Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Mexican Ethnobotany: Interactions of People and Plants in Mesoamerica

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Ethnobotany of Mexico

Part of the book series: Ethnobiology ((EBL))

Abstract

Ethnobotany is a research aimed at understanding what people know about plants, how plants form part of their systems of beliefs and conceptions of the world, and how humans make use and manage plants for reproducing their social and cultural life. This chapter shows a general panorama of the historical use of ethnobotany in Mexico from pre-Columbian times to the modern arising of ethnobotany as a research field, as well as the main contemporary methodological approaches and challenges of researchers working on Mexican ethnobotany. Such panorama conforms an introductory context for discussing the importance and limits of this book and a general description of the contributions of the each chapter that forms part of the text. We then discuss a general perspective of the Mexican ethnobotany in order to make stronger an “after description step” of this research field, recognizing the importance of descriptive methods but the need of emphasizing the analytical contribution of ethnobotany on research questions connected with research fields like anthropology, archaeology, ecology, and evolutionary biology. All these are research areas requiring support from both quantitative and qualitative ethnobotanical approaches in order to analyse social and anthropological problems such as the role of natural resources in human cultures, peoples’ cosmovision, and their social organization and technology for interacting with ecosystems. Also, ethnobotany is necessary to ecology for studying important problems like the human influence on distribution and abundance of the flora of the world and the historical configuration of ecosystems. In addition, ethnobotany is crucial for understanding the past and ongoing processes of domestication in order to understand factors influencing the origins of agriculture. Ethnobotany is crucial for understanding evolutionary ecological processes influencing divergence between wild and managed populations of plants and perspectives of management of plant genetic resources. And finally, we discuss the general importance of ethnobotany as a bridge for building social–ecological views and trans-disciplinary approaches for constructing sustainability science. Ethnobotany is a promising research field for reinforcing the human understanding of nature and society, but also for solving practical problems in the context of the world’s environmental crisis associated to global change.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 229.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 299.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 299.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Casas A, Camou A, Rangel-Landa S, Solís L, Torres I, Delgado-Lemus A, Moreno Calles AI, Vallejo M, Guillén S, Blancas J, Parra F, Aguirre X, Farfán-Heredia B, Arellanes Y, Pérez-Negrón E. Manejo tradicional de biodiversidad y ecosistemas en Mesoamérica: El Valle de Tehuacán. Investigación Ambiental, Ciencia y Política Pública. 2014;6(2):23–44.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Toledo VM, Ordóñez MJ. The biodiversity scenario of Mexico: a review of terrestrial habitats. In: Ramamoorthy TP, Bye RA, Lot A, Fa JE, editors. Biological diversity of Mexico: origins and distribution. New York: Oxford University Press; 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Villaseñor JL. Diversidad y distribución de las Magnoliophyta de México. Interciencia. 2003;28:160–7.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Villaseñor JL, Ortiz E. Biodiversidad de plantas con flores (División Magnoliophya) en México. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad. 2014;85:134–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Sarukhán J, Urquiza-Haas T, Koleff P, Carabias J, Dirzo R, Ezcurra E, Cerdeira-Estrada S, Soberón J. Strategic actions to value, conserve, and restore the natural capital of Megadiversity countries: The Case of Mexico. BioScience. 2014;65(2):164–73.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Toledo VM. Biodiversity and cultural diversity in Mexico. Diff Drummer. 2014;1(3):16–9.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Toledo VM. Biodiversity and indigenous peoples. In: Levin S, editor. Encyclopedia of biodiversity. San Diego: Academic; 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  8. de Ávila-Blomberg A. La diversidad lingüística y el conocimiento etnobiológico. In: Sarukhán J, editor. El Capital Natural de México. México: CONABIO; 2008. p. 497–556.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Maffi L. Linguistic, cultural, and biological diversity. Annu Rev Anthropol. 2005;29:599–617.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Toledo VM, Barrera-Bassols N. La memoria biocultural: La importancia ecológica de las sabidurías tradicionales. Barcelona: Icaria Editorial; 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Boege-Schmidt E. El patrimonio biocultural de los pueblos indígenas de México. Mexico: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas; 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Maffi L, Woodley E. Biocultural diversity conservation. A global source book. New York: Earthscan from Routledge; 2010.

