Small-scale poultry rearing provides a livelihood for many households around the globe and is a means for women to contribute to household income while raising children. We present an ethnozoological and ethnographic case study of smallholder Guatemalan fisher-farmers of two villages in which ethnic Ladino residents are increasingly reliant on raising birds. Data comes from direct and participant observation of all families in both villages, as well as from multiple in-depth informal and semi-formal interviews with 13 key consultants and a total of 48 semi-structured ethnographic interviews with village poultry raisers. We found that women are the primary caretakers of poultry in the villages and that poultry provide a source of extra income for women, when needed, and an important source of nutrients for the household. In addition, the consumption of poultry has high sociocultural value for celebrations and holidays. The greatest constraints on family poultry systems in the villages are reoccurring diseases (including Newcastle) that devastate flocks and that have been increasing in frequency over time. However, access to effective and appropriate treatment for poultry disease is limited in the area. We suggest village vaccination campaigns led by women as a means to decrease loss of poultry flocks and, thus, assure livelihood and food security for poultry-rearing households.

Local ecological knowledge of culturally important plants informed food choices by Indigenous peoples across North America. Recovery of such knowledge through ecological and genetic studies of contemporary populations increases understanding of variation in seasonal availability and economic value, potentially enhancing interpretation of the archaeobotanical record. We compared habitat, seed yield, and nutritional value of seed in up to ten wild populations of net-seed goosefoot (Chenopodium berlandieri) from four survey regions in Manitoba, North Dakota, Missouri, and Ohio with evidence of pre-contact cultivation and domestication of C. berlandieri. We assessed cultivation impacts and variation in seasonal timing by growing seed from three Manitoban populations in two common gardens. Population density, plant size, and seed yield increased sixfold from north (Manitoba) to south (Ohio) in wild populations, with genetic differences between Manitoban populations remaining evident in gardens. However, cultivation (e.g., watering, weeding) in well-worked soil extended timing of seed harvest and increased seed yield beyond the range of wild populations. Nutritional profiles from five populations were similar across the survey regions but differed from domesticated quinoa in their higher fiber and slightly lower energy content. Our results suggest that both plasticity and genetic factors influence productivity of C. berlandieri populations as a seed source. Genetic variation in seasonal timing would have provided choice between populations and flexibility in incorporating C. berlandieri into a seasonal subsistence strategy. Simple cultivation techniques would have substantially increased yield, thereby enhancing reliability and economic returns.

Homegardens are reservoirs of genetic resources. When native plant populations are compromised, traditional management of homegardens can be an effective means of conserving species and enhancing food security. Hylocereus undatus (dragonfruit) is a key species in homegardens but is rarely found in wild populations in the Yucatan. We analyzed management practices and genetic diversity of dragonfruit grown in homegardens in three climate regions (West, Central, and East) in the state of Yucatan, Mexico. Dragonfruit presence and reproductive phenology were documented via 2,660 surveys applied in seventeen municipalities. Eighty-nine semi-structured interviews were conducted to document dragonfruit management and use. Seventy-one specimens were collected among nine populations to characterize genetic diversity with DNA Inter Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSRs) markers. Dragonfruit was found in 12.4% of homegardens, propagated via cuttings (98%), received minimal agricultural management, and flowered and fruited in different seasons among regions. Its fruits were consumed fresh or as a beverage and different parts of the plants were used to treat dysentery, kidney stones, hair loss, and gastritis. Genetic diversity among regions was moderate (PLP [polymorphic loci] = 25.1 to 53.3%; H_e [expected heterozygosity] = 0.075 to 0.138), but the polymorphism information content (PIC) values were at the most 20% lower than those estimated from an ex situ germplasm collection of Hylocereus spp. A Bayesian assignment analysis identified two genetic lineages (K = 2): one in the West and East regions and another in the West and Central regions. Genetic differentiation Jaccard indexes among accessions from all homegardens were similar to those found among wild accessions from Mexico. We conclude, therefore, that homegardens in Yucatan are important in conserving the regional biocultural heritage of dragonfruit.

Since the 1930s, archaeologists have been accumulating data on the lost crops of eastern North America. These are a group of annual plants (Chenopodium berlandieri, Hordeum pusillum, Iva annua, Phalaris caroliniana, and Polygonum erectum) that were cultivated by Indigenous societies for thousands of years. No published written or oral histories attest to the methods used in their cultivation, and their domesticated forms are thought to be extinct. The potentials and constraints of this agricultural system can only be reconstructed experimentally. We report two experiments designed to investigate germinability, phenology, and yield, which resulted in yield estimates for two of the lost crops, goosefoot (Chenopodium sp.) and erect knotweed (Polygonum erectum). A polyculture of these two crops is more productive than either grown as a monoculture, higher yielding than global averages for closely related domesticated crops, and comparable to yields for traditionally grown maize (Zea mays). We also report several novel insights into germination requirements and phenology for all five lost crops that contribute to a more accurate reconstruction of this crop complex. However, we failed to answer several of our research questions, and instead came away with many new questions. Obtaining seed is merely a necessary pre-condition for raising a crop. Without guidance from experienced cultivators, best practices must be developed over the course of many growing seasons. Experimentation with crop progenitors is necessary to fully understand the dynamics of ancient agroecosystems and their interaction with ecological knowledge systems.

The loss of forests is a factor that could account for the loss of local knowledge about edible plants. In Chile, the replacement of native vegetation by monoculture plantations of exotic trees has been the main cause of forest loss in recent times. We assess whether this loss of forests affects knowledge of wild edible plants by conducting household surveys in coastal rural localities in south-central Chile, subject to different degrees of replacement of forests. Based on the extinction of experience concept, we analyzed changes in knowledge of edible plants, as well as their gathering and use, through interviews comprised of freelisting and open-ended questions. Our results suggest that loss of native vegetation leads to a reduction in knowledge and use of native edible plants by the local population, but that this reduction occurs at a slower pace than land-use change. Individuals exposed to abundant native forest cover in the past have greater knowledge of edible plants today.

The growth of human populations and industrial activities in the last decades have been the major cause of ecosystem decline, especially due to the inputs of several pollutants in the environment. Estuaries are one of the main concerns in marine governance because they receive potentially toxic substances from many sources that end up in the sea. Despite this, marine policies that aim to protect marine areas have dismissed local fishers' knowledge, although fishers have ecological knowledge that endorses and complements scientific research. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify sources and indicators of pollution in the Bahía Blanca Estuary (BBE) according to the fishers and to contrast this knowledge with scientific studies. We conducted 20 interviews with the fishers of the BBE, and the results showed that all of them think the estuary is polluted and that there have been changes in the biomass of catches in the past. Most of them think that industries of the petrochemical complex are the major cause of pollution (57%), while marine organisms were the most mentioned items as indicators of pollution (59%), especially the commercial species (41%). We found interesting parallels between fishers' ecological knowledge (FEK) and scientific data. Thus, we conclude that FEK is an invaluable tool that provides data that could help to co-protect and co-manage this estuary and the services it provides.