Economic Botany最新文献

Classical scholars have long held that the saffron in widespread use throughout the ancient Mediterranean was Crocus sativus (Iridaceae), a sterile triploid descendant of the wild Crocus cartwrightianus, and indeed use of Crocus sativus in antiquity has been extensively borne out both by iconographic and phylogenetic studies. Two principal scholars of the Roman world, Dioscorides the physician and Pliny the natural historian, disagreed radically over the virtues and commercial value of saffron crocus from Sicily, with one praising its quality, and the other excoriating it. This study draws on ecophysiology, classical texts, environmental archeology, and phytochemistry to explain this disagreement and its implications. It explores the potential impact of microclimate on crocus cultivation in the ancient Mediterranean and proposes a new species identification for Sicilian crocus: Crocus longiflorus. The identification of Crocus longiflorus as “Sicilian saffron” offers an important corrective to the assumption that Crocus sativus was the sole crocus species of commercial value in the ancient Mediterranean and renews attention to the economic potential and utility of an indigenous southern Italian species overlooked in classical and later scholarship.

Citizen science is a tool that makes it possible to design large-scale studies while developing dialogues among people. It has developed in many fields, such as ecology, biodiversity studies, climatology, and sociology. Done properly, it can help produce a large amount of data that can later be analyzed using statistical tools. Can ethnobotany also benefit from such investigations? Based on three citizen science projects carried out in a botanical garden, this paper explores the possibility of developing ethnobotanical citizen science research in a context other than that of fieldwork. Examples include a literacy laboratory within a multicultural exhibit (2018), a survey on the uses of medicinal plants during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic (2021), and a call for testimonials about and recipes for medicinal plants from around the world (2020–2023). This approach, enriched by the citizens themselves, is in keeping with the aspirations of the ethnobiologists who have called for a paradigm shift following the COVID-19 pandemic, perceived as a tipping point. Citizen science practices implemented in a museum institution, such as a botanical garden, thus make it possible to carry out multicultural surveys and discuss results with people in an open dialogue.

The concept of “ecological keystone species” underscores the central role certain species play in ecosystem dynamics. Analogously, “cultural keystone species” are essential in organizing social-ecological systems, reflecting the critical relationship between humans and their environment. While various indicators have been proposed for identifying cultural keystone species, recent studies have questioned their efficacy. Challenges persist in defining clear criteria for identifying these species, distinguishing them from other culturally and economically important species, and incorporating the emic perspectives of local communities. To address these challenges, we propose the cultural keystone species syndrome (CKSS) approach, which focuses on species identified as unique from an emic perspective. We conducted a case study in the Araripe-Apodi Environmental Protection Area in northeastern Brazil, where two communities, Horizonte and Sítio Macaúba, rely heavily on plant extraction for livelihoods. Using the free listing technique, we identified species considered culturally important by local residents. Our findings reveal an overlap between species identified as having the cultural keystone species syndrome and those considered only culturally significant, challenging the notion of exclusive cultural keystone species. We discuss the implications of our findings for biocultural conservation and highlight the need for a more nuanced understanding of cultural keystone species and their role in shaping social-ecological systems dynamics.

Ethnobiology analyzes the interactions between people and their surrounding environments from various perspectives. Some studies have been criticized by social scientists, who argue that ethnobiologists have insufficiently considered the conflicts between the dominant economic and political model and rural communities’ lives, which are often idealized. However, several ethnobiological studies have increasingly considered these aspects, and important initiatives in this direction have emerged from interactions with other research fields and frameworks, such as sustainability science, political ecology, agroecology, and social-ecological systems. To address criticism on what has been considered ethnobiological utopianism, it is valuable to theorize, develop methodological tools, and construct explanatory models. From such perspective, this work aims to recover an old theory called ecosymbiotic complementarity, which we propose can strengthen analytical approaches in the social-ecological systems framework. We recover the original proposal of the ecosymbiotic complementarity theory, emphasizing the relationships between rural communities and economic and political variables. We consider that the ecosymbiotic complementarity theory can contribute to the contextualization of rural societies analyzed in ethnobiological research.

