Societal Impact Statement Native wild plants are key elements in addressing global biodiversity loss and supporting sustainable food systems. We investigated how rural communities in Mexico manage Chamaedorea tepejilote, a wild palm with edible male inflorescences, by combining ethnobotanical, genetic, morphological, and ecological approaches. We found that communities sustainably utilize the species by safeguarding the knowledge and practices that facilitate transitioning from wild collection to cultivating palms in agroforestry systems. Our findings contribute to the recognition of these strategies as productive alternatives that can be promoted to help achieve conservation goals related to native biodiversity.Summary Management of wild plants can influence processes at the population, community, and landscape levels. Differential management of intraspecific variation may play a significant role in plant domestication. We examined the management of the dioecious palm Chamaedorea tepejilote in southern Mexico. Its edible male inflorescences have been an important food source for people since pre-Hispanic times. Through 24 semi-structured interviews with locals, we documented their management of palm populations in forests and agroforestry systems (AFS). We also conducted censuses of palms in 13 AFS and forests and used generalized linear mixed models to evaluate the impact of management practices on the stage structure of palm populations. To detail the morphological characteristics, we measured vegetative and reproductive traits of 65 male and 68 female palms. We also genotyped 185 individuals using 10 microsatellite markers. Through multivariate analyses we evaluated morphological trait variation and its correspondence with genetic differentiation between morphotypes. Populations in forests and AFS had similar stage structures, though some AFS populations were denser and had a higher abundance of adult individuals. Similarly, male and female palms exhibited distinct abundance patterns in AFS. We identified four palm morphotypes-three solitary and one cespitose-all of which are often integrated into AFS. Plant morphological and genetic differentiation were consistent with each other. Management ranged from wild collection to cultivation. Our findings underscore the pivotal role of human strategies in maximizing the benefits obtained from palms, driving domestication processes, as well as sustainable use and conservation.

Domestication is an evolutionary process guided by humans. It operates continuously in multiple directions, with species undergoing adaption to diverse human-influenced environments and cultural and technological contexts. Mesoamerica is among the world’s main regions of domestication and the Agave genus is widely used and managed in this region, with at least eleven domesticated and semi-domesticated species. One species, Agave americana, comprises two subspecies and four varieties, the diversification of which is hypothetically related to human management. This study explores this hypothesis by analysing morphological variation and its relation to environmental and management settings. Ethnobotanical studies were conducted to document uses, management practices, and targets of human selection, together with patterns of morphological variation across different ecological and cultural contexts. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with agave managers throughout the species’ distribution range in Mexico. Morphometric analyses were performed on populations occurring under contrasting environmental and management conditions. Multivariate and univariate statistical analyses were used to evaluate morphological variation in relation to geographic distribution, environmental conditions, and management regimes. A. americana is used to extract sap for preparing the fermented beverage called pulque. Its stems have been used as food since prehistoric times, when they were cooked in underground ovens. This cooked matter forms the basis of current fermentation and the production of distilled mescal. The fibre of some varieties has been used to make cords and textiles. Both subspecies are managed, but the subspecies protamericana clearly has wild populations. Morphometric studies confirm the presence of traits indicative of domestication in most varieties of the subspecies americana. Phenotypic variation within the Agave americana complex is associated with taxonomic identity, geographic distribution, and management intensity. The observed patterns are consistent with the effects of human selection, particularly in traits related to plant size and the reduction of defensive structures. However, further studies integrating common-garden experiments, population genetics, and phylogeographic analyses are required to clarify the evolutionary history and genetic basis of the observed variation.

Plant domestication is a key evolutionary process that has shaped global agrobiodiversity. While most research focuses on contrasting wild relatives and domesticated varieties exhibiting pronounced domestication syndromes, relatively little attention has been given to the diversity within the wild-to-domesticated continuum. This paper presents a framework for understanding these populations and highlights the importance of overlooked populations within the domesticated spectrum. The paper explores the evolutionary processes—both natural and human-mediated—that shape wild-to-domesticated complexes, emphasizing gene flow as a key evolutionary force. Additionally, we examine the legal considerations surrounding the conservation and management of these systems, addressing the regulatory challenges and opportunities for preserving the wild-to-domesticated continuum. Finally, this work highlights the relevance of conservation genomics for safeguarding these interconnected systems and advocates for an integrated, multidisciplinary approach to strengthen the resilience of agricultural landscapes.

