The useful plants of Tambopata, Peru. 2. Additional hypothesis-testing in quantitative ethnobotany
Economic Botany
1993
Journal Article
47
1
33-43
ethnobotany plants non-timber forest products analytical techniques Explorer's Inn trees palms Arecaceae Annonaceae Lauraceae medicinal plants anthropology Madre de Dios Bibliography
We present results of applying a simple technique to statistically test several hypotheses in ethnobotany, using plant use data from non-indigenous people in southeast Peru. Hypotheses tested concern: (1) the power of eight different variables as predictors of a plant's use value; (2) comparisons of ethnobotanical knowledge among informants; and (3) the relationship between informant age and knowledge of plant uses. Each class of hypothesis is evaluated with respect to all uses, and classes (1) and (3) are evaluated for each of the following subsidiary use categories: construction, edible, commerce, medicine, and technology. We found that the family to which a plant belongs explains a large part of the variance in species' use values. Each of the other factors analyzed (growth-form, density, frequency, mean and maximum diameter, mean and maximum growth rate) is also significantly predictive of use values. Age significantly predicts informant knowledge of (1) all uses, and (2) of medicinal uses. Plant medicinal lore is particularly vulnerable to acculturation.