Abstract
In this article, we investigate the biocultural behavior regarding the use of species of the Euphorbiaceae in the Franco community, Cocal, Piauí State, located in the Semiarid Region of Brazil. For the study, we performed 19 interviews with the home gardens maintainers based on semi-structured interviews, and calculate the Use Value (UV) for each species mentioned by the interviewees. In addition, the importance of socioeconomic factors in this type of biocultural behavior was evaluated. Seven species of the Euphorbiaceae with biocultural emphasis were mentioned, distributed across four genera, which are cultivated for various purposes, including food, medicine, fuel, animal fodder, commercial sale, cultural uses, and others. The species Ricinus communis (“mamona”) presented the highest UV (7.0). Socioeconomic factors did not influence biocultural behavior associated with the use of plants of the botanical family studied. Our findings suggest that documented biocultural attitudes are essential to ensuring the resilience and conservation of biological and cultural diversity.
Highlights
The Euphorbiaceae is vastly diverse and widely distributed throughout the world, mainly in the tropics and temperate regions (Barroso 1991, Webster 1994)
We investigate the biocultural behavior regarding the use of species of the Euphorbiaceae in the Franco community, Cocal, Piauí State, located in the Semiarid Region of Brazil
We performed 19 interviews with the home gardens maintainers based on semi-structured interviews, and calculate the Use Value (UV) for each species mentioned by the interviewees
Summary
The Euphorbiaceae is vastly diverse and widely distributed throughout the world, mainly in the tropics and temperate regions (Barroso 1991, Webster 1994). The prevalence of the Euphorbiaceae family is highlighted by ethnobotanical studies developed in the Brazilian Semiarid Region (Cartaxo et al 2010, Pereira Júnior et al 2014, Silva et al 2015a). This region has been poorly studied, despite the biocultural richness associated with its biodiversity (Albuquerque et al 2007). Local biocultural diversity can be comprehended through ethnobotany (Albuquerque et al 2017), which can be understood as the study of the interrelations between cultures of human groups and the plants of their surrounding area. Ethnobotany has gained worldwide prominence and has a position of relevance in the conservation of local knowledge, having a important role to play in the rescue of Local Biocultural Memory (LBM) (Siqueira et al 2017, Bussmann 2019)
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