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- Chinese functional foods and nutraceuticals: plants and products
commercialized in the Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Authors: Jeremías Pedro Puentes, Patricia Marta Arenas, Julio Alberto Hurrell
Abstract: This article contributes to the study about urban botanical knowledge within the pluricultural context of Buenos Aires-La Plata Metropolitan Area, in particular, the botanical knowledge about plants and its products introduced by Chinese immigrants in the Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires. The registered functional food and nutraceutical plants products marketed by these immigrants (that belong to the Traditional Chinese Phytotherapy) are locally employed for the treatment of diseases linked to the urban way of life, such as diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, cancer, cognitive dysfunctions, among others. In this sense, the work contributes to the understanding of the local biocultural diversity (both plants and its associated knowledge). The research followed usual qualitative ethnobotanical methods and techniques, especially semi-structured and free interviews to 250 qualified informants, prior informed consent. An inventory of plant products of 52 vascular plants (vegetables, legumes, fruits, condiments) locally recognized as functional foods was obtained. Plants products belonging to 30 of the 52 treated taxa are commercialized only within the restricted commercial circuit of the Chinese immigrants. Therefore, these taxa are considered “invisible” for the majority of local inhabitants. Plants products of the 22 remaining taxa are marketed in both the restricted Chinese circuit and the general commercial one. Then, these taxa are “visible” for all residents. Local botanical knowledge is evaluated from the circulation of plant products in local trade circuits. “Invisible” taxa may become “visible” when entering the general commercial circuit. This “visualization process” of plants products and its associated knowledge express the local botanical knowledge dynamics.
PubDate: 2019-08-06
Issue No: Vol. 8 (2019)
- Ethnozoology in the mountains. What does the cognitive salience of wild
animals tell us'
Authors: Matias Wajner, Daniela Tamburini, Fernando Zamudio
Abstract: In recent times, ethnobiology has revived interest in cognitive aspects of humans’ communities. A concept commonly used in this area is cognitive salience. In this paper we assess the wild animal salience meaning for the rural people from an area of the mountain range of the Córdoba province (Argentina). We also analyzed the relationship of cultural and ecological factors over wild animal domain salience. The values of cognitive salience, perception and cultural value were obtained by means of free lists to 16 collaborators, while semi-structured interviews were used to inquire about local ecological knowledge and ease of observation about wild animals. The interdependence between the five variables elaborated was analyzed through a Principal Components Regression. The results show a qualitative relationship between Cognitive Salience and Cultural Value and a significant correlation between Cognitive Salience and Local Ecological Knowledge. Ease of Observation did not correlate with Cognitive Salience, but show a significant relationship with the Perceived Abundance. The results suggest a complex network of factors that are modeling the cognitive salience and local perceptions over wild animals. In our findings, highlight the Cultural Value given to harmful animals which reflects an increasing pattern in the region, the conflict between rural people and wild animals. In turn a mutual influences and causal feedback loops between cognitive salience and an ecological factor, the Perceived abundance, is proposed. Investigations over cognition and about how people perceived nature can give us an idea of how they act in it, a compelling factor when it comes to cultural and biological conservation issues.
PubDate: 2019-07-31
Issue No: Vol. 8 (2019)
- Knowledge and use of biocultural diversity by Nahua in the Huasteca region
of Hidalgo, Mexico
Authors: Tania Vianney Gutiérrez-Santillán, Ángel Moreno-Fuentes, Arturo Sánchez-González, Gerardo Sanchez-Rojas
Abstract: The Huasteca region of Mexico is one of the most biologically and culturally diverse in the country. In this study, we set out to identify and analyze biodiversity knowledge and use by two indigenous nahua communities located in two types of vegetation (tropical semi-evergreen forest [TSEF] and montane cloud forest [MCF]). The fieldwork was carried out from January 2011 to December 2012, and ethnobiological information was collected by combining the ethnographic percentage sampling method (10%) and the snowball method, applying multiple freelists to 125 informants. The ethnobiological data was analyzed using indices adapted from measures of ecological diversity, and multivariate methods. In the two communities, 409 ethnospecies were identified, corresponding to a total of 383 species. The TSEF contained greater ethnospecies richness than the MCF. Eleven use categories were identified, the most important being consumption (edible) uses. In general, the local people have considerable knowledge of the biological diversity in their territory. We found that vegetation types influence local knowledge; however, there are similarities between communities in the same cultural group and located in the same geographical region.
