Perceptions of edible mushrooms among rural youth in northwestern Patagonia (Argentina): Who transmits knowledge?
Abstract
Aim of the Study: To analyze the role of experience and formal education in shaping the knowledge of Mapuche-Tehuelche and Criollo adolescents regarding edible fungi from the subantarctic forest.
Study Area: Northwest of Chubut Province, Patagonia, Argentina.
Materials and Methods: Free listings, collages, field walks, and workshops were carried out with 57 rural adolescents, differentiated by their sociocultural backgrounds (Mapuche-Tehuelche and Criollo) and the mycological content provided by their schools. Artistic productions and estimates of species richness and frequency of known fungi, were analyzed using a combination of quali-quantitative methods.
Main Results: Adolescents differed primarily in their theoretical knowledge, with Criollo adolescents who received mycology lessons at school citing a higher species richness (10 species) compared to Mapuche-Tehuelche adolescents who did not receive such instruction (3 species). Criollo participants included NUS (Neglected and Underutilized Species) and Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq.) P. Kumm as part of the knowledge acquired through formal education. Experiential knowledge, on the other hand, was similar across both groups and aligned with that held by adults in the communities. This experiential knowledge includes three species of commercial importance (Morchella septimelata M. Kuo., Morchella tridentina Bres., Suillus luteus (L.) Roussel.) and Cyttaria hariotii E. Fisch. Only C. hariotii is widely consumed among the adolescents.
Research Highlights: School programs that teach mycology and encourage the sharing of traditional knowledge among students may contribute to the revaluation of local mycological knowledge, as well as reflection on the role of fungi in biocultural conservation and food sovereignty. We highlight the use of innovative inquiry methodologies as engaging tools to capture adolescents’ interest.
Downloads
References
Albuquerque UP, Alves RRN, 2016. Introduction to ethnobiology. Springer, NY, USA. 310 pp. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28155-1
Allison H, 2009. High school academic literacy instruction and the transition to college writing. In: Generation 1.5 in college composition: Teaching academic writing to U.S.-educated learners of ESL; Roberge M, Siegal M, Harklau L (eds.). pp. 75–90. Routledge, New York.
Almonacid F, 2023. Migration and Return to Mapuche Lands in Southern Chile, 1970–2022. Sustainability 15: 4457. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054457
Barreau A, Ibarra JT, Wyndham FS, Kozak RA, 2019. Shifts in Mapuche food systems in southern Andean forest landscapes: Historical processes and current trends of biocultural homogenization. MRD 39(1): R12–R23. https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-18-00015.1
Barreau A, Ibarra JT, Wyndham FS, Rojas A, Kozak RA, 2016. How can we teach our children if we cannot access the forest? Generational change in Mapuche knowledge of wild edible plants in Andean temperate ecosystems of Chile. J Ethnobiol 36(2): 412–432. https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-36.2.412
Barroetaveña C, Pildain MB, 2022. Review: Edible fungi for local development in the Patagonian Andes of Argentina. For Syst 31(3): eR01. https://doi.org/10.5424/fs/2022313-19288
Barroetaveña C, Toledo C, 2020. Diversity and ecology of edible mushrooms from Patagonia native forests, Argentina. In: Mushrooms, Humans and Nature in a Changing World; Pérez-Moreno J, Guerin-Laguette A, Flores Arzú R, Yu FQ (eds.). pp. 297–318. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37378-8_11
Barroetaveña C, Toledo CV, Rajchenberg M, 2016. Hongos comestibles silvestres de las plantaciones forestales y praderas de la región Andino Patagónica de Argentina. CIEFAP, Argentina. 64 pp.
