Papéis ecológicos e papéis culturais de plantas conhecidas por comunidades quilombolas do litoral de Santa Catarina, Brasil

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Florianópolis, 2015.Comunidades tradicionais, como os Quilombolas, são reconhecidas por possuírem saberes resultantes da evolução com seus ambientes, o que permite sua existência e manutenção, mesmo em meio à modernidade. A partir da abordagem etnoecológica, investigou-se o Conhecimento Ecológico Local (CEL) de três comunidades quilombolas (Aldeia  AL, Santa Cruz  SC e Morro do Fortunato  MF), do litoral sul de Santa Catarina, com o foco nos papéis ecológicos e culturais de plantas conhecidas localmente. Após obter Anuência Prévia, realizamos entrevistas semi-estruturadas e oficinas participativas, além de turnês guiadas para coleta de plantas. Analisamos os papéis ecológicos a partir das interações ecológicas percebidas, com posterior construção de redes. Os papéis culturais foram analisados a partir das métricas de Espécie-chave Cultural (ECC), Índices de Significado Cultural (ISC), de Priorização (IP) e de Saliência (IS). De 184 entrevistas, 141 descreveram interações ecológicas, classificadas a posteriori. Houve diferença significativa na proporção média citações com interações ecológicas, onde o Morro do Fortunato apresentou maior proporção de plantas com interações (pAbstract : Traditional communities, like the Maroons, are recognized by possessing knowledge resulting from the co-evolution with their environment, which allows their existence and maintenance, even amidst modernity. From a ethnoecological approach, Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) of three maroon communities (Aldeia ? AL, Santa Cruz ? SC and Morro do Fortunato ? MF), from the south coast of Santa Catarina State was studied, with focus on ecological and cultural roles of locally known plants. After obtaining prior informed consent, semi-structured interviews and participatory workshops were performed, and samples of mentioned plants were collected for identification purposes. Ecological roles were analyzed from the perceived ecological interactions, and networks were constructed with these data. The cultural roles were analyzed with metrics such as Cultural Keystone Species (CKS), Cultural Significance Index (CSI) Priorization (PI) and Salience Indexes (SI). From 184 interviews, 141 described ecological interactions, classified by researchers a posteriori. There were significant differences among the averages of plant citations with ecological interactions between the communities, wich Morro do Fortunato displayed bigger proportion of plants with interactions. Among the cited plants species, 78.19% (AL), 69.31% (SC) and 50.29% (MF) displayed interactions with animals; and 21.81% (AL), 30.69% (SC) and 49.71% (MF) displayed interactions with plants, these frequencies being significantly different between communities. In relation to plant-animal interactions, the perception of herbivory was prominent. The frequency of animal citation by zoological classes displayed significant differences in the reports of interactive animals between communities. Addressing plant-plant interactions, perception of competition was prominent. Interactions networks were constructed, showing plants of ecological centrality, like Citrus sinensis, Manihot esculenta, Musa paradisiaca and Psidium guajava. The perception of ecological papers include: food source plants for wild and domestic animals and humans; host plants that serve as shelter, support and nursery for animals and plants; competitive plants for space, light and nutrients; companion plants and easers for the establishment of other plants. The maroons can recognize, name and interpret ecological interactions between species, perceiving if these interactions are positive or negative from the plant and human viewpoint, besides possessing conscience of the importance of the played ecological roles. From the 184 interviews, the CSI for each listed plant was obtained. In total, 363 species were cited, from 82 families. The CSI values varied between 0.22 and 21.86. Citrus sinensis and Musa paradisiaca obtained the highest values. The values of CKS varied between 7 to 32, with highlight to Manihot esculenta, Citrus sinensis e Musa paradisiaca. These plants configure a complex of plants of cultural importance for the three communities and perform roles aimed mainly to the maintenance of food security and health practices. The metrics of ISC and CKS presented a similar ethnobotanical repertory. These are mainly cultivated in home gardens and are recognized and managed, with past and current use. These cultural and ecologically important plants compose a similar set in the communities, reinforcing their relevance in this scenario. These records are important to assure practices aimed at the manteinance of the traditional knowledge of these communities, besides helping in the development of actions aimed at the conservation of important cultural and ecological species