medicinal plants of the caatinga (semi-arid) vegetation of NE Brazil: a quantitative approach.

The caatinga (semi-arid vegetation) is a Brazilian biome with a significant but poorly studied biodiversity closely associated with a diverse cultural heritage. The present work focused on analyzing published information available concerning medicinal plants used by traditional communities. We sought to contribute to future phytochemical and pharmacological investigations by documenting the therapeutic uses of native caatinga plants within the aims of modern ethnopharmacological research.

Useful plants of the semi-arid northeastern region of Brazil--a look at their conservation and sustainable use.

The use of native plants was examined in three rural communities in the semi-arid of the state of Pernambuco, in northeastern Brazil. The techniques employed in the present study combined a number of different techniques of data-gathering, including semi-structured interviews, guided tour, key-informants, and participating observation, and sampling of the vegetation to evaluate the biodiversity of useful plants. A total of 61 woody species were cataloged, mostly used for construction purposes or fuel.

Medicinal and magic plants from a public market in northeastern Brazil.

Markets are public spaces in which many kinds of products are sold, as well as places of cultural information exchange. These spaces are distinctive for each given culture or society as they represent small-scale reproductions of that region's cultural and biological diversity. We carried out ethnobotanical studies in an important traditional market in the city of Recife (Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil) in two distinct years, 1995 and 2002.