Perceptions of the use and value of fungi by two groups of young adults from Central America
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2019-12-20Autor
Rojas Alvarado, Carlos Alonso
Molina Murillo, Sergio Andrés
Doss, Robin G.
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Introduction: Integrated efforts for the management and
conservation of natural resources require the availability of socio-cultural information. However, perceptional studies are rarely used along
with biological data to design methodologies of biodiversity conservation. Objective: To explore the potential of perceptional information
on fungi as a tool for developing culture-sensitive methods of management and conservation. Methods: Through a survey-based design,
ethnomycological information from urban settings in Honduras and
Costa Rica was collected and evaluated for a group of young adults
(16-25 years old, N=615 surveys). Results: Fungi were not perceived
to have the value of plants and animals, in both countries. The latter were mentioned as preferred by 74% of respondents. By country,
39% of Costa Ricans mentioned the most important use of fungi to be
food, whereas 58% of Hondurans responded a medicinal application.
Remarkably, 27% of respondents in Costa Rica mentioned that fungi
are important in ecological processes, much higher than Hondurans
with only 7%. Conclusions: Exposure to formal education or previous
cultural background may not play such an important role in shaping
perceptions of the group of fungi as it does social aspects associated
with the city lifestyle in the populations studied.
External link to the item
10.22458/urj.v11i3.2619Colecciones
- Ingeniería agrícola [82]