Papers by Fernando Zamudio
Se evalúa cómo los conocimientos locales aportan información sobre la riqueza de abejas sin aguij... more Se evalúa cómo los conocimientos locales aportan información sobre la riqueza de abejas sin aguijón en el Bosque Atlántico del Alto Paraná. Para ello se compara la información relevada en el presente, con estudios etnográficos y biológicos disponibles. Las especies citadas en los trabajos discutidos son similares. En este estudio se halló que los criollos conocen 12 etnoespecies pertenecientes a 16 especies biológicas de Meliponini. Existe consenso sobre los nombres vernáculos utilizados, aunque es común encontrar un elevado número de sinónimos para algunas especies. En general, la riqueza de etnoespecies reportadas es menor a la riqueza biológica local. Esto cambia cuando se combinan métodos etnográficos y la colecta de ejemplares de referencia. El número de especies reportadas entre los criollos, es menor a la estimada para regiones cercanas. No obstante los conocimientos locales aportan información relevante sobre la riqueza de especies de ASA. Se reporta por primera vez para Arg...
Silvopastoral and Peasant Management Effects on Vegetation and Soil Quality in the Arid Chaco of Central Argentina
SSRN Electronic Journal
Fil: Medrano, Maria Celeste. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas; Argentin... more Fil: Medrano, Maria Celeste. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Filosofia y Letras. Instituto de Ciencias Antropologicas; Argentina
Economic Botany, 2020
The article discusses the relationships between the Ashaninka people from Peruvian Amazonia and t... more The article discusses the relationships between the Ashaninka people from Peruvian Amazonia and the domesticated sedges (Cyperus spp.) cultivated in almost every Ashaninka home garden, and mostly exchanged within family circles. An over-differentiation phenomenon is observed, in which four species of Cyperus correspond to 86 folk species. The names of folk species are formed by secondary lexemes, composed of a semantically active constituent and a generic suffix (i)benki. The names contain mnemonic cues to differentiate otherwise morphologically similar plants, and their meanings correspond to Ashaninka ontological categories, thus revealing many levels of connectivity between them and non-humans. The wide scope of specific uses (approx. 60 registered) assigned to Cyperus spp. is only partly supported by phytochemicals and ergot alkaloids in the fungus-infested sedges. The key to understanding the ibenki’s (Cyperus) agency lies in local cosmologies, in which domesticated sedges are ...
‘Ethnobiological equivocation’ and other misunderstandings in the interpretation of natures
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 2020
In this contribution we seek to enrich the theoretical and methodological approaches of ethnobiol... more In this contribution we seek to enrich the theoretical and methodological approaches of ethnobiology. The essay takes elements of Amerindian anthropology, classical ethnobiological studies and the freedoms provided by feminist philosophers to open up reflection. The central background of the essay is the method of "controlled equivocation" proposed by Viveiros de Castro (2004). We present a series of five ethnobiological equivocations ranging from the categorical equivocal, going through the subtle equivocal to the strictly ontological ones. The cases occurred in different territories of Argentina, including a case in an academic context. Through the fieldwork cases, we give an account of the origin of equivocations, the context for their emergence, which are the disciplinary nuances that cause them and even some academics' preconceptions. To inhabit the equivocation allows opening the possibilities of coexistence among people -and their respective worlds-, especially if these people are in different power positions. We propose the method of controlled equivocation as a theoretical-discursive tool, which permits us to rethink the current concepts of ethnobiology. Thus, we want to broaden the current definition of ethnobiology understood as a dialogue from different scientific points of view.
Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia, 2019
In this study, we record for the first time the genus Notocyrtus (Heteroptera, Reduviidae) from A... more In this study, we record for the first time the genus Notocyrtus (Heteroptera, Reduviidae) from Argentina based on three species: Notocyrtus dorsalis (Gray), Notocyrtus dispersus Carvalho & Costa, and Notocyrtus foveatus Stål. We also describe and illustrate a mimetic complex comprising the three Notocyrtus species and Tetragona clavipes (Fabricius) (Apidae, Meliponini), that were collected on Bahuinia forficata Link (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae). We include biological comments on the plant-reduvid-bee interaction and hypothesize about the functionality of the mimetic complex described.
