title: Medicinal plants at Rio Jauaperi, Brazilian Amazon: Ethnobotanical survey and environmental conservation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Amazon basin is a mosaic of different environments. Flooded riparian and upland forests play a significant role for the establishment of human settlements. Riparian communities in the Amazon have evolved depending on the use of plants applied for therapeutic purposes, thus developing important knowledge about their management and preparation.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This paper describes and analyzes the use and management of medicinal plants in order to establish links to environmental conservation. The categorization of habitats of occurrence and categories of diseases were held in five riparian communities at Rio Jauaperi, in the border between Roraima and Amazonas states in Brazil. The study sight is poorly investigated in terms of scientific research.
  
  
  METHODS
  Quantitative and qualitative ethnobotanical field inquiries and analytical methods including observations, individual and focus group discussions, individual interviews, preference ranking by free listing tasks, guided tours and community mapping were applied. Sutrop's cognitive salience index was applied in order to check the most important ethnospecies and diseases. The survey was conducted from February to December 2012.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 62 informants were interviewed, resulting in 119 botanical species documented. The most salient medicinal species are usually wide distributed and recognized transculturally. Arboreal habit was the most important corresponding to 47% of total species used. The most frequent accessed environments were terra-firme (upland forest), vargeado (flooded forest), poultry (regenerating forest) and restinga (seasonally flooded forest) which together provides 59% of the total medicinal plant species. Exotic species played a secondary role with only 20% of the total. Thirty seven percent of the species were cultivated. Plants at homegardens are usually associated with children's or women's disease. Xixuaú is the community with improved ability to environmental preservation using more forestry species. The most worrying disease was malaria. Biomedical assistance is precarious in the region and many diseases and healing rituals are culturally built.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ethnobotanical surveys of medicinal plants can indicate the level of biodiversity conservation and human health by integrating social and ecological analytical elements. Considering a predominance of management for subsistence, the higher richness of native medicinal species availability indicates that biodiversity and associated traditional knowledge are better preserved. The methods applied here might contribute for the decision-making process regarding conservation public policies and medical assistance in remote areas of the Amazon basin.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Botânica, Av. André Araújo 2936, Petrópolis, CEP 69067-375 Manaus, AM, Brazil. Electronic address: camilotp@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Camilo Tomazini
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Pedrollo
authors.affiliation: Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Amazonas, Campus Manaus-Zona Leste, Avenida Cosme Ferreira 8045, São José Operário, CEP 69085-015 Manaus, AM, Brazil.
authors.forename: Valdely Ferreira
authors.initials: VF
authors.lastname: Kinupp
authors.affiliation: Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Departamento de Antropologia, Av. Perimetral 1901, Terra Firme, CEP 66077-530 Belém, PA, Brazil.
authors.forename: Glenn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shepard
authors.affiliation: UCL School of Pharmacy, Centre for Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy, 29-39 Brunswick Sq., London WC1N 1AX, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heinrich
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D001938:Brazil; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D019448:Ethnobotany; D006801:Humans; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000145:classification*
keywords: Biodiversity conservation; Ethnobotany; Ethnopharmacological field studies; Traditional medicine South America