Background. Non-timber forest products are being integrated into conservation strategies. Medicinal plants are considered a reason to conserve the source forests.Question. Can the use of medicinal plants motivate forest conservation?Study site and dates. The study was conducted in Santiago Camotlán, Distrito Villa Alta, Oaxaca, a humid mountainous area in the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca, Mexico, from August 2011 to May 2013.Methods. Ecological Land Units were characterized, and the relative importance of medicinal plants was evaluated. The ethnobotanical methods included participatory mapping, open interviews, semi-structured interviews and free lists with local specialists, as well as members of 17 systematically selected households, collection of characteristic and medicinal plant species, and plant walks with local specialists. For each species, a newly proposed Knowledge, Use and Perception Index based frequency of mention in free lists, frequency of use and perceived importance was calculated.Results. Local people divided their territory primarily by physical geographic characteristics and utilization. Nine units were distinguished: village and roads, home gardens, pastures, cultivated fields (maize, beans, sugar cane and coffee), cloud forest, semi-evergreen tropical forest and evergreen tropical forest, secondary growth ( acahuales ), and riparian vegetation. The most important medicinal plants were Salvia microphylla , Lippia alba and Artemisia absinthium , all cultivated in home gardens; weedy vegetation provided the majority of all medicinal plants. Individuals interested in preserving medicinal species transplanted them into a home garden.Conclusion. For people in the study area, the presence and use of medicinal plants was not a decisive reason for forest conservation.

Antecedentes: Los sistemas agrosilvícolas (SA) integran diversidad agrícola, forestal y cultural. En regiones costeras de México han sido poco estudiados, particularmente los manejados por mixtecos y afromexicanos de la costa de Oaxaca. Preguntas: ¿Qué SA se encuentran en comunidades mixtecas y afromexicanas?, ¿Cuáles son las especies útiles, formas de manejo, prácticas agrícolas y agroforestales de los SA? Especies de estudio: Diversas. Sitio y años de estudio: Santa María Chicometepec, Cerro de la Esperanza, Collantes, Santa Elena Comaltepec, San Agustín Chayuco, Santiago Tetepec, Oaxaca. Octubre 2021 a octubre 2022. Métodos: Se realizaron 60 entrevistas semiestructuradas a especialistas locales en tres comunidades mixtecas y tres afromexicanas. Se preguntó acerca de especies útiles, sistemas agrosilvícolas, prácticas agrícolas, agroforestales y de manejo. Se realizaron recorridos y colectas de ejemplares de herbario. Se describió cada sistema por sus prácticas agroforestales y de manejo. Se registró el número de especies útiles por categoría de uso y grupo cultural. Resultados: Se documentaron y describieron seis SA: milpa, potreros, solares, acahuales, piñal y cocotal. Las prácticas agrícolas en comunidades mixtecas se realizan con herramientas e insumos básicos y la producción tiene un fin de autoconsumo y venta local, mientras que en comunidades afromexicanas son tecnificadas y su destino es la venta regional. Linderos y árboles aislados fueron las prácticas agroforestales más comunes. Conclusiones: Mixtecos y Afromexicanos comparten SA, formas de manejo y prácticas agroforestales, difieren en las prácticas agrícolas. En los SA se conservan principalmente especies comestibles y maderables. El número de especies útiles es similar en comunidades mixtecas y afromexicanas.

Homegardens are traditional agroforestry systems that harbor genetic resources and ancestral knowledge, as well as contributing to food security and self-sufficiency in many rural communities. In this study, we analyze homegardens in a Mixtec community in coastal Oaxaca, Mexico, to document their arrangement and components, the useful flora and fauna they contain, and the social, cultural and economic aspects associated with their management. We used snowball sampling to perform semistructured interviews with 36 women in charge of homegardens, which represented 10% of the total homes in the community. During guided tours, we diagrammed the homegardens and collected and identified plant specimens to compile a full floristic listing. Plant specimens were deposited in the CHAP herbarium. We also calculated the Jacknife alpha diversity index and Sorensen’s beta diversity index to quantify the diversity of the garden flora. We summarized the interview data using descriptive statistics and performed a multiple regression analysis to evaluate the effects of the size of the homegarden and the homegarden owner’s age, years of school attendance, and language use on the number of useful plant species in the garden. Additionally, we conducted a multiple correspondence analysis on the homegardens, the sociodemographic variables, and the plant species contained. The components of the homegardens were the main dwelling, patio, kitchen, bathroom, chicken coop, and pigpen. We documented 15 animal species from 15 genera and 13 families and 236 plant species from 197 genera and 84 families. The most represented plant families were Araceae, Fabaceae and Apocynaceae. The main plant uses were ornamental, edible, and medicinal. The multiple correspondence analysis and multiple regression both showed sociodemographic variables to make a very low contribution to homegarden species richness (evidenced by low percentage variance explained and no statistically significant effects, respectively). The first-order Jacknife diversity index estimated a total of 309 plant species present in the homegardens, indicating high agrobiodiversity. The Sorensen index value ranged from 0.400 to 0.513. Similarity among the gardens was mostly due to high similarity among edible plants. There was community-level resilience in family food self-sufficiency, as 80.56% of the interviewees use harvest from their homegardens to cover their families’ food needs. Women play a central role in the establishment and management of the gardens. Overall, our findings demonstrate that homegardens in this community are sustainable; have high agrobiodiversity; provide food, medicine, and well-being to residents; contribute to food self-sufficiency; and conserve agrobiodiversity as well as traditional culture and knowledge.

Euphorbia fulgens es una especie ornamental que en México presenta poca variabilidad en el color de las flores, por lo que este trabajo tuvo como objetivo evaluar el efecto de radiación gamma 60Co en semillas y en caracteres morfológicos de plantas adultas, así como obtener mutantes de diferentes colores en las flores. Se colectaron semillas en comunidades de Oaxaca (M0), fueron irradiadas a nueve dosis (50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 450, 600, 750 Gy) y se establecieron bajo invernadero hasta la etapa adulta (M1) dando seguimiento hasta el desarrollo de su descendencia (M2). Se evaluó la emergencia, la sobrevivencia y 27 caracteres morfológicos que corresponden a estructuras vegetativas y reproductivas en ambas generaciones. El porcentaje de emergencia y el número de plantas que sobrevivieron disminuyó conforme aumentó la dosis de radiación. Dosis de radiación de 250 Gy o superiores provocaron que los porcentajes de germinación de las semillas fueran inferiores al 50%. Los tratamientos produjeron diferencias en las variables número de ramas con inflorescencias y color de apéndices petalíferos. La dosis de 300 Gy generó individuos ramificados y con diferente color de inflorescencias, aunque afectó la sobrevivencia. La distribución fenotípica en progenitores y descendientes fue similar presentando diferencias en número de cimas, número de ciatios y color de apéndices petalíferos. La irradiación es una técnica adecuada para generar variación en el color de las inflorescencias en esta especie.