Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Ethnobotanical Knowledge Complexity in a Conservation Area of Northern Uruguay: Interlocutors-Medicinal Plant Network and the Structural Patterns of Interaction

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Economic Botany Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

With the aim of generating a strategy for biocultural conservation, we explore the structure and robustness of the botanical medical systems in the Biosphere Reserve “Bioma Pampa-Quebradas del Norte,” Uruguay, combining ethnobotanical hypotheses and network theory. We report a heterogeneous distribution of knowledge of medicinal plants with a potential limit to the individual knowledge (truncated–power-law). The robustness analysis in the face of alternative potential scenarios of system degradation indicates that the ethnobotanical system presents a high level of resistance to the loss of agents and medicinal plants species, but also a nonlinear response with a threshold of degradation after which an abrupt collapse in system structure is expected. To counter these threats at the Biosphere Reserve, we propose to promote ethnobotanical knowledge transmission and sustainable development in rural areas, and to encourage the development of strategies for the conservation of medicinal plants.

Abstracto

Con el objetivo de generar una estrategia de conservación biocultural, exploramos la estructura y la robustez del sistema botánico médico en la Reserva de Biosfera “Bioma Pampa-Quebradas del Norte,” Uruguay, combinando hipótesis etnobotánicas y teoría de redes. Reportamos una distribución heterogénea del conocimiento sobre las plantas medicinales con un límite potencial del conocimiento individual (ley poder-truncada). El análisis de robustez frente a posibles escenarios alternativos de degradación, indica que el sistema etnobotánico presenta un alto nivel de resistencia a la pérdida de agentes y plantas medicinales. También se observa una respuesta no lineal con un umbral de degradación, después del cual se produce un colapso abrupto de la estructura del sistema. Para contrarrestar estas amenazas en la Reserva de Biosfera, proponemos promover los procesos de transmisión de conocimiento etnobotánico y el desarrollo sostenible en áreas rurales, así como alentar el desarrollo de estrategias para la conservación de plantas medicinales.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature Cited

  • Albuquerque, U. P., F. C. C. Luiz Vital, R. F. P. D. Lucena, and R. R. N. Alves. 2014. Methods and techniques in ethnobiology and ethnoecology. New York: Humana Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Albuquerque, U. P., P. M. Medeiros, and A. Casas, eds. 2015. Evolutionary ethnobiology. Switzerland: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Albuquerque, U. P. and R. F. D. Oliveira. 2007. Is the use-impact on native caatinga species in Brazil reduced by the high species richness of medicinal plants? Journal of Ethnopharmacology 113(1): 156–170.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barrios Pintos, A. 1963. Rivera en el ayer. De la crónica a la historia. Uruguay: Editorial Minas.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1990. Rivera. Una historia diferente. Tomo II. Montevideo: Ministerio de Educación y Cultura.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bascompte, J. and P. Jordano. 2007. Plant-animal mutualistic networks: The architecture of biodiversity. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution and Systematic 38: 567–593.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beiersmann, C., A. Sanou, E. Wladarsch, M. De Allegri, B. Kouyaté, and O. Müller. 2007. Malaria in rural Burkina Faso: Local illness concepts, patterns of traditional treatment and influence on health-seeking behaviour. Malaria Journal 6: 106.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, B. C. and M. J. Balick. 2014. Does the name really matter? The importance of botanical nomenclature and plant taxonomy in biomedical research. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 152(2014): 387–392.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bonilla, C., B. Bertoni, S. González, H. Cardoso, N. Brum-Zorrilla, and M. Sans. 2004. Substantial native American female contribution to the population of Tacuarembó, Uruguay, reveals past episodes of sex-biased gene flow. American Journal of Human Biology 16(3): 289–297.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Borgatti, S. P., M. G. Everett, and J. C. Johnson. 2013. Analyzing social networks. Sage Publications, Ltd.

