Comparison of edible wild plant diversity used and foraging strategies in two aboriginal communities of NW Patagonia

LADIO ANA; LOZADA, MARIANA

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION

Kluwer

Lugar: Netherlands; Año: 2003 vol. 12 p. 937 - 951

0960-3115

In the present study we have compared edible plant richness, diversity and differential patterns of use in two Mapuche communities of Argentina. The populations of Rams and Cayulef are located in a herbaceous steppe far from the temperate forests of NW Patagonia where their ancestors lived in the past. Ecological concepts and methods, such as diversity indices, niche breadth and Optimal Foraging Theory have been applied to this comparative study.  Our results indicate that the diversity of wild plants used in Rams and Cayulef is associated with the variety of gathering environments they visit.  When comparing diversity indices among the three environments within each community, we found in Cayulef the highest diversity indices for steppe species and the lowest for forest plants. In contrast, in Rams the niche breadth is similar in all environments, indicating an ample exploration and use of edible wild plants. Cost and benefit trade-offs seem to be considered in both communities when edible plants are collected. Nevertheless, we found that the people from Rams, not only utilize a greater richness of wild plants than the Cayulef people, but also use more nutritious resources, spend a longer traveling time to the gathering sites and a longer handling time in preparing these edible plants. This study has quantitatively showed that the restricted access to Pehuen forest (Araucaria araucana) is the main factor which seems to limit wild plant diversity used in these Mapuche communities.