Use of local ecological knowledge as phenology indicator in native food species in the semiarid region of Northeast Brazil

Phenological studies that aggregate local ecological knowledge on the expression of phenophases may be useful in the elaboration of management strategies of species that are important to a given local system. In this study, we seek to answer the following questions: 1) How do the different phenophases of two important native food species are expressed in the three phytophysiognomies of the Cerrado (Brazilian savannah) where they are collected? 2) How does rainfall influence the expression of the phenophases of these species on the evaluated phytophysiognomies? 3) Does the local ecological knowledge of the residents of the Araripe National Forest (hereafter FLONA) on the phenophases of native species of high importance correspond to what occurs in the three phytophysiognomies of the Cerrado? The phenological monitoring was executed monthly from January 2012 to December 2013. In order to retrieve the local knowledge about phenophases, key informants from three communities located around the FLONA were selected. Rainfall is a limiting factor for the expression of the reproductive phenophases of Caryocar coriaceum, differently from what occurs for the vegetative phases and for Hancornia speciosa. There were no significant differences between the local knowledge of communities that collect resources in the forest and most of the data collected in the phenological evaluation. In addition, there was no difference in the expression of the phenophases among the three phytophysiognomies, also corroborating with the local ecological knowledge. As for the community that collects in agroforestry yards, there were significant differences between knowledge and expression of phenophases. Thus, the use of local ecological knowledge of people who collect resources in the forest has proved to be reliable and may be promising mainly in rapid diagnoses of biodiversity.