    Google Scholar 

  13. McVaugh R. Edward Palmer: plant explorer of the American West. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press; 1956.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Bye RA. An 1878 ethnobotanical collection from San Luis Potosi: Dr. Edward Palmer’s First Major Mexican Collection. Econ Bot. 1979;33(2):135–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. MacNeish RS. The origins of agriculture and settles life. Chicago: University of Oklahoma Press; 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  16. MacNeish RS. A summary of the subsistence. In: Byers DS, editor. The prehistory of the Tehuacan Valley, Environment and subsistence, vol. 1. Austin: University of Texas Press; 1967.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Smith EC. Plant remains. In: Byers DS, editor. The prehistory of the Tehuacan Valley, Environment and subsistence, vol. 1. Austin: University of Texas Press; 1967.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Flannery KV. Guilá Naquitz. Orlando: Academic; 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Smith EC. Preceramic plant remains from Guilá Naquitz. In: Flannery KV, editor. Guilá Naquitz. Orlando: Academic; 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Pickersgill B. Domestication of plants in the Americas: insights from Mendelian and molecular genetics. Ann Bot. 2007;100:925–40.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. Emboden WA. The sacred narcotic water lily of the Nile: Nymphaea caerulea Sav. Econ Bot. 1979;33(1):395–407.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Emboden WA. Art and artefact as ethnobotanical tools in the ancient Near East with emphasis in psychoactive plants. In: Schultes RE, Von Reis S, editors. Ethnobotany: evolution of a discipline. Portland: Dioscorides Press; 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Von Hagen VW. The Aztec and Maya papermakers. Berlin: Richter Stacks; 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Gutiérrez-Solana E. Códices de México. Historia e interpretación de los grandes libros pintados prehispánicos. Mexico: Panorama Editorial; 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Sahagún B. Historia general de las cosas de la Nueva España. México: Editorial Porrúa; 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Soustelle J. La vida cotidiana de los aztecas en vísperas de la conquista. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica; 1978.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Díaz del Castillo B. Historia verdaderra de la conquista de la Nueva España. México: Editorial Porrúa; 2004.

    Google Scholar 

  28. De la Cruz M. Libellus de medicinalibus indorum herbis. Manuscrito azteca de 1552. Según traducción latina de Juan Badiano. México: Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social; 1964.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Hernández F. Historia natural de la Nueva España. Mexico: UNAM; 1943.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Acuña R. Relaciones geográficas del siglo XVI (8 volúmenes). México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Gómez-Pompa A. Las raíces de la etnobotánica mexicana. In: Guevara S, Moreno-Casasola P, Rzedowski J, editors. Logros y Perspectivas del Conocimiento de los recursos vegetales de México en vísperas del Siglo XXI. México: Instituto de Ecología A. C. y Sociedad Botánica de México; 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Linnaeus C. Species plantarum, exhibentes plantas rite cognitas ad genera relatas. Stockholm: Holmiae, Impensis Direct. Laurentii Salvii; 1753.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Linnaeus C. Systema naturae per regna tria naturae. Stockholm: Holmiae, Impensis Direct. Laurentii Salvii; 1758.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Moro J. A flor de piel. Barcelona: Seix Barral; 2015.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Lozoya X. Plantas y Luces en México. La Real Expedición Científica a Nueva España (1787-1803). Barcelona: Ediciones del Serbal; 1983.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Humboldt A, Bonpland A. Essay on the geography of plants. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Martínez M. Plantas útiles de la flora de México. México: Editorial Botas; 1959.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Martínez M. Plantas útiles de la República Mexicana. Mexico: Talleres Linotipográficos de H. Barrales; 1928.

    Google Scholar 

  39. Martínez M. Las plantas medicinales de México. México: Ediciones Botas; 1933.

    Google Scholar 

  40. Maldonado-Koerdell M. Estudios etnobiológicos I. Definición, relaciones y métodos de la etnobiología. In: Barrera A, editor. La etnobotánica: tres puntos de vista y una perspectiva. Xalapa: Instituto de Investigaciones sobre Recursos Bióticos; 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  41. Hernández-Xolocotzi E. Exploración etnobotánica y sus metodología. Texcoco: Colegio de Postgraduados, Escuela Nacional de Agricultura. Universidad Autónoma Chapingo; 1971.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Hernández-Xolocotzi E. El concepto de etnobotánica. In: Barrera A, editor. La etnobotánica: tres puntos de vista y una perspectiva. Xalapa: Instituto de Investigaciones sobre Recursos Bióticos; 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  43. Barrera A. La etnobotánica. In: Barrera A, editor. La etnobotánica: tres puntos de vista y una perspectiva. Xalapa: Instituto de Investigaciones sobre Recursos Bióticos; 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  44. Caballero J. Perspectivas para el quehacer etnobotánico en México. In: Barrera A, editor. La etnobotánica: tres puntos de vista y una perspectiva. Xalapa: Instituto de Investigaciones sobre Recursos Bióticos; 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  45. Casas A, Viveros JL, Caballero J. Etnobotánica mixteca: sociedad, cultura y recursos naturales en la Montaña de Guerrero. México: Instituto Nacional Indigenista-CONACULTA; 1994.

