Knowledge of medicinal plants is not only one of the main components in the structure of knowledge in local medical systems but also one of the most studied resources. This study uses a systematic review and meta-analysis of a compilation of ethnobiological studies with a medicinal plant component and the variable of gender to evaluate whether there is a gender-based pattern in medicinal plant knowledge on different scales (national, continental, and global). In this study, three types of meta-analysis are conducted on different scales. We detect no significant differences on the global level; women and men have the same rich knowledge. On the national and continental levels, significant differences are observed in both directions (significant for men and for women), and a lack of significant differences in the knowledge of the genders is also observed. This finding demonstrates that there is no gender-based pattern for knowledge on different scales.

We investigated, through a temporal comparison, the extraction of non-timber forest resources by quantitatively analyzing the Conservation Priority Index (CPI). Th e study focused on the Fulni-ô Indigenous Territory, in the municipality of Águas Belas, PE (Northeast Brazil), which is characterized by caatinga vegetation (seasonal dry forest). Information on the availability of the exploited resources and the reported use of the species were obtained from vegetation sampling and semi-structured interviews, respectively. Our results demonstrated a reduction in species richness overtime, which may be due to continued resource extraction in the area, and that some species with low densities were even more aff ected. Th e species reported as being at high risk in the current study apparently did not diff er from their status in the previous study, which supports the idea that these species are most evident in this situation more for their high potential of use than for their high densities. When we associate these events together with the disappearance of some rare species, we can conclude that the CPI was not effi cient in predicting changes, and that the combination of variables used with the biological variables of the species needs to be adjusted.

Ethnobotanical studies focused on understanding how local medical systems are functionally maintained suggest that utilitarian redundancy and knowledge transmission are factors that influence the resilience of the system. However, to date, there have not been any studies that analyze these factors in relation to the variables that influence the variation of knowledge. Given the above, this study aims to analyze the influence of gender in the resilience of the system, using utilitarian redundancy and knowledge transmission as factors. Information from 198 married couples (396 people) was collected from the indigenous community of Fulni-ô (NE Brazil). Knowledge between men and women was analyzed based on the total number of known plants, therapeutic targets, information units, utilitarian redundancy, models of transmission, and sharing for each gender. Fulni-ô men know a greater number of plants, therapeutic targets treated with plants, and information units than women. They also had greater utilitarian redundancy. However, regarding knowledge transmission, sharing among women was greater, transmission is related to gender, and there is no difference between the numbers of models of knowledge information. In the system of local medical knowledge, gender exerts an important role in the resilience of the system. This study shows that men have a greater contribution to the structure and function of the system; however, both genders contribute to the flow of information in the system, which makes both genders important in the feedback of information.

BackgroundThe Caribbean Basin has complex biogeographical and cultural histories that have shaped its highly diverse botanical and cultural landscapes. As a result, the current ethnic composition of the Basin is a heterogeneous mixture including Amerindian, Afrocaribbean and a wide range of Mestizo populations. A comparison was done of the medicinal plant repertoires used by these groups to identify the proportion of native species they include and any differences between the groups.MethodsThe TRAMIL program has involved application of ethnopharmacological surveys to gather data on the medicinal plants used for primary care in 55 locations the Caribbean Basin. Three Afrocaribbean, three Amerindian and three Mestizo communities were selected taking in account the Ethnic prevalence. Differences in native and exotic plant used by groups and between groups were done using contingency tables. Identification of differences in the numbers of native and exotic plants used within each group was done with a one sample Z -test for proportions.Similarity in medicinal species use was estimated using the Sørensen Similarity Index. Species use value (UV) was estimated and a principal components analysis (PCA) run to determine differences between groups.ResultsThe 1,753 plant records generated from the surveys of the nine communities included in the analysis covered 389 species from 300 genera and 98 families. The studied groups used different numbers of native and exotic species: Afrocaribbean (99 natives, 49 exotics); Amerindian (201 natives, 46 exotics); and Mestizo (63 natives, 44 exotics). The proportion of natives to exotics was significantly different in between the Afrocaribbean and Amerindian communities, and between the Amerindian and Mestizo communities, but not between the Afrocaribbean and Mestizo communities. In the PCA, the groups were disparate in terms of the use value they assigned to the medicinal species; these were determined according to species with high use value and those used exclusively be a particular groupConclusionsAlthough migration, cultural intermixing and a consequent hybridization of medicinal plant knowledge have occurred in the Caribbean Basin, the results highlight differences between the three studied groups in terms of the medicinal plant repertoire they employ for primary health care.

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Studies have reported that gender influences the variation of knowledge of local medical systems. However, most of the ethnobiological studies that analyze the variation of knowledge have focused on analyzing only the richness of known resources. Therefore, in this review we discuss the importance of analyzing the variation of knowledge between genders with a multifactorial and nonunidirectional perspective. It also presents proposals for future studies that analyze the influence of gender on local medical systems, considering the dynamics of socialecological systems.

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En Yucatán existe una gran riqueza de conocimiento sobre el uso de las plantas medicinales, que se encuentra en riesgo debido a los actuales procesos de deterioro ambiental y cultural. En este trabajo se da a conocer el establecimiento de jardines comunitarios como una estrategia para salvaguardar el conocimiento que el pueblo maya posee acerca de la flora medicinal y conservar los recursos fitogenéticos de uso medicinal. Se establecieron cuatro jardines medicinales, mediante el método de investigación participativa. Los jardines resguardan el germoplasma de 206 especies, pertenecientes a 170 géneros y 66 familias botánicas; de éstas 160 son especies nativas, de las cuales 11 son endémicas de la Península de Yucatán y 46 son exóticas. Estas especies medicinales se emplean para tratar 301 padecimientos. Las categorías con mayor número de usos son problemas dermatológicos (68), gastrointestinales (59) y reproductivos (33). Estas categorías de uso también incluyeron el mayor número de especies: 82 para problemas dermatológicos, 72 para gastrointestinales, y 35 para los reproductivos y síndromes de filiación cultural. Las especies con mayor valor de uso fueron Aloe vera (L.) Burm. f. (5.5), Ocimum campechianum Mill. (4.75), Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) A. Gray (4.75), Ruta chalepensis L. (4.5), Tradescantia spathacea Sw. (3.5), Parthenium hysterophorus L. (3.25), Chromolaena odorata (L.) R. M. King & H. Rob. (3.0) y Cissampelos pareira L. (3.0). Las especies con mayor consistencia de uso fueron Tithonia diversifolia para el reumatismo (100 %), y Diphysa carthagenensis Jacq. para el mal de ojo (100 %); además se encontraron 12 especies con una consistencia de uso de 75 %. A largo plazo se espera que siguiendo esta estrategia se pueda consolidar una red de jardines medicinales que contribuya a salvaguardar la flora medicinal y el conocimiento asociado al uso de las plantas en esta región del país.