Ulysses Paulino de Albuquerque

Federal University of Pernambuco | UFPE · Department of Botany

Many scientific fields investigate the relationship between humans and nature from different perspectives and with a wide range of questions. These fields include, for example, human ecology, human behavioral ecology, and evolutionary psychology, and they are linked through the fact that they all adopt ecological and/or evolutionary hypotheses to u...

Free listing is a methodological tool that is widely used in various scientific disciplines. A typical assumption of this approach is that individual lists reflect a subset of total knowledge and that the first items listed are the most culturally important. However, little is known about how cognitive processes influence free lists. In this study,...

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Ethnobotany is becoming an important tool for understanding how traditional medical systems are organized and which variables affect their structure and dynamics. However, some phenomena observed in ethnobotanical studies led us to question whether such phenomena are real or methodological artifacts. The small propo...

Ethnopharmacological relevance: This study sought to understand the role of plants and animals in traditional medical systems and evaluate the capacity of these systems to absorb impacts and maintain their identity by determining the existence of functional substitutes. Material and methods: Ethnobiological data were collected through semi-struc...

The present study aimed to understand human plant resource usage strategies in the context of the Ecological Apparency Hypothesis and Optimal Foraging Theory. The relationship between plant resource knowledge and availability was tested in a rural community (Palmital) in a dry Atlantic Forest fragment in the state of Minas Gerais, Southeastern Braz...

In epidemic and pandemic contexts, such as that of COVID-19, epidemiological changes are continuous, and many people do not have access to accurate, up-to-date information. In this context, social learning can be an advantageous survival strategy. We investigate whether people remember and communicate information attributed to someone prestigious m...

Tropical forest regeneration across old fields has been mainly described as a predictable sequence of functional plant assemblages in response to environmental filtering. However, the way plant reproductive diversity is organized along forest regeneration and how the reproductive profile of woody flora may impact regeneration have been poorly inves...

Food biodiversity is essential for improving nutrition and reducing hunger in populations worldwide. However, the relationship between food availability and food consumption in middle and low-income countries is still controversial. We used Brazil, one of the world's megabiodiverse countries, as a case study to investigate the magnitude of biodiver...

We employed a biocultural approach to understand the dynamics of knowledge and use of natural resources associated with immaterial aspects of culture. We investigated how urbanization influences the richness of species known and used by “Caboclinho” prac‐ titioners, a carnivalesque manifestation of indigenous culture, which occurs in rural and urba...

Background: The literature gathers several pieces of evidence on the use of medicinal plants for disease treatment, showing that local knowledge about medicinal plants is a relevant reservoir of information for local health treatment. However, a direct positive correlation between this local knowledge and the perception of well-being is still unkno...

Este livro foi pensado para ser um primeiro texto introdutório às bases ecológicas e evolutivas do comportamento humano, voltado para o ensino ao nível de graduação. Embora cada capítulo possa ser lido em qualquer ordem, organizamos de modo que a sequência sugerida permita ao aprofundamento paulatino dos diferentes conceitos e disciplinas dedi- cad...

Ecology and evolution are the core disciplines that investigate the processes that generate and maintain biodiversity in space and time. The theoretical and applied studies produced in these two disciplines represent pivotal information to set conservation biology priorities. Because humans represent one of the main factors contributing to land-use...

Animal self-medication is thought to provide an adaptive advantage, as species would actively respond to a disease state or homeostatic imbalances. In wild nonhuman primates, it is challenging to differentiate plant use as part of the diet or as medication, especially because self-medication can be preventive or therapeutic. Here, we aimed to compi...

Ethnobiologists have been guiding their research from different approaches and disciplinary lenses. There are those who defend a scientifically-oriented ethnobiology while others believe in an engaged ethnobiology (or an ethnobiology of action) aimed at learning from ancestral wisdom and, simultaneously, supporting the holders of this wisdom in dif...

Human beings have an adaptive memory that adjusts to different threats in the environment; however, we know little about the factors that modulate this plasticity in memory. Using challenges related to disease threats as a research model, we investigated whether the regularity of occurrence and previous experience with diseases would be factors res...

Ecology and evolution are the core disciplines that investigate the processes that generate and maintain biodiversity in space and time. The theoretical and applied studies produced in these two disciplines represent pivotal information to set conservation biology priorities. Because humans represent one of the main factors contributing to land-use...

