Felipe Ruan-Soto

• Dr.
• Professor at Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas, México

México cuenta con un patrimonio micocultural que se expresa en una tradición histórica de consumo de hongos comestibles como parte de una estrategia diversificada de aprovechamiento integral de los recursos. Este artículo presenta un panorama general acerca del aprovechamiento de los hongos comestibles en México, tanto de aquellos silvestres como d...

The use of psychoactive Psilocybe mushrooms as entheogens by the Mazatecs of Oaxaca became known to the world in 1957. While the Mazatec Region has been the focus of research, historical records indicate that other indigenous groups in Mexico, including the Zapotecs, also used these mushrooms for ceremonial and medicinal purposes. However, the ling...

Several methods have been proposed to quantify the cultural importance of plants, animals, and fungi, which can be influenced by sociocultural and ecological factors. To evaluate the relevance of wild mushroom species known by an Indigenous group and Mestizos, and to test whether ethnicity or the availability of mushroom species in different ecosys...

Bats provide important ecosystem services for agriculture, such as pest control, a function that is particularly relevant for small-scale farmers. However, climate change is causing a decrease in bat populations. To assess the potential impacts of climate change on insectivorous bats and the implications on small-scale farming of indigenous communi...

South-east Mexico comprises the states Chiapas, Tabasco, Yucatan, Campeche, and Quintana Roo. Collectively, the region is known for both its high biodiversity and cultural diversity. As house to most of the current Maya peoples in Mexico, as well as other indigenous and nonindigenous groups, the area has been the object of many studies regarding lo...

Ecoepidemiology is an emerging field that attempts to explain how biotic, environmental, and even social factors influence the dynamics of infectious diseases. Particularly in vector-borne diseases, the study under this approach offers us an overview of the pathogens, vectors, and hosts that coexist in a given region and their ecological determinan...

A etnomicologia é a área de estudo que transpassa o conhecimento tradicional e científico, cujo intuito é compreender e registrar os costumes e toda a cultura material e espiritual de diferentes comunidades vinculadas aos fungos. No Estado de São Paulo (SP, Brasil), ainda não foram realizadas pesquisas nessa área, e sendo assim, o objetivo do prese...

Introducción al libro Etnobiología a la Mexicana

La etnobiología es una disciplina científica que estudia las relaciones entre las sociedades humanas y su entorno natural desde una perspectiva cultural y biológica. Se centra en el conocimiento tradicional de diferentes culturas acerca de las plantas, animales y ecosistemas, así como en cómo las comunidades utilizan y gestionan los recursos natura...

Chiapas harbors significant biological and cultural diversity. The region known as Selva Lacandona is an ideal example to study what is called the “biocultural axiom”. This neotropical region is inhabited by multiple indigenous groups, such as the Tsotziles, Tseltales, Tojolabales, Ch’oles, Kanjobales, Chujes, Mames, Lacandones (Hach Winik), and Zo...

Background Traditional mycological knowledge (TMK) is complex, not distributed equally among the entire population, and constantly adapting to current social situations. There are sociocultural factors that could influence the fact that some people retain a greater wealth of knowledge, for instance, cultural affiliation, migration, occupation, leve...

The state of Chiapas is one of the most biologically diverse and bioculturally rich areas of Mexico. The region known as the Highlands of Chiapas is a mountainous region that harbors vegetation types dominated by pine and oak species and human populations belonging to the Tsotsil, Tseltal, and Tojol-ab’al Indigenous groups. These people have named...

The greatest diversity of culturally relevant fungi in Mexico has been recorded in temperate forests. Likewise, it has been proven that people who live in such environments possess greater ethnomycological knowledge, compared with people in the lowlands. In this study, we investigated whether the uses and perceptions of fungi were different between...

Las infografías aquí presentes tienen un propósito múltiple: Primero, 1) como material didáctico, 2) herramienta pedagógica y 3) vehículo de comunicación en la consulta previa, libre e informada y, finalmente, 4) como vehículo gráfico de apoyo en el diálogo de saberes.

New record from São Paulo State, Brazil and ethnomycological notes). Phlebopus is a genus of boletoid fungi that produces conspicous basidiomes with large dimensions. The genus is represented in Brazil by six species distributed in eight States, with P. beniensis being here newly reported from the State of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil. Therefore,...

Background The study of the cultural significance (CS) of biodiversity provides key information to develop conservation strategies consistent with traditions and perceptions of human communities. In Los Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve (TBR) in Mexico, the mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata mexicana) and the black-handed spider monkeys (Ateles geof...

Desde los albores del s. XX se produjo una cantidad inusitada de proyectos de investigación y publicaciones acerca de los lacandones, grupo originario del sureste mexicano; particularmente destacan aquellos relacionados con el manejo y aprovechamiento de recursos naturales de la Selva. Pese a este vasto esfuerzo de documentación etnográfica, se cue...

