Cuatrociénegas, part of the Chihuahuan Desert, is a region of unique biological, geological, geographical, and evolutionary importance. Its current population is mestizo; nevertheless, it has high national historical, cultural, and touristic relevance in Mexico. It has been cataloged as nationally significant for its flora and fauna by Mexican law, as well as being designated a High Protection site by the World Wildlife Fund and UNESCO. Because of its diverse and complex biological and sociocultural characteristics, we considered it important to determine, identify, and analyze various aspects of the traditional ethnobotanical knowledge and practices in this region. Between 2016 and 2019, seven field trips were made to document the knowledge and use of flora. Cuatrociénegas is a protected area, collecting botanical material is regulated, so specimens were photographed and collected in neighboring communities, and in public and private gardens. Later permission was obtained to complete the collection of specimens (2019–2020). The plants were identified and entered into the flora database of the state of Coahuila, and deposited in the Herbarium of the Faculty of Forest Sciences, Autonomous University of Nuevo León, Mexico. One hundred ten local residents (50 men and 60 women), aged between 27 and 91 years, were interviewed (semi-structured interviews). The cultural importance of ethnobotanical resources (cultural significance index) and its significance with respect to ethnobotanical richness in other Biosphere Reserves in Mexico (Mann-Whitney test), and similarities in the diversity of exotic species (Sørensen index) were studied. The ethnobotanical information registers 158 species and 132 genera in 57 vascular and non-vascular families, documenting a greater knowledge and use of cultivated species (84) with respect to wild species (74). The diversity of plants reported is compared to other ethnobotanical studies carried out in Mexican Biosphere Reserves. These results are highly relevant, in spite of unique exotic species. The people local pay special attention to medicinal and ornamental plants. The species that presented the highest use values are Larrea tridentata, Jatropha dioica, and Machaeranthera pinnatifida, three species characteristic of the desert region. The particular diversity of wild flora in Cuatrociénegas Valley, combined with the varied introduced flora, is an important multifunctional resource. Special attention to introduced species is associated with harvesting use restrictions in the protected area as well as the high value of ornamental species that are difficult to maintain in desert areas. The extensive use of ethnobotanical knowledge is an example that biocultural diversity (at the conceptual level) is also strongly associated with socio-ecological systems incorporating mestizo groups and semi-urban rural landscapes, thus ceasing to be an exclusive focus of indigenous communities and regions.

中文翻译：

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科阿韦拉州 Cuatrociénegas 山谷农村社区的民族植物学生物文化多样性；墨西哥

Cuatrociénegas 是奇瓦瓦沙漠的一部分，是一个具有独特的生物、地质、地理和进化重要性的地区。目前人口为混血儿；尽管如此，它在墨西哥具有高度的国家历史、文化和旅游相关性。墨西哥法律将其列为国家重要动植物群，并被世界自然基金会和联合国教科文组织指定为高度保护地点。由于其多样化和复杂的生物和社会文化特征，我们认为确定、识别和分析该地区传统民族植物学知识和实践的各个方面非常重要。2016年至2019年间，进行了七次实地考察，记录植物区系的知识和使用。Cuatrociénegas 是一个保护区，植物材料的收集受到监管，因此标本是在邻近社区以及公共和私人花园中拍摄和收集的。后来获得许可完成标本采集（2019-2020）。这些植物经过鉴定并输入科阿韦拉州植物区系数据库，并保存在墨西哥新莱昂自治大学森林科学学院植物标本室。对年龄在 27 岁至 91 岁之间的 110 名当地居民（50 名男性和 60 名女性）进行了访谈（半结构化访谈）。研究了民族植物资源的文化重要性（文化重要性指数）及其对墨西哥其他生物圈保护区民族植物丰富度的重要性（曼-惠特尼检验），以及外来物种多样性的相似性（索伦森指数）。民族植物学信息登记了 57 个维管束科和非维管束科的 158 个物种和 132 个属，记录了相对于野生物种 (74) 对栽培物种 (84) 的更多了解和使用。报告的植物多样性与在墨西哥生物圈保护区进行的其他民族植物学研究进行了比较。尽管存在独特的外来物种，这些结果仍然具有高度相关性。当地人特别注重药用和观赏植物。使用价值最高的树种是三齿麻风树、麻风树和麻风树，这三个沙漠地区的特有树种。Cuatrociénegas 山谷野生植物区系的独特多样性，加上各种引进植物区系，是一种重要的多功能资源。对引进物种的特别关注与保护区内采伐用途的限制以及难以在沙漠地区维持的观赏物种的高价值有关。民族植物学知识的广泛使用是生物文化多样性（在概念层面上）也与包含混血群体和半城市乡村景观的社会生态系统密切相关的一个例子，因此不再是土著社区和地区的专属焦点。