Factors in hybridization of local medical systems: Simultaneous use of medicinal plants and modern medicine in Northeast Brazil

Can socioeconomic factors and the availability of medicinal plant resources influence people's perception of risk in relation to diseases?

BACKGROUND

This study explores how socioeconomic factors and the availability of medicinal plant resources influence the perception of disease risk in a local medical system. It addresses the role of traditional knowledge and the care and prevention practices used by the community, highlighting the interactions between cultural, social and environmental aspects.

METHODS

The research was conducted in the community of Serra Grande, Lagoa do Ouro, Pernambuco, with 95 participants. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data on socioeconomic factors, perceived risk of disease (using ranking and Likert scale), and perceived availability of medicinal plants. The data were analyzed with Generalized Linear Models using R software.

RESULTS

Age was the only socioeconomic factor with a significant influence on the perception of risk of disease, being higher among individuals aged between 51 and 70. In addition, the results indicated that the perception of risk of disease is negatively influenced by the availability of medicinal plant resources, i.e., a lower availability of plants is associated with a higher perception of risk. 117 species of medicinal plants used by the community were identified, with the Fabaceae and Lamiacae families standing out.

CONCLUSIONS

The study highlights the complexity of risk perception in rural communities, influenced by social, cultural and environmental factors. Effective public health policies must integrate these dynamics, creating adaptive strategies that strengthen community resilience and preserve traditional knowledge and resources essential for health.

Effects of socioeconomic and human-modified landscape variables on medicinal species richness at a macroscale: the case of the Caatinga, Brazil

BACKGROUND

Ethnobiological studies at local scales have shown that knowledge of medicinal species tends to decrease as socioeconomic status and the extent of human-modified landscapes increase. However, it remains largely unknown whether these same factors can predict knowledge of useful species at broader scales and whether their interaction might create scenarios that enhance knowledge of medicinal species.

METHODS

To address this, we tested whether knowledge of woody medicinal species-measured as the number of species known-is influenced by socioeconomic status, human-modified landscapes, and their interaction. We compiled and curated data on woody medicinal species from a systematic review encompassing diverse communities across the Caatinga region in North-east Brazil. Using the locations of these communities, we extracted data on socioeconomic status (measured by the Human Development Index, HDI) and human-modified landscapes (quantified as the percentage of forest loss).

RESULTS

Our results indicate that forest loss reduces the knowledge of medicinal woody species among Indigenous People and Local Communities. The interaction between human-modified landscapes and socioeconomic status revealed a significant nonlinear relationship, with different combinations yielding varying levels of knowledge about woody medicinal species. Interestingly, socioeconomic status alone does not appear to influence this knowledge. These findings underscore that the processes shaping knowledge of medicinal species differ across scales and suggest the existence of yet unidentified emergent properties that influence medicinal species knowledge at broader scales.

CONCLUSION

The conversion of habitats for anthropogenic use poses a significant risk to the well-being of these populations, as it reduces the availability of species used for prophylactic purposes. In contrast, the cultural traditions of Indigenous People and Local Communities, along with the implementation of regional public policies, may explain why socioeconomic status does not affect local knowledge. Moreover, our study highlights that the processes influencing knowledge of medicinal species at broader scales are not simply the aggregation of local-scale observations. Finally, we propose strategies to advance the field of macroethnobiology.

The influence of urbanization on local ecological knowledge: a systematic review

Urbanization is a complex and multifaceted process studied across various scientific disciplines. However, in ethnobiology, research on the impacts of urbanization on local ecological knowledge (LEK) often lacks standardization and tends to focus primarily on local scales. This study aims to systematically characterize how researchers address urbanization in ethnobiology and assess its effects on LEK globally. We conducted a systematic review using the PRISMA protocol and selected 66 studies from the Web of Science and Scopus databases for analysis. Our findings reveal that researchers often do not adopt a consistent definition of urbanization, frequently framing their study areas within a simplistic urban-rural dichotomy. Although some studies used urbanization indicators, our qualitative analyses, including a correlation matrix, showed that these indicators were largely independent of each other. Additionally, principal component analysis (PCA) with clustering identified four groupings among the indicators, yet with low correlations between them. A t test analysis of the 66 papers shows that urbanization generally has a negative impact on LEK. Based on these findings, we emphasize the critical need for standardized urbanization indicators in ethnobiological studies and propose a new approach for characterizing urbanization, which will enhance the precision and relevance of future research in this field.