Carrière S, Catherine S, Pagezy H, 2017. Children’s ecological knowledge: drawings as a tool for ethnoecologists (Gabon, Madagascar). AnthropoChildren 7: 1–26. https://doi.org/10.25518/2034-8517.2777
Clavería Cruz A, 2017. Alfabetos para escribir y para luchar. Consideraciones sociopolíticas en torno a la falta de estandarización de la escritura en mapudungun. Cult-hombre-soc 27(2): 215–228. https://doi.org/10.7770/cuhso-v27n2-art1187
Cruz-García Gisella S, Caffi C, Chuspe Zans ME, Sanchez-Choy J, 2018. Children’s knowledge of wild food plants in the forest-agriculture interface. J Ethnobiol 38(2): 205–222. https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-38.2.205
De Meyer E, Ceuterick M, 2022. Digital Ethnobiology: exploring the digisphere in search of traditional and indigenous knowledge and practices. Ethnobot Res Appl 24: 1–8. https://doi.org/10.32859/era.24.37.1-8
dos Reis MJ, Silva LL, Santos SX, 2024. The perception of fungi among Karajá indigenous children and adolescents from Brazil. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed 20(16): 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-024-00652-5
ERIC, 2024. Ethical Research Involving Children. https://childethics.com/ethical-guidance/
Eyssartier C, Margutti L, Lozada M, 2017. Plant knowledge in children who inhabit diverse socio-ecological environments in northwestern Patagonia. J Ethnobiol 37(1): 81–96. https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-37.1.81
Fernández MV, Pildaín MB, Barroetaveña C, 2024. Análisis de la cadena de valor de los hongos comestibles silvestres en la zona cordillerana de la provincia de Chubut, Patagonia, Argentina. Bosque (Valdivia) 45(3): 473–484. https://doi.org/10.4067/s0717-92002024000300473
Fišer Ž, Pieroni A, 2025. From tradition to the digital age: The evolution of foraging in Slovenia. Econ Bot 20(10): 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-025-09644-2
Gallois S, Reyes-García V, 2018. Children and ethnobiology. J Ethnobiol 38(2): 155–169. https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-38.2.155
Garibay-Orijel R, Caballero J, Estrada-Torres A, Cifuentes J, 2007. Understanding cultural significance, the edible mushrooms case. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed 3(4): 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-4269-3-4
Grasser S, Schunko C, Vogl CR, 2016. Children as ethnobotanists: methods and local impact of a participatory research project with children on wild plant gathering in the Grosses Walsertal Biosphere Reserve, Austria. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed 12(46): 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-016-0119-6
Haro-Luna MX, Blancas Vázquez J, Ruan-Soto F, Guzmán-Dávalos L, 2022. Sociocultural drivers of mycological knowledge: insights from Wixarika and Mestizo groups in western Mexico. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed 18(1): 68. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-022-00564-2
Hunn ES, 2002. Traditional environmental knowledge: Alienable or inalienable intellectual property. In: Ethnobiology and biocultural diversity; Stepp JR, Wyndham FS, Zarger RK (eds.). pp. 3–10. University of Georgia Press, Athens.
International Society of Ethnobiology (ISE), 2006. Código de ética. [cited 2018 Nov]. Available from: http://www.ethnobiology.net/ethics.php
Kaaronen RO, 2025. Living in the Mycelial World; A global cross-cultural ethnomycological review. Top Cogn Sci 00: 1–46. https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.70003
Krah FS, 2023. The unresolved ecological and evolutionary role of fungal fruit body coloration. Front Ecol Evol 11: 1326710. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1326710
Krohn E, Segrest V, 2010. Feeding the people, feeding the spirit: Revitalizing Northwest coastal Indian food culture. Northwest Indian College, Bellingham, USA.
Kunwar RM, Fadiman M, Cameron M, Bussmann RW, Thapa-Magar KB, Rimal B, Sapkota P, 2018. Cross-cultural comparison of plant use knowledge in Baitadi and Darchula districts, Nepal Himalaya. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed 14: 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-018-0242-7
Levine LE, Munsch J, 2014. Social development in child development: an active learning approach. 4th ed. Sage Vantage, NY, USA. 680 pp.
Margulis M, Urresti M, 1996. La juventud es más que una palabra. Biblos, Buenos Aires.
Mayaba N, Wood L, 2015. Using drawings and collages as data generation methods with children: Definitely not child’s play. Int J Qual Methods 14(5): 1609406915621407. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406915621407
Milenge KH, de Kesel A, 2020. Wild edible ectomycorrhizal fungi: an underutilized food resource from the rainforests of Tshopo province (Democratic Republic of the Congo). J Ethnobiol Ethnomed 16: 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-020-0357-5
Minich M, Kerr B, Moreno MA, 2025. Adolescent emoji use in text-based messaging: Focus group study. JMIR Form Res 9: e59640. https://doi.org/10.2196/59640
Molares S, Toledo CV, Stecher G, Barroetaveña C, 2019. Traditional mycological knowledge and processes of change in Mapuche communities from Patagonia, Argentina: A study on wild edible fungi in Nothofagaceae forests. Mycologia 112(1): 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/00275514.2019.1680219
Molares S, Ferreras I, Hechem V, 2024. Rural botanical knowledge in urbanity: Restructurings and resignifications in the peripheries of a Patagonian city in Argentina. J Ethnobiol 4(2): 155–171. https://doi.org/10.1177/02780771241249953
