Sociocultural and ecological factors influencing management of edible and non-edible plants: the case of Ixcatlán, Mexico

Abstract

Background: Identifying factors influencing plant management allows understanding how processes of domestication operate. Uncertain availability of resources is a main motivation for managing edible plants, but little is known about management motives of non-edible resources like medicinal and ceremonial plants. We hypothesized that uncertain availability of resources would be a general factor motivating their management, but other motives could operate simultaneously. Uncertainty and risk might be less important motives in medicinal than in edible plants, while for ceremonial plants, symbolic and spiritual values would be more relevant. Methods: We inventoried edible, medicinal, and ceremonial plants in Ixcatlán, Oaxaca, Mexico, and conducted in-depth studies with 20 native and naturalized species per use type; we documented their cultural importance and abundance by interviewing 25 households and sampling vegetation in 33 sites. Consumption amounts and preferences were studied through surveys and free listings with 38 interviewees. Management intensity and risk indexes were calculated through PCA and their relation analyzed through regression analyses. Canonical methods allowed identifying the main sociocultural and ecological factors influencing management of plants per use type. Results: Nearly 64, 63, and 55% of all ceremonial, edible, and medicinal wild plants recorded, respectively, are managed in order to maintain or increase their availability, embellishing environments, and because of ethical reasons and curiosity. Management intensity was higher in edible plants under human selection and associated with risk. Management of ceremonial and medicinal plants was not associated with indexes of risk or uncertainty in their availability. Other sociocultural and ecological factors influence management intensity, the most important being reciprocal relations and abundance perception. Conclusions: Plant management through practices and collectively regulated strategies is strongly related to control of risk and uncertainty in edible plants, compared with medicinal and ceremonial plants, in which reciprocal interchanges, curiosity, and spiritual values are more important factors. Understanding how needs, worries, social relations, and ethical values influence management decisions is important to understand processes of constructing management strategies and how domestication could be started in the past and are operated at the present.

Do emotions influence the motivations and preferences of keepers of stingless bees?

“…Such cases have also been observed in the relationships of local societies with other biotic components, such as useful plants. After having investigated the main motivations for management practices among the Ixcatec in central Mexico, Rangel-Landa et al [ 57 ] pointed that the maintenance of reciprocal relationships, through donation or exchange, was one of the most important sociocultural factors influencing the management of medicinal and ceremonial plants. In addition, the authors examined the influence of symbolic and esthetic factors on plant management and suggested that these factors were relevant to understanding species management by local human populations.…”

Use and management of wild fauna by people of the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley and surrounding areas, Mexico

“…Furthermore, actions are taken to reduce or prevent damages or losses that faunal elements may produce for subsistence systems or human health [26,27]. Ethnobotanical evidence supports the hypotheses that management practices are primarily directed to increase the availability of those resources under a high demand pressure due to their high value for use, especially when resources are relatively scarce [6,[28][29][30]. However, the reduction in the risk of extirpation of a given resource after management might not always be successful, causing the loss not only of a biotic resource but also of the social and cultural activities related to it [30].…”

Consequences of traditional management in the production and quality of copal resin (Bursera bipinnata (Moc. & Sessé ex DC.) Engl.) in Mexico

“…But this contrasts with reports for species that produce latex, such as Castilla elastica Cerv., where no management practices are reported because, according to the perception of people, these trees germinate on their own and are very abundant [54]. This reinforces the perception that as soon as resources seem to be at risk, the practices, and the intensity of management of valued species increase [8,18].…”

“…These anthropogenic landscapes have high biological diversity because of long selection and manipulation processes carried out consciously or unconsciously by humans in in situ environments throughout generations [4,70]. This is therefore a con rmation that copal management strategies and practices are intimately linked to the initial worry to increase the spatial and temporal availability of plant resources of cultural and economic importance [18].…”

“…Different studies have documented examples of how silvicultural management operates and may involve domestication processes [8,11,[15][16][17], but most of them have focused on edible species. Research on management of medicinal, ornamental, and ritual species is still limited, even though these use categories are often the greatest number in ethnobotanical reports in Mexico [13,18,19].…”