Do socioeconomic factors and local human preference determine the hybridization of knowledge in local medical systems?

BACKGROUND

Hybridization between the local medical systems (LMSs) and biomedicine has been the focus of different studies in ethnobiology, primarily due to the increasing access to biomedicine by indigenous peoples and local communities. Studies on hybridization allow for an understanding of the process of developing and evolving local knowledge systems. In this study, we propose a hybridization score to determine how individuals' socioeconomic characteristics and preference between LMS and biomedicine determine the complementarity of therapeutic options.

METHODS

We conducted semistructured interviews and applied free listing technique in a rural community in Northeast Brazil to assess the treatments the local population sought and which were preferred.

RESULTS

Our analyses showed that the level of schooling was the socioeconomic factor that negatively affected the hybridization process. Individuals with higher levels of schooling tended to prefer LMS strategies less and, consequently, showed a lower probability of hybridizing the two systems. Additionally, older people who preferred LMS strategies showed a greater tendency to adopt hybridization in human health-seeking behavior.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings provide further evidence of the complementarity between different medical systems and demonstrate that socioeconomic factors can affect local knowledge and are responsible for differences in individual propensity to hybridize distinct medical systems.

Interactions between local medical systems and the biomedical system: a conceptual and methodological review in light of hybridization subprocesses

Local medical systems (LMSs) are complex and dynamic, encompassing local perceptions of diseases, prevention and treatment strategies, and evaluations of therapeutic responses. These systems are not isolated and interact with other medical systems, such as the biomedical system. The interaction between these systems creates a "contact zone", which some authors refer to as intermedicality, involving both competitive and complementary interactions. However, there is limited discussion in the literature regarding the complexity of these interactions. Some studies seek to understand this interaction through the lens of hybridization, a concept introduced to ethnobiology by Ana Ladio and Ulysses Albuquerque. The authors conceptualize hybridization as "discrete structures and practices coming together to form a new practice not necessarily implying homogenization." They discuss hybridization in the context of medicinal plants used in urban settings and propose seven hybridization subprocesses to gain a deeper understanding of this phenomenon. In this study, we update these hybridization subprocesses, expanding the concepts to comprehend the specific interaction of resources from LMS and biomedical systems known and used by different human groups. In this context, we propose a new subprocess and have made adjustments to the existing subprocesses to encompass the diversity of possible interactions between medicinal plants and pharmaceuticals, providing evidence from the literature demonstrating interactions that can be classified within the proposed subprocesses. Furthermore, we discuss, from a theoretical standpoint, how these subprocesses may have implications for the resilience of medical systems. Moreover, we propose a flowchart that can be utilized to identify these hybridization subprocesses in intermedicality contexts in future studies. These classifications are crucial because they enable us to comprehend the complexity of interactions between medicinal plants and pharmaceuticals, as well as the impacts that these different interactions can have on the resilience of LMSs.

Factors affecting local plant knowledge in isolated communities from Patagonian steppe: Metacommunity theory is revealed as a methodological approach

The Patagonian steppe is a refuge for several indigenous peoples who live in relatively isolated communities, depending heavily on natural resources for their activities, health, and food security. The local ecological knowledge is a reservoir that generates full wellbeing and for which it must be the object of protection and local development. In this study, we aimed to find which factors can influence local ecological knowledge from a metacommunity on the Patagonian steppe. We analyzed variation in knowledge about cultivated and gathered plants used as medicinal, edible, and firewood according to multiple factors widely discussed in the ethnobiological literature: age, gender, formal education, occupation, indigenous identity, contact with urban centers, use of biomedicine, hunting, and handcrafted textile production. We conducted semi-structured interviews with local experts, accessed by the snowball technique. We found that formal education is a key factor in the variation of local ecological knowledge among people. In addition, we found that knowledge varies between people who practice activities inside and outside the home, concentrating knowledge between cultivated and gathered plants, respectively. Our urbanization proxies did not point to an influence of this factor on local knowledge, but specialists living in a larger community with signs of internal urbanization processes had much less knowledge. Our results allowed us to visualize the importance of studying metacommunities as a whole, to verify complexities and intersections of overlapping factors. Studies in metacommunities open up a range of possibilities for ethnobiological analysis.

