Authors: Scarpa, Gustavo F.; Arenas, Pastor

Source: Phytocoenologia, Volume 34, Number 1, 1 March 2004 , pp. 133-161(29)

Publisher: E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung

Abstract:

This paper studies the nomenclature and classification assigned to vegetation units by the Toba-PilagáIndians of the Gran Chaco. The ethnobotanical research consisted of 12 campaigns in which we worked with 58 informants. The study describes a particular aspect of the traditional knowledge of plants: the perception of the plant environment. The vernacular names of plants, the names of vegetation units, and their respective classification are provided. Of a total of 235 recorded species, 217 taxa form part of some type of vegetation unit, whereas 18 are not part of any type of plant unit. A total of 196 vernacular names referring to 304 vegetation units were recorded. An ethnotaxonomic system by which the Toba-Pilagáclassify 277 vegetation units into 27 categories according to attributes such as physiognomy, succession, relative accessibility and visibility, and according to their association with elements of the landscape is revealed. These categories are organised in turn within a hierarchical system with different degrees of inclusiveness.

Keywords: ETHNOBOTANY; ETHNOPHYTOGEOGRAPHY; TOBA-PILAGA PEOPLE; CHACO; ARGENTINA

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1127/0340-269X/2004/0034-0133

Publication date: 2004-03-01

More about this publication?

• Phytocoenologia publishes original papers in the fields of vegetation ecology. The journal covers all aspects of phytosociology in a comprehensive sense, i.e. including interactions between plant (and animal) organisms (coenological geobotany), the history and origin of phytocoenoses, vegetation dynamics, floristic and structural analysis of the plant cover (classification and ordination), fundamental environmental studies of plant ecosystems (synecology), pattern analyses from the ecosystem to the landscape level, and aspects of reproduction, dispersal and population biology in plant communities. The journal is open to methodological, theoretical, experimental and applied approaches. Phytocoenologia was founded in 1973 by R. Tüxen.
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