  • Boyd, R., P. J. Richerson, and J. Henrich. 2011. The cultural niche: Why social learning is essential for human adaptation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108 (Supplement 2): 10918–10,925.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brazeiro, A. 2015. Eco-regiones de Uruguay: Biodiversidad, presiones y conservación. Aportes a la estrategia nacional de biodiversidad. Montevideo: Facultad de Ciencias.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brito, C. C., T. C. Silva, U. P. Albuquerque, M. A. Ramos, W. S. Ferreira Júnior, F. N. Barros, E. M. C. Neto, and P. M. Medeiros. 2017. The use of different indicators for interpreting the local knowledge loss on medical plants. Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia 27(2): 245–250.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brussa, C. and I. Grela. 2007. Flora arbórea del Uruguay. Con énfasis en las especies de Rivera y Tacuarembó. Montevideo: COFUSA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burgos, E., H. Ceva, R. P. J. Perazzo, M. Devoto, D. Medan, M. Zimmermannd, and A. M. Delbue. 2007. Why nestedness in mutualistic networks? Journal of Theoretical Biology 249: 307–313.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Calvet-Mir, L., C. Riu-Bosoms, M. González-Puente, I. Ruiz-Mallén, V. Reyes-García, and J. L. Molina. 2016. The transmission of home garden knowledge: Safeguarding biocultural diversity and enhancing social-ecological resilience. Society and Natural Resources 29(5): 556–571.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cardona, D., L. D. Acosta, and C. L. Bertone. 2013. Inequidades en salud entre países de Latinoamérica y el Caribe (2005–2010). Gaceta Sanitaria 27(4): 292–297.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Castiñeira Latorre, E., A. Canavero, and M. L. Pochettino. 2018. Analysis of the ethnobotanical knowledge network for a priority area for biocultural conservation, Rivera, Uruguay. Ethnobiology and Conservation 7(4): 1–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cavechia, L. A., M. Cantor, A. Begossi, and N. Peroni. 2014. Resource-use patterns in swidden farming communities: Implications for the resilience of cassava diversity. Human Ecology 42(4): 605–616.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chebataroff, J. and M. E. Zavala. 1975. Relieve del Uruguay. Revista Uruguaya de Geografía. Segunda Serie 3: 2–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham, A. B. 2001. Applied ethnobotany. People, wild plant use and conservation. WWF, UNESCO, Royal Botanic Garden.

  • Curbelo, C. 2003. Analogy in historical archaeology. The case of San Francisco de Borja del Yi. The SAA Archaeological Record 3(4): 23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diaz-Reviriego, I., L. González-Segura, A. Fernández-LLamazares, P. L. Howard, J. L. Molina, and V. Reyes-García. 2015. Social organization influences the exchange and species richness of medicinal plants in Amazonian homegardens. Ecology and Society 21(1): 1. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-07944-210101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dormann, C. F., J. Fründ, N. Blüthgen, and B. Gruber. 2009. Indices, graphs and null models: Analyzing bipartite ecological networks. The Open Ecology Journal 2009(2): 7–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dormann, C. F., O. Schweiger, P. Arens, I. Augenstein, S. Aviron, D. Bailey, J. Baudry, R. Billeter, R. Bugter, R. Bukacek, F. Burel, M. Cerny, R. D. Cock, G. D. Blust, R. DeFilippi, T. Diekotter, J. Dirksen, W. Durka, P. J. Edwards, M. Frenzel, R. Hamersky, F. Hendrickx, F. Herzog, S. Klotz, B. Koolstra, A. Lausch, D. L. Coeur, J. Liira, J. P. Maelfait, P. Opdam, M. Roubalova, A. Schermann-Legionnet, N. Schermann, T. Schmidt, M. J. M. Smulders, M. Speelmans, P. Simova, J. Verboom, W. V. Wingerden, and M. Zobel. 2008. Prediction uncertainty of environmental change effects on temperate European biodiversity. Ecology Letters 11(3): 235–244.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ferreira Júnior, W. S., A. H. Ladio, and U. P. d. Albuquerque. 2011. Resilience and adaptation in the use of medicinal plants with suspected anti-inflammatory activity in the Brazilian Northeast. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 138(1): 238–252.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferreira Júnior, W. S., A. Nascimento, M. Alves Ramos, P. M. Medeiros, G. T. Soldati, F. R. Santoro, V. Reyes-García, and U. Albuquerque. 2015. Resilience and adaptation in social-ecological systems. In: Evolutionary ethnobiology, eds. U. P. Albuquerque, P. M. Medeiros, and A. Casas, 105–119. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaoue, O. G., M. A. Coe, M. Bond, G. Hart, B. C. Seyler, and H. McMillen. 2017. Theories and major hypotheses in ethnobotany. Economic Botany 71(3): 269–287.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gavin, M. C., J. McCarter, A. Mead, F. Berkes, J. R. Stepp, D. Peterson, and R. Tang. 2015. Defining biocultural approaches to conservation. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 30(3): 140–145.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • González, L. R. and S. Rodríguez Varese. 1990. Guaraníes y paisanos. Impacto de los indios misioneros en la formación del paisanaje. Montevideo: Editorial Nuestra Tierra.

