title: Human perceptions of landscape change: The case of a monodominant forest of Attalea speciosa Mart ex. Spreng (Northeast Brazil).
abstract: From the perception of human populations, we can assess the changes occurring in certain landscapes and the factors that cause those changes. Such studies have proven helpful in increasing the knowledge of the history of a landscape, recognizing past formations and projecting its future. Our research objective was to determine how a landscape dominated by the palm tree Attalea speciosa, a species of ecological, economic, and cultural importance, has been changing over time by synthesizing and comparing historical documents and local perceptions. This study was conducted in Araripe Environmental Protection Area, Northeast Region, Brazil. To understand local landscape change, we interviewed active harvesters in four communities in which A. speciosa use has been documented. Historical documents were evaluated as a complement to the interview data. According to local informants, areas previously used for cultivation and animal husbandry that were abandoned or decimated by droughts in the region may have fostered the expansion of a monodominant A. speciosa forest. Furthermore, other forms of landscape management resulting from human population growth may also have affected the current and past distribution of this forest.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Etnobiologia Aplicada e Teórica (LEA), Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s.n., Recife, PE, 52171-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gabriela M A
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: de Almeida
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade de Pernambuco, Campus Mata Norte, Rua Amaro Maltês, 201, Nazaré da Mata, PE, 55800-000, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcelo A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Ecossistemas Nordestinos (LEVEN), Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s.n., Recife, PE, 52171-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Elcida L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Araújo
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Etnoecologia e Biodiversidade (LEB), Universidade Federal Rural do Semiárido, Avenida Francisco Mota, 572 Mossoró, Mossoró, RN, 59625-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Baldauf
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Etnobiologia Aplicada e Teórica (LEA), Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s.n., Recife, PE, 52171-900, Brazil. upa677@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Ulysses Paulino
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8131-8429
authors.initials: UP
authors.lastname: Albuquerque
mesh_terms: D028023:Arecaceae; D001938:Brazil; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D016468:Forestry; D065928:Forests; D006801:Humans; D010465:Perception
keywords: Environmental Perception; Ethnobiology; Ethnoecology; Landscape Ecology; Local Ecological Knowledge