Lacunas na pesquisa etnobotânica na bacia do rio Negro, Amazonas, Brasil

Abstract

There are few publications available in the literature that summarize what has already been described and current trends in Ethnobotany, especially in remote and isolated regions, such as the Amazon. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compile information on Ethnobotany in the Negro River basin in the State of Amazonas, Brazil, from the beginning of the descriptions about the indigenous peoples of the region, made by Ignacio Szentmartonyi in 1749, until the year 2021. For this purpose, systematic and non-systematic bibliographic surveys were carried out in bibliographic databases, digital and physical libraries, and national and international academic collections, using as methodologies the search for keywords, the backward snowballing technique, and the mining of publications in reference libraries of the region. After identifying the publications, they were classified and analyzed according to: (1) year of study, (2) type of publication, (3) location, (4) indigenous group studied or non-indigenous population, (5) topics covered in the publications and (6) mention of collections deposited in herbarium. A list of plants and fungi mentioned in each of the studies was prepared. In total, 357 publications were found, most of them in book and article formats, carried out between 2006 and 2010, with emphasis on the upper Negro River region, where the population is predominantly indigenous. In general, the studies took place more in communities located along the banks of the basin's main river (Negro River), than along smaller rivers, except in the upper Negro region, in which settlements of indigenous peoples of the Aruak language family on the Içana River and Tukano language family on the Tiquié River stood out. The 357 studies had 13338 entries of plants and fungi, attributed to 1611 different species, most of them related to the agrobiodiversity of traditional populations, in which manioc (Manihot esculenta) was highlighted (206 publications). The main gaps found were: (1) lack of ethnobotanical research in settlements located on smaller rivers, in such a large and diverse region with complicated and expensive access; (2) little disclosure of “lost” information in publications with language barriers and limited access; and (3) the scarce mention of plants used by several ethnic groups, especially Nadeb (Nadahup), Dâw (Nadahup), Werekena (Aruak), Wanano (Tukano), Miriti-Tapuya (Tukano), Karapanã (Tukano), Makuna (Tukano) and Barasana (Tukano).