Etnobotánica Cuantitativa en Agro-Paisajes del Caribe Colombiano: Implicaciones para la Conservación del Bosque Seco Tropical

Contextualization: Tropical dry forests (Bs-T) are important ecosystems for the life of communities and also threatened. The techniques in quantitative ethnobotany is fundamental for the conservation of biodiversity since it documents the traditional knowledge on the use of trees and provides technical tools, to preserve the biocultural wealth, guide the integration of trees into landscapes in a sustainable manner and strengthen population empowerment in the management of natural resources for subsistence and local development. Knowledge gap: Lack of documentation on species and their traditional uses, added to the scarcity of research analyzing how this knowledge is transmitted between generations, understanding the cultural and social mechanisms that allow the conservation and use of this knowledge. Objectives: To document traditional knowledge about the use of trees, and their useful parts, in the departments of Atlántico, Bolívar, César, La Guajira, Magdalena and Sucre. Methodology: Conducting semi-structured interviews with 75 informants, distributed in different consultation groups such as experts (25), experts (18) and producers (32)where ethnobotanical uses and part of the useful plant of the species used in the study area were investigated Results and conclusions: 313 species were identified, among which the Fabaceae family predominates with 80 species and a Shannon index of 5.5, which suggests a considerable diversity in traditional knowledge on plant use; the Pielou index was 0.66, reflecting that there is no dominant species in the number of uses n. The species with the highest number of uses are Genipa americana L, with 17 uses; Cordia Alba Jacq, with 16 uses; Guazuma ulmifolia Lam and Enterolobium cyclocarpum (Jacq.) Griseb with 15 uses respectively. This study highlights the diversity of traditional knowledge and the need to conserve knowledge of the natural resources that support use practices. This study highlights the diversity of traditional knowledge and stresses the need to conserve knowledge as the natural resources that sustain use practices. The findings provide a basis for future ethnobotanical research and provide valuable guidance for the development of biodiversity conservation and sustainable management strategies in the Colombian Caribbean region.