When we launched Ethnobiology and Conservation (EC) ten years ago, we were moved by the spirit of enthusiasm for the growth that ethnobiology had been experiencing (Alves and Albuquerque 2012). Despite the challenges clearly identified with the task of creating a new open-access journal, it was exciting. Since the creation of EC, we have sought to...

Notes on Ethnobotany *This text is a revised version of one of the chapters of a book I recently published in portuguese (Albuquerque 2022) entitled Learning Ethnobiology. Abstract In this note, I construct a narrative that defends the interdisciplinary aspect of ethnobiology based on my experience as ethnobiologist. While I point out the criticism...

Objetivou-se avaliar a influência das ervas sobre o recrutamento e sobrevivência de plântulas lenhosas em florestas jovem (FJ) e madura (FM) de caatinga. Foram estabelecidas 50 parcelas (1x1m) pareadas (com e sem ervas), distribuídas em cada floresta. Todas as plântulas foram marcadas e o número mensal de novos nascimentos foi registrado. As sobrev...

Domestication involves a genetic selection process that may lead to loss of genetic diversity. Several species that are used as food resources by native Americans may have been domesticated or managed to some degree. In the Cerrado and the Caatinga ecoregions in Brazil, fruits and seeds are commonly found in archeological sites, implying human cons...

Disruption of ecosystem services associated with climate change may affect human well-being in different ways. Medicinal plants provide extremely relevant ecosystem services. Here, we tested the hypothesis that highly suitable habitats (i.e., suitability ≥ 0.8) for medicinal plants in Caatinga dry forest may be potentially contracted under scenario...

We aimed to evaluate how proximity to urban areas interferes with the relationship between socioeconomic variables and various aspects of medicinal plant knowledge. The study was conducted in six communities of the Catimbau National Park (PARNA Catimbau) in the state of Pernambuco. Eighty participants were interviewed. The communities were divided...

Although many theoretical studies have investigated which social learning biases are involved in the diffusion of information in human groups, many of these biases are still unknown. We investigated, for the first time, whether factors such as ancestry, regularity in evolutionary time, regularity in the current environment, and previous experience...

Background Measures of the importance of medicinal plants have long been used in ethnobotany and ethnobiology to understand the influence of social-ecological system factors in the formation of individuals’ differential knowledge and use. However, there is still a gap in empirical studies that seek to understand the temporal aspects of this process...

Chronic anthropogenic disturbances and climate change are the main threats to biodiversity, acting as potential drivers of assembly reorganization in human-modified tropical landscapes. We aimed to understand how the reproductive traits of edible fruit plant assemblages respond to chronic disturbances and aridity in the Caatinga, a dry forest in no...

Bird hunting in Brazil's semi-arid region is a widespread practice with implications for biodiversity conservation and food security in local communities. This study evaluated how socioeconomic factors determine the activity level and bird hunting profile in Catimbau National Park where it is banned. We tested if gender, age, schooling, occupation,...

O título deste pequeno livro é inspirado na obra Aprender Antropologia, do antropólogo francês François Laplantine. Conheci a obra de Laplantine nos anos 1990, quando começava a surgir meu interesse por Antropologia e Filosofia. Laplantine veio algumas vezes ao Brasil e, se não me engano, visitou minha cidade, Recife. Mas este livrinho não tem a me...

O material que você tem nas mãos é fruto de uma parceria entre pesquisadores do Laboratório de Ecologia e Evolução de Sistemas Socioecológicos (LEA) da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco e o povo Fulni-ô. Aqui apresentamos os resultados de pesquisas de mestrado e doutorado que envolveram a temática do artesanato Fulni-ô. Relatamos um pouco da hist...

Ethnobiology is a discipline that deals with understanding the relationship between human beings and biota. The strong interdisciplinary component of ethnobiology allows it to interact with different fields of knowledge. The evolutionary approach in ethnobiology is not completely absent, however it lacks systematization, which has been recently pro...

Aquelas pessoas que frequentam os laboratórios e escritórios acadêmicos, tendo a ciência (ou melhor as ciências, no plural) como profissão, são as mesmas que descansam em casa, tomam cerveja, ouvem música, vão a cultos religiosos, aos cinemas e às praias. Esses outros prazeres não surgem depois daquele prazer envolvido na busca (profissional) pelo...

Ethnobotanical studies report that human populations from the Brazilian Caatinga biome use tree legumes (Fabaceae) with medicinal and food purposes. Our study provides a systematic review of the available published information concerning the antioxidant potential of Hymenaea courbaril L. (jatobá), Libidibia ferrea (Mart. Ex Tul.) L.P.Queiroz (jucá)...