    Google Scholar 

  46. Caballero J, Casas A, Cortes L, Mapes C. Patrones en el conocimiento, uso y manejo de plantas en pueblos indigenas de Mexico. Estudios Atacameños. 1998;16:181–96.

    Google Scholar 

  47. Casas A, Valiente-Banuet A, Viveros JL, Dávila P, Lira R, Caballero J, Cortés L, Rodríguez I. Plant resources of the Tehuacán Valley, Mexico. Econ Bot. 2001;55(1):129–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Martínez-Ballesté A, Martorell C, Martínez-Ramos M, Caballero J. Applying retrospective demographic models to assess sustainable use: the Maya management of xa’an palms. Ecol Soc. 2005;10(2):17.

    Google Scholar 

  49. Martínez-Ballesté A, Martorell C, Caballero J. Cultural or ecological sustainability? The effect of cultural change on Sabal palm management among the lowland Maya of Mexico. Ecol Soc. 2006;11(2):27.

    Google Scholar 

  50. Farfán B, Casas A, Ibarra G, Pérez-Negrón E. Mazahua ethnobotany and people subsistence in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, Mexico. Econ Bot. 2007;61(2):173–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Pérez-Negrón E, Casas A. Use, extraction rates and spatial availability of plant resources in the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley, Mexico: The case of Quiotepec, Oaxaca. J Arid Environ. 2007;70(2):356–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Colunga-GarcíaMarín P, Hernández-Xolocotzi E, Castillo A. Variación morfológica, manejo agrícola y grados de domesticación de Opuntia spp. en el Bajío guanajuatense. Agrociencia. 1986;65:7–49.

    Google Scholar 

  53. Colunga-GarcíaMarín P, Coello-Coello J, Eguiarte LE, Piñero D. Isozymatic variation and phylogenetic relationships between henequen (Agave fourcroydes) and its wild ancestor A. angustifolia (Agavaceae). Am J Bot. 1999;86(1):115–23.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  54. Casas A, Caballero J, Mapes C, Zárate S. Manejo de la vegetación, domesticación de plantas y origen de la agricultura en Mesoamérica. Boletín de la Sociedad Botánica de México (Botanical Sciences). 1997;61:31–47.

    Google Scholar 

  55. Casas A, Otero-Arnaiz A, Pérez-Negrón E, Valiente-Banuet A. In situ management and domestication of plants in Mesoamerica. Ann Bot. 2007;100(5):1101–15.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  56. Parra F, Casas A, Peñaloza-Ramírez J, Cortés-Palomec AC, Rocha-Ramírez V, González-Rodríguez A. Evolution under domestication: Ongoing artificial selection and divergence of wild and managed Stenocereus pruinosus (Cactaceae) populations in the Tehuacán Valley, Mexico. Ann Bot. 2010;106:483–96.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  57. Aguirre X, González A, Eguiarte L, Casas A. Large and round: Morphological and genetic consequences of artificial selection on the gourd tree Crescentia cujete by the Maya from the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico. Ann Bot. 2012;109(7):1307–16.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  58. Berlin B, Breedlove DE, Raven P. Principles of Tzeltal plant classification. An introduction to the botanical ethnography of a Mayan-speaking people of the highlands of Chiapas. New York: Academic; 1974.

