The Povos e Comunidades Tradicionais de Terreiro e de Matriz Africana in Brazil (Traditional Peoples and Communities of Afro-Brazilian Terreiro and African Matrix religions, henceforth Povos de Terreiro) are Afro-Brazilian religious communities in which plants play important ritual, therapeutic, and cultural roles. Their communities are organized around terreiros, sacred spaces where religious practices, ceremonies, and plant-related knowledge are maintained and transmitted. We investigated whether variation in the plants reported in Brazilian terreiros was associated with environmental context, geographic proximity, or shared cultural heritage. We compiled 643 species from 32 publications and compared taxonomic and phylogenetic composition across Brazilian biomes, tested spatial autocorrelation, and examined species frequencies and biogeographic status. Taxonomic composition differed among biomes, whereas phylogenetic composition did not. Geographic proximity was not associated with taxonomic or phylogenetic similarity. Ten species occurred in at least half of the analyzed terreiros, and the flora included similar proportions of species native (52
Southern Jalisco, Mexico, is undergoing rapid agribusiness expansion that has accelerated deforestation, altered rural livelihoods, and weakened the intergenerational learning pathways through which children acquire local ecological knowledge. To document knowledge of useful wild plants and support its revitalization, we implemented the participatory “Little Ethnobotanists” project in two rural villages in the buffer zone of the Sierra de Manantlán-Cerro Grande Biosphere Reserve. Forty-seven primary school children participated as child co-researchers. After training in botanical collection and basic ethnobotanical methods, they joined guided tours, conducted interviews, and participated in three workshops that culminated in school herbaria. The children documented 138 useful wild plant species across 14 use categories; medicinal, food, and firewood uses were the most frequent. On average, individual children reported knowing fewer than half of these species beforehand (mean 60.5 of 138 species, 44
The growing consumption of herbal products has been accompanied by a concerning increase in the use of adulterants during production, which could affect the quality of traditional herbal medicine. DNA barcoding is a powerful method for accurately identifying plants at various taxonomic levels, and for authenticating medicinal plants. In this study, the DNA barcoding regions rbcL and ITS were used to corroborate the botanical classification of commercial seeds from five Ipomoea species and one hybrid, all commonly used as herbal medicines and widely cultivated as ornamentals. These comprised Ipomoea alba, Ipomoea leptophylla, Ipomoea nil “Scarlet O’Hara,” Ipomoea nil × imperialis, Ipomoea tricolor “Heavenly Blue,” and Ipomoea violacea. It was not possible to differentiate individuals that were sold as different species, i.e., Ipomoea violacea and Ipomoea tricolor “Heavenly Blue,” due to the mislabeling of the source material. Our results confirmed that both analyzed commercial seeds belonged to Ipomoea tricolor. The phylogenetic analysis confirmed the effectiveness of the ITS1 and ITS2 markers as DNA barcodes for identifying medicinal species within the genus. DNA barcoding enables precise species identification and supports botanical authenticity. Our findings underscore the importance of taxonomic and analytical accuracy in studying medicinal plants, ensuring that identity assumptions are scientifically sound. DNA barcodes and ethnobotanical genomics can be integrated into regulatory frameworks for quality control of herbal medicines.
Throughout Northern Europe, farmers brewed beer from their own grain according to local traditions for millennia, although the tradition has greatly declined over the last century. This study investigates which spices they used in their beer, based on 1,074 accounts collected from archives in eight different countries, as well as published sources and fieldwork. The data span the last three centuries, with emphasis on the period 1930–2025. In order to identify patterns of usage, the spices were counted and mapped. A distinction was made between spices which are said to be in common use and spices which are just mentioned as used. Data is given on how the spices were added to the beer, and, where possible, which parts of the plants were used. Unsurprisingly, hops (Humulus lupulus) were found to be nearly universally used, but, contrary to earlier work, juniper (Juniperus communis) and alder (Alnus spp.) were found to be among the most common spices, and bitter orange (Citrus × aurantium) and caraway (Carum carvi) were also more prevalent than previously found. The data show a surprisingly limited number of spices in use and a high degree of consistency across countries.
The Mediterranean basin is a hot-spot of global and climate changes, to which agro-sylvo-pastoral systems are strongly exposed. This study first describes people-nature relations in the cork oak forest of Benslimane (northern Morocco) through the Nature’s Contribution to People approach, then analyses local perceptions of change of the social-ecological system. Forty-one interviews were conducted with inhabitants of the province during two months of fieldwork. Results show that the forest is central to people both economically and culturally. According to the inhabitants of Benslimane, drought drives new social-ecological dynamics, leading to environmental degradation and resulting in the abandonment of forest uses and relationships. According to participants, rural exodus and a shift toward wage employment are a response to more frequent and intense droughts resulting in local knowledge erosion and abandonment of agro-sylvo-pastoral activities. We discuss how the cascade effects and feedback loops identified by participants as resulting from drought seem to exacerbate global change trends beyond climate change and leading to the erosion of social-ecological resilience.