The contingent valuation method employs a hypothetical scenario to record a person's declared preference with regard to their willingness to pay for an environmental asset or willingness to accept (WTA) compensation for not using it. Many studies have evaluated the inclination to conserve watersheds, forest areas, or certain species. In this study,...

Este livro contém três capítulos que abordam a interface entre a Etnobiologia Evolutiva e a Psicologia Evolucionista.

Recently, a new branch of ethnobiology has been proposed, called evolutionary ethnobiology (EE), which utilizes theoretical concepts of ecology and evolution to investigate the historical and contemporary factors that influence human knowledge and practices associated with the biota. EE has contributed conceptually and theoretically by employing ec...

Planning conservation strategies in semiarid regions is challenging since local populations are socially vulnerable and highly dependent on natural resources. Consequently, accessing the factors that develop knowledge and determine the use of forest products could aid in planning conservation actions or rethinking past strategies. We use an environ...

Emerging and re-emerging diseases are responsible for recurrently affecting the health of human populations. Although people are aware of these diseases, they do not seem to adopt prophylactic methods to prevent them. Here, we propose to investigate the influence of religiosity/spirituality (R/S) on the frequency of the adoption of prophylactic beh...

Background We aimed to verify whether the taste and chemical composition influence the selection of plants in each medicinal category, whether within a socio-ecological system or between different socio-ecological systems. To this end, we use the theoretical bases of the Utilitarian Redundancy Model and the Utilitarian Equivalence Model. We studied...

People living in areas vulnerable to diseases caused by extreme climate change events, such as semiarid regions, tend to recognize them quickly and, consequently, develop strategies to cope with their effects. Our study investigated the perception of diseases by farmers living in the semiarid region of Northeastern Brazil and the adaptive strategie...

Major events, such as pandemics and war, generate great public interest in science, as in the current moment in which we live. We argue, however, that this interest operates through historical pulses and that it does not lead to an increase in scientific literacy in society in general and even among the scientists themselves.

Disinformation (fake news) is a major problem that affects modern populations, especially in an era when information can be spread from one corner of the world to another in just one click. The diffusion of misinformation becomes more problematic when it addresses issues related to health, as it can affect people at both the individual and populati...

Adaptive memory is the propensity of human memory to easily store and retrieve important information to deal with challenges related to the Pleistocene. Recent evidence shows that humans have had a multiregional evolution across the African continent, including the rainforests and deciduous forests; however, there is little evidence regarding the i...

Background We aimed to verify whether the taste and chemical composition influence the selection of plants in each medicinal category, whether within a socio-ecological system or between different socio-ecological systems. To this end, we use the theoretical bases of the Utilitarian Redundancy Model and the Utilitarian Equivalence Model. We studied...

Small-scale farmers who depend on natural resources for subsistence in rural areas are especially vulnerable to climate change and may develop adaptive responses once they understand the nature of the risks and their consequences. We examine the effects of schooling, experience in agriculture, and the number and severity of risks perceived by farme...

There has been growing academic interest in food plants. This is a subject that lies at the frontiers of knowledge of various areas, such as environmental sciences, nutrition, public health, and humanities. To date, however, we do not have a book bringing these multi-disciplinary perspectives to bear on this complex field. This book presents the...

Domestic wood collection affects plant communities through constant biomass removal. We assessed the effects of wood collection for firewood and fence construction on tree community structure in a seasonally dry tropical forest in Brazil. We described the harvest patterns of wood products. Further, we evaluated the effects of rainfall levels and wo...

Researchers have become increasingly concerned with the relation between traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and academic ecological knowledge (AEK). TEK includes complex predictive resources that often remain insufficiently reflected in ecological research, conservation practices, and ecosystem services. At the same time, knowledge integration...

Bauhinia cheilantha (Fabaceae), known popularly as pata-de-vaca and mororó has been largely recommended treating several diseases in folk medicine. However, information on safe doses and use is still scarce. The goal was to evaluate in-vitro antioxidant and antihemolytic and also acute and sub-acute toxicity effects of hydroalcoholic extract from B...

The present study aimed at assessing the environmental perception of tourists about the impacts of an onboard excursion into nature, referred as an ecotourism activity. We interviewed 347 tourists after they attended a dolphin-watching activity at the Pipa Beach located within a protected area in Northeastern Brazil. We gathered socioeconomic infor...