    Google Scholar 

  59. Heinrich M, Anklib A, Freib B, Weimann C, Sticher O. Medicinal plants in Mexico: healers’ consensus and cultural importance. Soc Sci Med. 1998;47(11):1859–71.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  60. González-Torres Y. Animales y plantas en la cosmovisión mesoamericana. México: Plaza y Valdés; 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  61. Morales-Damián MA. Árbol sagrado. Origen y estructura del universo en el pensamiento maya. Pachuca: Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo; 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  62. Camou-Guerrero A, Reyes-García V, Martínez-Ramos M, Casas A. Knowledge and use value of plant species in a Raramuri community: a gender perspective. Hum Ecol. 2008;36:259–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  63. Zizumbo D, Colunga-GarcíaMarín P. Los huaves. La apropiación de los recursos naturales. Texcoco: Universidad Autónoma de Chapingo, Departamento de Sociología Rural; 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  64. Alcorn JB. Huastec Mayan ethnobotany. Austin: University of Texas Press; 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  65. Berkes F, Folke C. Linking social and ecological systems. Management practices and social mechanisms for building resilience. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  66. Hernández-Xolocotzi E. Xolocotzia. Texcoco: Universidad Autónoma de Chapingo; 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  67. Gómez-Pompa A. Antecedentes de las Investigaciones Botánico-Ecológicas en la Región del Río Uxpanapa, Veracruz, México. Biótica. 1979;4.

    Google Scholar 

  68. Caballero J. El Uso de la Diversidad Vegetal en México: Tendencias y Perspectivas Futuras. In: Leff E, editor. Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo. México: Editorial Porrúa; 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  69. Martínez-Alfaro M. Estado actual de las investigaciones etnobotánicas en México. Boletín de la Sociedad Botánica de México (Botanical Sciences). 1994;55:67–74.

    Google Scholar 

  70. Toledo VM. New paradigms for a new ethnobotany: reflections on the case of Mexico. In: Schultes RE, von Reis S, editors. Ethnobotany. Evolution of a discipline. Portland: Dioscorides Press; 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  71. Vitousek PM. Beyond global warming: ecology and global change. Ecology. 1994;75(7): 1861–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  72. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Overview of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. UNEP. New York: Island Press; 2005.

    Google Scholar 

  73. Barnosky AD, Matzke N, Tomiya S, Wogan GOU, Swartz B, Quental TB, Marshall C, McGuire JL, Lindsey EL, Maguire KC, Mersey B, Ferrer EA. Has the Earth’s sixth mass extinction already arrived? Nature. 2011;471(7336):51–7. doi:10.1038/nature09678.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  74. Gómez-Pompa A, Kaus A. From pre-Hispanic to future conservation alternatives: lessons from Mexico. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1999;96(11):5982–6.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  75. Harper JL. After description. In: Newman EI, editor. The plant community as a working mechanism. London: Blackwell Scientific; 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  76. Martin G. Ethnobotany: a methods manual. People and plants. London: International Conservation, WWF, UNESCO, Royal Kew Gardens; 2004.

    Google Scholar 

  77. Brush SB, Stabinsky D. Valuing local knowledge: indigenous knowledge and intellectual property rights. Washington, DC: Island Press; 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  78. United Nations General Assembly. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. New York: United Nations General Assembly; 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  79. Kates R, Clark W, Corell R, Hall J, Jaeger C, et al. Sustainability science. Science. 2001;292(5517):641–2.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  80. Kates RW, editor. Readings in sustainability science and technology—an introduction to the key literature of sustainability science. Working Paper No. 213. Center for International Development, Harvard University. Cambridge: Harvard University; 2010.

