Agrobiodiversity and ethnoknowledge in homegardens at Abaetetuba municipality, Pará state, northern Brazil

Abstract

The use of cropping systems such as homegardens, glades and fallow vegetation promotes the conservation of agricultural, culturaland native biodiversity in all tropical regions of the world. We aimed to identify the plant cultivation systems adopted in the‘Ramal do Bacuri’ community at Abaetetuba municipality, Pará state, northern Brazil, combining local knowledge with the use,management and conservation of biodiversity. We conducted semi-structured interviews using application forms with 67 gardenowners. Data was analyzed qualitatively and complemented with the indices of Total Species Diversity (SDtot), Total SpeciesEvenness (SEtot), and Use Consensus Value. In peridomestic homegardens we found 152 species, most of which have medicinaluse, while in forest homegardens we found 30 plants, most of which are used as timber. SDtot and SEtot in homegardens were63.58 and 0.383, respectively; on the other hand, forest homegardens had a low SDtot, of 25.11, yet knowledge on the use ofspecies therein is evenly distributed across the study site, as evidenced by the SEtot value found, of 0.513. The studied homegardensrepresent areas of socio-cultural production and ambience, and thereby contribute to increasing the quality of life of localresidents by ensuring food security, income generation, maintenance of social interactions, and conservation of agrobiodiversity.