Easy Access to Biomedicine and Knowledge about Medicinal Plants: A Case Study in a Semiarid Region of Brazil

We aimed to evaluate how proximity to urban areas interferes with the relationship between socioeconomic variables and various aspects of medicinal plant knowledge. The study was conducted in six communities of the Catimbau National Park (PARNA Catimbau) in the state of Pernambuco. Eighty participants were interviewed. The communities were divided into two groups according to their distance from the nearest urban center. Socioeconomic data and information on medicinal plants were collected through semistructured interviews. Subsequently, generalized linear models were generated to verify the influence of the interaction between the variables on medicinal knowledge. We observed that proximity to the urban center influenced the relationship between the level of education and the knowledge of body systems treated by medicinal plants. We concluded that environmental variables can generate a differentiated effect on the influence of socioeconomic factors on one's knowledge of medicinal plants.

Green pharmacy at the tips of your toes: medicinal plants used by Setos and Russians of Pechorsky District, Pskov Oblast (NW Russia)

BACKGROUND

While the hybridization of ecological knowledge has attracted substantial attention from researchers, the coexistence of local and allopathic medicinal traditions in literate societies widely exposed to centralized schooling and medical services has not yet been investigated. To this end, we studied the current and remembered local ethnomedical practices of Setos and neighboring Russians at the border with Estonia.

METHODS

During 2018-2019, we carried out 62 semi-structured interviews in the Pechorsky District of Pskov Oblast, NW Russia. For cross-border comparison, we utilized the data from 71 interviews carried out at the same time among Setos in Estonia. The Jaccard Similarity Index and qualitative comparison were used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

The study participants mentioned 819 uses of 112 taxa belonging to 54 families. More than two-thirds of the uses (565) were quoted by 36 Russian interviewees, while the remaining third (254) were quoted by 26 Seto interviewees, with the top 3 in both groups being Viburnum opulus, Rubus idaeus, and Plantago major. The Seto intraethnic similarity index was lower (0.43) than the interethnic similarity in Estonia (0.52) and comparable to the interethnic similarity in Russia (0.43). Setos in Russia and local Russians rely more on wild plants (86% and 80% of medicinal plants, respectively), while Setos in Estonia and Estonians show less preference to them (63% and 61%, respectively). Nevertheless, Setos tend to source wild plants available in their gardens (33% of plants for Setos in Estonia and 38% in Russia), while Russians prefer to source them in the wild (38%).

CONCLUSIONS

The preference of both groups in Russia for wild plants over cultivated and purchased plants was inspired by the overall plant literacy, access to nature, and one-to-many knowledge transfer favoring wild plants. Setos in Russia reported a narrower and more homogenous set of plants transferred vertically. However, due to atomization and the erosion of horizontal connections, there are singular plant uses among Setos that overlap with the local Russian set of medicinal plants and differ qualitatively from that of Setos in Estonia.

A Database on Mycorrhizal Traits of Chinese Medicinal Plants

The mycorrhizal traits of plants have been widely reported based on different scales or plant functional groups. To better utilize mycorrhizae to improve the cultivation yield and active ingredient accumulation of medicinal plants, a database of medicinal plant mycorrhizal characteristics is needed. A database on mycorrhizal traits including mycorrhizal type or status of Chinese medicinal plant species was assembled. In this study, the mycorrhizal type or status of a total of 3,230 medicinal plants was presented. Among them, the mycorrhizal traits of 1,321 species were ascertained. These medicinal plants had three mycorrhizal statuses, both single mycorrhiza (SM) and multi-mycorrhiza (MM) contained four mycorrhizal types. The majority of medicinal plants were obligatorily symbiotic with mycorrhizal fungi with 926 (70.10%) species. The most widespread mycorrhizal type is AM, which is associated with 842 medicinal plant species (90.93% of mycorrhiza has an obligatorily symbiotic relationship with Chinese medicinal plants). Another broadly studied mycorrhizal type is ECM, which is associated with 15 medicinal plant species. This study is the first exclusive database on mycorrhizal traits of medicinal plants, which provides both mycorrhizal type and status. This database provides valuable resources for identifying the mycorrhizal information of medicinal plants and enriching the theory of mycorrhizal traits, which will greatly benefit the production or management of medicinal plants.