  • Hamilton, A. and K. Plenderleith. 2003. Compiled for WWF (Lead Organisation for the Consultation). Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. Convention on Biological Diversity. Stakeholder Consultation on Target 4.

  • Henrich, J. and J. Broesch. 2011. On the nature of cultural transmission networks: Evidence from Fijian villages for adaptive learning biases. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 366(1567): 1139–1148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hewlett, B. S. and L. L. Cavalli-Sforza. 1986. Cultural transmission among Aka Pygmies. American Anthropologist, New Series 88(4): 922–934.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hilborn, R. and M. Mangel. 1997. The ecological detective confronting models with data. Princeton University Press.

  • Hilgert, N. I. 2009. La salud en las Yungas. ¿Cuáles son los principales problemas según la medicina tradicional y la formal? In: Avances sobre plantas medicinales andinas. Argentina, eds. N. D. Vignale and M. L. Pochettino, 1–43. Jujuy, Argentina, RISAPRET/CYTED.S.S.

  • ISE. 2014. Codigo de Ética-International Society of Ethnobiology. http://www.ethnobiology.net.

  • Johnson, J. B. and K. S. Omland. 2004. Model selection in ecology and evolution. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 19(2): 101–108.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kareiva, P. and M. Marvier. 2015. Conservation science: Balancing the needs of people and nature. Roberts and Co.

  • Kottek, M., J. Grieser, C. Beck, B. Rudolf, and F. Rubel. 2006. World map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification updated. Meteorologische Zeitschrift 15(3): 259–263.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lagos-Witte, S., O. L. Sanabria-Diago, P. Chacón, and R. García-Víquez. 2011. Manual de herramientas etnobotánicas relativas a la conservación y el uso sostenible de los recursos vegetales: Una contribución de la Red Latinoamericana de Botánica a la Implementación de la Estrategia Global para la Conservación de las Especies Vegetales hacia el logro de las metas 13 y 15. Editorial Santiago, Red Latinoamericana de Botánica, Chile.

  • Leonti, M. 2011. The future is written: Impact of scripts on the cognition, selection, knowledge and transmission of medicinal plant use and its implications for ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 134(3): 542–555.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lozada, M., A. H. Ladio, and M. Weigandt. 2006. Cultural transmission of ethnobotanical knowledge in a rural community of northwestern Patagonia, Argentina. Economic Botany 66(4): 374–385.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maffi, L. 2005. Linguistic, cultural, and biological diversity. Annual Review of Anthropology 34(1): 599–617.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2007. Biocultural diversity and sustainability In: The SAGE handbook on environment and society, eds. J. Pretty, A. Ball, T. Benton, J. Guivant, D. Lee, D. Orr, M. Pfeffer, and H. Ward, 267–277. SAGE Publications Ltd.

  • Martínez, M. R., M. L. Pochettino, M. A. Crivos, C. Remorini, and A. Sy. 2006. Gathering and circulation of medicinal plants in a pluricultural context (Misiones, Argentina). Proceedings of the IVth International Congress of Ethnobotany (ICEB 2005) August 2005: 107–114.

  • Mathez-Stifel, S., R. Brandt, S. Lachmuth, and S. Rist. 2012. Are the young less knowledgeable? Local knowledge of natural remedies and its transformations in the Andean Highlands. Human Ecology 40(6): 909–930.