PubDate: 2019-06-21
Issue No: Vol. 8 (2019)
- Perception of the presence, impacts and control of the invasive species
Sus scrofa in the local community living near the Itatiaia National Park,
Brazil
Authors: Carina Zanco Pereira, Clarissa Alves Rosa, Antônio Carlos Zanzini
Abstract: The wild pigs are considered as one of the 100 worse invasive species in the world and they are expanding their rage through Brazilian territory, leading to many social and environmental impacts. Our study’s aim was to estimate the perception of rural communities about the presence of wild pigs in the vicinity of the Itatiaia National Park (INP), Brazil, including the perceived impacts and the acceptance of management policies of the species. We conducted this study in nine rural communities around the INP, where we interviewed 210 inhabitant using structured questionnaires with ten closed dichotomous questions. The majority of respondents know about the existence of the wild pigs in the region and figure out their presence as undesirable and a threaten to the environment and crops, mainly corn, vegetable gardens and sugarcane. Most of respondents are favorable to control measures and eradication of the species, showing one common goal between local community and INP’s managers and an opportunity of effective management of the specie in the region. We reinforce the importance of programs of management of the wild pigs in the region that involves different social actors, including the managers of the INP, farmers and legal hunters properly certified by Brazilian legislation.
PubDate: 2019-06-12
Issue No: Vol. 8 (2019)
- “Cardos” of two worlds: Transfer and re-signification of the uses of
thistles between the Iberian Peninsula and Argentina
Authors: Jacinto Esteban Hernandez Bermejo, Gustavo Delucchi, Gustavo Charra, María Lelia Pochettino, Julio Alberto Hurrell
Abstract: “Thistles” constitute a group of prickly herbaceous plants included in the Cardueae tribe (Asteraceae), but in the popular sense that concept is frequently applied to other species of the same family, as well as to some Dipsacaceae, Bromeliaceae, Apiaceae or Cactaceae. Since antiquity, the cultivation and use of thistles for food and medicinal purposes has been well known in the Mediterranean cultures. The different popular knowledge could allow us to refer to a “thistle culture”. During the exploration of America, many of those species and their associated knowledge were transferred from the Old to the New World. In Argentina, several species of thistles, especially Cynara cardunculus, spread extensively throughout the pampas. From early times, they constituted a source of food and low quality fuel, and in several cases they were also employed in popular medicine, with diverse uses, some of which are still in practice. The local importance of some species is mentioned in gaucho literature, arts, and gastronomy. In the 20th century, a large production of artichokes from introduced crops that increased local agro-diversity was recorded in Argentina. This contribution summarizes some aspects of the transfer and re-signification of the thistle between the Iberian Peninsula and Argentina.
PubDate: 2019-03-13
Issue No: Vol. 8 (2019)
- “There was a virgin forest here; it was all woods”: local perceptions
of landscape change by a rural population in Northeastern Brazil
Authors: Paulo Henrique Gonçalves, Antônia Edna Magalhães Rego, Patrícia Muniz de Medeiros
Abstract: This paper presents a case study to understand how people from a rural population that has been undergoing intense anthropogenic transformations in recent decades perceive these local landscape changes. We conducted a participatory workshop, during which we used the scoring exercise method to stimulate the participants to rank the plant species that they consider most important for utilitarian and commercial purposes, and we employed the historical chart method to they represent the perceived changes in the availability of agricultural, wood, and medicinal plant resources over the last five decades. In order to further explore the historical chart results, we employed the thematic oral history method with those residents considered by the local people as having a high degree of knowledge about the local forest. Our findings show that people attribute great importance to the species of edible plants in the region, although they perceive them as having a low commercial potential. Regarding the perceived changes in the landscape, people indicated that there were declining areas of forest in the region, and that in the past, agriculture was practiced more intensely. Additionally, people perceive a decline in the availability of plants for wood purposes, and an increase in the availability of plants for medicinal purposes. These results indicate that even small rural populations can undertake significant changes in their surrounding ecosystems over time.