Se realizó un estudio en la comunidad de Playón de la Gloria, Marqués de Comillas, Chiapas, México, con la finalidad de analizar el conocimiento local que existe sobre las tortugas. Se realizaron tres salidas de campo en donde se aplicaron 50 entrevistas semiestructuradas acerca de la taxonomía local, los usos y las prácticas asociadas a las tortug...

Prologo: Este libro constituye una pequeña pero valiosa contribución al conocimiento del trópico mexicano. Concebido en tierras sureñas con el apoyo del CONACyT, sistematiza estudios que realizan los estudiantes de maestría y doctorado de diversas instituciones del país. Se trata de un esfuerzo colectivo para comprender de manera sencilla como func...

This study was aimed at delving into the relationship between botanical species with cultural significance and both the managed environments they inhabit (Coffee plantation, Forest, Garden, Orchard, Market) and their origin (Wild, Cultivated), as established by people from vereda Las Delicias, Colombia. We tested the hypothesis that cultivated plan...

This paper comprises a contribution to the knowledge of macromycetes from Chiapas Highlands and Lacandon Rainforest, México. Species that are of interest to several Mayan and Mestizo peoples are listed. Furthermore, ecological and ethnomycological data comparing the highlands and lowlands of this state are presented. Interviews and collections were...

Background and Aims: Wild edible mushroom traditional management strategies have been described for both highlands and lowlands in Mexico. It seems that, in the lowlands, the usage of this resource is lower than in the highlands. Ecological ethnomycology is concerned with understanding how certain ecological patterns in mushrooms influence traditio...

This chapter is an overview of the relationship between Lacandon Mayan people from Naha and Metzabok and the two species of non-human primates found in their territory (spider monkey/Ateles geoffroyi and howler monkey/Alouatta pigra). We reviewed and interpreted evidences from the presence of these species in pre-Hispanic art in the Mayan area to e...

The appreciation and taste towards mushrooms are influenced by sociocultural factors and ecological variables. This study evaluated the mycophilic degree among the Wixaritari and mestizo communities in a municipality in the north of Jalisco, settled in different types of vegetation, to determine if ecological and sociocultural factors influence the...

The relationship between humans and nature is defined by culture. Accordingly, the use, conceptions, and perceptions of resources differ among cultural groups, even among those inhabiting the same region or those who come into contact with the same biota. In particular, mushrooms evoke a wide range of sentiments. During ethnobiological tours in Mex...

Local Knowledge and Economical Significance of Commercialized Wild Edible Mushrooms in the Markets of Uruapan, Michoacan, Mexico. Wild edible mushrooms are a non-timber forest product of great importance because of their edibility, their cultural and ecological roles, and particularly their economic relevance as merchandise. This study presents a m...

Se inventariaron los usos que se le dan a Cordia alba, conocida como "gulaber", en el municipio de Reforma de Pineda, en el Istmo de Tehuantepec, Oaxaca. Se encontraron usos diferentes a los publicados en otros trabajos con lo cual se amplía el conocimiento de esta especie que tiene un gran potencial si se practica un aprovechamiento adecuado.

Antecedentes En los Altos de Chiapas, México, los hongos comestibles silvestres son un recurso apreciado, sobre todo por la población indígena tsotsil y tseltal. Sin embargo, en años recientes las intoxicaciones mortales por consumo de hongos han sido frecuentes. Objetivos Se describen y analizan las prácticas de recolecta que tienen los tsotsiles...

Lagunas de Montebello National Park is a protected natural area located in Chiapas, Mexico. Among the vegetation types of the park are pine, oak and montane cloud forests, which host rich communities of ectomycorrhizal fungi. Knowledge about these organisms is poor. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the inventory of ectomycorrhizal fungi in...

Ethnomyology in Bolivia has received little attention throughout its history, this is reflected in the scarce and scattered information at present. This study focuses on understanding the perspective of a Quechua community regarding the K'allampa pine (S. luteus) and the management of the use, as a sample of popular mycological knowledge in the tow...

Resumen Los hongos silvestres son un recurso forestal altamente apreciado. Sin embargo, en la última dé-cada se ha registrado en Chiapas un alto número de intoxicaciones por su consumo. El presente artículo presenta las distintas visiones que se tienen de las intoxicaciones, desde las instituciones oficiales de salud y la academia, así como desde p...

Antecedentes La recolección de hongos silvestres en la sierra norte del estado de Puebla se remonta a los pueblos prehispánicos. Los actores sociales involucrados en su recolección y comercialización implica comprender la relación entre el ser humano y los hongos útiles. Objetivo Registrar las especies de hongos silvestres comercializadas y el pap...

