Acta Botanica Brasilica 

About: Acta Botanica Brasilica is an academic journal published by Sociedade Botânica do Brasil. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Species richness & Biology. It has an ISSN identifier of 0102-3306. It is also open access. Over the lifetime, 2163 publications have been published receiving 39524 citations. The journal is also known as: Acta Bot. Brasil. & Acta Botânica Brasílica.

Uso e diversidade de plantas medicinais em Santo Antonio do Leverger, MT, Brasil

Abstract: This work describes an ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants in Santo Antonio do Leverger Municipality, Mato Grosso State, Brazil and estimates the diversity of species with therapeutic use. Adult dwellers, male and female, were interviewed and plant gathering undertaken with their assistance. Voucher specimens were deposited at the Herbarium Rioclarense (HRCB). 228 species were identified, belonging to 73 families; 56% of the species grow spontaneously in natural and anthropically modified habitats, 41% are cultivated and 3% are purchased. Diversity indexes are among the highest ones reported in literature for medicinal plants in other tropical areas. Richness and diversity of spontaneous species may mirror to certain extent environmental richness and diversity, whereas for cultivated species, these measures could be linked to socio-cultural factors enhancing introduction of new plants and use information from outside the area. It is suggested that when traditional communities become more exposed to society at large, species number and knowledge about their use may at first increase, by foreign input; but, with the socio-economic changes that come about over time, plants used for therapeutic aims will be limited to the cultivated species and cosmopolite weeds.

Conhecimento botânico tradicional e conservação em uma área de caatinga no estado de Pernambuco, Nordeste do Brasil

Abstract: In this paper we synthesized information on the traditional botanical knowledge of a rural community in the municipal district of Alagoinha, Pernambuco state, as part of an ethnobotanical project developed in the area. We used a variety of research methods, including floristic surveys in agroforestry systems (homegardens) and in the natural vegetation. People identify and use over 108 plant species distributed in 10 categories: food, medicinal, wood (for fuel, construction etc), domestic use (technology), forage, poison, insect repellent, ornamental, shade and mystic. This work discusses the ways by which the forest resources are used and managed, and the implications for conservation of the caatinga.

Conhecimento popular sobre plantas medicinais em comunidades rurais de mata atlântica - Itacaré, BA, Brasil

Abstract: This study's goal was to caryy out an ethnobotanical survey focusing on the knowledge and use of medicinal plants within two rural communities (Marambaia and Camboinha), which are situated in an Environmental Protection Area in Atlantic Forest of Southern Bahia, Brazil. These communities use medicinal plants as an important therapeutic activity, which permits the rural inhabitants to be self-sufficient regarding health care. Data were collected through interviews with 26 families (24% of the total). The medicinal plants collected (98 species) were catalogued, identified and deposited at the Herbarium Rio Clarense (HRCB). They belong to 40 families so that Lamiaceae was the most cited. The majority of these species (78%) are cultivated, usually in backyards by local inhabitants. The leaf is the most common part of the plant used in medicinal preparations. The species with the greatest number of citations were Chenopodium ambrosioides L. and Lippia alba (Mill) N.E. Br. These species are also associated with the highest number of therapeutic uses. Use agreement and diversity index from this survey were compared to other surveys conducted in Brazilian Tropical Forests.

Recursos medicinais de espécies do Cerrado de Mato Grosso: um estudo bibliográfico

Abstract: A flora do Cerrado e de enorme riqueza, mas somente 1,5% de sua extensao e protegida por lei. Em vista disto, e preciso valorizar os recursos que ela oferece e que estao sob forte pressao de extincao, como as especies medicinais. Assim, o presente estudo faz uma revisao bibliografica aprofundada de trabalhos que indiquem as informacoes das especies medicinais do cerrado mato-grossense, com intuito de se estabelecer uma base de dados regionais e, consequentemente, iniciar uma discussao em nivel nacional. A revisao da flora medicinal constatou o total de 509 especies, distribuidas em 297 generos e 96 familias. As familias com maior numero de especies foram Asteraceae e Fabaceae (7% das especies) e os generos foram Hyptis e Tabebuia (oito especies). As especies com maior numero de citacoes bibliograficas foram Stryphnodendron adstringens (Mart.) Coville e Anemopaegma arvense (Vell.) Stelf. O predominio foi de especies arboreas (31%). Os valores relatados superaram, em muito, estimativas anteriores e, em vista das areas que ainda nao foram cobertas por pesquisas mato-grossenses, acredita-se que o presente resultado podera ser significativamente ampliado no futuro.

Florística e fitossociologia de um remanescente de vegetação caducifólia espinhosa arbórea em Caruaru, Pernambuco

Abstract: The Deciduous Thorny Vegetation (DTV) that covers the semi-arid area of Northeastern Brazil, called caatinga, is highly diversified as a function of its climatic and morphopedological characteristics. Since little is known of its characteristics in the border of its distribution, as in the Agreste region on the Borborema plateau, a floristic and phytosociological survey was conducted in an area at Caruaru, Pernambuco. All plants > 1m high e > 3cm of stem diameter within 36 plots, 10 × 10m each, had their height and diameter measured. A total of 96 species, belonging to 41 families were found in the area, of which 55 species were included in the phytosociological survey. Most of them are also found in the dry core of the Northeastern semi-arid region, but a few of them occur in places with higher water availability. Total density (3,810 plant ha-1) and basal area (24.9m2 ha-1) and stem diameter distribution were within the range found in other DTV areas but the number of plants taller than 8 m was higher, almost double the previous highest value. The most important species were the same found in other DTV areas but different from those of regional Montane Forests (MF), Deciduous Non Thorny Vegetation (DNTV) and Humid Lowland Forests (HLF), in Northeast. In a cluster analysis, based on flora, HLF formed a separate group and in the other group DTV and MF were more similar than DNTV. Structurally, DTV has less small plants than both MF and DNTV and less large plants than MF but more than DNTV. The vegetation in the Agreste at Caruaru is an arboreal DTV, with tall plants and the presence of a few species more common in more humid areas than the dry core of the Northeast.