    Google Scholar 

  • Medeiros, P. M. and U. P. Albuquerque. 2015. Use patterns of medicinal plants by local populations. In: Evolutionary Ethnobiology, eds. U. P. Albuquerque, P. M. Medeiros and A. Casas, 163–174. Switzerland: Springer.

  • Medeiros, P. M. and U. P. Albuquerque, D. B. Oliveira Abreu, T. C. da Silva, W. Soares Ferreira Junior, M. Alves Ramos, and A. H. Ladio. 2016. What drives the use of natural products for medicinal purposes in the context of cultural pluralism? European Journal of Integrative Medicine 8(4): 471–477.

  • Medeiros, P. M., G. T. Soldati, N. L. Alencar, I. Vandebroek, A. Pieroni, N. Hanazaki, and U. P. Albuquerque. 2012. The use of medicinal plants by migrant people: Adaptation, maintenance, and replacement. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2012: 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mello, M. A. R., F. M. D. Marquitti, P. R. J. Guimaraes, E. K. V. Kalko, P. Jordano, and M. A. M. Aguiar. 2011. The missing part of seed dispersal networks: Structure and robustness of bat-fruit Interactions. PLos One 6(2): e17395.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Memmott, J., N. M. Waser, and M. V. Price. 2004. Tolerance of pollination networks to species extinctions. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 271(1557): 2605–2611.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Müller, J. G., R. Boubacar, and I. D. Guimbo. 2015. The “how” and “why” of including gender and age in ethnobotanical research and community-based resource management. Ambio 44: 67–78.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Newman, M. E. J. 2010. Networks. An introduction. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nolla, S. G. and M. de Vargas. 2010. Diagnóstico socioeconómico zona URBAL-RIVERA, Uruguay. Programa Urbal Pampa, Uruguay.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noy, C. 2008. Sampling knowledge: The hermeneutics of snowball sampling in qualitative research. International Journal of Social Research Methodology 11(4): 327–344.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pascual, M. and J. A. Dunne. 2006. Ecological networks: Linking structure to dynamics in food webs. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pi Hugarte, R. 2014. Los indios del Uruguay. Banda Oriental, Montevideo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pochettino, M. L. and C. Eyssartier. 2014. Los saberes botánicos ocultos en la pluri/multi/interculturalidad (zonas urbanas de Argentina), eds. T. R. S. Silva, C. W. N. Moura, L. C. L. Lima, and F. A. R. Santos, 277–284. Botânica na América Latina: Conhecimento, interação e difusão. Sociedade Botânica do Brasil, Salvador.

  • Quilan, M. B. and R. J. Quilan. 2007. Modernization and medicinal plant knowledge in a Caribbean horticultural village. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 21(2): 169–192.

    Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team. 2017. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. http://www.R-project.org.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramirez, C. R. 2007. Ethnobotany and the loss of traditional knowledge in the twenty-first century. Ethnobotany Research and Applications 5: 245–247.

  • Rendell, L., R. Boyd, and S. A. Suárez. 2010. Why copy others? Insights from the social learning strategies tournament. Science 328(5975): 208–213.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Reyes-García, V., M. Guèze, A. C. Luz, J. Paneque-Gálvez, M. J. Macía, M. Orta-Martínez, J. Pino, and X. Rubio-Campillo. 2013. Evidence of traditional knowledge loss among a contemporary indigenous society. Evolution and Human Behavior 34(4): 249–257.

    PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Richards, S. A. 2005. Testing ecological theory using the information theoretic approach: Examples and cautionary results. Ecology 86: 2805–2814.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodríguez-Miranda, A. 2010. La frontera Uruguay-Brasil y el desarrollo local. Nóesis, Revista de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades 19(37): 16–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2015. Dinámicas sectoriales y desarrollo territorial en economías locales interiores. El caso de Rivera en Uruguay. Economía, Sociedad y Territorio XV(47): 217–250.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubel, F. and M. Kottek. 2010. Observed and projected climate shifts 1901–2100 depicted by world maps of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification. Meteorologische Zeitschrift 19(2): 135–141.

