Agrobiodiversity and in situ conservation in quilombola home gardens with different intensities of urbanization

ABSTRACT Among the agricultural environments of traditional communities, home gardens are frequently cited as high agrobiodiversity sites. However, the agrobiodiversity of home gardens along a rural-urban gradient demands study in order to identify possible influences of urbanization and to support mitigation of impacts. The present work investigated the role home gardens play in the in situ agrobiodiversity conservation of plants in quilombola communities with different degrees of urbanization. The study found that more urbanized communities have larger home gardens, but the average richness of plant species in these areas was not statistically different among the communities. Furthermore, the abundance of plant species was similar. Medicinal and food plants were mainly found in home gardens of the communities with high to intermediate levels of urbanization, while ornamental plants were more common in rural community home gardens. It is believed that crop exclusivity in home gardens of the more urbanized communities highly influenced the results, increasing the role home gardens play in maintaining traditional practices. The elevated and statistically equal species richness in home gardens suggests that, despite the factors generated by urbanization, all of the communities are very important for in situ conservation of native and introduced species.