People around the world have developed distinctive sets of useful plants, known as ethnofloras, which comprise a significant portion of Earth’s biodiversity. However, little is known about the factors that determine the composition of these collections and how different groups use plants. These differences may increase with geographic distance and linguistic separation due to barriers to communication and a lack of similarity in locally-available species. Using published ethnobotanical information, we analyzed the divergence in the composition of wild-species and the ways plants are used among 22 Mexican ethnic groups that use 2,855 species. We standardized plant use into ten categories and recorded them for each plant species and ethnic group. Each ethnic group uses a very large number of species (α-diversity), but few species are shared with other groups. Consequently, species turnover (β-diversity) between ethnic groups is very high. As expected, geographic distance fostered high differentiation in species composition of ethnofloras, probably reflecting differences in wild floras. Linguistic proximity promoted ethnoflora composition similarity, suggesting that communication plays a role in shaping the set of plants that are used. Geographic proximity also promotes similarity in how plants are used, though it is unclear whether language also plays a role. This suggests that language barriers are quite permeable. Social interactions and the use of Spanish as a lingua franca may favor the convergence of uses. This study provides a novel analysis of ethnofloras. It emphasizes the value of cultural and biological diversity and their importance in shaping ethnobotanical heritage.

Mexico is home to a rich variety of fermented beverages made from both wild and domesticated plant species. Fermentation practices vary, with producers using either wild or inoculated techniques to obtain culturally valued final products. It is generally assumed that wild fermentations yield a greater diversity of volatile compounds compared to inoculated fermentations, as the latter tend to reduce microbial diversity throughout the process. However, this pattern remains largely unexplored in relation to the volatile profiles of traditionally fermented cactus-based beverages. Despite this assumption, comparative studies examining these profiles across different fermentation methods are scarce, especially given that these beverages are not produced under standardized conditions. To investigate this, we used GC-MS to characterize the aroma profile of colonche, a traditional fermented beverage made primarily from Opuntia streptacantha fruits. Colonche is produced by both wild and inoculated fermentation methods. In addition, a rapid sensory evaluation using the modified Flash Profile (mFP) technique was performed to evaluate flavor differences between the fermentation methods. A total of 55 volatile compounds were identified, with wild fermentations showing greater diversity (55) than inoculated fermentations (50). Most compounds overlapped, but five were unique to spontaneous fermentations, contributing to distinct sensory profiles. The mFP results also indicate that sensory attributes vary by fermentation type, with wild fermentations being more strongly associated with positive descriptors such as taste and smell, while inoculated samples have a distinctly pungent aftertaste. These findings highlight colonche not only as a reservoir of microbial diversity in arid regions but also as a culturally significant beverage with complex sensory attributes. Recognizing and preserving these attributes is essential for safeguarding traditional foodscapes.

In rural communities, markets can drive change by modifying human activities and influencing landscape complexity. The interactions among markets, resource management, and landscapes deserve closer examination to understand community dynamics and the role of local markets. This study aims to analyze whether variation in peasant’s productive strategy (diversification or specialization) and differentiated market integration are associated with landscape complexity. We employed ethnobotanical, remote sensing, and landscape ecology metrics. We conducted semi-structured interviews and developed land classifications in four communities in Coyomeapan, Central Mexico. Results indicate that communities differ in landscape complexity, reflecting the species sold, resource management practices, and the producers’ socioeconomic capacity for market integration. However, productive strategies are not directly linked to landscape heterogeneity at this scale, since agroecosystems remain largely managed through traditional methods. We emphasize that multifunctional rural landscapes persist through local market linkages, dual peasant economies, and traditional management.

