Abstract
An ethnobotanical inventory of lianas was carried out in a 1-ha plot of tropical moist forest in the Cuyabeno Reserve, Amazonian Ecuador. We obtained information about the uses that the Siona-Secoya Indians have for lianas. Of 98 species in the 1-ha plot, 47% were useful for the Siona-Secoya. Of the species used, 67% were for medicines, food, stimulants, and poisons; 17% had ritual applications, and 15% were used to make ropes or to weave baskets, toys, and ornaments. The species of lianas that were most useful were the ones with the highest values of ecological parameters such as density, dominance, and relative length. There is a close relationship between the ecological characteristics of the liana community and the uses made of it by the Indians.
Résumé
Una parcela de vegetación de 1-hafue estudiada con el propósito de identifkar las especies de lianas que son utilizadas por los indígenas Siona-Secoya de la Reserva Cuyabeno, Amazonia Ecuatoriana. De un total de 98 especies, el 47%fue registrado como útil para los indígenas. El 67% de las especies útiles tuvo aplicaciones como remedios, alimentos, estimulantes y venenos; 17% two un significado ritual y 15% se utilizó como cuerdas para amarrar, tejer y elaborar adornos corporales y juguetes. Un análisis ecológico-cuantitativo de los datos recolectados en la parcela reveló que las especies de lianas utilizadas por los indígenas Siona-Secoya fueron las que alcanzaron las cifras mas altas de densidad, dominancia y longitud relativas. Los resultados sugieren que existe una relación estrecha entre las características ecológicas de la comunidad de lianas con los usos encontrados por los indígenas.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
Brako, L., and J. L. Zarucchi. 1993. Catalogue of the flowering plants and gymnosperms of Peru. Missouri Botanical Garden, Monograph in Systematic Botany 45, St. Louis, MO.
Gentry, A. H. 1989. Speciation in the forest. Pages 113–134in L. B. Holm-Nielsen, I. C. Nielsen, and H. Balslev, eds., Tropical forest: botanical dynamics, speciation and diversity. Academic Press, London.
Kvist, L. P., and L. B Holm-Nielsen. 1987. Ethnobotanical aspects of lowland Ecuador. Opera Botanica 92:83–107.
Langdon, E. J. M. 1974. The Siona medical system: beliefs and behavior. Ph.D. Dissertation. Tulane University, New Orleans.
—. 1979a. Yagé among the Siona: cultural patterns in visions. Pages 63–80in D. L. Browman and R. A. Sehwars, eds., Spirits, shamans, and stars. Mouton Publishers, The Hague.
—. 1979b. Siona clothing and adornment, or, you are what you wear. Pages 297–311in D. L. Browman and R. A. Schwars, eds., Spirits, shamans, and stars. Mouton Publishers, The Hague.
Paz y Miño C., G. 1990. Inventario cuantitativo de las lianas de una hectárea de bosque tropical en la Reserva de Productión Faunística Cuyabeno, Amazonía del Ecuador. Lie. CC.BB. Thesis, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador.
—,H. Balslev, R.Valencia, and P. Mena. 1991. Lianas utilizadas por los indígenas Siona-Secoya de la Amazonía del Ecuador. Reportes Técnicos 1. EcoCiencia, Quito, Ecuador.
Peters, C. M., A. H. Gentry, and R. Mendelsohn. 1989. Valuation of an Amazonian rainforest. Nature 339:655–656.
Prance, G. T., W. Balée, B. M. Boom, and R. L. Carneiro. 1987. Quantitative ethnobotany and the case for conservation in Amazonia. Conservation Biology 1:296–310.
Vickers, W. T. 1976. Cultural adaptation to Amazonian habitats: the Siona-Secoya of eastern Ecuador. Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Florida, Gainesville.
—. 1979. Native Amazonian subsistence in diverse habitats: the Siona-Secoya of Ecuador. Studies in Third World Societies 7:6–36.
—. 1981. Ideation as adaptation: traditional belief and modern intervention in Siona-Secoya religion. Pages 705–730in N. E. Whitten Jr., ed., Cultural transformations and ethnicity in modern Ecuador. University of Illinois Press, Urbana.
—. 1989. Los Sionas y Secoyas, su adaptatión al ambiente amazónico. Ediciones Abya-Yala, Quito, Ecuador.
—,and T. Plowman. 1984. Useful plants of the Siona and Secoya Indians of eastern Ecuador. Fieldiana: Botany 15:1–63.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Paz Y Miño C., G., Balslev, H. & Valencia, R. Useful lianas of the Siona-Secoya Indians from Amazonian Ecuador. Econ Bot 49, 269–275 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02862346
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02862346