Global Food Security 32 (2022) 100601 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Global Food Security journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/gfs Local communities’ perceptions of wild edible plant and mushroom change: A systematic review Christoph Schunko a, *, Xiaoyue Li b, Benjamin Klappoth c, Francesca Lesi b, Vincent Porcher b, Anna Porcuna-Ferrer b, Victoria Reyes-García b, d a University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Department of Sustainable Agricultural Systems, Institute of Organic Farming, Gregor-Mendel-Strasse 33, 1180, Vienna, Austria b Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain c Independent researcher, Barcelona, Spain d Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T Keywords: The use of wild edible plants and mushrooms can help to counteract the homogenisation of diets and decreasing Dietary diversity resilience of food systems. We performed a systematic review to consolidate information about perceptions of Indigenous and local knowledge wild edible plant and mushroom changes from the perspective of local communities. We found that 92% of all Non-timber forest product perceived changes of wild edibles relate to their decreased abundance. 76% of the wild edibles with perceived Neglected and underutilized species Wild food decreased abundance are fruits and vegetables and 23% crop wild relatives. The main drivers of decreased Wild plant gathering abundance are perceived to be land use change (38% of all taxa) and direct exploitation (31%). These changes have potential negative implications on food systems from local to global scales. 1. Introduction et al., 2021) are used in foods and beverages worldwide, which provide diverse, healthy and nutritious foods for local communities (Hickey Crops grown around the world have been standardised and diets et al., 2016). While energy provision of wild edible plants and mush­ homogenised in recent decades so that today only 94 species account for rooms is usually low, they are important sources for micronutrients and 90% of the world’s food supply (Khoury et al., 2014). The homogeni­ can have a wide range of positive health effects (Roupas et al., 2012; sation has led to enhanced global provision of energy-dense foods Powell et al., 2015). Wild edible plants and mushrooms intensity of use (Khoury et al., 2014) but poorer global diets characterised by high varies significantly across world regions, for example one study showing consumption of refined carbohydrates, added sugars and fats, and an that smallholder communities across Africa, Asia and Latin America increase of animal-source foods, while legumes, vegetables, minor crops source between 0% and 96% of their self-supplied fruits and vegetables and wild foods have become less relevant (Popkin et al., 2012; Tilman from forests, the average being estimated at 14% (Rowland et al., 2017). and Clark 2014; Pilling et al., 2020). These developments have been Moreover, local communities may use wild edible plants and mush­ paralleled by a surge of diet-related illnesses like obesity, diabetes and rooms as gap fillers and safety nets in times of crises (Paumgarten et al., hypertension (Popkin et al., 2012; Tilman and Clark 2014). Moreover, 2018; Bélanger and Pilling 2019). global food systems have become less resilient to changes and shocks, At the global scale, wild edible plants and mushrooms are important including climate change, extreme weather events and pests, as they are genetic reservoirs for cultivation and breeding. These reservoirs can be now built on narrow ranges of crop species with low genetic diversity drawn upon to expand the range of 866 plant species that have so far (Guarino and Lobell 2011). been domesticated for food production (Milla 2020). Moreover, wild Wild edible plants and mushrooms are important features of diverse edible plants having close genetic relationships with crops, the so-called diets and resilient food systems from local to global scales and can crop wild relatives, are important for protecting global crop production therefore be useful in counteracting this trend. At the local scale, about against adverse effects from environmental changes (Hajjar and Hodg­ 7000 wild plant (Ulian et al., 2020) and 2000 mushroom species (Li kin 2007; Ford-Lloyd et al., 2011). These crop wild relatives adapt to * Corresponding author. E-mail address: christoph.schunko@boku.ac.at (C. Schunko). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2021.100601 Received 6 August 2021; Received in revised form 26 November 2021; Accepted 3 December 2021 Available online 20 December 2021 2211-9124/© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). C. Schunko et al. Global Food Security 32 (2022) 100601 environmental changes in their natural environments and thereby academic literature databases on July 22nd 2020. To identify useful develop essential traits enabling, for example, disease resistance or documents, we used a search string based on combinations of key terms drought tolerance. These traits are then useful for enhancing their in the categories 1) food, 2) wild plants and mushrooms and 3) indigenous domesticated crop relatives, which have less potential for adaptation and local knowledge to search the titles, abstracts and keywords of doc­ (Hajjar and Hodgkin 2007). uments in the selected databases (Table 1). The query was restricted to Beyond making material contributions, wild edible plants and peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, but the geographical mushrooms are in many cases important for local food cultures. Gath­ range and time span of the documents was not restricted. We included ering them can sustain local knowledge systems and traditions, foster documents written in Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Portu­ cultural identity, strengthen social relationships, serve as a source of guese and Spanish. Our query returned 993 unique documents. Of these, inspiration and recreation, and be associated with spiritual values the full versions of 27 documents could not be found. We screened the (Reyes-García et al., 2015; Motiejūnaitė et al., 2019). For example, remaining 966 documents to identify those that i) report original indigenous peoples in north-western North America consider traditional research based on primary data for which the field sites are mentioned wild food gathering as deep engagement with their ancestors and their (excluding reviews, opinion papers, editorials); and ii) report perceived cultural heritage and they therefore use wild food gathering to restore changes of wild edible plants or mushrooms from the perspective of local their food systems in conjunction with cultural revitalization (Joseph communities, using social science methods such as semi-structured in­ and Turner 2020). The relevance of the cultural benefits of wild food terviews, surveys or focus group discussions. Consequently, we excluded gathering for local communities may even outweigh material benefits, documents that examined changes through natural science methods or especially in cultures where the latter seems already sufficiently satisfied perceptions of changes from the perspective of researchers or other (Reyes-García et al., 2015). non-local sources. In most cases, we screened the entire document to Whereas wild edible plants and mushrooms provide a wide range of assess whether a paper met our inclusion criteria, as the titles and ab­ material and non-material benefits to food systems from local to global stracts usually did not provide enough information to decide on its in­ levels, a recent global assessment at national-level indicated that most clusion or exclusion. All authors were involved in screening the wild edible plant and mushroom species have decreased in abundance literature. Each document was first screened by one author and all (Bélanger and Pilling 2019). Eleven percent of more than 2000 wild documents proposed for inclusion, and a sample of those to be excluded, edible plants studied were even at risk of extinction (Ulian et al., 2020). were verified by another author. Regular meetings between authors A complex interplay of direct and indirect drivers of change acting at served to standardise the screening process and clarify doubts. The local to global levels is responsible for this decline, with the main direct screening process resulted in 77 journal articles and one book chapter drivers of decline being species overexploitation, habitat alteration, that met our inclusion criteria and were retained for analysis (Fig. 1). pollution and land use change (Bélanger and Pilling 2019). In Nepal, for example, the often cumulative effects of land use change and habitat alteration incited by agriculture and forestry, together with overgrazing 2.2. Data collection and invasive species, have been identified as drivers in the decline of wild edible plant and mushroom populations (Bélanger and Pilling For each study, we recorded bibliographic information along with 2019). Moreover, climate change increasingly affects wild edible plants the countries, the geographic coordinates and the main climate types – and mushrooms with, for example, a study from Alaska showing that the using the Köppen-Geiger climate classification (Kottek et al., 2006) – of distribution, abundance and phenology of wild edible plant species is the field sites. We searched the studies for information on the perceived altered by climate change (Brown et al., 2021). types and directions of change of wild edible plants and mushrooms and Despite the potentially negative effects of changes of wild edible the perceived drivers causing these changes. We recorded statements plants and mushrooms on local communities, there is little consolidated related to these topics verbatim. For each wild edible plant and mush­ information available at the local levels. This is a shortcoming because room species mentioned, we recorded the scientific name of the species most local communities continuously monitor the wild edible plants and perceived to be affected by change, the perceived drivers of change, the mushrooms they use and collect detailed knowledge about their changes lifeforms of plants, and the plant parts consumed. In case the study did (Tomasini and Theilade 2019; Herse et al., 2020). Documenting and not identify the plants to the species level, we recorded the genus level analysing such local perceptions of changes not only yields fine grained only. The information on plant parts consumed was only partly available information about the types and directions of change but it also informs but we did not supplement this information from other sources because on how local communities may be affected by changing environments. we were interested in the plant parts actually consumed by local com­ Local perceptions of changes can therefore complement available sem­ munities from which knowledge was reported, not the plant parts that inal reports on the status of wild food species and enrich them with could be edible. For those species where a decrease in abundance was locally relevant perspectives. perceived, we also recorded whether the studies reported that local In this systematic review, we therefore aimed to understand 1) the communities transplanted or cultivated the species as a measure to changes of wild edible plants and mushrooms from the perspective of adapt to their perceived decrease in abundance. We verified and local communities; 2) the potential implications of these changes on the standardised the botanical and mycological names given in the studies dietary diversity of local communities and the availability of crop wild relatives; 3) the perceived drivers behind these changes; and 4) how the Table 1 perceived changes and drivers are related to the geography and climates Search string used to identify studies in the Web of Science. of local communities. We define wild edibles as non-domesticated plants Category Search string used and mushrooms that are used as foods or beverages and grow sponta­ Food (food* OR edible* OR eatable* OR comestible*) neously in their natural habitats – even though they may be subject to AND management practices (Harris 1996). Wild plant or (((wild OR “non-cultivated” OR “non-domesticated” OR mushrooms spontaneous* OR uncultivated OR undomesticated) AND (berr* OR flower* OR fruit* OR fungi* OR herb* OR 2. Methods mushroom* OR plant* OR root*)) OR (NTFP OR “non- timber forest product*" OR NWFP OR “non-wood forest 2.1. Sampling product*")) AND We performed a systematic literature review following PRISMA Indigenous and local (((local OR indigenous OR traditional OR folk) NEAR/2 knowledge knowledge) OR ethnobotan* OR ethnomycolog*) guidelines (Page et al., 2021) and using the Web of Science and Scopus 2 C. Schunko et al. Global Food Security 32 (2022) 100601 Fig. 1. Flow chart presenting the selection of documents following PRISMA guidelines (Page et al., 2021). using the R package ‘World Flora’ (v1.5) (Kindt 2020), which is based on descriptive statistics. We used Kruskal-Wallis tests to assess differences the World Flora Online (World Flora Online 2021), and the Mycobank between continents and climate types regarding the number of taxa (2020). perceived to be decreasing in abundance. We used Fisher’s exact tests to assess whether the taxa with decreased abundance are perceived to be 2.3. Data analysis influenced by different drivers in different continents and different main climates. For each of the 14 drivers, one test was calculated per conti­ We structured the verbatim statements reporting on the types of nent and per main climate, for a total of 28 tests. For significant asso­ change into a classification originally developed to capture the ciations, adjusted residuals below − 1.96 and above 1.96 were used to perceived impacts of climate change on terrestrial wild flora (Reyes-­ interpret which of the continents or main climates were responsible for García et al., 2019). The direction of change was classified as positive if the significant association. In these analyses, we only considered studies the availability or edibility of wild plants and mushrooms improved, that could be clearly assigned to specific main climate types and we negative if the same criteria decreased, and neutral if these two criteria excluded the five studies in which the field sites were located in more were not affected by the change. The verbatim statements reporting on than one main climate. the drivers of change were structured into a classification of global threats to wild edible plants (Bélanger and Pilling 2019) (Supplementary 3. Results File S1). The chosen classifications served as guiding frameworks but, when necessary, we inductively expanded the categories to classify the We identified 78 studies reporting local communities’ perceived changes and drivers as accurately as possible using the information changes of wild edible plants and mushrooms (Supplementary File S2). found in the studies. For the analysis of potential implications of changes Although studies have been published almost every year since 2001, on the dietary diversity, we classified the plant parts and mushrooms 50% of them have been published since 2016. The field sites of these consumed into a dietary diversity classification scheme (Kennedy et al., studies were in Africa (30 studies), Asia (20 studies), North-America (11 2011), using only those categories of the original scheme that were studies), Europe (10 studies), and South-America (7 studies). The main useful to classify