Department of Biology, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Kotebe Metropolitan University, P.O. Box 31248, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Department of Plant Biology and Biodiversity Management, College of Natural Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2020 Mar 4;16(1):11. doi: 10.1186/s13002-020-00361-9.
Menge District has long been inhabited by people who have a long tradition of using wild mushrooms mainly as food, source of income, and medicine. Extensive utilization of wild edible mushrooms (WEM) coupled with an ever-increasing population growth, deforestation, and agricultural land expansion threatens fungal diversity and WEM in the area. Hence, this study is aimed at documenting and analyzing the ethnomycological knowledge of the people in order to preserve the dwindling WEM wealth and associated indigenous knowledge.
Ethnomycological data were collected using semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, participant observations, and walk-in-the-woods methods. Statistical tests were used to compare the indigenous knowledge and practice of wild mushroom among different informant categories using One-way ANOVA and t tests.
A total of 20 ethnomycologically important wild mushroom species belonging to ten genera and six families were identified, of which 15 were reported to be edible in the District. The family Lyophyllaceae was represented by the highest number of species (nine species, 45%) followed by Agaricaceae (seven species, 35%) and each of the remaining four families had single species representation. Significant difference (P < 0.05) was observed on the mean number of WEM reported among different group of respondents. Wild edible mushroom collection habit and practice was significantly (P < 0.05) influenced by gender, age, and literacy level. The output of preference ranking exercise indicated Termitomyces schimperi was ranked first followed by Termitomyces letestui, Termitomyces microcarpus, and Termitomyces eurhizusas as the most preferred edible mushrooms respectively.
The present study shows that Menge District is rich in wild mushroom diversity and associated indigenous knowledge. However, anthropogenic factors together with loss of indigenous knowledge and very poor conservation efforts threaten the survival of economically and ecologically important mushrooms in the area. Thus, complementary in situ and ex situ mushroom conservation strategy is highly recommended.
门戈地区长期以来一直居住着以野生蘑菇为主要食物、收入来源和药物的人们，他们有着悠久的食用野生蘑菇的传统。野生食用蘑菇（WEM）的广泛利用，加上人口的不断增长、森林砍伐和农业用地的扩张，威胁着该地区的真菌多样性和 WEM。因此，本研究旨在记录和分析当地人的民族真菌学知识，以保护日益减少的 WEM 财富和相关的本土知识。
采用半结构式访谈、焦点小组讨论、参与式观察和林间漫步等方法收集民族真菌学数据。使用单向方差分析和 t 检验等统计检验方法，比较不同信息来源类别的土著知识和野生蘑菇实践。
共确定了 20 种具有重要民族真菌学意义的野生蘑菇物种，属于 10 个属和 6 个科，其中 15 种在该地区被报告为可食用。Lyophyllaceae 科的物种最多（9 种，45%），其次是 Agaricaceae 科（7 种，35%），其余四个科各有 1 种代表。不同受访者群体报告的野生食用蘑菇数量存在显著差异（P<0.05）。野生食用蘑菇采集习惯和实践受到性别、年龄和文化程度的显著影响（P<0.05）。偏好排序练习的结果表明，Termitomyces schimperi 被列为最受欢迎的食用蘑菇，其次是 Termitomyces letestui、Termitomyces microcarpus 和 Termitomyces eurhizus。
本研究表明，门戈地区拥有丰富的野生蘑菇多样性和相关的本土知识。然而，人为因素、本土知识的丧失以及非常薄弱的保护措施，都威胁着该地区具有经济和生态重要性的蘑菇的生存。因此，强烈建议采用原地和异地蘑菇保护策略。
