RESUMO

In the Brazilian context, many plants have been marketed under the name of unconventional food plants (UFPs). However, it is not known whether this label causes some bias in product acceptance. Thus, two case studies were conducted to fill this gap. The research also sought to determine if the type of fair (agroecological vs. common) where the UFP is sold, the familiarity with the term, and the identification of a UFP when used as an ingredient act as moderating variables of this relationship. This paper presents data from two case studies. The first was conducted with jenipapo juice through sensory evaluations at a conventional fair and an agroecological fair in the metropolitan region of Maceió (Northeast Brazil). The product was offered to some attendees without giving them any information, while for other attendees, the presence of a UFP and the underlying concept were mentioned. In this context, the UFP label did not affect the sensory evaluation. In the second case study, taioba cakes were offered to students from a public university in the same city. In this context, the UFP-labelled product was less accepted than the product without the label only for students who had not heard of UFPs. The differences between the two case studies reinforce the need to expand research on this topic to identify in which contexts the UFP label influences sensory evaluations.

RESUMO

Several ethnobotanical studies have attempted to understand the criteria for the differential use of plant resources. However, we need more effort to understand the interaction between local uses: how using a species for a given purpose may affect its use for another purpose. Thus, we hypothesize that high importance species in a more specialized category of use may have their use reduced for other categories with a more generalist nature. We have conducted the study in three rural communities in northeastern Brazil, set in seasonally dry tropical forest areas. We applied the free-list technique to identify woody species used for medicinal and/or wood purposes (fuelwood, construction and technology). Respondents rated the species according to their efficiency for wood purposes and their local availability. We performed a multiple regression to assess the effects of medicinal popularity, perceived availability, and perceived efficiency for wood uses over the species popularity for wood uses. Our results showed that medicinal use has a significant protective effect against wood uses. Perceived availability and efficiency were significant explanatory variables for wood use. Maintaining the medicinal importance of certain species can be a powerful tool in protecting their populations against more harmful uses.

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RESUMO

Understanding the influence of fragmentation on the behavior of forest essential elements in different vegetation formations is fundamental for the definition of conservation strategies. In this study, the aim was to evaluate the influence of the edge environment on the phytosociological structure of a fragment of Open Ombrophylous Forest, in Rio Largo, Alagoas. Five transects of 10.0 x 100.0 m were subdivided into ten 10.0 x 10.0 m plots to collect the data. All tree individuals with Chest Height Circumference ≥ 15 cm were sampled, measured and later identified in the herbarium of the Institute of the Environment of Alagoas. For the analysis, the phytosociological parameters Shannon-Wiener diversity (H'), Pielou equability (J') were calculated after defined the successional classes and dispersion syndromes of the species sampled. The edge effect was analyzed by comparing the richness, diversity, equability and number of individuals in the interior and at the edge of the fragment, using the Venn diagram technique. There were 581 arboreal individuals, of which 434 were identified as belonging to 20 families, 24 genera and 30 morphospecies. Among the raised species, there were higher occurrences of early secondary (46.67%) and late (23.33%), as well as those of zoocoric dispersion (53.33%). The diversity was 2.89 nats/ind., and the Pielou (J') equability was 0.8497. The edge environment did not influence the establishment of species. This may have occurred due to the environmental characteristics of the open ombrophylous forest.

Compreender a influência da fragmentação sobre o comportamento das essências florestais em diferentes formações vegetacionais é fundamental para que se possa definir estratégias de conservação. Neste trabalho,objetivou-se de avaliar a influência do ambiente de borda sobre estrutura fitossociológica de um fragmento de Floresta Ombrófila Aberta, em Rio Largo, Alagoas. Para a coleta dos dados foram alocados cinco transectos de 10,0 x 100,0 m, subdivididos em dez parcelas de 10,0 x 10,0 m. Foram amostrados todos osindivíduos arbóreos com Circunferência à Altura do Peito ≥ 15 cm, que foram mensurados e posteriormente identificados no herbário do Instituto do Meio Ambiente de Alagoas. Para a análise foram calculados osparâmetros fitossociológicos, a diversidade de Shannon-Wiener (H'), a equabilidade de Pielou (J'), definidas as classes sucessionais e síndromes de dispersão das espécies amostradas. O efeito de borda foi analisado por meio de comparação da riqueza, diversidade, equabilidade e número de indivíduos no interior e na borda do fragmento, empregando-se a técnica diagrama de Venn. Foram registrados 581 indivíduos arbóreos, dos quais 434 foram identificados como pertencentes a 20 famílias, 24 gêneros e 30 morfoespécies. Entre as espécies levantadas, houve maior ocorrência de secundárias iniciais (46,67%) e tardias (23,33%), assim como de dispersão zoocórica (53,33%). A diversidade foi de 2,89 nats/ind., e a equabilidade de Pielou (J') foi de 0,8497. O ambiente de borda não influenciou no estabelecimento de espécies. Isso pode ter ocorrido em virtude das características da floresta ombrófila aberta.

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