    Google Scholar 

  • Santoro, F. R., W. S. Ferreira Júnior, T. A. d. S. Araújo, A. H. Ladio, and U. P. Albuquerque. 2015. Does plant species richness guarantee the resilience of local medical systems? A perspective from utilitarian redundancy. PLos One 10(3): e0119826.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Santoro, F. R., A. L. B. Nascimento, G. T. Soldati, W. S. Ferreira Júnior, and U. P. Albuquerque. 2018. Evolutionary ethnobiology and cultural evolution: Opportunities for research and dialog. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 14(1): 1–14.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Soldati, G. T. 2013. Transmissao de conhecimiento: Origem social das informacoes e da evolucao cultural. In: Etnobiología. Bases ecológicas e evolutivas, ed. U. P. Albuquerque, 37–61. Recife/PE, NUPEEA.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2015. Knowledge transmission: The social origin of information and cultural evolution. In: Evolutionary Ethnobiology, eds. U. P. Albuquerque, P. M. Medeiros, and A. Casas, 89–104. Switwerland: Springer.

  • Soldati, G. T. and U. P. Albuquerque. 2016. Are the evolutionary implications of vertical transmission of knowledge conservative? Ethnobiology and Conservation 5(2016): 1–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sousa, D. C. P. d., G. T. Soldati, J. M. Monteiro, T. A. d. S. Araújo, and U. P. Albuquerque. 2016. Information retrieval during free listing is biased by memory: Evidence from medicinal plants. PLos One 11(11): e0165838.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Soutullo, A., C. Clavijo, and J. A. Martínez-Lanfranco. 2013. Especies prioritarias para la conservación en Uruguay. Vertebrados, moluscos continentales y plantas vasculares. Montevideo: SNAP/DINAMA/MVOTMA y DICYT/ MEC.

  • Suárez, M. E. 2014. Etnobotánica wichí del bosque xerófito en el Chaco semiárido salteño. 1ª edition. Don Torcuato: Autores de Argentina, Buenos Aires.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vandebroek, I. and M. J. Balick. 2012. Globalization and loss of plant knowledge: Challenging the paradigm. PLos One 7(5): e37643.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • WHO. 2013. World Health Organization. Traditional medicine strategy 2014–2023. WHO Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data, Hong Kong SAR, China.

  • Zank, S. and N. Hanazaki. 2016. Healing faith: Knowledge, learning and social relationships of healers from Araripe plateau, Brazil. Ethnobiology and Conservation 5: 3. https://doi.org/10.15451/ec2016-6-5.3-1-15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2017. The coexistence of traditional medicine and biomedicine: A study with local health experts in two Brazilian regions. PLos One 12(4): e0174731.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This article would not have been possible without the collaboration of the residents of the Biosphere Reserve “Bioma-Pampa Quebradas del Norte, Rivera.” This research was financed by the National Agency for Research and Innovation of Uruguay (ANII), within the framework of the Ph.D scholarship granted to ECL. Other economic support was provided by the Rufford Small Grant and the Swiss Embassy in Uruguay. ECL is grateful for the careful reading of María Leila Pochettino. We also want to thank Orou Gaoue for helpful comments and revision that have significantly improved the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Etnobotánica y Botánica Aplicada, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, 1900 La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Elena Castiñeira Latorre

  2. Departamento de Ecología y Gestión Ambiental, Centro Universitario Regional del Este (CURE), Universidad de la República, Maldonado, Uruguay

    Elena Castiñeira Latorre, Andrés Canavero & Matías Arim

Authors
  1. Elena Castiñeira Latorre
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Andrés Canavero
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Matías Arim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elena Castiñeira Latorre.

Additional information

Received 23 November 2018; accepted 18 March 2020.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Castiñeira Latorre, E., Canavero, A. & Arim, M. Ethnobotanical Knowledge Complexity in a Conservation Area of Northern Uruguay: Interlocutors-Medicinal Plant Network and the Structural Patterns of Interaction. Econ Bot 74, 195–206 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-020-09491-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-020-09491-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation