Ethnobotanical study of useful plants in the Acopia farmers community, Acomayo, Cusco

Abstract

An ethnobotanical study of useful plants in the farmers community of Acopia in the Andean region of Cusco was carried out. The objectives were a) to evaluate the richness of useful plants, b) to know the uses c) to determine the threat categories. To know the wealth, collections of useful plants were made; To know the uses, we based ourselves on ethnobotanical surveys, calculating the indexes: relative frequency citation (CFR) and use value (VU), and the states of threat were identified according to the IUCN criteria. For Acopia we registered 141 species of useful plants, belonging to 100 genera and 53 families. The richest families: Asteraceae (25 species), Poaceae (9), and Fabaceae (8). All the useful plants found are considered in at least one of the 11 categories of use, the most outstanding being: Medicinal with 125 species, Food for domestic animals (88), and Cultural (47). The species with the highest VUt was: Senna birostris with 13; According to the CFR, the most frequently used species is Solanum tuberosum with a value of 1 in the AH category. In total, the species that are considered critically endangered (CR) were: Kageneckia lanceolata, Polylepis racemosa, Buddleja incana, Buddleja coriacea, and Solanum acaule. We conclude that the wealth of useful plants in the community of Acopia is relatively high compared to other places, however, their populations are being threatened by impacts caused by the loss of their habitats, fires, and lack of interest in revaluation by younger settlers.