Biodiversity as a resource: Plant use and land use among the Shuar, Saraguros, and Mestizos in tropical rainforest areas of southern Ecuador Die Biodiversität als Ressource: Pflanzennutzung und Landnutzung der Shuar, Saraguros und Mestizos in tropischen Regenwaldgebieten Südecuadors Der Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades Dr. rer. nat. vorgelegt von Andrés Gerique Zipfel aus Valencia Als Dissertation genehmigt von der Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 9.12.2010 Vorsitzender der Promotionskommission: Prof. Dr. Rainer Fink Erstberichterstatterin: Prof. Dr. Perdita Pohle Zweitberichterstatter: Prof. Dr. Willibald Haffner To my father “He who seeks finds” (Matthew 7:8) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I wish to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Dr. Perdita Pohle, for her trust and support. Without her guidance this study would not have been possible. I am especially indebted to Prof. Dr. Willibald Haffner as well, who recently passed away. His scientific knowledge and enthusiasm set a great example for me. I gratefully acknowledge Prof. Dr. Beck (Universität Bayreuth) and Prof. Dr. Knoke (Technische Universität München), and my colleagues and friends of the Institute of Geography (Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg) for sharing invaluable comments and motivation. Furthermore, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to those experts who unselfishly shared their knowledge with me, in particular to Dr. David Neill and Dr. Rainer Bussmann (Missouri Botanical Garden), Dr. Roman Krettek (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Mykologie), Dr. Jonathan Armbruster, (Auburn University, Alabama), Dr. Nathan K. Lujan (Texas A&M University), Dr. Jean Guffroy (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Orleans), Dr. Gabi Schachtel (Justus-Liebig Universität Giessen), and Lukas Wolfsbauer (Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg). I would also like to convey thanks to our counterparts Dr. Hidalgo and Dr. López Sandoval (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito) for a magnificent cooperation and to Virginia Lane for patiently revising the English of this dissertation and previous articles. I am also grateful to Stefan Adler, Judith Jaksch, and especially to Julia Kieslinger for their assistance during the draft of figures, the editing of text and photos, and their comprehension. I am grateful to collaborators of the Herbario Reinaldo Espinosa of the Universidad Nacional de Loja (Jhofre Aguirre, Bolivar Merino, Wilson Quizhpe, Holger Salas, Darío Veintimilla, Orlando Sánchez, Carlos Chimbo, and Néstor León) for their expertise and assistance with data collection and plant identification as well as for their logistical support. Deepest gratitude goes to Eduardo Tapia for his research assistance during field work and for making it so comfortable. My gratitude goes to the staff of the San Francisco Research Station, in particular to Abraham Pacheco, María Feijoó, Serafín Ramón, Rocío and Tati Aguirre, Polivio Ortega, and Pedro Paladines for, as Florian Werner remarked, “making the place damn close to home”. I am also grateful to all the researchers who shared with me their knowledge, expertise and time in Ecuador. This includes, among many others, Susanne Iost, Folkert Bauer, Dorothee Sandmann, Jutta Kapfer, Diana Avilés, Adriana Darquea, Jörg Zeilinger, Felix Matt, Franziska Volland-Voigt, Katrin Wolf, Rütger Rollenbeck, Sven Günter, Jürgen Homeier, Florian Werner, Alexandra Zach, Valentyna Krashevska, Kristin Roos, Glenda Mendieta, Baltazar Calvas, Patricio Crespo, and Adriana Tutillo. I wish also to convey my thanks to the whole staff of Nature & Culture International, especially to Nancy Romero, Renzo and Bruno Paladines, Trotsky Riera, and Felipe Serrano. I thank the inhabitants of the communities of Chumpias, El Cristal, El Retorno, El Tibio, Los Guabos, Napints, Sabanilla, Shaime and the owners of the visited fincas for their hospitality and generous participation in the interviews. i I kindly thank the German Research Foundation (DFG) for supporting this study in the frame of the projects proposed and conducted by Prof. Dr. Perdita Pohle: “Pflanzenkenntnisse und Pflanzennutzung bei den Shuar, Saraguro und Colonos in den tropischen Bergwaldregionen Südecuadors”, “Ethnoökologische Untersuchungen in den tropischen Bergwaldregionen Südecuadors - ein Beitrag zum Erhalt und zur nachhaltigen Nutzung von Biodiversität” (DFG Research Group FOR 402), and “Human ecological dimensions in sustainable utilization and conservation of tropical mountain forests” (DFG Research Group FOR 816). During the completion of the study I met people that influenced not only this research but also my life. I am especially indebted to the Pons family and to Ruth Espinosa and her family for making Ecuador so special. In addition, I offer my deepest gratitude to all those who supported me after the death of my father and especially during 2009, making the conclusion of this thesis possible. Thank you! I cannot forget two good friends who also passed away during these years. Tío Alberto, Roberto, también va por vosotros. Finally, I owe my deepest gratitude to my beloved family, who always has been there for me and has supported me unconditionally. Thank you for your understanding: ¡Gracias, mamá! ¡Por fin sabrás a qué me he dedicado todo este tiempo! ii CONTENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i CONTENT OF FIGURES vii CONTENT OF TABLES xii CONTENT OF BOXES xv CONTENT OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS xvi GLOSSARY OF LOCAL TERMS xix 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 GENERAL CONTEXT 1 1.2 REGIONAL CONFINEMENT: THE CASE OF SOUTHERN ECUADOR 5 1.3 AIM AND STRUCTURE OF THIS STUDY 8 2 CORE CONCEPTS: THE VALUE OF PLANT DIVERSITY, TRADITIONAL 10 ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE AND TOOLS FOR BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION 2.1 PLANT DIVERSITY AS A RESOURCE: THE USE VALUES OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY 10 2.2 TRADITIONAL ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE (TEK) 14 2.3 INSTRUMENTS TO CONSERVE TROPICAL FOREST AREAS THROUGH USE 15 2.3.1 Agroforestry, the use of non-timber forest products (NTFPs), and forest 16 restoration 2.3.2 Ecotourism 19 2.3.3 Payments for Environmental Services (PES) 20 2.3.4 Bioprospecting 25 3 THE AREA OF STUDY 28 3.1 SOUTHERN ECUADOR 28 3.1.1 The physical setting: topography, geology, and geomorphology 29 3.1.2 The climatic regimes 32 3.1.3 Vegetation in southern Ecuador 34 3.1.4 Nature reserves and other protected areas 35 3.1.4.1 The Biosphere Reserve Podocarpus-El Cóndor 36 3.1.4.2 National Parks of southern Ecuador 37 3.1.4.3 Protective Forests 39 3.1.4.4 Other reserves of importance 43 3.1.5 Ethnic groups in southern Ecuador 44 3.1.5.1 The Shuar of southern Ecuador 45 3.1.5.2 The Saraguros of southern Ecuador 48 3.1.5.3 The Mestizos of southern Ecuador 49 iii 3.1.6 Socio-economical structure of southern Ecuador 52 3.1.6.1 Population in southern Ecuador 52 3.1.6.2 Society and economy in southern Ecuador 52 3.2 STUDY SITES 57 3.2.1 The Shuar communities of Shaime (including Shamatak), Chumpias and Napints 58 3.2.2 The Saraguro communities of El Tibio and El Cristal 62 3.2.3 The Mestizo communities along the Upper Zamora 65 4 METHODS APPLIED 70 4.1 FIELD RESEARCH 70 4.1.1 Interview techniques 71 4.1.2 Sample plots and area estimation 73 4.1.3 Collection of plant specimens 74 4.2 DATA PROCESSING AND CLASSIFICATION 74 4.2.1 Plant processing and identification 74 4.2.2 Data compilation and format 75 4.2.3 Classification of ethnobotanical data 76 4.3 STATISTICAL DATA ANALYSES 78 4.3.1 Family Importance Value Index 78 4.3.2 Similarity and dissimilarity analyses 78 5 THE ETHNOBOTANICAL SURVEY 81 5.1 THE ETHNOBOTANICAL SURVEY, GENERAL FACTS 81 5.2 RESULTS OF THE SURVEY IN SHUAR COMMUNITIES 84 5.2.1 General aspects of Shuar plant use 84 5.2.2 The ethnobotanical use categories among the Shuar 87 5.2.2.1 Medicinal plants of the Shuar(MED) 88 5.2.2.2 Edible plants of the Shuar (FOO) 96 5.2.2.3 Plants used in construction by the Shuar (CON) 100 5.2.2.4 Fodder plants of the Shuar (FOD) 102 5.2.2.5 Plants used for fuel by the Shuar (FUE) 104 5.2.2.6 Ornamental plants of the Shuar (ORN) 106 5.2.2.7 Plants used to make tools and containers by the Shuar (T/C) 108 5.2.2.8 Plants used for hunting and fishing by the Shuar (H/F) 109 5.2.2.9 Plants used to make crafts by the Shuar (CRA) 110 5.2.2.10 Ritual and mythical plants of the Shuar (R/M) 111 5.2.2.11 Plants used in veterinary by the Shuar (VET) 112 5.2.2.12 Plants used by the Shuar to dye, to paint or to varnish (DPV) 113 5.2.2.13 Fiber plants of the Shuar (FIB) 114 5.2.2.14 Production of beetle larvae (BEE) 115 5.2.2.15 Shade trees of the Shuar(SHA) 115 5.2.2.16 Plants with other uses of the Shuar (OTH) 112 5.2.3 Other plants and fungi used by the Shuar of the Upper Nangaritza 117 5.3 RESULTS OF THE ETHNOBOTANICAL SURVEY AMONG THE SARAGUROS 121 5.3.1 The ethnobotany of the Saraguros 121 5.3.2 Use categories among the Saraguros 123 5.3.2.1 Edible plants of the Saraguros (FOO) 124 5.3.2.2 Medicinal plants of the Saraguros (MED) 127 5.3.2.3 Plants used in construction by the Saraguros (CON) 134 5.3.2.4 Ornamental plants of the Saraguros (ORN) 135 iv 5.3.2.5 Fodder plants of the Saraguros (FOD) 137 5.3.2.6 Plants used for fuel by the Saraguros (FUE) 138 5.3.2.7 Plants used as living fences by the Saraguros (FEN) 138 5.3.2.8 Plants used to make tools and containers by the Saraguros (T/C) 140 5.3.2.9 Shade trades of the Saraguros (SHA) 140 5.3.2.10 Plants with other uses of the Saraguros (OTH) 141