Mexico is one of the countries with the highest cultural, biological, and agrobiological diversity. However, an accelerated process of ancestral knowledge loss, related to the management of agrobiodiversity, native seeds, and other edible plant species management is affecting food sovereignty. This process of knowledge loss was documented at the Ñäñho region, of southern Querétaro, where our study took place. Our objective was to document the diversity of edible plant diversity, management, and use as well as the agroecosystems from which they are obtained. Semi-structured interviews were conducted over 2 years (2021–2023) with 50 informants selected through a snowball sampling. Informal interviews and participant observations were also used with these and other people from the same community. Herbarium specimens and seed accessions were collected and photographed. In total, 119 edible plant species were identified. The richest families were Solanaceae, Rosaceae, Cactaceae, and Asteraceae. The edible species occur in 11 agroecosystems with 58.6

Rural communities have developed complex strategies to utilize the surrounding ecosystems. However, commercialization has allowed people to access various resources and gain additional economic opportunities. Resource management and commercialization occur within a specific socioeconomic context, which can lead to differences in the decisions made by farmers. We examined socioeconomic capacities, market access, and resource management to gain a deeper understanding of the factors influencing farmers’ production strategies. The study was conducted in Sierra Negra, Puebla (Mexico), where we used both qualitative and quantitative methods to gather information and assess variables related to market integration, socioeconomic context, and resource management. Our findings reveal significant socioeconomic stratification, along with dynamics of marginalization related to market integration, which in turn influence management strategies. This relationship helped us identify three strategies adopted by smallholders: subsistence, diversification, and specialization.

Polyculture, or intercropping, is the practice of growing two or more crops simultaneously in time and space. The milpa is a systematic polyculture involving the simultaneous cultivation of maize (Zea mays), beans (Phaseolus spp.), squash (Cucurbita spp.), and other crops. Milpa polyculture initially emerged in the Mesoamerican region (Mexico and Central America) through the concurrent processes of managing, utilizing, and domesticating its constituent crops. It subsequently spread throughout the Americas via the diffusion of maize and the convergence of its domestication with that of its companion crops and other domesticated plants in the continent. Mesoamerican farmers made an outstanding contribution by domesticating and bringing together crops with contrasting morphological and physiological traits that are ecologically, agronomically, and nutritionally complementary. Despite its importance, few quantitative evaluations of this polyculture exist. However, these evaluations indicate that its productivity and land efficiency use (Land equivalent ratio = 1.34) are comparable to those of other intercrops studied on a global scale. We emphasize the importance of transdisciplinary efforts to study this polyculture and highlight its potential applications related to ecological interactions, plant microbiomes and breeding in order to reach sustainable production goals.

El mapache norteño (Procyon lotor) tiene una dieta amplia que incluye materia vegetal, invertebrados, pequeños vertebrados y en ocasiones granos. Mediante cámaras trampa documentamos por primera vez la depredación de la iguana mexicana de cola espinosa (Ctenosaura pectinata) por el mapache norteño en un Área Natural Protegida urbana en el Occidente de México. De acuerdo con el gobierno mexicano, esta iguana se encuentra Amenazada y está considerada dentro de la categoría de Preocupación Menor por la UICN. Nuestra información contribuye al conocimiento de la dieta de P. lotor en ambientes urbanos y genera preguntas acerca del impacto de esta especie sobre otros vertebrados de talla mediana.

Las especies de palmas en la república mexicana han desempeñado un papel significativo en el desarrollo de las comunidades rurales; poseen gran relevancia biológica, cultural y económica. El género Brahea es el de mayor uso en comunidades campesinas e indígenas del país. El objetivo de esta revisión fue exponer una síntesis de los estudios científicos realizados en México sobre este género. Se hizo una revisión de diversas fuentes, como publicaciones, investigadores e instituciones que hacen investigaciones sobre el particular. Se identificó un total de 44 publicaciones, de las cuales ocho fueron libros y 36 artículos; de estos, 77 % son artículos de investigación, 14 % artículos de divulgación científica y 9 % artículos de revisión. De los primeros autores de cada publicación, 60 % tiene su adscripción en alguna institución mexicana y 40 % en instituciones extranjeras. Los estudios sobre Etnobiología representaron 23 % de las publicaciones en las que se aborda, principalmente, la importancia cultural y económica del aprovechamiento de especies del género Brahea. El análisis muestra que, de las 13 especies incluidas en la revisión, cuatro son las más estudiadas. Los resultados evidencian que los estudios realizados alrededor de este género en las distintas instituciones han sido insuficientes, y se discute la necesidad de continuar realizando investigaciones con la perspectiva de vincular los estudios con acciones para el aprovechamiento sustentable de las palmas de este género.

