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Background: Studies on management practices reflect the quality of the actions regarding the managed resource by people and allow us to identify possible selective pressures over time.Methods: Was investigated how have been carrying out management practices using native cacti species in two communities. Data collection was through the ethnobotanical (semi-structured interviews) and morphometric approach (botanical measurements). It was aimed to interview residents who used and/or cultivated some native species. For morphometric analysis were recorded total height from the highest branch and the maximum number of stem ribs per plant, ground-level and chest level diameter. Managed and unmanaged plants were comparatively analyzed. Was created a distribution map with gathering and cultivation areas indicated by the residents through QGIS software. The Kruskal-Wallis test was applied to investigate the differences between the specimens managed and unmanaged, and the Pearson linear correlation test to test the correlation between the diameter x height.Results: People mentioned the management of six native species, through the collection, non-selective incipient management, and ex situ cultivation. Low complexity activities were the most frequent; also, there was little variation between the forms of management. Cereus jamacaru DC. was the most locally managed species and by a higher number of people, and it was observed that specimens from the Area of Direct Use (ADU) had greater variation.Conclusions: Intra-specific variants were identified by people and they said to prefer the larger and healthier branches and younger (green) cladodes, suggesting human selection that can favor particular phenotypes where these plants are propagated.

O presente estudo registrou o uso de espécies medicinais da família Cactaceae, com o objetivo de realizar um levantamento sobre a versatilidade, consenso de uso e importância das espécies, em seis comunidades rurais do semiárido do nordeste do Brasil. Os usos medicinais foram registrados a partir de entrevistas semiestruturadas com 182 chefes de família. A avaliação do conhecimento foi realizada através dos índices de Importância Relativa (IR) e Frequência Relativa de Citação (FRC). Para avaliação dos sistemas corporais com maior importância local foi utilizado o Fator de Consenso dos Informantes (FCI). Foram registradas seis espécies de Cactaceae de uso medicinal: Cereus jamacaru jamacaru (115 citações), Melocactus sp. (120), Opuntia ficus indica (5), Pilosocereus gounellei (19), Pilosocereus sp. (4) e Tacinga inamoena (4). O cálculo da Importância Relativa demonstrou que a espécie mais versátil foi C. jamacaru jamacaru (IR = 2). Com relação ao índice FRC a espécie Melocactus sp. obteve destaque (FRC = 0,56). A partir do cálculo do FCI o Transtorno do sistema respiratório (FCI = 0,96) obteve o maior valor. Portanto, foi possível observar que as comunidades rurais estudadas compartilham de um conhecimento relativamente síncrono em relação às espécies medicinais de Cactaceae pois, a maioria das citações foram para usos medicinais semelhantes, como, por exemplo, o tratamento de problemas do sistema respiratório. Deste modo, é possível notar a importância de estudos com espécies de uso medicinal da Família Cactaceae, estudos estes que demonstram o poder terapêutico das plantas e valorizam o conhecimento popular das comunidades rurais do semiárido do nordeste do Brasil.

Cactaceae species are important resources in the semiarid region of Brazil and have been used and managed in a specific way by farmers to optimize and ensure the availability of cacti to rural communities. Thus, this study aimed to investigate management techniques used by residents of four rural communities in the municipality of Cabaceiras, Paraíba, Northeast Brazil. Only residents who claimed to perform some type of cacti management participated in this study, totaling 17 informants. Pilosocereus gounellei (F.A.C. Weber) Byles & Rowley subsp. gounellei, Cereus jamacaru DC. subsp. jamacaru, Pilosocereus pachycladus F. Ritter, Tacinga palmadora (Britton & Rose) N.P. Taylor & Stuppy, and Melocactus zehntneri (Britton & Rose) Luetzelb. Ex situ and in situ management techniques were recorded. The first one performed by transplantation of propagules and the second one by tolerance. The species propagation is carried out using shoots and vegetative parts. Of the species identified, only Cereus jamacaru subsp. jamacaru has more than one form of management. In addition to management, informants use rudimentary techniques such as burning the vegetative parts for fodder purposes.

Background: Cactaceae species are physiologically adapted to regions with arid and semi-arid climates, in which they are available and often used by traditional communities. This study aimed to analyze how ethnobotanical knowledge is influenced by socioeconomic factors such as age and gender in a semi-arid region of Paraíba, Brazil.Methods: This study was conducted in rural communities in the semi-arid region of Paraíba, northeastern Brazil. The data were collected by applying a semi-structured questionnaire to 44 informants (30 men and 14 women). The average age of the informants was 39 years; however, women were 39-77 and men were 31-80 years old. The chi-square test was used to analyze differences regarding knowledge, according to gender and age. The influence of gender (male and female) and age in the distribution of uses per category and species was assessed through the Poisson distribution model. Results: The following native species were recorded: Cereus jamacaru DC. subsp. jamacaru, Melocactus zehntneri, Pilosocereus gounellei (F.A.C. Weber) Byles & G.D. Rowley subsp. gounellei, Pilosocereus pachycladus F.Ritter, Tacinga inamoena (K. Schum.) N.P. Taylor & Stuppy, and Tacinga palmadora (Britton & Rose) N.P. Taylor & Stuppy, which had 436 citations in different categories of use (food, fuel, construction, fodder, medicinal, technology, and others). Our results indicated that residents cite more uses for fodder, food, and medicinal purposes. C. jamacaru had the highest UV and young men cited more uses for the species.Conclusions: Social variables tend to influence residents' knowledge. Among the categories of use, the residents indicated a higher number of uses for fodder and C. jamacaru was the most prominent species.