    Google Scholar 

  81. Camou-Guerrero A, Casas A, Moreno-Calles AI, Aguilera-Lara J, Garrido-Rojas D, Rangel-Landa S, Torres I, Pérez-Negrón E, Solís L, Blancas J, Guillén S, Parra F, Rivera E. Ethnobotany in Mexico. History, development and perspectives. In: Lira R, Casas A, Blancas J, editors. Ethnobotany of Mexico: interactions of people and plants in Mesoamerica. New York: Springer; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  82. Bye R, Linares E. Ethnobotany and ethnohistorical sources of Mesoamerica. In: Lira R, Casas A, Blancas J, editors. Ethnobotany of Mexico: interactions of people and plants in Mesoamerica. New York: Springer; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  83. Zizumbo-Villarreal D, Colunga-GarcíaMarín P, Flores-Silva A. Pre-Columbian food system in West Mesoamerica. In: Lira R, Casas A, Blancas J, editors. Ethnobotany of Mexico: interactions of people and plants in Mesoamerica. New York: Springer; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  84. Mapes C, Basurto F. Biodiversity and edible plants. In: Lira R, Casas A, Blancas J, editors. Ethnobotany of Mexico: interactions of people and plants in Mesoamerica. New York: Springer; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  85. Salazar C, Zizumbo-Villarreal D, Colunga-GarcíaMarín P, Brush S. Contemporary Maya Food System in the Lowlands of Northern Yucatan. In: Lira R, Casas A, Blancas J, editors. Ethnobotany of Mexico: interactions of people and plants in Mesoamerica. New York: Springer; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  86. Linares E, Bye R. Traditional markets in Mesoamerica. A mosaic of history and traditions. In: Lira R, Casas A, Blancas J, editors. Ethnobotany of Mexico: interactions of people and plants in Mesoamerica. New York: Springer; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  87. Casas A, Lira R, Torres I, Delgado A, Moreno-Calles AI, Rangel-Landa S, Blancas J, Larios C, Solís L, Pérez-Negrón E, Vallejo M, Parra F, Farfán-Heredia B, Arellanes Y, Campos N. Ethnobotany for sustainable ecosystem management. A regional perspective in the Tehuacán Valley. In: Lira R, Casas A, Blancas J, editors. Ethnobotany of Mexico: interactions of people and plants in Mesoamerica. New York: Springer; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  88. Pickersgill B. Domestication of plants in Mesoamerica. An archaeological review with some ethnobotanical interpretations. In: Lira R, Casas A, Blancas J, editors. Ethnobotany of Mexico: interactions of people and plants in Mesoamerica. New York: Springer; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  89. Hernández-Xolocotzi E. Aspects of plant domestication in Mexico: a personal view. In: Ramamoorthy TP, Bye RA, Lot A, Fa JE, editors. Biological diversity of Mexico: origins and distribution. New York: Oxford University Press; 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  90. Blancas J, Casas A, Moreno-Calles AI, Caballero J. Cultural motives of plant management and domestication. In: Lira R, Casas A, Blancas J, editors. Ethnobotany of Mexico: interactions of people and plants in Mesoamerica. New York: Springer; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  91. Casas A, Blancas J, Otero-Arnaiz A, Cruse-Sanders J, Avendaño A, Parra F, Guillén S, Figueredo CJ, Torres I, Rangel-Landa S. Evolutionary ethnobotanical studies of incipient domestication of plants in Mesoamerica. In: Lira R, Casas A, Blancas J, editors. Ethnobotany of Mexico: interactions of people and plants in Mesoamerica. New York: Springer; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  92. Vibrans H. Ethnobotany of Mexican weeds. In: Lira R, Casas A, Blancas J, editors. Ethnobotany of Mexico: interactions of people and plants in Mesoamerica. New York: Springer; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  93. Aguirre X, González-Rodríguez A. Phylogeographical approaches to the study of plant domestication, with special emphasis on perennial plants. In: Lira R, Casas A, Blancas J, editors. Ethnobotany of Mexico: interactions of people and plants in Mesoamerica. New York: Springer; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  94. Debouck D. Your beans of the last harvest and the possible adoption of bright ideas. In: Lira R, Casas A, Blancas J, editors. Ethnobotany of Mexico: interactions of people and plants in Mesoamerica. New York: Springer; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  95. Lira R, Montes S, Eguiarte L, Zizumbo D, Colunga P, Quezada M. Interactions Homo sapiens-Cucurbita in Mesoamerica: domestication, diffusion and diversification. In: Lira R, Casas A, Blancas J, editors. Ethnobotany of Mexico: interactions of people and plants in Mesoamerica. New York: Springer; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  96. Aguirre-Liguori JA, Aguirre-Planter E, Eguiarte LE. Genetics and ecology of wild and cultivated maize: domestication and introgression. In: Lira R, Casas A, Blancas J, editors. Ethnobotany of Mexico: interactions of people and plants in Mesoamerica. New York: Springer; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  97. Pickersgill B. Chili peppers (Capsicum spp.). In: Lira R, Casas A, Blancas J, editors. Ethnobotany of Mexico: interactions of people and plants in Mesoamerica. New York: Springer; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  98. Wegier A, Alavez V, Piñero D. Cotton. Traditional and modern uses. In: Lira R, Casas A, Blancas J, editors. Ethnobotany of Mexico: interactions of people and plants in Mesoamerica. New York: Springer; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  99. Saynes-Vásquez A, Vergara-Silva F, Caballero J. An interdisciplinary perspective on the loss of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) in Tehuantepec, Oaxaca. In: Lira R, Casas A, Blancas J, editors. Ethnobotany of Mexico: interactions of people and plants in Mesoamerica. New York: Springer; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  100. Dávila P, Rodríguez I. Ethnobotany and ex situ conservation of plant genetic resources in México. In: Lira R, Casas A, Blancas J, editors. Ethnobotany of Mexico: interactions of people and plants in Mesoamerica. New York: Springer; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  101. Acevedo F, Huerta E, Burgeff C. Biosafety and environmental releases of GM crops in Mesoamerica: context does matter. In: Lira R, Casas A, Blancas J, editors. Ethnobotany of Mexico: interactions of people and plants in Mesoamerica. New York: Springer; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  102. Larson J, Aguilar C, González F, Sánchez D. A human rights perspective on heritage, industrial property and plant genetic resources in Mesoamerica. In: Lira R, Casas A, Blancas J, editors. Ethnobotany of Mexico: interactions of people and plants in Mesoamerica. New York: Springer; 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  103. La Torre-Cuadros MA, Albán-Castillo JA. Etnobotánica en los Andes del Perú. In: Moraes R, Øllgaard B, Kvist LP, Borchsenius F, Balslev H, editors. Botánica Económica de los Andes Centrales. La Paz: Universidad Mayor de San Andrés; 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  104. Capparelli A, Hilgert N, Ladio A, Lema VS, Llano C, Molares S, Pochettino ML, Stampella P. Paisajes culturales de Argentina: Pasado y presente desde las perspectivas etnobotánica y paleoetnobotánica. Revista de la Asociación Argentina de Ecología de Paisajes. 2011;2(2): 67–79.

