Are Ecologically Important Tree Species the Most Useful? A Case Study from Indigenous People in the Bolivian Amazon

Abstract

Researchers have argued that indigenous peoples preferably use the most apparent plant species, particularly for medicinal uses. However, the association between the ecological importance of a species and its usefulness remains unclear. In this paper we quantify such association for six use categories (firewood, construction, materials, food, medicines and other uses). We collected data on the uses of 58 tree species, as reported by 93 informants in 22 villages in the Tsimane' territory (Bolivian Amazon). We calculated the ecological importance of the same species by deriving their importance value index (IVI) in 48 0.1-ha old-growth forest plots. Matching both data sets, we found a positive relation between the IVI of a species and its overall use value (UV) as well as with its UV for construction and materials. We found a negative relation between IVI and UV for species that were reportedly used for medicine and food uses, and no clear pattern for the other categories. We hypothesize that species used for construction or crafting purposes because of their physical properties are more easily substitutable than species used for medicinal or edible purposes because of their chemical properties.

Local perceptions as a guide for the sustainable management of natural resources: empirical evidence from a small-scale society in Bolivian Amazonia

“…The area studied is communally owned by the Tsimane' (Reyes-García et al 2014). Most of the Tsimane' territory is covered by terra firme rainforests with a high semideciduous canopy reaching 40 m (Guèze et al 2014a). Ecology and Society 21(1): 2 http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol21/iss1/art2/ Thatch palm Geonoma deversa Geonoma deversa (known as jatata in Spanish or cajtafa in Tsimane') is an understory palm species found in the lowland oldgrowth forests of Bolivian Amazonia.…”

“…The data from the sketch maps and GPS readings were later processed in a geographic information system (GIS), providing the most extensive distribution map available for G. deversa in the Tsimane' Territory. Second, as part of a floristic inventory from another project (see Guèze et al 2014a for more details), we noted the presence of G. deversa in 48 0.1-ha old-growth forest plots established in the territory of six Tsimane' villages (eight plots per village) to cross-verify that G. deversa was abundant in the areas catalogued as "thatch palm groves. "…”

Are dominant plant species more susceptible to leaf‐mining insects? A case study at Saihanwula Nature Reserve, China

“…Although many quantitative traits, such as density, cover, or biomass, can be used to measure community dominance, the use of combinations of multiple variables may be more appropriate (Guo & Rundel, 1997). As the importance value encompasses cover, frequency, abundance, and, occasionally, diversity (Curtis & McIntosh, 1951; Gonmadje et al., 2011; Mori, Boom, de Carvalino, & dos Santos, 1983), it is expected to be a good indicator of dominance or apparency (Brandt, Zimmermann, Hensen, Mariscal Castro, & Rist, 2012; Dahdouh‐Guebas, Koedam, Satyanarayana, & Cannicci, 2011; Dahdouh‐Guebas, Verheyden, De Genst, Hettiarachchi, & Koedam, 2000; Dai, Zhang, Xu, Duffy, & Guo, 2017; Gonçalves, Albuquerque, & de Medeiros, 2016; Guèze et al., 2014; Guo, Li, Liu, & Zhou, 2012; Hu, Su, Li, Li, & Ke, 2015; Smith & Smith, 2001; Soldati, de Medeiros, Duque‐Brasil, Coelho, & Albuquerque, 2017; Thomas, Vandebroek, & Van Damme, 2009). Importance values can be applied to detect dominant species in different communities, especially along ecological gradients (Greig‐Smith, 1983; Henkel, Chambers, & Baker, 2016; Kent, 2012).…”

Ethnomedicine of Medicinal Plants By Batak Phakpak Subethnic in The Surung Mersada Village, Phakpak Bharat District, North Sumatera

“…Pemanfaatan tumbuhan obat oleh masyarakat lokal dipengaruhi oleh berbagai faktor diantaranya khasiat dan ketersediaan, bahasa, hubungan sosial masyarakat (Menendez-Baceta et al, 2015), sejarah kebudayaan, pemahaman (Leonti & Casu, 2013), keyakinan dan kepercayaan (Pieroni & Quave, 2005;Pieroni et al, 2011;Rexhepi et al, 2013) masyarakat lokal. Tumbuhan obat yang mudah didapatkan dan tersedia banyak lebih sering digunakan (Lucena et al, 2007), namun hal yang berbeda dinyatakan oleh Guèze et al, (2014) (Silalahi et al, 2015) dan subetnis Batak Karo (Silalahi et al, 2013;Purba et al, 2016). Pemanfaatan tumbuhan obat oleh masyarakat lokal dipengaruhi oleh berbagai faktor diantaranya khasiat dan ketersediaan, bahasa, hubungan sosial masyarakat (Menendez-Baceta et al, 2015), sejarah kebudayaan, pemahaman (Leonti & Casu, 2013), keyakinan dan kepercayaan (Pieroni & Quave, 2005;Pieroni et al, 2011;Rexhepi et al, 2013) masyarakat lokal.…”

“…Pemanfaatan tumbuhan obat oleh masyarakat lokal dipengaruhi oleh berbagai faktor diantaranya khasiat dan ketersediaan, bahasa, hubungan sosial masyarakat (Menendez-Baceta et al, 2015), sejarah kebudayaan, pemahaman (Leonti & Casu, 2013), keyakinan dan kepercayaan (Pieroni & Quave, 2005;Pieroni et al, 2011;Rexhepi et al, 2013) masyarakat lokal. Tumbuhan obat yang mudah didapatkan dan tersedia banyak lebih sering digunakan (Lucena et al, 2007), namun hal yang berbeda dinyatakan oleh Guèze et al, (2014) …”