Impact assessment of the harvest of a medicinal plant (Anadenanthera colubrina (Vell.) Brenan) by a rural semi-arid community (Pernambuco), northeastern Brazil

Abstract

Rural communities depend on plant resources, and research is necessary to evaluate the impact of their exploitative practices. This study evaluated the use of Anadenanthera colubrina (Vell.) Brenan, angico, a tree species widely employed by the rural community of Carão (Pernambuco, Brazil) and the impacts of this harvesting practice. Angico has been cited as having 28 uses in five categories, and the bark is the most used. The medicinal uses are dominant in the community and the species is collected in four collection zones: home gardens, mountain, pasture and mountain base. In order to evaluate the sustainability of this practice, the extraction events in an A. colubrina population were recorded in 2008, and the population structure was analysed. The 101 interviews resulted in identification of 28 uses of which the medicinal category was most prevalent. The most exploited parts of A. colubrina were the bark and stem; the main collection zones were home gardens and mountains. Of the 1040 A. colubrina individuals that we recorded in an area of 2.7 ha, 70 showed signs of extraction. Although diameter classes do not show any individual preference, the population structure tends towards an inverted J model, which suggests that it is stable and its viability is not affected by the extraction being carried out. The data collected in this study suggest that maintaining the current methods and rates of exploitation of the A. colubrina population is sustainable and allows for the permanence of this local resource stock used by the Carão community. However, projections from our results on A. colubrina population structure should be considered carefully because only one population was analysed, over one-time period.

Does rainfall affect the antioxidant capacity and production of phenolic compounds of an important medicinal species?

“…Among the species occurring in this region, A. colubrina has been highlighted because studies show its therapeutic potential evidenced from the diverse diseases for which it can be used (healing injury, cancer and inflammation). In addition, the phytochemical characteristics of this species include large amounts of phenolic compounds, especially in the bark, which is the region of the plant most used in the preparation of medicines by the community Monteiro et al, 2006a,b;Araujo et al, 2008;Soldati and Albuquerque, 2010).…”

A new technique for testing distribution of knowledge and to estimate sampling sufficiency in ethnobiology studies

“…According to a survey that we conducted in the community health center in this area during the ethnobotanical survey, this community includes 189 inhabitants living in 61 houses, and 112 of them are older than 18 years of age (67 women and 45 men) [23]. The region has been the subject of previous ethnobiological investigations regarding the medicinal use of plants [23-25] and food plants [26,27], ecological hypotheses [28,29], landscape change [23,30], and the domestication and reproductive biology of native species [31,32]. Images of the study area are available at: https://picasaweb.google.com/etnobotanicaaplicada/CaraoAltinhoPernambucoNordesteBrasil…”

“…Both wild and cultivated vegetables supply daily family needs for food and health care. Moreover, individuals in the community use native and/or exotic plants for a number of purposes, including medicine, food, fuel, construction and fencing, foraging and veterinary medicine [24,29,32]. …”

Temporal evaluation of the Conservation Priority Index for medicinal plants

“…Given this situation, rural populations began to collect resources that were always available, such as the bark of the stem and roots (Albuquerque 2006). There are indications that the excessive collection of these resources is causing a decrease in plant richness of some ecosystems, mainly due to the death of some individuals with larger stem diameters that are more frequently subjected to collection (Soldati & Albuquerque 2011;Feitosa et al 2014).…”