Abstract Detail
Economic Botany: Ethnobotany Coe, Felix G. [1]. Ethnobotany of the Rama of Southeastern Nicaragua and Comparisons with Miskitu Plant Lore. The Rama are one of the three Amerindian groups of eastern Nicaragua. This is the first systematic study of Rama ethnobotany. A total of 249 plant species, in 190 genera and 78 families were documented as useful. Included are 190 species used as medicinals, 80 as food plants, and 99 for other uses. The ethnobotanical lore of two distinct indigenous groups, the Rama and Miskitu, were compared using the Sorensen Species Similarity Index (SSI). The SSI of the Rama in relation to the Miskitu was 0.57 indicating a high degree of similarity between the two groups. A total of 171 of 249 species documented were used by both groups and 78 unique species used by the Rama. These results have important implications for the understanding of ethnobotany as they demonstrate how unrelated indigenous groups sharing the same ecosystem, though separated by some physical distance can have significantly similar ethnobotanical lore.
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1 - University of Connecticut, 85 Lawler Road, West Hartford, Connecticut, 06117-2697, USA
Keywords:
Rama
ethnobotany
quantitative methods
comparative analysis
Species
consensus of species uses.
Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Topics
Session: CP12
Location: Lake Huron/Hilton
Date: Monday, July 9th, 2007
Time: 11:00 AM
Number: CP12002
Abstract ID:112 | 