The bow-and-arrow was not manufactured or widely used by Indigenous Peoples within the Australian continent, and the suitability of woody Australian plant species for constructing bows is poorly understood. The mechanical and physical properties of 326 plant species, including species highly suitable for self-bows and 106 native Australian species, were analyzed and compared using principal component analysis. Additionally, qualitative information regarding the use of Australian woods for bows was obtained from bow-making internet forums. The results suggest that Australian woods have combinations of properties that make them sub-optimal for bows compared to common woods from other parts of the world. The findings may explain the historical absence of bow-and-arrow technology on the Australian continent. Future work is needed to collect data from a broader range of woody Australian species, along with empirical research to assess the suitability of Australian woods for bow-making. The work also demonstrates, for the first time, that principal component analysis is a useful technique for exploring the suitability of woods for self-bows and should be investigated further for this purpose.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the main mechanism of global appeal and action regarding the attainment of sustainability, with a focus on environmental, social, and economic dimensions. Ethnobotany can make relevant contributions to the pursuit and achievement of the SDGs due to its interdisciplinary nature and ability to give visibility to the worldviews, knowledge, and practices of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLC). Although the primary focus of ethnobotany is the investigation of the plant-related knowledge and practices of different groups, including IPLC, with an emphasis on the environmental dimension, the appreciation of biocultural diversity cannot be decoupled from social and economic contexts. In this study, we evaluated how the Brazilian ethnobotanical literature has contributed to the sustainability debate through the SDGs. We conducted two systematic reviews of the ethnobotanical literature: first, a broad review of 810 articles identified using keywords related to each of the 17 SDGs; and second, an in-depth analysis of 45 indicators related to the 17 SDGs in 23 articles that mentioned sustainability or sustainable development. In both reviews, we found the most results for SDG 15 (life on land), indicating that environmental sustainability is strongly connected to ethnobotanical studies. We also identified information that explored the social and economic dimensions of sustainability through SDG 1 (no poverty), SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 4 (quality education), SDG 5 (gender equity), SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth), and SDG 9 (innovation and infrastructure). We discuss gaps and opportunities to be explored by ethnobotany and conclude that the connections between ethnobotany and the SDGs can be reinforced. This would improve the ability of ethnobotanical studies to effectively contribute to the political aspect of the 2030 agenda through appreciation of and respect for traditional knowledge and practices of IPLC and their active participation in the sustainability debate.

Biodiversity is crucial for human well-being and sustenance, especially for rural communities that directly depend on plant resources. We investigated the plant selection process among rural communities in the Brazilian semiarid region. We aimed to understand how these communities choose plants for various functions, including fuel, construction, and forage. We hypothesized that people’s choices are influenced by specific functional plant traits, leading them to select the most suitable species for each purpose. Our results support this hypothesis, as they showed that agropastoralists base their plant choices on functional traits that correspond to their needs. For instance, wood density, which is directly linked to wood durability, plays a key role in selecting plants for fuel and construction. By integrating ethnobotany and functional ecology, this study highlights the connection between functional plant traits and Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK), and thus contributes to a deeper understanding of the nuanced bond between humans and biodiversity. This allowed us to identify functional plant traits that guide plant selection in the Caatinga and probably also in other semiarid tropical regions worldwide. Based on our results, we conclude that functional plant traits play a critical role in decision-making for the selection of plant species for different primary uses.

Wild palms provide high-value resources and contribute to generating income for rural people. This study documents the usage patterns and conservation practices of wild palms in Western Burkina Faso. An ethnobotanical survey was conducted with 258 participants across five different communities. The participants cited seven palm species. The number of palm species cited per participant varied according to their ethnic group, gender, and age category. Elaeis guineensis and Borassus akeassii were the most cited and useful species. The influence of ethnic group, gender, and age on use values depended on the specific palm species among the communities. Local people adopted natural assisted regeneration (watering, protecting, and taking care of seedlings that germinate naturally) and cultivation to conserve Borassus akeassii and Elaeis guineensis. Local conservation practices and sustainable exploitation of wild palms are needed for their successful and effective conservation in the semi-arid climatic context of Burkina Faso.

Archaeologists and others have long overlooked ecosystems stewarded by Indigenous Peoples on the Northwest Coast of North America due to colonial perspectives on food-procurement strategies. As a result, these places remain largely overlooked and unprotected in present-day conservation and cultural resource management. Further, identifying, understanding, and revitalizing these systems are key to supporting the food security, cultural identity, and inter-generational knowledge transfer of Indigenous Peoples. This is the case with the lək̓ʷəŋən speaking Songhees First Nation (Coast Salish/southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia), where colonialism has severely impacted traditional knowledge about estuarine root gardens. To address this issue, and the desire of the lək̓ʷəŋən to revitalize these sites, this study employs a novel interdisciplinary methodology to evaluate a potential garden on the archipelago of Tl’chés. By combining archaeology, ecology, and pedology, and conducting ecological surveys, soil analysis, and archaeological excavations, we found that past cultivation practices have left measurable impacts at the site more than 100 years after management ceased. We conclude that evidence of estuarine root garden management is present in the Coast Salish, and that it is possible to identify sites in areas where they are no longer known by the community, re-integrating them within traditional food systems and re-defining archaeological approaches to their study.