Reflections on the use of hypotheses in ethnobotany: A response to Leonti et al. (2020)

Authors

  • Washington Soares Ferreira Júnior Laboratório de Investigações Bioculturais no Semiárido, Universidade de Pernambuco, Campus Petrolina, Rodovia BR 203, Km 2, s/n – Vila Eduardo, Petrolina, PE 56328-903, Brazil. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3128-0514
  • Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque Laboratório de Ecologia e Evolução de Sistemas Socioecológicos (LEA), Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego, 1235, Cidade Universitária, 50670-901 Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8131-8429
  • Patrícia Muniz Medeiros Laboratório de Ecologia, Conservação Evolução Biocultural, Campus de Engenharias e Ciências Agrárias, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, BR 104 s/n, Mata do Rolo, Rio Largo, 57100000, Alagoas, Brazil. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3835-5232

Keywords:

Ecological scenarios, Evolutionary scenarios, Medicinal plants, Philosophy of science, Social-ecological systems

Abstract

In this article, we examine the review by Leonti et al. (2020) on the use of hypotheses in ethnobotany and we argue that the authors presented two main argumentative deficiencies on their analysis: superficiality and epistemological exclusivism. We discussed the main criticisms of the diversification hypothesis, the utilitarian redundancy model and the availability hypothesis and reinforced the importance of using ecological and evolutionary scenarios to understand the relationship between people and plants.

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Published

2021-03-23

How to Cite

Ferreira Júnior, W. S., Albuquerque, U. P., & Medeiros, P. M. (2021). Reflections on the use of hypotheses in ethnobotany: A response to Leonti et al. (2020). Ethnobotany Research and Applications, 21, 1–5. Retrieved from https://ethnobotanyjournal.org/index.php/era/article/view/2515

Issue

Vol. 21 (2021)

Section

Reviews

License

All articles are copyrighted by the first author and are published online by license from the first author. Articles are intended for free public distribution and discussion without charge. Accuracy of the content is the responsibility of the authors.

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