PubDate: 2018-12-21
Issue No: Vol. 8 (2018)
- Firewood knowledge, use and selection by rural populations in the Dry
Chaco of Sierra de Ancasti, Catamarca, Argentina
Authors: N. David Jiménez-Escobar, Gustavo J. Martínez
Abstract: Firewood extraction and consumption are practices that require specific knowledge as well as detailed analysis of the cultural context in which they take place. The appropriation, use and selection of wood fuel resources were determined through open and semi-structured interviews, guided walks, participant observation and re-call. Currently, the rural inhabitants of the Sierra de Ancasti, Catamarca (Dry Chaco´s forest) know about, manage, use, and appropriate firewood resources to meet their needs related to heating and preparing food in their homes. We identified 52 species (corresponding to 44 genera, 23 families) associated with the domestic use of fire. Among these, 42 species (81%) are currently used for food preparation, 23 species (44%) in heating and 16 species (31%) in fire ignition and production. Based on an analysis of frequency of mention and the Cognitive Salience Index, the most important and preferred species among the inhabitants are Condaliaspp., Lithraea molleoides andVachellia caven. Factors that determine the selection of the species include firewood quality, accessibility and distance. Additional factors such as the high richness of firewood species used and known in the region, the flexibility of the inhabitants in their choice of species, the exclusive use of firewood for domestic purposes, collection of dead wood, and the use of several adventitious-cultivated species associated with domestic spaces, could be reducing the pressure on the native species and on the Dry Chaco forest in general.
PubDate: 2018-11-29
Issue No: Vol. 8 (2018)
- Trends on mexican ethnozoological research, vertebrates case: a systematic
review
Authors: Tania Vianney Gutiérrez-Santillán, Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque, David Valenzuela-Galván, Francisco Reyes-Zepeda, Luis-Bernardo Vázquez, Arturo Mora-Olivo, Leonardo Uriel Arellano-Méndez
Abstract: Systematic reviews and meta-analytical approach are a tool used in different social and biological disciplines, but its application in evaluating ethnobiological information is scarce. Thus, through this analytical approach, we seek to answer if there are any patterns in the mexican ethnozoological scientific production. We searched for studies published between 2005 and 2015 in catalogues, repositories and databases. For evaluating significative differences among seven variable datasets, we first used non parametric Kruskal-Wallis tests and then Tukey multiple comparison tests. We also determined the link between researchers and institutions with a multidimensional non-metric scaling analysis. We found 295 published studies, book chapters were the most representative (27%), diffusion articles (20%), impact factor articles (15%) and indexed articles (14%). There are significant differences in the number of publications among the evaluated years, among thematic areas, study focus (qualitative/quantitative), ethnographic and biological methods. Regarding academic linking, we identified 94 author adscription institutions, however, no research networks were identified. Our results suggest that the amount, diffusion and reach of mexican ethnozoological production show a tendency to non-periodic publishing, predilection for qualitative approach, a low use of statistical and ethnobiological analysis, as well as an inadequate selection of biological methods. We suggest this data analysis approach will allow a better standardization for information taking and processing, aiding the discipline in its growth and consolidation.
PubDate: 2018-11-29
Issue No: Vol. 8 (2018)
- Zootherapy and rural livestock farmers in semiarid Patagonia: the transfer
of animal aptitudes for health
Authors: Lucia Castillo, Ana H. Ladio
Abstract: This work investigates the therapeutic value of animals to rural farmers who live on the central plateau of Chubut, Argentina. Open and in-depth interviews were carried out with 35 rural farmers from Sierra Rosada, Sierra Ventana, El Escorial and Telsen. A total of 16 biological species (12 wild and 4 domestic animals) were registered as being employed in treatment (34 registered up to the present) of different ailments, empacho being one of the main therapeutic targets. Of the domestic species, the hen (Gallus gallus domesticus) is the most versatile in its usefulness, and choique (Darwin’s Rhea) (Rhea pennata) is the most versatile wild animal. Farmers use 15 different parts of the animals, fat being the substance which is used from most species. These zootreatments imply the transfer of aptitudes (the acquisition of a certain attribute of a species through ingestion or contact with specific parts of the animal), which transforms the health and lives of the people. Our results shed light on the symbolic and symbiotic relationships woven into rural life, with their implications for the conservation and management of wild fauna.
PubDate: 2018-11-28
Issue No: Vol. 8 (2018)
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