Após definir suas hipóteses e perguntas de pesquisa, os pesquisadores escolhem os métodos que podem fornecer as informações necessárias para avaliar suas ideias. No campo da etnobiologia, as entrevistas são uma das técnicas básicas mais comumente usadas para obter informações (detalhes sobre os vários tipos de entrevistas, suas aplicações, vantagen...

Cardiospermum sp. é uma trepadeira comum em ambientes antropizados, por isso, estudos tentam controlar suas populações por considerarem estas trepadeiras uma espécie invasora. A coleta das sementes foi realizada numa área de cultivo. Posteriormente, foi observada a presença/ausência de evidências de predação e, logo após, foi aferida a massa fresca...

The study examined the total phenol and tannin contents in stem bark and leaf tissues of the medicinal species Cenostigma microphyllum (Mart ex. G. Don) E. Gagnon & G. P. Lewis distributed under different rainfall amounts and soil fertility levels in the Caatinga, the largest nucleus of Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest and Woodlands in the Neotropics...

Os métodos qualitativos utilizados para coletar dados são diversos e envolvem entrevistas, métodos participativos, história oral, pesquisas em arquivos históricos, interpretação de fotografias e vídeos, entre outros. Nesse capítulo, iremos nos deter na abordagem de dois métodos muito utilizados nesse tipo de pesquisa: a observação participante e o...

In this article, we examine the review by Leonti et al. (2020) on the use of hypotheses in ethnobotany and we argue that the authors presented two main argumentative deficiencies on their analysis: superficiality and epistemological exclusivism. We discussed the main criticisms of the diversification hypothesis, the utilitarian redundancy model and...

Medicinal plants are used by local populations to treat numerous diseases, and many species are used as raw materials for the manufacture of medicines sold by the pharmaceutical industry. However, the intensive collection of these resources poses great challenges related to their conservation. Through a systematic review, we gathered information on...

Efforts have been taken to understand the criteria for selecting plants for various purposes. However, regarding fuelwood use, there is still disagreement in the literature concerning the processes that drive their use. As a result, wood quality and its availability in the environment have alternated in studies as the main determinants in terms of...

Background The free list, also written “freelist”, or “free recall”, is an ethnographic method that characterizes the local knowledge of a population about a given cultural domain. However, there is still much to elucidate about the variables that can influence the number of items that participants cite using this technique. This study applied a ca...

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 c...

This research sought to contribute to plant ethnotaxonomic studies and aimed to describe cognitive and utilitarian aspects used in communities in the semi-arid region of Brazil. The question asked in the interview was: "What plants do you know?" The interviews were conducted with local specialists, using plant names written on cards randomly placed...

en • Ingredients derived from wild mammals are widely used in traditional remedies. Large datasets of traits, geographic ranges, and phylogeny are also available for mammals. Therefore, mammals are an ideal group in which to explore the ecological (e.g. range size, body mass) and evolutionary (i.e. shared ancestry) correlates of the use of animal‐...

Ethnonutrition is the study of diets in the context of food systems of different peoples and cultures. Its scope comprises native or local categories used to classify food, and also includes biodiverse food availability, local culinary techniques, seasonal-ity, and cultural perceptions related to diet with nutritional implications. Here, we describ...

(...) Recentemente, um novo ramo da etnobiologia foi proposto, chamado de etnobiologia evolutiva (EE), o qual investiga os aspectos históricos e contemporâneos que afetam os conhecimentos e práticas humanas associadas com a biota, a partir de cenários teóricos da ecologia e evolução. A EE tem contribuído conceitualmente e teoricamente por empregar...

In this paper, we present the points of convergence between of adaptive memory and cultural attraction, and how these two approaches can help evolutionary ethnobiologists understand human cognition and behavior in relation to nature. In addition, we present empirical evidence of how the union of genetic, cultural and ecological factors can shape th...

Among the recently discussed evolutionary issues on medical systems, one of the most controversial issues is the replacement of local medical systems with the biomedical system. Our study investigates the hybridization of two medical systems and the role that the perception of incidence and severity of diseases has in memorization and transmission...

As herbáceas representam grande valor para as populações humanas desde a antiguidade, fornecendo diversos recursos necessários à sua subsistência, sendo o uso medicinal o que recebe maior destaque entre as categorias citadas. Apesar disso, existem poucos estudos científicos que considerem o seu potencial de uso terapêutico e fatores como a história...

We develop an integrative conceptual framework for addressing social-ecological systems across different spatial and temporal scales. Ethnobiologists study social-ecological systems through the lens of heterogeneous disciplines from the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Despite the integrative ambitions of the field, ethnobiology o...