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The demand for timber resources is one of the primary drivers of landscape modification and biodiversity loss, but little information is available about the domestic use of these resources. A study was conducted in rural communities (northeast Brazil) to identify the factors that influenced the use and knowledge of these resources and how these factors were modified over time and influenced by environmental and cultural changes. Despite the local knowledge of a wide variety of timber products, most people used only some of these products; the used products had a constant replacement frequency and a wider range of source species. Although the studied communities were located in the same environmental context, the different regimes of access to forest resources in the region appeared to exert a significant influence on the use and diversity of the collected timber species. Thus, it is necessary for managers to consider both the specific characteristics of each site and particular groups of the same population when planning to promote the sustainable use of forest resources. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]