This study is an investigation of specialized knowledge of birds (bāhendayal) among speakers of the Mamasani dialect of Southern Luri (SL), an Indo-European language with approximately one million speakers in southwestern Iran. The author provides a description of bird physiology and an inventory of cognitive distinctions that speakers use to differentiate bird types. A comprehensive taxonomy of bird knowledge in Southern Luri is presented in a diagram of bird families followed by a semantically organized list of the 84 terms for bird types found in the language, along with the meanings of these terms. Farsi, English, and scientific labels accompany descriptive notes.

Participatory research among the Kaiabi people at Xingu Indigenous Park in the southern Brazilian Amazon was conducted to support sound natural resource management. We studied aspects of the ethnoecology of an understory herbaceous plant, arumã (Ischnosiphon gracilis, Marantaceae), used in basketry weaving by Kaiabi men. Results of a three-year survey comparing arumã populations and of a transplanting experiment evaluating the growth of arumã seedlings in four different habitat types are presented. These, combined with discussions with Kaiabi communities and with results of studies conducted in other parts of the Amazon Basin, support a five-year rotating management strategy that allows for regeneration of harvested arumã populations.

Since the International Convention on Biodiversity in 1992 conservation biologists, ecologists and conservationists have devoted considerable attention to the conservation of biodiversity. With this has come the realization that solutions to biological problems often lie in the mechanisms of social, cultural, and economic systems. This shift has emphasized the relationship between biodiversity and human diversity, or what the Declaration of Belem (1988) calls an “inextricable link” between biological and cultural diversity. The term biocultural diversity was introduced by Posey to describe the concept denoting this link. To date this concept has been used only in reference to “indigenous people” who, as part of their traditional lifestyles, use biodiversity to sustain their cultural identity. Our research, however, demonstrates that Xhosa people (amaXhosa) living in an urban context in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa continue to use wild plants for cultural purposes and often access these through commercial trade. We suggest that recognition of the cultural and spiritual values associated with wild plants would greatly enhance biodiversity conservation efforts. Recognition of the significant role that wild plants play in fulfilling cultural needs for urban Xhosa people would go a long way towards achieving this.

The career of Dr. Heinz Brücher (1915–1991), a German-Argentine botanist of my personal acquaintance, demonstrates that while science may be impartial, scientists are not. Deconstructing Brücher's ethnobotanical writings has required also reconstructing a Nazi past to put his life and work in their appropriate historical context. Brücher's role in the theft of Vavilov's plant collections in the Ukraine in 1943 and his research on cultivated plants at an SS center in Austria have relevance for understanding his post-war presence and activities in South America. Analysis of his publications in ethnobotany and economic botany, especially as they relate to the potato and to Vavilov's ideas, are placed in the context of his ethnobiography. This retrospective on a life with plants raises issues about political and social ideology in science and about claims to objective knowledge. It also points to the value of broadening ethnobiology to include more reflexive perspectives.

A year-long ethnobotanical study was carried out in several indigenous communities on the Nieva River, in the Peruvian Amazon, to determine how the Aguaruna Jívaro identify trees of their local environment. Eight key informants provided freelists of tree names and in follow-up interviews explained how they identify 63 of the named trees chosen for detailed study. Voucher specimens were collected for the 63 taxa. This study made use of the Aguaruna concept of kumpají, glossed as companion, which denotes species thought to be morphologically similar but not subsumed under a shared name. Questions designed to elicit identification methods included asking what distinguishes each tree from other trees informants consider to be its companions. Results indicate that the Aguaruna rely on both sensory and ecological clues to identify trees. Sensory clues appear to play a greater role than ecological ones.

In this paper we demonstrate the interrelationship between emotional meaning and ethnozoological cognition in American culture. Data were obtained from 101 undergraduates who freelisted the names of the animals they like as well as the names of those they dislike. Respondents also rated the five ethnozoological life forms (birds, snakes, fish, mammals, and “wugs”) according to personal preference. We found a significant correlation between the evaluation of each life form (e.g., the relative order of preference) and the cognitive salience of the life form on the freelists. Concordance was also found between the evaluation of each life form and the respective proportion of each life form on the freelists. In addition, we discovered a strong level of intragroup agreement among the ratings of the five life forms. Our conclusions support the growing body of evidence suggesting that culturally programmed orientations toward living creatures constitute a powerful component in ethnobiological information processing.

Quantitative analyses of maize cupule measurements from the Malpaso Valley, Zacatecas, Mexico, suggest that high-status households had preferred access to distinct maize varieties or maize with morphological traits that might be interpreted as high quality. Through a combination of cluster analysis, Principal Components Analysis, and chi-square tests, this study demonstrates the utility of examining the differential distribution of morphological traits, even when the remains occur primarily in the form of detached cupules. This study does not address the role of genetics and environment in the morphological variation of maize cobs, but it does show that an analysis of morphological variability in maize cobs can contribute to our understanding of social or economic differences both within and among archaeological settlements.