Collaborative, situated, and critical methodologies (CSCM) foster processes that provide dialogic and experiential working tools for emerging transdisciplinary agroecologies (TA). CSCM emphasize how local knowledge and practice (praxis) contribute to ensuring care for the common and the personal, safeguarding regenerative processes, actively protecting native seeds, and interweaving biodiverse life systems that support the multifunctional networks of agriculture. This work aimed to understand a selection of collaborative methodologies related to transdisciplinary agroecological processes. We identify these groups: 1. Agroecologies, 2. Popular and own pedagogies, 3. Engaged and transformative pedagogies, 4. Assessment of agroecological sustainability and incidence in public policy, and 5. Participatory marketing and guarantee mechanisms or systems. The CSCM contribute to understanding the relationships, times, meanings, and identities and the heterogeneity of context of each community. Thus, CSCM are essential positions and tools to strengthen the openness and respect required by intercultural spaces of praxis and shared dialogues between different epistemic communities while nourishing TA. TA are complexes of relationships and practices between humans and the diversity of life, and they delve into epistemological, ethical, ontological positions and heterogeneous praxis. These diverse methodological paths characterize the interactions that arise from the heterogeneity of knowledge, experience, and wisdom of interacting epistemic communities crossed by power relations. The shifts in positions and research journeys toward epistemological and environmental justice among biocultural diversities developed by the revised CSCM provide the tools to continue articulating processes, designs, and forms of organization of life networks converging with TA.

Este libro es resultado de un ejercicio colaborativo que reunió a investigadores e investigadoras de diversas formaciones académicas y pertenecientes a distintas instituciones nacionales; todas y todos a través del diálogo conjunto coincidimos en reconocer el valor de los sistemas alimentarios tradicionales y nos propusimos analizar los fenómenos alimentarios presentes en nuestros contextos de estudio. Abarcando diferentes espacios y poblaciones con características diversas, en este trabajo ofrecemos una visión general de la complejidad de las problemáticas alimentarias que se presentan en México desde su expresión local. Reconocemos la necesidad de diálogos inter, multi y transdisciplinarios para generar abordajes integrales, así como la construcción de vínculos fuertes entre la sociedad civil, la academia, las empresas y el gobierno, hacia la búsqueda y promoción de soluciones alimentarias sustentables y sostenibles.

Background The commercialization of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) provides income for rural indigenous households. The integration of NTFPs into formal markets tends to intensify management practices to ensure production and monetary benefits. However, more research is needed to understand the motivations for managing of commercialized species. We examine the influence of social, ecological, and economic factors on traditional management and how they drive the adoption of more or less intensive practices for subsistence and commercially traded NTFPs.Methods The study was conducted in the Nahua community of Ixtacxochitla, in the Sierra Negra of central Mexico, where we conducted free lists and semi-structured interviews in 32% of the 88 households to assess socio-ecological variables related to management practices. In addition, we interviewed local traders to assess commercial variables used in a cost-benefit model to calculate the net annual income of commercialized species. Non-metric multidimensional scaling was used to analyze relationships between socio-ecological variables and management practices. We also explored the relationship between management and commercial factors using principal component analysis.Results We recorded 64 plant and mushroom species of NTFPs used for medicinal, ornamental, ceremonial, and edible purposes, 36 of which are commercialized in the municipal market of Coyomeapan. The commercialized species generated an average annual net income of MXN 67,526 (USD 3924) per family, with five species contributing the most. Species both used for both subsistence and commercialization were managed through incipient in situ gathering, tolerance in ex situ anthropogenic areas, and intensive protection and propagation efforts in ex situ environments. Even the five species with the highest commercial returns were managed across this gradient of practices. Key factors influencing the adoption of more intensive species management practices were feasibility of management, type of species use, ecological abundance, frequency of consumption, and cultural importance.Conclusions The intensification of NTFPs management is not solely driven by the commercial value of the products or the level of income generated. Instead, the interaction between socio-ecological and economic factors determines the extent of management practices. The main constraint to the implementation of intensive practices has been the inability to manage species outside their natural habitats, despite their cultural significance and frequent consumption. Understanding the factors involved in the harvesting of NTFPs can serve as the basis for future research aimed at analyzing the conditions for successful and sustainable NTFPs commercialization.

