Management of Fruit Species in Urban Home Gardens of Argentina Atlantic Forest as an Influence for Landscape Domestication

Abstract

Home gardens are considered germplasm repositories and places for experimentation, thus they are key sites for the domestication of plants. Domestication is considered a constant process that occurs along a continuum from wild to managed to domesticated populations. Management may lead to the modification of populations and in other cases to their distribution, changing population structure in a landscape. Our objective is focused on the management received in home gardens by perennial species of fruits. For this, the management practices applied to native and exotic perennial fruits species by a group of 20 women in the periurban zone of Iguazú, Argentina, were analyzed. In-depth interviews were conducted, as well as guided tours for the recognition and collection of specimens of species and ethnovarieties. Sixty-six fruit species managed in the home gardens were recorded. The predominant families are Rutaceae, Myrtaceae, and Rosaceae. The fruit species with the highest number of associated management practices are pitanga (Eugenia uniflora) and pindó (Syagrus rommanzoffiana). The 10 species with the highest management intensity are (in decreasing order of intensity) banana (Musa x paradisiaca), palta (Persea americana), pitanga (E. uniflora), mango (Mangifera indica), cocú (Allophylus edulis), mamón (Carica papaya), guayaba (Psidium guajava), limón mandarina (Citrus x taitensis), güembé (Philodendron bipinnatifidum), and mandarina (Citrus reticulata). Among the families with the greatest modifications in their distribution, abundance and presence of ethnovarieties in domestic gardens, are the native Myrtaceae and the exotic Rutaceae. The main management practices involved are cultivation, tolerance, transplant and enhancement in decreasing order. It can be concluded that in Iguazú, fruit species management shows both in plant germplasm as in environment a continuum that through tolerance, transplant and cultivation latu sensu has derived in a mosaic of species in different management situations, which in turn are representative of an anthropogenic landscape in constant domestication and change.

Management of native and exotic plant species with edible fruits in a rural community in a protected area of NW Patagonia

“…In addition, it is noteworthy that transplantation is the most common practice, while sowing is rare. The opposite was found in the Furlan et al (2017) study in a tropical area, sowing being the main practice used with citrus species in the north of Argentina. One possible explanation could be the strong presence of introduced herbivores that feed on seeds and young trees, a consequence of the livestock paradigms that were established in Patagonia (Ladio and Molares 2017).…”

“…Number of management practices per species: NMPs= cites for a species (including all types of management practice). This variable shows to what extent a species is managed (Furlan et al 2017).…”

“…Other determining factors in management intensity are: the amount of energy invested in management, the use of tools or machines, and/or the implementation of organizational rules in the community, among others identified by several authors (Blancas et al 2013;González-Insuasti et al 2008;González-Insuasti and Caballero 2007). Furlan et al (2017) in particular point out that the accumulated number of different management practices carried out on a species is indicative of higher management intensity; therefore, this species experiences greater coevolutionary pressures that could result in incipient domestication, and in an increasingly domesticated landscape.…”

La Etnobiología en Áreas Rurales Y Su Aporte a La Lucha Para Desentrañar Sesgos Patriarcales

“…También, la literatura etnobiológica que se ha dedicada a la salud indígena y ha dado innumerables ejemplos de la importancia del concepto de bienestar físico, emocional y espiritual para las sociedades (SHAHID et al, 2010; TORRI, 2010), y de no solo atender a los componentes materiales del sistema médico (LENAERTS y SPADAFORA, 2008). Muy especialmente destaco cómo se ha documentado sobre la alegría que da tener flores en los huertos en distintas partes del mundo y cómo este sentimiento experimentado es el impulsor del enriquecimiento de especies en dichos espacios (GASCO, 2008, CARDOSO et al, 2015FURLAN et al, 2017).…”

Mayan Homegardens in Decline: The Case of the Pitahaya (Hylocereus undatus), a Vine Cactus With Edible Fruit

“…Homegardens are repositories of plant genetic resources; they play a crucial role in the subsistence of local inhabitants and also function as centers for the domestication and conservation of crop wild relatives (Barbhuiya, Sahoo, & Upadhyaya, 2016). In addition, homegardens offer ecosystem services such as (a) food security and nutrition; (b) medicine; (c) livelihood; (d) places for the transmission of traditional knowledge and for cultural, symbolic, and ritual purposes; (e) recreation areas; and (f ) a way to maintain social networks through gifts and reciprocity (Aguilar-Støen, Moe, & Camargo-Ricalde, 2009;Calvet-Mir et al, 2016;Furlan, Pochettino, & Hilgert, 2017;Lope-Alzina & Howard, 2012). There is a large number of studies on homegardens around the world from diverse perspectives.…”