Bonplandia, 2011
Se analizan los usos medicinales de los productos obtenidos de colonias de abejas silvestres, en ... more Se analizan los usos medicinales de los productos obtenidos de colonias de abejas silvestres, en cuanto al uso diferencial de estos recursos según las especies de abejas y el consenso de usos de mezclas que involucran mieles. Se reportaron 412 usos correspondientes a 9 taxones de abejas. Entre los productos de los nidos de estos insectos, la miel es el más utilizado como remedio, principalmente para el sistema respiratorio y como alimento funcional. La misma se emplea en diversas formas de preparación y están presentes en 61 preparados mixtos donde se combinan con plantas (39 especies), productos manufacturados (6) y de origen animal (5). Se halló consenso en el uso de algunos productos, no así en las combinaciones en las que intervienen. Las mieles de Tetragonisca fiebrigi y de Apis mellifera se destacan por su importancia y versatilidad de uso. Éstas pueden ser consideradas recursos medicinales complementarios y a priori no intercambiables. Sin embargo, las especificidades deben s...
Ethnobiology and Conservation, 2019
In recent times, ethnobiology has revived interest in cognitive aspects of humans' communities. A... more In recent times, ethnobiology has revived interest in cognitive aspects of humans' communities. A concept commonly used in this area is cognitive salience. In this paper we assess the wild animal salience meaning for the rural people from an area of the mountain range of the Córdoba province (Argentina). We also analyzed the relationship of cultural and ecological factors over wild animal domain salience. The values of cognitive salience, perception and cultural value were obtained by means of free lists to 16 collaborators, while semistructured interviews were used to inquire about local ecological knowledge and ease of observation about wild animals. The interdependence between the five variables elaborated was analyzed through a Principal Components Regression. The results show a qualitative relationship between Cognitive Salience and Cultural Value and a significant correlation between Cognitive Salience and Local Ecological Knowledge. Ease of Observation did not correlate with Cognitive Salience, but show a significant relationship with the Perceived Abundance. The results suggest a complex network of factors that are modeling the cognitive salience and local perceptions over wild animals. In our findings, highlight the Cultural Value given to harmful animals which reflects an increasing pattern in the region, the conflict between rural people and wild animals. In turn a mutual influences and causal feedback loops between cognitive salience and an ecological factor, the Perceived abundance, is proposed. Investigations over cognition and about how people perceived nature can give us an idea of how they act in it, a compelling factor when it comes to cultural and biological conservation issues.
Economic botany, 2018
Our research involves of how Paraguayan migrants who are living in Misiones, Argentina, manage me... more Our research involves of how Paraguayan migrants who are living in Misiones, Argentina, manage medicinal plants in home gardens, and how this practice can be related to the landscape. We examine the relationship between the richness of home garden medicinal plants and landscape variables (e.g., distance to the forest) by applying PLS analysis, which combines principal component analysis with linear regression. We surveyed 60 home gardens localized in a rural area, and we characterized the surrounding landscape with geospatial tools. Paraguayans' home gardens are extremely diverse sites (total of 136 medicinal species), where both native (82) and introduced species (50) are managed. People who live close to the native forest or mixed use areas (e.g., farms, secondary vegetation) tend to possess less native plants in their gardens because they are available nearby. While gardeners, who live in proximity to tree crops (e.g., pine plantations), have reduced access to wild medicinal ...
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 2015
Background: Not long ago Eugene Hunn suggested using a combination of cognitive, linguistic, ecol... more Background: Not long ago Eugene Hunn suggested using a combination of cognitive, linguistic, ecological and evolutionary theories in order to account for the dynamic character of ethnoecology in the study of folk classification systems. In this way he intended to question certain homogeneity in folk classifications models and deepen in the analysis and interpretation of variability in folk classifications. This paper studies how a rural culturally mixed population of the Atlantic Forest of Misiones (Argentina) classified honey-producing stingless bees according to the linguistic, cognitive and ecological dimensions of folk classification. We also analyze the socio-ecological meaning of binomialization in naming and the meaning of general local variability in the appointment of stingless bees. Methods: We used three different approaches: the classical approach developed by Brent Berlin which relies heavily on linguistic criteria, the approach developed by Eleonor Rosch which relies on psychological (cognitive) principles of categorization and finally we have captured the ecological dimension of folk classification in local narratives. For the second approximation, we developed ways of measuring the degree of prototypicality based on a total of 107 comparisons of the type "X is similar to Y" identified in personal narratives. Results: Various logical and grouping strategies coexist and were identified as: graded of lateral linkage, hierarchical and functional. Similarity judgments among folk taxa resulted in an implicit logic of classification graded according to taxa's prototypicality. While there is a high agreement on naming stingless bees with monomial names, a considerable number of underrepresented binomial names and lack of names were observed. Two possible explanations about reported local naming variability are presented. Conclusions: We support the multidimensionality of folk classification systems. This confirms the specificity of local classification systems but also reflects the use of grouping strategies and mechanisms commonly observed in other cultural groups, such as the use of similarity judgments between more or less prototypical organisms. Also we support the idea that alternative naming results from a process of fragmentation of knowledge or incomplete transmission of knowledge. These processes lean on the facts that culturally based knowledge, on the one hand, and biologic knowledge of nature on the other, can be acquired through different learning pathways.
