Use and Diversity of Palm (Arecaceae) Resources in Central Western Brazil

Table 1

Indexes used to analyze the knowledge and use of palms in the Kalunga Community Engenho II, Cavalcante, GO, central western Brazil [2, 42, 43].

Indexes	Calculation	Description
Total species diversity (SDtot)	SDtot = 1/∑ 𝑃𝑠^2; (𝑃 = total contribution of species s to the total use; number of times species s was cited divided by the total number of citations).	Measures how the species are used and how they contribute to the total palm use. Values range from 0 to 𝑛.
Total species equitability (SEtot)	SEtot = SDtot/n; (𝑛 = number of species used).	Measures how different species contribute to total palm use independent of the number of species used. Values ​ ​range from 0 to 1.
Importance value (IVs)	IVs = nis/n; (number of informants who considered species s the most important). n = total number of informants.	Measures the proportion of informants who cited one species as the most preferred. Values ​ ​range from 0 to 1.
Use diversity values (UDs)	UDs = 1/SPc²; (Pc = contribution of the use category c to the total utility of species s; the number of times species s was mentioned within each use category divided by the total number of citations of use of species s among all use categories).	Measures how a species is used within a category and the degree to which it contributes to the overall use of this species. The values range from 0 to the number of categories of use for which the plant is used.
Use equitability value (UEs)	UEs = UDs/UDsmax; (UDsmax = the maximum use diversity value for a species with a given number of categories).	Measures how different uses contribute to the overall use of a species, independent of the number of categories of use. Values range from 0 to 1.
Informant diversity value (IDs)	IDs = 1/∑ 𝑃^2𝑖; 𝑃𝑖 = contribution of informant i to the total knowledge of species s (number of uses mentioned by an informant divided by the total number of uses).	Measures how many informants use one species and how its use is distributed among informants. Values range from 0 to the number of informants that use the species.
Informant equitability value (IEs)	IEs = IDs/IDsmax; (IDsmax = the maximum diversity value of an informant for species s).	Measures how the use of a species is distributed among informants, regardless of the number of informants who use it. The values range from 0 to 1.
Use consensus value (UCs)	UCs = 2ns/n − 1; (ns = number of people who use species s).	Measures the degree of agreement among informants regarding whether a species is useful. Values range from −1 to +1.
Purpose consensus value (PCs)	PCs = ∑ Pu²/S; (Pu = proportional contribution of the use u to the overall utility of the species s; S = total number of different types of use of species s). PCs represents the number of times that use u has been recorded for species s divided by the total number of recorded uses for species s.	Measures the degree of agreement between informants regarding a given use. Values range from 0 to 1.
Species diversity value (SDi)	SDi = 1/∑ Ps²; (Ps = contribution of a species s to the total use of a species by informant i; the ratio between the number of times that the informant mentions a species divided by the total number of responses of the informant).	Measures how an informant uses many species and how the uses are distributed among species. Values range from 0 to the number of species used by the informant.
Species equitability values (SEi)	SEi = SDi/Sd imax; (Sd imax = maximum value of species diversity for informant i)	Measures how an informant uses known plants, regardless of the number of plants used. Values range from 0 to 1.
Part of the plant value (PPV)	The ratio between the total number of reported uses for each plant part (∑RUplant part) and the sum of uses reported for that plant (∑RU).	Indicates the difference in the number of uses of the parts of the plant and reveals the most frequently used part of the plant.