Ramet A, Benyei P, Parada M, Aceituno-Mata L, García del Amo D, Reyes-García V, 2018. Grandparents’ proximity and children’s traditional medicinal plant knowledge: Insights from two schools in intermediate-rural Spain. J Ethnobiol 38(2): 187–204. https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-38.2.187
Rapimán DQ, Cuevas HT, 2023. Cualidades pedagógicas del saber educativo mapuche para el diálogo con el saber escolar. Rev Bras Educ 28: e280016. https://doi.org/10.1590/s1413-24782023280016
Reyes-García V, Broesch J, Calvet-Mir L, Fuentes-Peláez N, McDade TW, Parsa S, Tanner S, Huanca T, Leonard WR, Martínez-Rodríguez MR, 2009. Cultural transmission of ethnobotanical knowledge and skills: An empirical analysis from an Amerindian society. Evol Hum Behav 30: 274–285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2009.02.001
Reyes-García V, Gallois S, Demps K, 2016. A multistage learning model for cultural transmission: Evidence from three indigenous societies. In: Social learning and innovation in contemporary hunter-gatherers: Evolutionary and ethnographic perspectives; Terashima H, Hewlett BS (eds.). pp. 47–60. Springer, Japan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55997-9_4
Reyes-García V, Gallois S, Díaz-Reviriego I, Fernández-Llamazares Á, Napitupulu L, 2023. Dietary patterns of children on three indigenous societies. J Ethnobiol 38(2): 244–260. https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-38.2.244
Reyes-García V, Kightley E, Ruiz-Mallen I, Fuentes-Pelaez N, Demps K, Huanca T, Martinez-Rodriguez MR, 2010. Schooling and local ecological knowledge: Do they complement or substitute each other? Int J Educ Dev 30: 305–313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2009.11.007
Reyes-García V, Vadez V, Tanner S, McDade T, Huanca T, Leonard WR, 2006. Evaluating indices of traditional ecological knowledge: a methodological contribution. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed 2(1): 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-4269-2-21
Saynes-Vasquez A, Vibrans H, Vergara-Silva F, Caballero J, 2016. Intracultural differences in local botanical knowledge and knowledge loss among the Mexican Isthmus Zapotecs. PLoS ONE 11(3): e0151693. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0151693
Setalaphruk C, Price LL, 2007. Children’s traditional ecological knowledge of wild food resources: a case study in a rural village in Northeast Thailand. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed 3(1): 3–33. https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-4269-3-33
Sileshi GW, Tibuhwa DD, Mlambo A, 2023. Underutilized wild edible fungi and their undervalued ecosystem services in Africa. CABI A&B 4(1): 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43170-023-00145-7
Sulaiman N, Pieroni A, Soukand R, Polesny Z, 2022. Food behavior in emergency time: Wild plant use for human nutrition during the conflict in Syria. Foods 11(177): 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11020177
Sullivan A, Brewis A, Wutich A, 2018. Studying children’s cultural knowledge and behaviors related to environment, health, and food: Methods for ethnoecological research with children. J Ethnobiol 38(2): 276–293. https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-38.2.276
Sutrop U, 2001. List task and a cognitive salience index. Field Methods 13(3): 263–276. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X0101300303
Tian X, 2017. Ethnobotanical knowledge acquisition during daily chores: The firewood collection of pastoral Maasai girls in Southern Kenya. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed 13(2): 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-016-0131-x
Tian X, 2018. Generating pastoral skills through work and play in the daily life of Maasai children in Kenya. J Ethnobiol 38(2): 170–186. https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-38.2.170
Tibuhwa DD, 2013. Wild mushroom—an underutilized healthy food resource and income generator: experience from Tanzania rural areas. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed 9(49): 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-4269-9-49
Toledo CV, Barroetaveña C, Rajchenberg M, 2016. Hongos comestibles silvestres de los bosques nativos de la región Andino Patagónica de Argentina. CIEFAP, Esquel, Argentina. 71 pp.
Toledo VM, Barrera-Bassols N, 2009. La memoria biocultural: La importancia ecológica de las sabidurías tradicionales. Icaria Editorial, Barcelona. 230 pp.
Vandebroek I, 2016. Cultural comparisons in ethnobiological research. In: Introduction to ethnobiology; Albuquerque UP, Alves R (eds.). pp. 265–271. Springer, Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28155-1_40
Wyndham FS, 2010. Environments of learning: Rarámuri children’s plant knowledge and experience of schooling, family, and landscapes in the Sierra Tarahumara, Mexico. Hum Ecol 38(1): 87–99. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-009-9287-5
Zarger R, Stepp J, 2004. Persistence of botanical knowledge among Tzeltal Maya children. Curr Anthropol 45(3): 413–418. https://doi.org/10.1086/420908
Copyright (c) 2025 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
© CSIC. Manuscripts published in both the print and online versions of this journal are the property of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, and quoting this source is a requirement for any partial or full reproduction.
All contents of this electronic edition, except where otherwise noted, are distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. You may read the basic information and the legal text of the licence. The indication of the CC BY 4.0 licence must be expressly stated in this way when necessary.
Self-archiving in repositories, personal webpages or similar, of any version other than the final version of the work produced by the publisher, is not allowed.
