References
Angelsen A, Jagger P, Babigumira R, Belcher B, Hogarth N, Bauch S, Börner B, Smith-Hall C, Wunder S (2014) Environmental income and rural livelihoods: a global-comparative analysis. World Dev 64:S12–S28
Cannon PF, Hywel-Jones NL, Maczey N, Norbu L, Tshitila ST, Lhendup P (2009) Steps towards sustainable harvest of Ophiocordyceps sinensis in Bhutan. Biodivers Conserv 18:2263–2281
Childs G, Choedup N (2014) Indigenous management strategies and socioeconomic impacts of Yartsa gunbu (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) harvesting in Nubri and Tsum. Nepal Himalaya 34(1):8–22
Cunningham AB, Long X (2019) Linking resource supplies and price drivers: lessons from traditional chinese medicine (TCM) price volatility and change, 2002–2017. J Ethnopharmacol 229:205–214
Devkota S, Chaudhary RP, Werth S, Scheidegger C (2017) Trade and legislation: consequences for the conservation of lichens in the Nepal Himalaya. Biodivers Conserv 26(10):2491–2505
He J (2018) Harvest and trade of caterpillar mushroom (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) and the implications for sustainable use in the Tibet Region of Southwest China. J Ethnopharmacol 221:86–90
Hopping KA, Chignell SM, Lambin EF (2018) The demise of caterpillar fungus in the Himalayan region due to climate change and overharvesting. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 115:11489–11494
Li Y, Wang X-L, Jiao L, Jiang Y, Li H, Jiang S-P, Lhosumtseiring N, Fu S-Z, Dong C-H, Zhan Y, Yao Y-J (2011) A survey of the geographic distribution of Ophiocordyceps sinensis. J Microbiol 49(6):913–919
Li X, Liu Q, Li W, Li Q, Qian Z, Liu X, Dong C (2019) A breakthrough in the artificial cultivation of Chinese cordyceps on a large-scale and its impact on science, the economy, and industry. Crit Rev in Biotech 39(2):181–191
Li Y, Tang Z, Yan Y, Wang K, Cai L, He J, Gu S, Yao Y (2020) Incorporating species distribution model into the red list assessment and conservation of macrofungi: a case study with Ophiocordyceps sinensis. Biodivers Sci 28(1):99–106
Li Y, Yan Y, Tang Z, Wang K, He J-S, Yao Y-J (2021a) Conserving the Chinese caterpillar fungus under climate change. Biodivers Conserv 30:547–550
Li Y, Jiang L, Hawksworth DL, Wang Y-H, Lu J-J, Yao Y-J (2021b) Typification of Sphaeria sinensis to precisely fix the application of the name of the economically important Chinese caterpillar fungus, Ophiocordyceps sinensis. Taxon. https://doi.org/10.1002/tax.12574
Maxwell SI, Fuller RA, Brooks TM, Watson JEM (2016) The ravages of guns, nets and bulldozers. Nature 536:143–145
Negi VS, Rana SK, Giri L, Rawal RS (2020) Caterpillar fungus in the Himalaya – current understanding and future possibilities. G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Almora
Pouliot M, Pyakurel D, Smith-Hall C (2018) High altitude organic gold: the production network for Ophiocordyceps sinensis from far-western Nepal. J Ethnopharmacol 218:59–68
Pyakurel D, Sharma IB, Smith-Hall C (2018) Patterns of change: the dynamics of medicinal plant trade in far-western Nepal. J Ethnopharmacol 224:323–334
Shrestha UB, Bawa KS (2013) Trade, harvest, and conservation of caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) in the Himalayas. Biol Conserv 159:514–520
Shrestha UB, Bawa KS (2014) Economic contribution of Chinese caterpillar fungus to the livelihoods of mountain communities in Nepal. Biol Conserv 177:194–202
Shrestha UB, Bawa KS (2015) Harvesters’ perceptions of population status and conservation of Chinese caterpillar fungus in the Dolpa region of Nepal. Reg Environ Chang 15:1731–1741
Shrestha UB, Shrestha S, Ghimire S, Nepali K, Shrestha BB (2014) Chasing Chinese caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) harvesters in the Himalayas: harvesting practice and its conservation implications in Western Nepal. Soc Natur Resour 27:1242–1256
Sulek ER (2019) Trading caterpillar fungus in Tibet. Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam
Timmermann L, Smith-Hall C (2019) Commercial medicinal plant collection is transforming high-altitude livelihoods in the Himalayas. Mt Res Dev 39(3):R13–R21
Wang X-L, Yao Y-J (2011) Host insect species of Ophiocordyceps sinensis: a review. ZooKeys 127:43–59
Wang Z, Li M, Ju W, Ye W, Xue L, Boufford DE, Gao X, Yue B, Liu Y, Pierce NE (2020) The entomophagous caterpillar fungus Ophiocordyceps sinensis is consumed by its lepidopteran host as a plant endophyte. Fungal Ecol 47:100989
Wangchuk K, Gurung J, Pasakhala B, Thapaliya P, Gurung K, Rana PJB (2021) Wood for thought? Untold consequences of the Himalayan gold collection in the Central Himalaya. Environ Challenges 5:100295
Winkler D (2008) Yartsa gunbu (Cordyceps sinensis) and the fungal commodification of Tibet’s rural economy. Econ Bot 62(3):291–305
Winkler D (2009) Caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) production and sustainability on the Tibetan Plateau and in the Himalayas. Asian Med 5:291–316
Woodhouse E, McGowan P, Milner-Gulland EJ (2013) Fungal gold and firewood on the Tibetan plateau: examining access to diverse ecosystem provisioning services within a rural community. Oryx 48(1):30–38
Yadav PK, Saha S, Mishra AK, Kapoor M, Kaneria M, Kaneria M, Dasgupta S, Shrestha UB (2019) Yartsagunbu: transforming people’s livelihoods in the Western Himalaya. Oryx 53(2):247–255
Yan Y, Li Y, Wang W-J, He J-S, Yang R-H, Wu H-J, Wang X-L, Jiao L, Tang Z, Yao Y-J (2017) Range shifts in response to climate change of Ophiocordyceps sinensis, a fungus endemic to the Tibetan Plateau. Biol Conserv 206:143–150
Yao Y, Wei J, Zhuang W, Wei T, Li Y, Wei X, Deng H, Liu D, Cai L, Li J, Wang K, We H, Li B, Wang Y, Wei X, Wu H, Zhao M, Yang L, Su J, Zhong X (2020) Threatened species list of China’s macrofungi. Biodivers Sci 28(1):20–25
Yang ZL (2020) Ophiocordyceps sinensis (amended version of 2020 assessment). The IUCN red list of threatened species 2020: e.T58514773A179197748
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Independent Research Fund Denmark (Grant No. 0217-00158B).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Communicated by David Hawksworth.
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This article belongs to the Topical Collection: Biodiversity exploitation and use.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Smith-Hall, C., Bennike, R.B. Understanding the sustainability of Chinese caterpillar fungus harvesting: the need for better data. Biodivers Conserv 31, 729–733 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-022-02363-3
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-022-02363-3