Working Group: Knowledge Systems and Innovations, Division of Organic Farming, Department for Sustainable Agricultural Systems, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Gregor-Mendel Straße 33, Vienna, 1180, Austria.
J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2012 Jul 6;8:23. doi: 10.1186/1746-4269-8-23.
Leading scholars in ethnobiology and ethnomedicine continuously stress the need for moving beyond the bare description of local knowledge and to additionally analyse and theorise about the characteristics and dynamics of human interactions with plants and related local knowledge. Analyses of the variation of local knowledge are thereby perceived as minimal standard. In this study we investigate the distribution and variation of wild plant knowledge in five domains: food, drinks, human medicine, veterinary medicine and customs. We assess relations between the wild plant knowledge of informants and their socio-demographic as well as geographic background.
Research was conducted in the Biosphere Reserve Grosses Walsertal, Austria. Structured questionnaires were used to inquire wild plant knowledge from 433 informants with varying socio-demographic and geographic background. Children assisted in the data collection. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and generalized linear models.
A majority of respondents is familiar with wild plant uses, however to varying degrees. Knowledge variations depend on the socio-demographic and geographic background of the informants as well as on the domains of knowledge under investigation: women, older informants and homegardeners report more human medicinal applications and applications in drinks than men, younger informants and non-homegardeners; farmers know a greater variety of veterinary medicinal applications than non-farmers; the place of residence relates significantly to food and veterinary uses. Customs are difficult to investigate in standardized matrices. The household-related distribution of work and the general socio-cultural context are especially helpful in order to explain intracultural variation of knowledge in the Grosses Walsertal.
Research on the intracultural variation of local knowledge exposes cultural characteristics and highlights the cultural embeddedness of local knowledge. The impact of socio-cultural developments on local knowledge may be anticipated from understanding the intracultural variation of knowledge.
民族生物学和民族医学的知名学者不断强调，需要超越对当地知识的简单描述，进一步分析和理论化人类与植物及相关当地知识的相互作用的特征和动态。因此，对当地知识变化的分析被视为最低标准。在这项研究中，我们调查了五个领域（食物、饮料、人类医学、兽医和习俗）野生植物知识的分布和变化。我们评估了信息提供者的野生植物知识与其社会人口学和地理背景之间的关系。
研究在奥地利大瓦尔泽尔生物保护区进行。使用结构化问卷从具有不同社会人口学和地理背景的 433 名信息提供者那里查询野生植物知识。儿童协助收集数据。使用描述性统计和广义线性模型分析数据。
大多数受访者都熟悉野生植物的用途，但程度不同。知识变化取决于信息提供者的社会人口学和地理背景以及所调查的知识领域：女性、年长的信息提供者和家庭园艺师比男性、年轻的信息提供者和非家庭园艺师报告更多的人类医学应用和饮料应用；农民比非农民知道更多的兽医医学应用；居住地与食物和兽医用途有很大关系。习俗很难用标准化矩阵进行调查。家庭相关的工作分配和一般社会文化背景对于解释大瓦尔泽尔的文化内知识变化特别有帮助。
对当地知识的文化内变化的研究揭示了文化特征，并强调了当地知识的文化嵌入性。通过了解知识的文化内变化，可以预测社会文化发展对当地知识的影响。