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 2013
Background New kinds of knowledge, usage patterns and management strategies of natural resources ... more Background New kinds of knowledge, usage patterns and management strategies of natural resources emerge in local communities as a way of coping with uncertainty in a changing world. Studying how human groups adapt and create new livelihoods strategies are important research topics for creating policies in natural resources management. Here, we study the adoption and development of lagartos (Crocodylus moreletii) commercial hunting by Mayan people from a communal land in Quintana Roo state. Two questions guided our work: how did the Mayan learn to hunt lagartos? And how, and in what context, did knowledge and management practices emerge? We believe that social structures, knowledge and preexisting skills facilitate the hunting learning process, but lagarto ecological knowledge and organizational practice were developed in a “learning by doing” process. Methods We conducted free, semi-structured and in-depth interviews over 17 prestigious lagartos hunters who reconstructed the activit...
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2012
Honey-based mixtures used in home medicine by nonindigenous population of Misiones, Argentina. Me... more Honey-based mixtures used in home medicine by nonindigenous population of Misiones, Argentina. Medicinal mixtures are an underinvestigated issue in ethnomedical literature concerning Misiones, one of the most bioculturally diverse province of Argentina. The new culturally sensitive politics of the Provincial Health System is a response to cultural practices based on the medicinal use of plant and animal products in the home medicine of the local population. Honey-based medicinal formulas were investigated through interviews with 39 farmers of mixed cultural (Criollos) and Polish origins in northern Misiones. Fifty plant species and 8 animal products are employed in honey-based medicines. Plants are the most dominant and variable elements of mixtures. Most of the mixtures are food medicines. The role of honey in more than 90% of formulas is perceived as therapeutic. The ecological distribution of taxa and the cultural aspects of mixtures are discussed, particularly the European and A...
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2013
Farmers’ decisions on what to grow and why can contribute in understanding the conservation of ag... more Farmers’ decisions on what to grow and why can contribute in understanding the conservation of agrobiodiversity. Culture and ethnicity are indicated as first-class factors leading preservation of heirloom cultivars but this has been little considered in studies examining factors that influence the loss or preservation of agrobiodiversity. We propose that corn’s ethnotaxa of less diverse uses, which are also key partners in local cultural reproduction, are usually cultivated by a few households. We analyse if there is a relationship between uses and richness of cultivated ethnotaxa at household level and describe corn’s medicinal and ritual uses. We found 25 cultivated ethnotaxa, heterogeneously distributed in the region, and we also found that ethnotaxa with less diverse uses are cultivated in fewer households. We identified that, at regional scale, richness is related with food use diversity. The most frequently cited medicinal uses were urinary and tract infections, diarrhoea, and...
The Open Complementary Medicine Journal, 2010
We present a comparative study on the use of wild honeys produced by insects of the order Hymenop... more We present a comparative study on the use of wild honeys produced by insects of the order Hymenoptera in the Criollos (of mixed origin) and Polish populations in the northern part of the province of Misiones, Argentina. The principal questions of the study are: do different types of honey exist that are used for both nutritional and medicinal purposes or on the contrary: do exclusively nutritional and/or medicinal honeys exist? When used medicinally, are these honeys involved in the cure or prevention of similar ailments? The previous report of the use of complex drugs consisting of honey and medicinal plants or other products, led us to inquire about alternative or complementary roles among the sapid and medicinal properties of honeys in these blends. This question is approached from the local understanding of the role of honey in the preparation of medicines, treatments and prevention of common diseases in the area. This study is based partly on the results of two larger projects in progress in the mentioned areas. We prepared an open-ended questionnaire and worked with 16 Polish settlers, and with 23 Criollos farmers. The honeys of two species: bee (Apis mellifera) and yateí (Tetrogonisca angustula) obtained the greatest number of reports within alimentary and medicinal categories of use. They were also employed as functional and medicinal food. In general terms, we found a similar corpus of traditional medical knowledge for both populations. The relation between phytotherapy and zootherapy is evident for Criollos and Polish groups. Nevertheless, they show differences in forms of preparation and administrations. Criollos reported the use of greater number of plant species and more combinations of complex remedies.
