Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Multidisciplinary, Environmental Science, Nature and Landscape Conservation
61
Scopus Publications
Scopus Publications
Forest Degradation as a Potential Driver of Shifting Baseline Syndrome in Northeastern Brazil: A Case Study Wyllamys Fernandes da Silva, Diego Centeno-Alvarado, Taline Cristina da Silva, Marcelo Alves Ramos Environmental Management, 2026 Human-induced environmental changes cause shifting baseline syndrome (SBS), where degraded conditions redefine ‘normal’, leading to generational differences in perception and ultimately influencing biodiversity conservation strategies. In this case study, we examine (1) whether forest degradation influences SBS through local ecological knowledge (LEK) of woody medicinal plants, and (2) whether the cultural transmission of LEK contributes to resilience against SBS, focusing on two communities in Pernambuco state, Brazil, with distinct characteristics: Sítio Cutia , a frequently used forested area with high degradation, and Sítio Limeirinha , a monitored forested area with lower degradation. We conducted semi-structured interviews with residents (18+) grouped by age groups. To assess the effects of forest degradation on SBS, we analyzed age group differences in knowledge of woody medicinal plant richness (using GLMs) and perceptions of plant availability (using PERMANOVA and nMDS). LEK transmission networks were examined to evaluate whether cultural transmission contributes to resilience against SBS (using interaction degree distribution under different extinction scenarios). Contrary to expectations, our study suggests forest degradation does not necessarily intensify SBS, as perceptions of ecological change remained relatively stable across age groups. Within the monitored forest site, LEK transmission networks showed higher potential for resilience, indicating that intact ecological processes can help maintain accurate environmental knowledge over time. While the findings are specific to the socio-ecological systems examined, they highlight the value of integrating biodiversity conservation with cultural knowledge transmission. Efforts to mitigate SBS should integrate ecosystem conservation and age-structured LEK maintenance.
Revisiting Infanticide in Non-Human Primates Reveals a Similar Likelihood of Male and Female Perpetrators Tatiani G. Albert, Nicola Schiel, Marcelo A. Ramos, Antonio Souto American Journal of Primatology, 2026 Infanticide is understood as any direct or indirect behavior that fatally harms an infant, regardless of whether the perpetrator gains benefits. In non‐human primates, males are frequently identified as the perpetrators. Classical studies categorized behaviors like “abuse”, “fatal neglect”, “kidnapping”, and “aunting to death” as forms of infanticide when they resulted in infant death. However, in more recent literature, some of these behaviors are excluded from classifications of infanticide without clear justification, particularly those involving female‐related lethal actions. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review spanning 54 years to investigate potential sex biases in primate infanticide literature. Our findings show that female actions leading to infant death are often labeled with terms like “abuse” and “fatal neglect”. In contrast, similar male behaviors are consistently classified as infanticide. As a result, infanticide by non‐human primate females has been systematically underreported. Classifying all lethal behaviors by females toward infants as infanticide eliminates the sex difference in the frequency of such acts. Our study shows that being consistent with the original definition of infanticide for non‐human primates provides a more accurate understanding of infanticide in these animals. Thus, we strongly recommend adhering to the infanticide definition, which integrates the recorded behaviors into established theoretical frameworks, enabling more comprehensive discussions of primate infanticidal behavior.
Knowledge and uses of Arecaceae in Brazil: a systematic review L. S. Lima, H. M. R. Feitosa, M. A. Ramos, E. L. Jesus, B. M. Souza, E. M. Costa-Neto Brazilian Journal of Biology, 2025 Palms are a group of plants that have significant socioecological influence. In Brazil, around 89 genera and 393 species are described, distributed throughout the country. Academic studies highlight how different traditional peoples and communities manage and utilize these plants. Thus, this review aims to address the following questions: a) an overview of the academic production on the use of palms in Brazil over the past three decades; b) the geographical distribution of the studies; c) the species most frequently cited for their uses; d) the importance of ethnotaxonomy, considering the influence of morphological characteristics; e) the most commonly used parts of palms and the main categories of use. By combining the keywords “Palms,” “Traditional Use,” “Ethnobotany,” and “Brazil” in Google Scholar, approximately 74,100 results were found, which, after filtering, totaled 272 articles. The data reveal an increase in the number of ethnobotanical studies addressing palm use over the past fifteen years, mainly concentrated in the fields of Botany, Interdisciplinary Studies, and Multidisciplinary Research. Most publications are in national journals and address the topic partially. The studies report the use and management of approximately 109 palm species, of which 38 are endemic, two are naturalized, six are varieties, and one is a hybrid. The Northeast Region accounts for the highest number of studies, followed by the North Region. Regarding local and Indigenous nomenclature of these palms, it was observed that multiple species belonging to different genera are grouped under the same common names, indicating an overlap of denominations for distinct taxa. Fruits hold great importance, followed by leaves, seeds, and stipes. In Brazil, palms play a fundamental role both among local communities and within Indigenous territories, due to their abundance, ecological diversity, and their cultural, symbolic, and utilitarian value. They serve as an essential source of food, raw materials, traditional medicine, and ritual elements.
Access restrictions to forest resources, rather than COVID-19 bans, drive the selection of firewood species for bonfires during Festas Juninas in northeastern Brazil Iara Vitória de Oliveira Araújo, Diego Centeno-Alvarado, Marcelo Alves Ramos Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 2024 Background The complex interplay of social and environmental factors shapes ecosystems, potentially leading to harmony or conflict, highlighting the importance of understanding these dynamics for coexistence. In developing countries, firewood serves as a primary energy source and plays a role in cultural-religious rituals and festivities. However, the specific patterns of woody species used for the latter remain poorly understood, including the impact of access restrictions to resources and local bans on practices. Therefore, our research focuses on examining how access restrictions to forest resources and bonfire bans due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) impact the cultural-religious tradition of bonfire making during Festas Juninas (June festivities) in northeastern Brazil. Methods Ethnobotanical fieldwork was conducted in two rural populations in northeastern Brazil between 2021 and 2022. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, observations, and the guided tour technique. The cultural-religious tradition of bonfire making (i.e., richness of native and exotic firewood species, firewood volume, and the number of bonfires related to this practice) was compared between populations (i.e., differing in access restrictions) and years (i.e., differing in COVID-19-related bans) using Mann–Whitney U tests. Results Results revealed significant differences in the richness of native (p value = 0.001) and exotic (p value < 0.001) firewood species for bonfire making due to access restrictions to forest resources. The number of native species used was higher among the population residing in the area with unrestricted access than among those with restricted access, while a greater number of exotic species was used in the population with restricted access. The rest of the variables were not influenced by access restrictions, and no variables were influenced by COVID-19 bans. Conclusions Our study demonstrated that access restrictions to forest resources, rather than COVID-19 bans, drive the selection of firewood species for bonfires during Festas Juninas in northeastern Brazil. In addition, as populations remain deeply entrenched in cultural-religious practices amid temporary bans imposed by health crises, there is a pressing need for culturally sensitive environmental policies. Fostering socio-ecological resilience demands a comprehensive approach that encompasses not only environmental factors but also cultural dimensions, which wield a pivotal influence on long-term sustainability.
The influence of urbanization on local ecological knowledge: a systematic review Juliana Melo Linhares Rangel, André Luiz Borba do Nascimento, Marcelo Alves Ramos Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 2024 Urbanization is a complex and multifaceted process studied across various scientific disciplines. However, in ethnobiology, research on the impacts of urbanization on local ecological knowledge (LEK) often lacks standardization and tends to focus primarily on local scales. This study aims to systematically characterize how researchers address urbanization in ethnobiology and assess its effects on LEK globally. We conducted a systematic review using the PRISMA protocol and selected 66 studies from the Web of Science and Scopus databases for analysis. Our findings reveal that researchers often do not adopt a consistent definition of urbanization, frequently framing their study areas within a simplistic urban-rural dichotomy. Although some studies used urbanization indicators, our qualitative analyses, including a correlation matrix, showed that these indicators were largely independent of each other. Additionally, principal component analysis (PCA) with clustering identified four groupings among the indicators, yet with low correlations between them. A t test analysis of the 66 papers shows that urbanization generally has a negative impact on LEK. Based on these findings, we emphasize the critical need for standardized urbanization indicators in ethnobiological studies and propose a new approach for characterizing urbanization, which will enhance the precision and relevance of future research in this field.
Teaching Practice and the Dialogue Between Knowledge in Botany Teaching Natália Maria Da Silva, Thiago Braz Barbosa de Sousa, Marcelo Alves Ramos Investigacoes Em Ensino De Ciencias, 2024 Um dos desafios na educação do Brasil tem sido desenvolver práticas pedagógicas que contextualizem o ensino e façam acontecer o diálogo entre os diferentes tipos de conhecimento em sala de aula. No presente artigo, buscamos identificar as concepções dos professores de Biologia sobre o conteúdo de botânica, e responder as seguintes perguntas: a) Como se dá a prática docente nas aulas de botânica do Ensino Médio? b) Quais os desafios da prática docente no ensino de botânica? c) Qual a importância das aulas práticas para o ensino de botânica de acordo com a concepção dos professores? d) Como o conhecimento local dos estudantes é compreendido e utilizado pelos professores nas aulas de botânica? A abordagem metodológica utilizada foi qualitativa. O lócus da pesquisa foram quatro escolas públicas da rede Estadual de ensino de Nazaré da Mata (PE) e os sujeitos professores que lecionam biologia no 2º ano do Ensino Médio. Foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas, observações de aulas de botânica e encontros com os professores para discutir ponto a ponto sobre a temática do estudo. Observamos que a prática docente sobre o conteúdo de botânica se baseia no ensino tradicional com viés unilateral. De acordo com os docentes, os principais desafios para ministrar as aulas são o pouco tempo disponível para as aulas, a priorização dos conteúdos voltados para as avaliações externas e a falta de estrutura nas escolas. Os professores relatam sentir dificuldade para ministrar os conteúdos, e associam essa dificuldade à própria formação. Além disso, observamos que o diálogo entre saberes não estava presente nas aulas, havendo desconhecimento da maioria dos professores a respeito dos diferentes tipos de conhecimento e das formas de abordá-los em sala de aula.
Are firewood preference behaviors influenced by restrictions in access to vegetation, and can they vary over time? Carlos Henrique Tavares Mendes, Marcelo Alves Ramos, Taline Cristina Silva Ethnobiology and Conservation, 2024 Studies aim to understand the behavior of human populations when selecting certain groups of plants over others. Some plants are chosen for favorable characteristics that justify specific uses. Thus, individuals may exhibit specialized behavior patterns, selecting plants for fuel based on specific biological traits like ignition potential and durability, or generalized behavior patterns, depending on species availability or utilitarian redundancy. However, little is known about how the preference for these resources may be shaped by contexts that prohibit resource use. Prohibiting resource use can compel human groups to devise new selection strategies, leading to significant changes in socioecological system dynamics. Hence, this study aims to investigate how preference for plants used as firewood varies in areas with restricted and unrestricted resource use. We conducted semi-structured interviews in two communities. Participants with restricted natural resource access in the past showed a tendency towards specialized behavior (p<0.000849). However, due to imposed restrictions, the community had to develop new usage strategies, resulting in a tendency towards generalized behavior (p>0.6489). Preference in unrestricted use areas varied over years, with generalists in the past (p>0.4675) and specialists presently (p<0.2074). Based on these behaviors, we infer that these human groups possess adaptive plasticity to mitigate the drastic effects of long-term wood resource extraction.
Resilience and adaptation in social-ecological systems Washington Soares Ferreira Júnior, André Luiz Borba Nascimento, Marcelo Alves Ramos, Patrícia Muniz de Medeiros, Gustavo Taboada Soldati, Flávia Rosa Santoro, Victoria Reyes-García, Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque Evolutionary Ethnobiology, 2015
Natural products from ethnodirected studies: Revisiting the ethnobiology of the zombie poison Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque, Joabe Gomes Melo, Maria Franco Medeiros, Irwin Rose Menezes, Geraldo Jorge Moura, Ana Carla Asfora El-Deir, Rômulo Romeu Nóbrega Alves, Patrícia Muniz de Medeiros, Thiago Antonio de Sousa Araújo, Marcelo Alves Ramos, Rafael Ricardo Silva, Alyson Luiz Almeida, Cecília de Fátima Castelo Almeida Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2012
Caatinga revisited: Ecology and conservation of an important seasonal dry forest Ulysses Paulino de Albuquerque, Elcida de Lima Araújo, Ana Carla Asfora El-Deir, André Luiz Alves de Lima, Antonio Souto, Bruna Martins Bezerra, Elba Maria Nogueira Ferraz, Eliza Maria Xavier Freire, Everardo Valadares de Sá Barreto Sampaio, Flor Maria Guedes Las-Casas, Geraldo Jorge Barbosa de Moura, Glauco Alves Pereira, Joabe Gomes de Melo, Marcelo Alves Ramos, Maria Jesus Nogueira Rodal, Nicola Schiel, Rachel Maria de Lyra-Neves, Rômulo Romeu Nóbrega Alves, Severino Mendes de Azevedo-Júnior, Wallace Rodrigues Telino Júnior, William Severi Scientific World Journal, 2012