wild edible plants and mushrooms, which were i) fruits, climate types were mostly temperate (38 studies) and tropical (23 ii) vegetables, iii) spices, condiments and beverages, iv) white roots and tu­ studies) and to a lesser degree dry (7 studies) and continental (5 studies). bers, v) legumes, nuts seeds and vi) oils and fats. To analyse the potential implications of changes on the availability of crop wild relatives, we 3.1. Perceived changes of wild edible plants and mushrooms identified which of the species with decreased abundance are crop wild relatives, using an available database (Milla 2020). In the 78 studies, seven types of changes of wild edible plants and We analysed the perceived changes of wild edible plants and mushrooms perceived by local communities are reported, although the mushrooms, the perceived drivers of change, the potential nutritional plant and mushroom species affected are specified only in 48 studies. implications and the geographic distribution of changes using Overall, 332 changes of specific taxa are reported, affecting 266 3 C. Schunko et al. Global Food Security 32 (2022) 100601 different plant and mushroom species plus 10 different taxa that were identified), vegetables (78 taxa, 33%), spices, condiments and beverages identified only to the genus level. Changes in the abundance of plants (21 taxa, 9%), white roots and tubers (16 taxa, 7%), legumes, nuts, seeds and mushrooms are most frequently perceived and reported changes (71 (13 taxa, 6%) and oils and fats (5 taxa, 2%). studies, 314 taxa specified). Other changes reported relate to plant Among all 241 different plant species perceived to be declining in distribution (3 studies, 2 taxa), plant quality (3 studies, 6 taxa), taste (2 abundance, 55 species (23%) are crop wild relatives and 39 species studies, 5 taxa), plant productivity (1 study, 4 taxa), fruiting time (1 (16%) were reported to be cultivated by local communities. The 39 study, 1 taxa), and plant height (1 study, 0 taxa). Regardless of the type cultivated plant species include 15 herbaceous plants, 11 trees, 6 vines, of change, nearly all perceived changes, relate to a negative trend (322 4 shrubs and 3 palms and 16 of these plant species are crop wild taxa), rather than a positive (9 taxa) or neutral trend (1 taxa). relatives. By far, the most common perception of change is the decrease in plant or mushroom abundance. This change has been reported in 46 3.3. Perceived drivers of decreased abundance studies in relation to specific plant or mushroom species (96% of studies reporting changes on taxa level). According to these studies, 305 taxa Drivers of decreased abundance of wild edible plants and mushrooms (92% of all species for which changes are perceived) relating to 96 plant perceived by local communities were mentioned in 56 studies, whereas and mushroom families, 199 genera and 241 plant and 21 mushroom in 38 studies the taxa concerned were specified – altogether adding to species are perceived to be decreasing in abundance whereas each study 203 taxa perceived to be affected and 624 reports of driver effects on reports an arithmetic mean of 6.4 taxa being affected (SD=12.9; Min=1; taxa. The most frequently perceived specific drivers of decreased Max=80; Med=2) (Fig. 2). Taxa for which decreasing abundance are abundance of wild edible plants and mushrooms were overexploitation reported include trees (127 taxa, 42% of all taxa perceived to be (24 studies, 92 taxa (15% of all taxa being reported to be affected by decreasing in abundance), herbaceous plants (83 taxa, 27%), vines (35 drivers)), agricultural land expansion (21 studies, 90 taxa (14%)), taxa, 11%), mushrooms (26 taxa, 9%), shrubs (17 taxa, 6%), palms (14 deforestation (20 studies, 96 taxa (15%)), climate change (16 studies, 25 taxa, 5%) and ferns (3 taxa, 1%). As the most prominent perception of taxa (4%)), agricultural intensification (12 studies, 76 taxa (12%)), change is the decrease of abundance, we focus on this particular change destructive harvesting (11 studies, 54 taxa (9%)) and infrastructure in the subsequent analyses. development (10 studies, 23 taxa (4%)). Aggregated in larger categories, land use change (42 studies, 155 taxa (38%)) and direct exploitation (32 studies, 130 taxa (31%)) are the largest categories of drivers of 3.2. Food groups and crop wild relatives with decreasing abundance decreased abundance (Fig. 3). Among the 38 studies reporting drivers on taxa level, each study mentioned an arithmetic mean of 3.1 specific For 216 (71%) out of the 305 taxa with perceived decreased abun­ drivers per taxa (SD=1.5; Min=1; Max=5; Med=3). dance, the plant parts gathered are specified in the studies examined. Mainly fruits are reported to be gathered (108 taxa, 45% of all plant parts gathered), followed by leaves (46 taxa, 19%), fruiting bodies of 3.4. Geographic distribution of decreased abundance and perceived mushrooms (26 taxa, 11%), seeds (21 taxa, 9%), underground organs drivers (18 taxa, 7%), all above ground plant materials of herbaceous plant species (10 taxa, 4%), flowers and shoots (4 taxa each, 2%), stalks (2 Decreased abundance has been reported for most wild edible plant taxa, 1%), bulbils (2 taxa, 1%), and bark, sap, pods, cones and stems (1 and mushroom taxa across Africa (161 taxa, 96% of all reported changes taxa each, 0.4%). These edible plant parts belong to the food groups on this continent), Asia (55 taxa, 87%), South-America (46 taxa, 100%), fruits (102 taxa, 43% of all plant parts for which food groups could be Europe (24 taxa, 92%) and North-America (19 taxa, 63%). The Fig. 2. Local communities perceived decreased abundance of specific plant and mushroom taxa in 46 studies (Climate zones based on Köppen-Geiger classification, A = tropical, B = dry, C = temperate, D = continental and E = polar). 4 C. Schunko et al. Global Food Security 32 (2022) 100601 Fig. 3. Distribution across continents of drivers perceived by local communities to reduce the abundance of wild edible plants and mushrooms (n=38 studies; North America: 100%=25 reports of driver effects on taxa, South America: 100%=67 reports, Europe: 100%=29 reports, Africa: 100%=160 reports, Asia: 100%= 133 reports). frequency of specific drivers of decreased abundance per taxa were intensification (pFisher<0.001), wood use of trees (pFisher<0.001) and significantly associated with the continents (pKruskal-Wallis<0.001) and pests (pFisher=0.009) than local communities living in other main cli­ main climates (pKruskal-Wallis<0.001) where the change was reported. mates. In the dry climate, taxa were perceived to be more frequently Most drivers per taxa were perceived by local communities in Asia affected by overexploitation (pFisher=0.007) and destructive harvesting (M=3.9), followed by Africa (M=3.2), South America (M=2.9), North (pFisher=0.002) than in other main climates. And changes in manage­ America (M=2.1) and Europe (M=1.4). Local communities in the dry ment (pFisher<0.001) were more frequently perceived in temperate and and tropical climates (M=4.5 and M=3.7) perceived significantly more continental climates than in other main climates. drivers of change per taxa than local communities in the temperate and continental climates (M=1.9 and M=1.0). 4. Discussion Most of the 14 specific drivers that were perceived to trigger the decreased abundance of wild edible plant and mushroom taxa were In this systematic review, we set out to understand changes in wild perceived to significantly different extents in different continents edible plants and mushrooms from the perspective of local communities. (Supplementary File S3). Local communities in Africa perceived infra­ For the sample of studies reviewed, we most importantly found i) that structure development (pFisher<0.001), wildfires (pFisher<0.001) and 92% of all perceived changes of wild edible plants and mushrooms on pests (pFisher<0.001) to drive the decreased abundance of taxa more taxa level relate to their decreased abundance; ii) that 76% of the wild frequently than local communities in other continents. In Asian field edible plants and mushrooms with perceived decreased abundance are sites, overexploitation (pFisher<0.001), pollution (pFisher<0.001) and fruits and vegetables and 23% crop wild relatives; iii) that the main agricultural intensification (pFisher<0.001) were more frequently perceived drivers of the decrease in abundance are land use change mentioned as drivers of decreased abundance of taxa than in other (38% of taxa affected) and direct exploitation (31%); and iv) that almost continents, whereas local communities in Europe perceived changes in every specific driver of decreased abundance is significantly associated management (pFisher<0.001) more often than local communities in other with a continent and a main climate. continents. Moreover, wood use of trees (pFisher<0.001) was more The first result finds support in the literature, as a recent worldwide commonly perceived in Africa and South-America than in other conti­ assessment of the actual status of wild foods found that among the 1039 nents; deforestation (pFisher<0.001) and agricultural land expansion wild edible plants assessed, 63% are decreasing in abundance, 18% are (pFisher<0.001) were more widespread as drivers of wild edible plant stable, and 18% are increasing (Bélanger and Pilling 2019). We there­ and mushrooms abundance decrease in Asia and South America fore argue that decreased abundance is the most frequent change compared to the other continents; and climate change (pFisher<0.001) perceived by local communities in relation to wild edible plants and was more often perceived in North America and South America than in mushrooms, most likely because this is also the most frequent change other continents. The only driver that was perceived with similar fre­ actually occurring. Moreover, it is consistent with another review that quency on all continents was habitat destruction (pFisher=0.073). studied local observations of climate change impacts, including impacts Drivers of decreased abundance of wild edible plant and mushroom on wild flora, which also found that observations of changes in the taxa also relate significantly to main climate types (Supplementary File abundance are the most commonly documented changes for wild flora S4). In the sample of studies analysed, local communities living in the (Reyes-García et al., 2019). tropical climate perceived more taxa to be affected by agricultural It should be noted, however, that – in comparison to worldwide 5 C. Schunko et al. Global Food Security 32 (2022) 100601 assessments based on biological data – the change of decreased abun­ Besides the potential impact on nutritional quality, the decreasing dance is particularly pronounced in our results, representing 92% of all abundance of wild edible plants and mushrooms may also have negative changes on taxa level. Indeed, in the few studies included in this review effects on the amount of food available to local communities. This is that take a closer look on trends of specific wild edible plant and especially relevant since about 77% of the rural population with forest mushroom species (e.g., (Johnson 2002; Cruz-Garcia 2017), we do find access in Africa, Latin America and Asia gather wild foods, mostly plants that decreases in abundance, maintenance, and increases in abundance but also animal products and mushrooms, which are an important are perceived to a more balanced extent than when considering all the component of their livelihoods (Hickey et al., 2016). Moreover, the articles in our review. Moreover, another review examining observa­ decrease in abundance tends to disproportionally affect poorer com­ tions of changes in wild flora found that, in addition to the most munity members, who depend more on wild edibles for nutrition and commonly cited changes in abundance, other changes, including income than other groups (Angelsen et al., 2014; Hickey et al., 2016). In changes in the phenology, composition and structure of wild flora and addition, wild edibles provide safety nets in times of severe crises, a changes in the quality of the harvested products, are also commonly function that is lost with their decreasing abundance (Paumgarten et al., perceived by local communities (Reyes-García et al., 2019). 2018; Bélanger and Pilling 2019). We can provide two plausible explanations for the difference in the The decreasing abundance of wild edible plants and mushrooms not importance of decreasing abundance between biological data and only loosens the safety net for their direct use, but it also jeopardizes perceptional data. First, this difference might indicate that decreased agronomic backups for cultivation and breeding. Our results show that abundance is the change to which local communities attribute the local communities do not only gather wild edible plant species, but they largest relevance. Having wild edible plants and mushrooms available is also transplant them to their home gardens and fields and thus bring a prerequisite for their use and if the wild edibles local communities them into cultivation. Although we do not know the distribution of gather and eat become less abundant, other changes related to potential motivations in the sample studied, the fact that 16% of wild phenology or quality may be less evident or less relevant in practical edible plants with decreasing abundance are reported to be cultivated terms, and thus less perceived or reported. Second, the result can also be suggests that people might have important reasons to do so. Motivations explained by a general bias in the research approaches of the papers to cultivate wild edible plants may include to preserve access to species reviewed. In almost all studies included in this systematic review, local with a decreasing abundance in the wild, to compensate for crop failure, perceptions of change of wild edible plants and mushrooms are side or to use them for genetic improvements of crops through cross-breeding topics within a wider research. In fact, in our database we only found with domesticated plant species (Pilling et al., 2020). Moreover, since one study (Johnson 2002) specifically focusing on local perceptions of 23% of the wild edible plants in our findings that were perceived to changes of wild edible plants and mushrooms. The fact that local per­ decrease in abundance are crop wild relatives, their decreased abun­ ceptions of changes were not the main focus of their research may have dance may have a significant negative impact on the pool of genetic led researchers to restrict their studies to changes that seemed to be traits available for plant breeding on a global level, weakening the more relevant to them or just easier to observe, i.e., decreases in resilience of global food systems (Pilling et al., 2020). abundance, neglecting perceptions of more subtle changes in species The most frequently perceived drivers of decreased abundance of phenology or distribution. It is then possible that wild edible plants and wild edible plants and mushrooms in our sample are land use change, mushrooms maintenance or increase in abundance as well as changes triggered by agriculture, forestry and infrastructure development, and not related to abundance might be underreported in the studies direct exploitation of wild edible plant and mushroom taxa. Pollution reviewed. and climate change follow at some distance. This result largely dovetails Given this potential methodological bias, we do not claim that our with global assessments of the drivers of decline of