    Google Scholar 

  105. Lagos-Witte S, Sanabria-Diago OL, Chacón P, García R. Manual de herramientas etnobotánicas relativas a la conservación y el uso sostenible de los recursos vegetales. Una contribución de la Red Latinoamericana de Botánica a la implementación de la estrategia global para la conservación de las especies Vegetales hacia el logro de las Metas 13 y 15. Santiago: Red Latinoamericana de Botánica (RLB); 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  106. Albuquerque UP, Soares-Silva J, Almeida-Campos JL, Silva-Sousa R, Silva TC, Nóbrega-Alves RR. The current status of ethnobiological research in Latin America: gaps and perspectives. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2013;9:72.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  107. Eyssartier C, Ladio AH, Lozada M. Traditional horticultural and gathering practices in two semi-ruralpopulations of Northwestern Patagonia. J Arid Environ. 2013;97:18–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  108. Ladio AH, Molares S. Evaluating traditional wild edible plant knowledge among teachers of Patagonia: patterns and prospects. Learn Individ Differ. 2013;27:241–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  109. Torres J, Parra F. Parientes silvestres de plantas nativas cultivadas andinas: los sachas (Perú). Serie: Cultivos y Saberes, No 2. Lima: Coordinadora de Ciencia y Tecnología en los Andes (CCTA); 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  110. Molares S, Ladio A. Mapuche perceptions and conservation of Andean Nothofagus forests and their medicinal plants: a case study from a rural community in Patagonia, Argentina. Biodivers Conserv. 2012;21(4):1079–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  111. Bye RA. Ethnoecology of the Tarahumara of Chihuahua, México. [PhD thesis]. Cambridge: Harvard University; 1979.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad (IIES), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Morelia, Michoacán, Antigua Carretera a Pátzcuaro 8711, Col. San José de la Huerta, Morelia, Michoacán, C.P. 58190, Mexico

    Alejandro Casas Ph.D.

  2. Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Conservación (CIByC), Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Av. Universidad No. 1001, Col. Chamilpa, Cuernavaca, Morelos, C.P. 62209, Mexico

    José Blancas Ph.D.

  3. Unidad de Biotecnología y Prototipos, FES Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de, México, Av. de los Barrios No. 1, Los Reyes Iztacala, Tlalnepantla, Estado de México 54090, Mexico

    Rafael Lira Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Alejandro Casas Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. José Blancas Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Rafael Lira Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alejandro Casas Ph.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Unidad de Biotecnología y Prototipos(UBI, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Estado de Mexico, Mexico

    Rafael Lira

  2. Instituto de Ivestigaciones en Ecosistem, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico

    Alejandro Casas

  3. Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morel, Colonia Chamilpa, Cuernavaca,, Morelos, Mexico

    José Blancas

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Casas, A., Blancas, J., Lira, R. (2016). Mexican Ethnobotany: Interactions of People and Plants in Mesoamerica. In: Lira, R., Casas, A., Blancas, J. (eds) Ethnobotany of Mexico. Ethnobiology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6669-7_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation