Browsing by Autor "Norma Salinas"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4

Plant functional traits shape cultural and provisioning services to Indigenous communities in western Amazonia
(2023) Julia G. de Aledo; Hans ter Steege; Luis Cayuela; Laura Matas‐Granados; Celina Ben Saadi; Norma Salinas; María de los Ángeles La Torre-Cuadros; Selene Báez; Guillermo Bañares‐de‐Dios; Leslie Cayola
<title>Abstract</title> Functional traits have gained scientific support as a tool for understanding forests ecosystems and the goods and services they provide to human populations. Investigating how humans use and interact with plants based on their functional traits is crucial to support the long-term provision of plant-based ecosystem services. Here, we have adopted a large-scale approach encompassing nine different Indigenous communities across a latitudinal gradient of 1800 km in western Amazonia. We study the associations between nine different plant functional traits belonging to 1856 species and multiple cultural and provisioning services to support Indigenous communities in tropical ecosystems. We found that provisioning services, such as medicine, construction, and food, depend on multiple traits, and their selection is heterogeneous among communities. Cultural services, however, such as rituals, cosmetics, or recreational, hold more specific and tight relations with fewer traits. Their selection tends to be similar among communities, suggesting a possible functional selection convergence. Preserving traditional ecological knowledge is crucial for preserving biocultural well-being. Plant selection is not random, and functional traits can help us understand the current and past patterns of selection that have influenced the functional composition of Amazonian forests.
Plant functional traits shape cultural and provisioning services to Indigenous communities in western Amazonia
(2023) Hans ter Steege; Luis Cayuela; Laura Matas‐Granados; Celina Ben Saadi; Norma Salinas; María de los Ángeles La Torre-Cuadros; Selene Báez; Guillermo Bañares‐de‐Dios; Leslie Cayola; Belén Fadrique
<title>Abstract</title> Functional traits have gained scientific support as a tool for understanding forests ecosystems and the goods and services they provide to human populations. Investigating how humans use and interact with plants based on their functional traits is crucial to support the long-term provision of plant-based ecosystem services. Here, we have adopted a large-scale approach encompassing nine different Indigenous communities across a latitudinal gradient of 1800 km in western Amazonia. We study the associations between nine different plant functional traits belonging to 1856 species and multiple cultural and provisioning services to support Indigenous communities in tropical ecosystems. We found that provisioning services, such as medicine, construction, and food, depend on multiple traits, and their selection is heterogeneous among communities. Cultural services, however, such as rituals, cosmetics, or recreational, hold more specific and tight relations with fewer traits. Their selection tends to be similar among communities, suggesting a possible functional selection convergence. Preserving traditional ecological knowledge is crucial for preserving biocultural well-being. Plant selection is not random, and functional traits can help us understand the current and past patterns of selection that have influenced the functional composition of Amazonian forests.
Plant functional traits shape the provision of ecosystem services to Indigenous communities in western Amazonia
(Wiley, 2025) Julia G. de Aledo; Hans ter Steege; Luis Cayuela; Laura Matas‐Granados; Celina Ben Saadi; Norma Salinas; María de los Ángeles La Torre-Cuadros; Selene Báez; Guillermo Bañares‐de‐Dios; Leslie Cayola
Abstract Context . Exploring how Indigenous People interact with plants through their functional traits allows us to understand the ecological bases of plant selection. Functional traits can help explain why certain plants are consistently chosen for specific purposes across diverse cultural contexts. However, these relationships are complex and remain insufficiently explored. Here, we ask (1) which functional traits are most important in shaping different uses? and (2) do similarities in trait–use associations across Indigenous communities reflect patterns of knowledge convergence? Methods . We conducted fieldwork across nine different Indigenous communities spanning a 1800 km distance in western Amazonia. In total, we sampled 115 0.1‐ha plots, recording the abundance of 1856 woody plant species. For these species, we collected data on 13 different functional traits, primarily measured in the field, with additional values sourced from TRY and other databases, and conducted in situ ethnobotanical interviews with 25 Indigenous male participants, focusing on 14 distinct use categories. We analysed (1) trait–use relationships using generalized linear models and (2) the similarity in trait selection for each use across communities using generalized linear mixed models. Results . Plants used for medicine or food were associated with multiple traits, including reproductive traits, exudates and life form. In contrast, culturally specific uses such as rituals, cosmetics or recreational were linked to more specific traits, particularly wood density and lianas. Across communities, we observed widespread convergence in trait–use associations, suggesting shared patterns of plant use despite cultural differences. However, 24% of the trait–use combinations showed divergence, indicating local adaptation or cultural specificity. Synthesis and applications . Plant selection by Indigenous communities is not random; rather, it is guided by functional traits that consistently support human well‐being. We named this pattern ‘functional selection convergence’, highlighting how ecological function and traditional knowledge interact across distinct cultural contexts. This convergence shows the importance of functional ecology explaining traditional plant selection. Our findings are a call for a trait‐based ethnobotanical approach to document and better preserve the ecosystem services essential to Indigenous livelihoods. Nevertheless, we emphasize the need for future research to involve broader and more diverse ethnobotanical participation. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Tropical forests in the Americas are changing too slowly to track climate change
(American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2025) Jesús Aguirre‐Gutiérrez; Sandra Dı́az; Sami W. Rifai; José Javier Corral‐Rivas; María Guadalupe Nava‐Miranda; Roy González‐M.; Ana Belén Hurtado‐M; Norma Salinas; Emilio Vilanova; Everton Cristo de Almeida
Understanding the capacity of forests to adapt to climate change is of pivotal importance for conservation science, yet this is still widely unknown. This knowledge gap is particularly acute in high-biodiversity tropical forests. Here, we examined how tropical forests of the Americas have shifted community trait composition in recent decades as a response to changes in climate. Based on historical trait-climate relationships, we found that, overall, the studied functional traits show shifts of less than 8% of what would be expected given the observed changes in climate. However, the recruit assemblage shows shifts of 21% relative to climate change expectation. The most diverse forests on Earth are changing in functional trait composition but at a rate that is fundamentally insufficient to track climate change.