A Influência de Fatores Sócio-ecológicos no Uso de Plantas Nativas em um Assentamento Rural no Cerrado

Abstract

Background

Sex, age, and migration, studied here as nativity, are factors that can influence the knowledge and use of plants by residents in the socio-ecological context of a community. This study aimed to identify whether there were differences in the knowledge and use of native plants among a group of individuals surveyed in a rural settlement in the Cerrado domain, in the Nazareth Settlement, city of Sidrolândia, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. The hypothesis was that plant knowledge and uses would differ among the individuals studied.

Methods

Data were collected through 38 semi-structured interviews and guided tours of their plots, selected using the snowball technique. Analysis of similarities (ANOSIM) was used to assess differences in species knowledge considering gender and nativity. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) was used to evaluate knowledge in relation to the age groups of the respondents. Generalized Linear Models (GLMs) were used to calculate the relative importance of the mentioned species considering gender, age, and nativity using the "relative use value by category" analysis.

Results

Respondents mentioned 123 species grouped into 90 genera and 47 families of Angiosperms. The species were assigned to six categories of use: Medicinal, Food, Construction, Technology, Ornamental, and Other. When analyzing the citations regarding the richness of the mentioned species, no differences were observed among the respondents regarding sex, age, and migration. However, by adopting the Relative Use Value per category (proposed in this study), variations were identified in the valuation of species by the respondents concerning some categories of use. Women valued the species more in the Medicinal and Food plant categories, while men valued the species more in the Construction plant category. The elderly valued the species for Construction more than other age groups, while migrants valued Medicinal species more than non-migrants.

Conclusions

Although the valuation of species is similar regarding their composition and richness, considering the sex, age groups, and nativity of the interviewees, the value given to the effective use of the species showed partial differences among them. The index proposed in this study (Relative Use Value by Category) proved to be efficient in analyzing the use of species in use categories, expanding the possibilities for data analysis in ethnobiology.