Cognition, culture and utility: Plant classification by Paraguayan immigrant farmers in Misiones, Argentina

Background: This study was conducted in three rural communities of small farmers of Paraguayan origin living in the province of Misiones, Argentina. These Criollos (Mestizos) hail chiefly from departments located in the east of Paraguay, where the climate and flora have similar characteristics as th...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Kujawska, Monika, Jiménez Escobar, Néstor David, Nolan, Justin M., Arias Mutis, Daniel
Formato:	Artículo publishedVersion
Lenguaje:	Inglés
Publicado:	BioMed Central 2017
Materias:	FOLK EPISTEMOLOGY MEDICINAL PLANTS RURAL COMMUNITIES WILD EDIBLE PLANTS Otras Ciencias Biológicas Ciencias Biológicas CIENCIAS NATURALES Y EXACTAS
Acceso en línea:	http://hdl.handle.net/11336/63007 http://suquia.ffyh.unc.edu.ar/handle/11336/63007
Aporte de:	Suquía - Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba (IDACOR, CONICET y UNC) de Universidad Nacional de Córdoba

id	I10-R181-11336-63007
record_format	dspace
institution	Universidad Nacional de Córdoba
institution_str	I-10
repository_str	R-181
collection	Suquía - Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba (IDACOR, CONICET y UNC)
language	Inglés
topic	FOLK EPISTEMOLOGY MEDICINAL PLANTS RURAL COMMUNITIES WILD EDIBLE PLANTS Otras Ciencias Biológicas Ciencias Biológicas CIENCIAS NATURALES Y EXACTAS
spellingShingle	FOLK EPISTEMOLOGY MEDICINAL PLANTS RURAL COMMUNITIES WILD EDIBLE PLANTS Otras Ciencias Biológicas Ciencias Biológicas CIENCIAS NATURALES Y EXACTAS Kujawska, Monika Jiménez Escobar, Néstor David Nolan, Justin M. Arias Mutis, Daniel Cognition, culture and utility: Plant classification by Paraguayan immigrant farmers in Misiones, Argentina
topic_facet	FOLK EPISTEMOLOGY MEDICINAL PLANTS RURAL COMMUNITIES WILD EDIBLE PLANTS Otras Ciencias Biológicas Ciencias Biológicas CIENCIAS NATURALES Y EXACTAS
description	Background: This study was conducted in three rural communities of small farmers of Paraguayan origin living in the province of Misiones, Argentina. These Criollos (Mestizos) hail chiefly from departments located in the east of Paraguay, where the climate and flora have similar characteristics as those in Misiones. These ecological features contribute to the continuation and maintenance of knowledge and practices related to the use of plants. Methods: Fieldwork was conducted between September 2014 and August 2015. Forty five informants from three rural localities situated along the Parana River participated in an ethno-classification task. For the classification event, photographs of 30 medicinal and edible plants were chosen, specifically those yielding the highest frequency of mention among the members of that community (based on data obtained in the first stage of research in 2014). Variation in local plant classifications was examined and compared using principal component analysis and cluster analysis. Results: We found that people classify plants according to application or use (primarily medicinal, to a lesser extent as edible). Morphology is rarely taken into account, even for very similar and closely-related species such as varieties of palms. In light of our findings, we highlight a dominant functionality model at work in the process of plant cognition and classification among farmers of Paraguayan origin. Salient cultural beliefs and practices associated with rural Paraguayan plant-based medicine are described. Additionally, the manner by which residents’ concepts of plants articulate with local folk epistemology is discussed. Conclusions: Culturally constructed use patterns ultimately override morphological variables in rural Paraguayans’ ethnobotanical classification.
format	Artículo Artículo publishedVersion
author	Kujawska, Monika Jiménez Escobar, Néstor David Nolan, Justin M. Arias Mutis, Daniel
author_facet	Kujawska, Monika Jiménez Escobar, Néstor David Nolan, Justin M. Arias Mutis, Daniel
author_sort	Kujawska, Monika
title	Cognition, culture and utility: Plant classification by Paraguayan immigrant farmers in Misiones, Argentina
title_short	Cognition, culture and utility: Plant classification by Paraguayan immigrant farmers in Misiones, Argentina
title_full	Cognition, culture and utility: Plant classification by Paraguayan immigrant farmers in Misiones, Argentina
title_fullStr	Cognition, culture and utility: Plant classification by Paraguayan immigrant farmers in Misiones, Argentina
title_full_unstemmed	Cognition, culture and utility: Plant classification by Paraguayan immigrant farmers in Misiones, Argentina
title_sort	cognition, culture and utility: plant classification by paraguayan immigrant farmers in misiones, argentina
publisher	BioMed Central
publishDate	2017
url	http://hdl.handle.net/11336/63007 http://suquia.ffyh.unc.edu.ar/handle/11336/63007
work_keys_str_mv	AT kujawskamonika cognitioncultureandutilityplantclassificationbyparaguayanimmigrantfarmersinmisionesargentina AT jimenezescobarnestordavid cognitioncultureandutilityplantclassificationbyparaguayanimmigrantfarmersinmisionesargentina AT nolanjustinm cognitioncultureandutilityplantclassificationbyparaguayanimmigrantfarmersinmisionesargentina AT ariasmutisdaniel cognitioncultureandutilityplantclassificationbyparaguayanimmigrantfarmersinmisionesargentina
bdutipo_str	Repositorios
_version_	1764820398135836675

Cognition, culture and utility: Plant classification by Paraguayan immigrant farmers in Misiones, Argentina

Ejemplares similares