INVESTIGADORES
TRILLO Cecilia
artículos
Título:
Relationships between Land-Use Types and Plant Species Used by Traditional Ethno-Medical System
Autor/es:
ARIAS TOLEDO BÁRBARA; TRILLO CECILIA; GRILLI MARIANO; COLANTONIO SONIA EDIT; GALETTO LEONARDO
Revista:
European Journal of Medicinal Plants
Editorial:
Sciencedomain
Referencias:
Año: 2014 vol. 4 p. 998 - 1021
ISSN:
2231-0894
Resumen:
Aims: The agricultural frontier advances progressively on forested regions in Central
Argentina, changing the landscape structure by extremely reducing the extension of
native forests. In rural communities that are related to the forests, it is possible that
severe changes in the landscapes can have an impact on the knowledge and uses of
medicinal plants. The aim of this paper was to evidence some general patterns between
the ethnobotanical information recorded in the Chaco region and some characteristics of
the landscape. Specifically, we hypothesized that the knowledge on medicinal plants and
their type (native or exotic) are related to different types of land use (i.e. different
proportions of native forests).
Place and Duration of Study: The study was performed 15 rural localities within the
Chaco phytogeographic regionin Córdoba, Argentina, conducted between 2004 and
2012.
Methodology: A total of 279 interviews were conducted. Plant species were identified
according to their status (native or exotic), and a standardized proportion of exotic species was calculated for each site. The different types of land use and their proportions
were estimated in 15 rural localities using satellite images. A Principal Component
Analysis and a bivariate Spearman correlation were performed to analyze the
associations among land-use types, the proportion of native forests and the knowledge of
medicinal plants.
Results: In general, people had known many native and exotic medicinal plants.
Nevertheless, in those localities where landscapes have experienced higher
deforestation rates, exotic medicinal plants are more available than native ones
(cultivated in gardens and orchards). The tradition of maintaining exotic species in
gardens may contribute to maintain the ethno-medical systems in regions of severe
forest fragmentation.
Conclusion: The disappearance of the forest showed a positive association with losses
in the knowledge and use of native medicinal plants.