Xavante Cultural Landscapes, Part II: Ethnobiology of a Semicircular Jatobá Forest

pdiv>In this paper we describe semicircular anthropogenic forest patches located in Mato Grosso, Brazil, at former Xavante village sites from the 1950s to the 1970s. These tall forest stands are surrounded by low cerrado scrub and grasslands. Their footprints mimic the typical horseshoe shape of Xavante villages. In July-August 2011 we conducted an inventory of trees > 10 cm diameter at chest height in three 10 by 10 m plots. A total of 122 trees were registered. These pertained to 14 species, of which Xavante consultants identified 11 as edible fruit trees and three as having technological uses. One fruit tree, jatobá (Hymenaea courbaril) accounted for 47.5% of all individuals and was the tallest species in the canopy. Considering the characteristic botanical diversity of Brazil’s cerrado biome, these cultural forests are remarkable for their low species diversity, the dominance of a single species, and the predominance of edible fruit trees.