Laboratory of Human Ecology and Ethnobotany, Ecology and Zoology Department, Federal University of Santa Catarina, ECZ-CCB-UFSC, Florianópolis, SC 88010-970, Brazil.
J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2013 Nov 14;9:75. doi: 10.1186/1746-4269-9-75.
The shifting baseline syndrome is a concept from ecology that can be analyzed in the context of ethnobotanical research. Evidence of shifting baseline syndrome can be found in studies dealing with intracultural variation of knowledge, when knowledge from different generations is compared and combined with information about changes in the environment and/or natural resources.
We reviewed 84 studies published between 1993 and 2012 that made comparisons of ethnobotanical knowledge according to different age classes. After analyzing these studies for evidence of the shifting baseline syndrome (lower knowledge levels in younger generations and mention of declining abundance of local natural resources), we searched within these studies for the use of the expressions "cultural erosion", "loss of knowledge", or "acculturation".
The studies focused on different groups of plants (e.g. medicinal plants, foods, plants used for general purposes, or the uses of specific important species). More than half of all 84 studies (57%) mentioned a concern towards cultural erosion or knowledge loss; 54% of the studies showed evidence of the shifting baseline syndrome; and 37% of the studies did not provide any evidence of shifting baselines (intergenerational knowledge differences but no information available about the abundance of natural resources).
The general perception of knowledge loss among young people when comparing ethnobotanical repertoires among different age groups should be analyzed with caution. Changes in the landscape or in the abundance of plant resources may be associated with changes in ethnobotanical repertoires held by people of different age groups. Also, the relationship between the availability of resources and current plant use practices rely on a complexity of factors. Fluctuations in these variables can cause changes in the reference (baseline) of different generations and consequently be responsible for differences in intergenerational knowledge. Unraveling the complexity of changes in local knowledge systems in relation to environmental changes will allow the identification of more meaningful information for resource conservation.
转移基线综合征是生态学中的一个概念，可以在民族植物学研究的背景下进行分析。在研究不同代际之间知识的文化内变异性时，可以发现转移基线综合征的证据，此时将不同代际的知识进行比较，并结合有关环境和/或自然资源变化的信息。
我们回顾了 1993 年至 2012 年间发表的 84 项研究，这些研究根据不同年龄组比较了民族植物学知识。在分析这些研究中是否存在转移基线综合征的证据（年轻一代的知识水平较低，以及当地自然资源丰度下降的说法）后，我们在这些研究中搜索了“文化侵蚀”、“知识丧失”或“文化适应”的使用情况。
这些研究关注不同类别的植物（例如药用植物、食物植物、通用植物或特定重要物种的用途）。84 项研究中超过一半（57%）提到了对文化侵蚀或知识丧失的关注；54%的研究显示出转移基线综合征的证据；37%的研究没有提供转移基线的任何证据（代际间的知识差异，但没有关于自然资源丰度的信息）。
在比较不同年龄组的民族植物学剧目时，年轻人的知识流失的普遍看法应该谨慎分析。景观或植物资源丰度的变化可能与不同年龄组人群的民族植物学剧目变化有关。此外，资源的可利用性与当前的植物利用实践之间的关系依赖于一系列复杂的因素。这些变量的波动会导致不同代际的参考（基线）发生变化，从而导致代际间知识的差异。梳理与环境变化相关的当地知识系统的复杂性将有助于确定更有意义的资源保护信息。