Guava (Psidium guajava L.) is a semi-domesticated fruit tree of moderate importance in the Neotropics, utilized for millennia due to its nutritional and medicinal benefits, but its origin of domestication remains unknown. In this study, we examine genetic diversity and population structure in 215 plants from 11 countries in Mesoamerica, the Andes, and Amazonia using 25 nuclear microsatellite loci to propose an origin of domestication. Genetic analyses reveal one gene pool in Mesoamerica (Mexico) and four in South America (Brazilian Amazonia, Peruvian Amazonia and Andes, and Colombia), indicating greater differentiation among localities, possibly due to isolation between guava populations, particularly in the Amazonian and Andean regions. Moreover, Mesoamerican populations show high genetic diversity, with moderate genetic structure due to gene flow from northern South American populations. Dispersal scenarios suggest that Brazilian Amazonia is the probable origin of guava domestication, spreading from there to the Peruvian Andes, northern South America, Central America, and Mexico. These findings present the first evidence of guava domestication in the Americas, contributing to a deeper understanding of its evolutionary history.

Ethnobiologists commonly analyze local knowledge systems related to plants, animals, fungi, and ecosystems. However, microbes (bacteria, yeasts, molds, viruses, and other organisms), often considered invisible in their interactions with humans, are often neglected. Microorganisms were the earliest life forms on Earth, and humans have interacted with them throughout history. Over time, humans have accumulated ecological knowledge about microbes through attributes such as smell, taste, and texture that guide the management of contexts in which microorganisms evolve. These human-microbe interactions are, in fact, expressions of biocultural diversity. Thus, we propose that ethnomicrobiology is a distinct interdisciplinary field within ethnobiology that examines the management practices and knowledge surrounding human-microbe interactions, along with the theoretical contributions that such an approach can offer. We reviewed scientific journals, books, and chapters exploring human-microbe relationships. Our search included databases such as Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, and specific journal websites, using keywords related to ethnomicrobiology and ethnozymology. To categorize activities involving deliberate human-microbial interactions, we examined topics such as fermentation, pickling, food preservation, silaging, tanning, drying, salting, smoking, traditional medicine, folk medicine, agricultural practices, composting, and other related practices. Our research identified important precedents for ethnomicrobiology through practical and theoretical insights into human-microbe interactions, particularly in their impact on health, soil, and food systems. We also found that these interactions contribute to biodiversity conservation and co-evolutionary processes. This emerging interdisciplinary field has implications for food ecology, public health, and the biocultural conservation of hidden microbial landscapes and communities. It is essential to explore the socioecological implications of the interwoven relationships between microbial communities and humans. Equally important is the promotion of the conservation and recovery of this vast biocultural diversity, along with sustainable management practices informed by local ecological knowledge. Recognizing the dawn of ethnomicrobiology is essential as the field evolves from a descriptive to a more theoretical and integrative biological approach. We emphasize the critical role that traditional communities have played in conserving food, agriculture, and health systems. This emerging field highlights that the future of ethnobiological sciences will focus not on individual organisms or cultures, but on the symbiosis between microorganisms and humans that has shaped invisible but often complex biocultural landscapes.