Antecedentes: La recolección de hongos silvestres en la sierra norte del estado de Puebla se remonta a los pueblos prehispánicos. Los actores sociales involucrados en su recolección y comercialización implica comprender la relación entre el ser humano y los hongos útiles.Objetivo: Registrar las especies de hongos silvestres comercializadas y el pap...

Wild edible mushrooms are relevant rural dietary resources during the rainy season across Mesoamerica. In Mexico 371 edible species have been recorded, along with vast traditional information that includes processing techniques specific to both the nature of the mushroom and the human groups that use them. This is a review of ethnomycological works...

Background: Mushrooms are important forest resources, mostly as food, despite the serious health threat posed by toxic species. In the Highlands of Chiapas, numerous wild mushroom intoxications have been registered. While Chiapas has been vastly studied from an ethnomycological perspective, no certainty exists as to how nomenclature systems differ...

Background: In Colombia, ethnobotanical studies regarding plant cultural significance (CS) in tropical dry forests are scarce and mainly focused on the Caribbean region. Different authors have indicated that the plants with the most uses are those of greater cultural importance. Additionally, gender differences in knowledge and interest in natural...

Para muchos biólogos y conservacionistas, el declive en las poblaciones de grandes depredadores en México es producto, después de la pérdida de hábitat, de la irracionalidad de los ganaderos que optan por cazar a los carnívoros que amenazan su ganado amén del valor económico que tienen sus productos, principalmente su piel. Sin embargo, el limitarn...

En algunas regiones de Chiapas, las investigaciones sobre los conocimientos micológicos localesson escasas. El presente trabajo describe algunos aspectos del conocimiento micológico localde personas habitantes de comunidades aledañas a la Reserva de la Biosfera El Triunfo. Se realizaron entrevistas estructuradas y semiestructuradas, recorridos etno...

Some of the effects of past climate dynamics on plant and animal diversity make-up have been relatively well studied, but to less extent in fungi. Pleistocene refugia are thought to harbor high biological diversity (i.e. phylogenetic lineages and genetic diversity), mainly as a product of increased reproductive isolation and allele conservation. In...

Los pueblos mayas habitan una región biológicamente megadiversa y tradicionalmente hacen uso diversificado de sus recursos. Desde la etnomicología —disciplina que estudia la relación entre grupos humanos y hongos— se cuenta con amplia evidencia del conocimiento y uso de estos organismos entre tales grupos étnicos. Tal evidencia se extiende hasta ti...

Several ethnobiology studies evaluate the cultural significance (CS) of plants and mushrooms. However, this is not the case for mammals. It is important to make studies of CS allowing the comparison of cultural groups because the value given to groups of organisms may be based on different criteria. Such information would be valuable for wildlife p...

Background: The Sierra Madre Occidental of Chihuahua in Northern Mexico is inhabited by indigenous Raramuris, mestizos, and other ethnic groups. The territory consists of canyons and ravines with pine, oak and pine-oak forests in the higher plateaus. A great diversity of potentially edible mushrooms is found in forests of the Municipalities of Boc...

Background Mushrooms generate strong and contrasting feelings ranging from extreme aversion to intense liking. To categorize these attitudes, Wasson and Wasson coined the dichotomic terms “mycophilia” and “mycophobia” in 1957. In Mesoamerica these categories have been associated to ecological regions. Highland peoples are viewed as mycophiles, wher...

In Chiapas, at the south of Mexico, have been developed some studies about the relation between mushrooms and the mayan people. However, the way that people in the Lacandona Rainforest are related with the mushrooms, their local mycological knowledge, and the mushroom's uses, are points that have been given little attention. In this paper we focus...

An albino form of Auricularia fuscosuccinea is described from Chiapas tropical forest in Mexico. The taxonomy of Auricularia species is briefly reviewed.

RESUMEN Mediante un estudio etnomicográfico se describen las formas de nombrar, clasificar y percibir a los hongos en la comunidad de Playón de la Gloria y Lacanjá-Chansayab, en la Selva Lacandona. Se registraron 13 tipos de hongos que son reconocidos en la primera comunidad y 41 tipos en la segunda, que corresponden a 16 y 52 especies taxonómicas,...

More than twelve temperate-inhabitant Mexican ethnic groups are considered to be mycophilic and to have extensive traditional mycological knowledge. In contrast, inhabitants of tropical lands have been studied only superficially and their mycological knowledge is less well known. In this paper, we report the results of an ethnomycological research...

A regional market analysis was developed to describe the corpus of traditional mycological knowledge existing among sellers of mushrooms in the Costal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. Twenty five markets were visited on twelve different municipalities of three states (Veracruz, Tabasco and Oaxaca). Using the participant observation method, we applied o...