This study aimed to identify the medicinal arboreal species from riparian forests at three small farms in Urubici Municipality, Santa Catarina State, Brazil, and relate their ecological features to the possibilities of their use for restoration of degraded riparian environments. In order to survey individuals with circumference at breast height (CBH) >15 cm, the quadrant method was adopted. The sampled specimens were herborized, incorporated into the Herbarium LUSC and categorized according to their medicinal use, employed part, frequency, dispersal syndrome (anemochory, autochory and zoochory), ecological group (pioneer, early secondary, late secondary) and use for forest restoration. Of the 240 sampled specimens, 197 belonging to 22 species of 15 families were potentially medicinal. The most abundant families were Euphorbiaceae, Rosaceae, Myrtaceae, Sapindaceae, Lauraceae and Anacardiaceae. More than 85% potentially medicinal species had zoochoric dispersal syndrome, around 78% were categorized as early secondary and pioneer, and around 88% were recommended for restoration. Medicinal arboreal species are quite common in degraded riparian forests along Canoas River. They can provide genetic resources for restoration and adequacy of permanent preservation areas (PPAs) to the environmental legislation; moreover, they are exploitable non-timber forest products.
biodiversity; Araucaria moist forests; conservation; medicinal plants; restoration