wild foods (Bélanger results are representative of the variety of changes to wild edible plants and Pilling 2019), the drivers of decline of threatened plant and animal and mushrooms that occur, not even to the variety of changes that local species (Maxwell et al., 2016), and the drivers of decline of life on earth communities perceive. However, we do argue that the high proportion in general (Díaz et al., 2019). Despite this general agreement of global of perceptions of decreased abundance suggests that local communities trends, it is important to note that the relative importance of the in all continents and climate types perceive and are concerned by many different drivers varies between different continents and climate zones. wild edible plant and mushroom species being less abundant in their In our results, almost every specific driver was significantly associated local environments. with a continent and main climate type and also the number of drivers The decreasing abundance of wild edible plants and mushrooms has perceived by local communities varied significantly between continents potentially negative implications for the nutrition of local communities. and main climate types. This is plausible since the types of ecosystems Our results show that the wild edibles perceived to be decreasing in from where wild edible plants and mushrooms are gathered and the abundance are very diverse in terms of species affected, the lifeforms of kinds of wild edibles consumed vary considerably between local com­ plants, and the parts harvested. Most importantly, 76% of the wild munities, continents and main climates (Powell et al., 2015). Consid­ edible plants and mushrooms with decreasing abundance are fruits and ering local socio-cultural and geographic contexts when developing vegetables, whose consumption has many positive impacts on health approaches to facilitate the sustainable use of wild edible plants and and nutrition, including being an important source of micronutrients, mushrooms is therefore crucial, in addition to targeting indirect drivers such as vitamins (de Cortes Sánchez-Mata and Tardío 2016) and min­ at higher governance levels, in order to achieve sustainable improve­ erals (García-Herrera and de Cortes Sánchez-Mata 2016), and having a ments (Visseren-Hamakers et al., 2021). high antioxidant potential (Barros et al., 2016; Bvenura and Sivakumar 2017). Although generalisation is difficult because fruit and vegetable 5. Conclusions consumption varies greatly across countries and world regions (Row­ land et al., 2017), it might be argued that the decrease in abundance of In this study, we explored perceptions of changes of wild edible wild fruits and vegetables may – in conjunction with the better avail­ plants and mushrooms from the perspective of local communities. We ability of energy-dense foods (Khoury et al., 2014) – generally have a found that the by far most common perception is a decrease of abun­ negative impact on the intake of these foods by local communities. This dance, having a range of potential negative implications to nutrition and is more so as research shows that fruits and vegetables are not food systems from local to global scales. This finding draws attention to commercially available in sufficient quantities on a global scale, and the need for initiatives supporting the sustainable use and management especially in low-to middle-income countries where a supply gap exists of wild edible plants and mushrooms. Currently, the most widespread (Siegel et al., 2014) and where local communities largely depend on measures to halt their decrease are to monitor and inventor them, and to their own production and gathering for consuming fruits and vegetables. establish protected habitats and areas (Bélanger and Pilling 2019). 6 C. Schunko et al. Global Food Security 32 (2022) 100601 These measures target the conservation of wild edible plants and Mata, M., Tardío, J. (Eds.), Mediterranean Wild Edible Plants: Ehnobotany and Food Composition Tables. Springer, New York, pp. 141–171. mushrooms, whereas ensuring their sustainable management for Guarino, L., Lobell, D.B., 2011. A walk on the wild side. Nat. Clim. Change 1, 374–375. ongoing use by local communities is also critical. A central goal must https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1272. also be the preservation of local knowledge about wild edibles, since the Hajjar, R., Hodgkin, T., 2007. The use of wild relatives in crop improvement: a survey of loss of knowledge is just as detrimental to their ongoing use as the loss of developments over the last 20 years. Euphytica 156, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s10681-007-9363-0. the species itself (Cámara-Leret et al., 2019). Given the range of inter­ Harris, D.R., 1996. Domesticatory relationships of people, plants and animals. In: related direct and indirect drivers of decreasing abundance of wild Ellen, R., Fukui, K. (Eds.), Redefining Nature: Ecology, Culture and Domestication. edible plants and mushrooms, comprehensive, transformative change Routledge, New York. Herse, M.R., Lyver, P.O., Scott, N., et al., 2020. 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