Birds in the narratives of the inhabitants of northern córdoba: Alternative ways of thinking about the augural values of birds
Se analizaron narraciones orales contemporaneas sobre las aves recopiladas entre pobladores rural... more Se analizaron narraciones orales contemporaneas sobre las aves recopiladas entre pobladores rurales del norte de Cordoba con el objetivo de debatir sobre las formas alternativas de interpretar las relaciones entre humanos y aves. Un total de 150 relatos fueron analizados en cuanto a su tipologia, representatividad, aspectos ecologicos y sociales expresados en ellos y funcionalidad, asi como el valor utilitario de las especies. Ademas, se analizaron formas alternativas de interpretar y clasificar el papel augural de las aves. Se propone que la narrativa evidencia rasgos animistas (continuidad entre animales y humanos) segun los cuales el rol augural de las aves puede ser interpretado como un vestigio comunicativo no-verbal entre los humanos y la avifauna. Las aves mencionadas (29 especies) se agruparon en 15 ordenes y 22 familias taxonomicas. Las narraciones clasificadas como saberes/practicas conformaron el 79.3% del total de los relatos no narrativos, mientras que el 19.5% correspo...
Figure 2 in Eating with the enemy? Mimic complex between a stingless bee and assassin bugs
Figure 2. Mimic complex between Tetragona clavipes (model) and three species of Notocyrtus. (A an... more Figure 2. Mimic complex between Tetragona clavipes (model) and three species of Notocyrtus. (A and E) Worker of T. clavipes. (B and F) N. foveatus. (C and G) N. dorsalis. (D and H) N. dispersus. (A-D) dorsal view. (E-H) lateral view. Scale bars: 2 mm.
Insects or Wind? New findings on the pollination system of Euterpe edulis (Arecaceae)
Arthropod-Plant Interactions
The palm Euterpe edulis is an important palm species for the extraction of palm heart, a highly p... more The palm Euterpe edulis is an important palm species for the extraction of palm heart, a highly profitable consumable product. Due to its importance, much research has been conducted around the ecology of this palm species. Nevertheless, information available on its reproductive ecology is quality-deficient and fragmented, resulting in misleading views of the pollination and reproductive ecology of E. edulis. Here we conduct the first thorough study assessing the relative dependence on animal pollination of E. edulis in Argentina, and conduct parallel detailed observations on floral visitors. Also, we integrate our results with those available for the species in the literature. Here we found that E. edulis has an ambophilic pollination system. However, in our study system, there was a predominance of wind pollination over insect pollination and the species can also set seeds in the absence of pollen. Also, our study shows in great detail the large diversity of insects visiting E. edulis, indicating the generalist pollination system of the species, where Hymenoptera and Diptera stand out in richness and frequency of visits. The palm represents a key resource for a wide diversity of insect visitors, but the palm does not rely on their efficiency to act as pollinators. The varied levels of reproductive dependence on animal versus wind pollination of E. edulis may be shaped by climatic and landscape conditions. Such alternative versatile strategies allow the species to guarantee the reproductive success under different ecological contexts.
Cultural, Psychological, and Organoleptic Factors Related to the Use of Stingless Bees by Rural Residents of Northern Misiones, Argentina
This chapter explores the relationship between cultural (e.g., utilitarian), psychological (e.g.,... more This chapter explores the relationship between cultural (e.g., utilitarian), psychological (e.g., prominence and ease of observation), and organoleptic factors (e.g., taste perceptions) related to the use of stingless bees. We chose this subject in order to understand human drivers of resource exploitation and discuss it from an ethnobiological point of view according to the “ecological apparency hypothesis.” Understanding how valuation and election processes operate can contribute to conservation and management approaches for stingless bees. We explored the relationships between eight quantitative explanatory variables based mainly on information provided by local people. The results reveal, contrary to expectations, that the use of stingless bees is not associated with their appearance or characteristics of their honey. The process of evaluating ethnospecies could in turn be influenced by some aesthetic and behavioral variables such as beauty, unhygienic habits, or other behaviors...
Abejas sin aguijón de Misiones : Una guía etnotaxonómica para su identificación en el campo
Rodriguésia
Nectariferous and polliniferous resources are key to the survival of social bees, so identifying ... more Nectariferous and polliniferous resources are key to the survival of social bees, so identifying the origin sources allows the implementation of management actions aimed at a greater supply of nutrients for the colonies. Besides, defining the floral origin of honeys contributes to their characterization and commercialization. The objective of our work was to identify the plants that provide nectar to the bees Apis mellifera and Tetragonisca fiebrigi in northern Misiones, through palynological analysis of honey samples collected between 2006 and 2008. Both bees showed a polylectic foraging habit. Richness of pollen types per sample ranged between 10 and 34 (mean = 20.5 ± 7.7) for A. mellifera, and between 13 and 43 (mean = 24.8 ± 7.1) for T. fiebrigi. The 15 most abundant pollen types in the honeys of A. mellifera were, in decreasing order of importance, Euphorbiaceae, Euterpe edulis, Holocalyx balansae, Calyptranthes concinna-type, Actinostemon, Salix, Ruprechtia laxiflora, Myrciant...
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Papers by Fernando Zamudio