Ethnoecology and Medicinal Plants of the Highland Maya

Dr. John Richard Stepp serves as Associate Professor of Anthropology and Latin American Studies at the University of Florida. For the last decade he has conducted ethnobiological research with the Tzeltal Maya in Highland Chiapas, Mexico. He currently coordinates an interdiscplinary research program in the Maya Forest of Belize, Guatemala and Mexico. His research explores persistence, change and variation of traditional ecological knowledge and ethnobotany.

• Preface.- Introduction.- Identifying medicinal plants used.- The role of environmental variation on use and selection.- Identifying preferred habitats.- Importance of human modified environments for medicinal plants.- Human ecology and biochemical ecology.- Implications for conservation, health, and the environment.- Index.