Abstract

TEGOMA COLOREANO, Araceli; BLANCAS, José; GARCIA FLORES, Alejandro  and  BELTRAN-RODRIGUEZ, Leonardo. Richness, structure and floristic diversity in homegardens of the southeast of Morelos state: a biocultural approach. Polibotánica [online]. 2023, n.55, pp.41-65.  Epub May 26, 2023. ISSN 1405-2768.  https://doi.org/10.18387/polibotanica.55.4.

Homegardens (HF) are traditional agroforestry systems that favor interconnection with the natural vegetation surrounding the home and provide multiple

benefits to people. This study evaluated ecological attributes as richness, structure and floristic diversity in HF of the southeast in Morelos state and analyzed the relationship between management practices in these spaces with the metrics previously described from a biocultural perspective. Interviews (N=60) and sampling were carried out in 60 HF in the company of the owner, with the purpose of knowing the forms of use and management of biocultural resources, species composition and local names. Furthermore, a structural characterization was performed in each HF using the Value Index of Relative Importance (IVIR) and Forest Value Relative Index (IVFR), whereas α-diversity indices were estimated. The HF in the study area are mainly managed by women. The species present in these areas are used for 11 different categories of use, including ornamental (61.3%), food (17.7%) and medicinal (16.5%). Nine different management practices associated with the use of the species, the shape and surface of the land and the location of the land were directly associated with the spatial and structural configuration of the HF. The richness present in the studied HF was 329 species, 47% of which were native and from the surrounding tropical deciduous forest. The Fabaceae family was the most outstanding in terms of the number of species. Both the IVIR and IVFR point out that Spondias purpurea, Leucaena leucocephala and Carica papaya are the species that dominate structurally, due to intensive management for their use as food. The diversity registered in these rural HF is considerably high (H'= 3.08), so it is suggested that these socially constructed systems function as reservoirs of agrobiodiversity in the southern region of the state, and that in order to safeguard the biocultural legacy they harbor, efforts are required to recognize the socioeconomic and cultural factors that cause changes in their management.

Keywords : agrobiodiversity; conservation; solares; traspatios; tropical deciduous forest.

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