Use, perception, and local management of Copernicia prunifera (Miller) H. E. Moore in rural communities in the Brazilian Savanna

BACKGROUND

Copernicia prunifera belongs to the Arecaceae family, and its production chain includes a set of economic activities based on the use of the stipe, petiole, fiber, fruits, roots, and leaves from which carnaúba wax is extracted, an economically valuable resource in the region. This study aimed to evaluate the uses, management, and perception of the species by local extractors.

METHODS

Two communities were studied, Bem Quer, where 15 extractors of carnaúba leaves were interviewed, and Cana, where 21 extractors considered specialists were interviewed, totaling a sample of 36 interviewees. Interviewees were asked questions about uses, ways of handling, and perception of morphological variation in the carnaúba leaves. The number of leaves extracted and the income obtained from the sale of leaves were estimated from interviews and notes that each leader of extractors held during the year of the research and previous years, as well as direct observations made by researchers in the communities which recollection area of straw hold about 80 thousand individuals of C. prunifera. A regression analysis was used to explore the relationships between social variables (age, time in extractive activity, and income obtained from extraction) with the number of leaves exploited.

RESULTS

The leaf was indicated as the most used part, from which an important powder is extracted for the production of wax. In addition, the leaf was also indicated to be used for fertilization and construction. The relationship between the socioeconomic variables, income from extraction, and the number of leaves extracted (in thousands) was significant (R² = 0.73 and p < 0.001). However, the other variables analyzed in this study, such as the time spent extracting leaves and the years of residence in the community (R² = 0.03 and p > 0.05); the number of leaves extracted and interviewee age (R²= 0.05 and p > 0.05); and the number of leaves extracted and extraction time (R² = 0.04 and p > 0.05) did not indicate a relationship.

CONCLUSION

Local extractors observed that new leaves have the highest sales value, as they have the highest production of powder. In addition, economic factor is the preponderant force that directs the management strategies of native species. For this species, however, morphological and genetic studies are needed for further clarification.

Phytotherapies in motion: French Guiana as a case study for cross-cultural ethnobotanical hybridization

BACKGROUND

French Guiana is characterized by a very multicultural population, made up of formerly settled groups (Amerindians, Maroons, Creoles) and more recent migrants (mostly from Latin America and the Caribbean). It is the ideal place to try to understand the influence of intercultural exchanges on the composition of medicinal floras and the evolution of phytotherapies under the effect of cross-culturalism.

METHODS

A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods was used. Semi-directive interviews were conducted in 12 localities of French Guiana's coast between January 2016 and June 2017, and the responses to all closed questions collected during the survey were computerized in an Excel spreadsheet to facilitate quantitative processing. Herbarium vouchers were collected and deposited at the Cayenne Herbarium to determine Linnaean names of medicinal species mentioned by the interviewees. A list of indicator species for each cultural group considered was adapted from community ecology to this ethnobiological context, according to the Dufrêne-Legendre model, via the "labdsv" package and the "indval" function, after performing a redundancy analysis (RDA).

RESULTS

A total of 205 people, belonging to 15 distinct cultural groups, were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaires. A total of 356 species (for 106 botanical families) were cited. We observed that pantropical and edible species hold a special place in these pharmacopeias. If compared to previous inventories, 31 recently introduced species can be counted. Furthermore, this study shows that the majority of the plants used are not specific to a particular group but shared by many communities. However, despite this obvious cross-culturalism of medicinal plants between the different cultural communities of French Guiana, divergent trends nevertheless appear through the importance of 29 indicator/cultural keystone species in 10 cultural groups. Finally, we have emphasized that the transmission of herbal medicine's knowledge in French Guiana is mainly feminine and intra-cultural.

CONCLUSION

French Guianese medicinal flora is undoubtedly related to the multiple cultures that settled this territory through the last centuries. Cultural pharmacopeias are more hybrid than sometimes expected, but cultural keystone species nevertheless arise from a common background, allowing to understand, and define, the relationships between cultural groups.