Abstract
The use of quantitative indices to quantify the importance of a plant species to human societies is widespread. While quantification may yield support for standardized methodologies and facilitate generalizations, it is important to examine the potential limitations of these indices. Moreover, because these indices are calculated at the species level, failure to control for phylogenetic relatedness in predictive models may yield misleading conclusions. We test if commonly used cultural importance indices predict species cultural keystone status among the Shipibo-Konibo community of Paoyhan in the Peruvian Amazon. Eleven of the 12 indices were correlated with each other indicating most cultural importance indices are redundant. Most indices did not predict species cultural keystone status. Phylogenetic control improved our models indicating a significant part of the predictive power of even the best index was explained by species shared evolutionary history. Our findings highlight the need for the cautious use of cultural importance indices to infer species cultural keystone status. Newly developed indices should be tested for correlation with existing indices to avoid redundancy.
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Data Availability
The data generated and analyzed during the current study are available in the DRYAD repository, https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.xwdbrv1bh.
Notes
See Compliance with Ethical Standards below for details.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Richard Evans Schultes and Timothy Plowman for inspiring up-and-coming ethnobotanists to pursue fieldwork among cultural groups of the Amazon region. We thank Nancy J. Turner for her seminal works and enriching conversations on the cultural keystone species concept. We would like to thank the Shipibo-Konibo Community of Paoyhan for sharing their knowledge, their time, hospitality, and for supporting this research, and volunteers and fellow researchers at Alianza Arkana (Arkana Alliance NGO) for their fieldwork contributions. A special thanks to Laura Dev, Brian Best, Paul Roberts, Marcos Urquia Maynas, Elias Campos, Neyda Cairuna, Carolina Mahua, Oscar Rodriguez, Manuela Mahua Ahuanari, and Gilberto Mahua Ochavano for their field work support and to Juan C. Ruiz Macedo for his integral works in plant identification and taxonomy. We are grateful for comments on an earlier version of the manuscript from Tamara Ticktin, Christine Beaule, Mark Merlin, Dennis McKenna, Luis Eduardo Luna, and two anonymous reviewers. We are grateful for Anthony Amend for providing the seed code for the phylogenetic analysis.
Funding
MAC acknowledges fieldwork support from the Society for Economic Botany Richard Evans Schultes Award, the Missouri Botanical Garden Anne S. Chatham Fellowship, and the University of Hawai ‘i at Mānoa GSO grant.
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This study was approved by the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa IRB (CHS#23611). The Shipibo-Konibo community of Paoyhan granted permission for and supported this study. Participation was voluntary and all participants were at least 18 years old. Prior to each interview, we obtained free and prior informed consent.
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Coe, M.A., Gaoue, O.G. Most Cultural Importance Indices Do Not Predict Species’ Cultural Keystone Status. Hum Ecol 48, 721–732 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-020-00192-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-020-00192-y