Abstract
The Atlantic Forest is represented on the coast of Brazil by approximately 7,5% of remnants, much of these concentrated on the country's SE coast. Within these southeastern remnants, we still find the coastal Caiçaras who descend from Native Indians and Portuguese Colonizers. The maintenance of such populations, and their existence in spite of the deforestation that occurred on the Atlantic Forest coast, deserves especial attention and analysis. In this study, I address, in particular, the Caiçaras who live on the coast of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro States, illustrating with examples of coastal inhabitants from other areas, such as Bahia State (NE coast) and of other forested areas (riverine caboclos of the Amazon). The major focus of this study, based on previous research, performed since 1986 in several populations or villages of the Atlantic Forest coast, is to understand the resilience of the Caiçaras, which is analyzed using ecological concepts, such as metapopulation, resilience and adaptive cycles. The Caiçara populations are located on islands (Búzios, Comprida, Grande, Ilhabela, Jaguanum, Gipóia) and on the coast (Bertioga, Puruba, Picinguaba, among others). Information gathered about the Caiçaras regarding the economic cycles of the local regions, along with ecological, historical and economic data available, are used to understand such resilience, and are complemented with comparative examples from the Brazilian Amazon and with variables such as the local restrictions imposed by environmental governmental agencies.
Highlights
Concepts in ecology have been, for a long time, useful in order to understand processes within and between human populations, and their environment
In order to illustrate the analysis of the history, livelihood and interactions among the populations of Caiçaras, data on the northern coast of São Paulo will be shown in terms of a metapopulation and resilience analysis
Metapopulation II shows an intense interaction occurring among populations of the northern coast, between the districts of Ubatuba (São Paulo State) and Paratí (Rio de Janeiro State)
Summary
Concepts in ecology have been, for a long time, useful in order to understand processes within and between human populations, and their environment. Examples of the uses of these concepts are found in disciplines such as Ethnobiology or Human Ecology [1,2]. This study, based on previous fieldwork carried out along 20 years in the Atlantic Forest coast, represents a mental exercise with the aim of helping understanding the connection between Caiçara populations and their historical coevolution within their surroundings. Ecological concepts such as of metapopulation and resilience sounded suitable, bringing insights and still more questions about the future scenarios for the Atlantic Forest Coast and their native inhabitants, the Caiçaras. Brazilian Atlantic Forests covered 1.1 million km, or 12% of the land surface of the country [3]. The Atlantic Forest remnants, currently about 7.5%, are an important area of endemism in Brazil [4], being composed of two major vegetation types: the Atlantic Rain (page number not for citation purposes)
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