RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Interactions between humans and fauna lay in the heart of the history of human subsistence. In Mesoamerica, the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley (TCV) harbours a high biodiversity with archaeological and ethnoecological evidence of its use by people inhabiting the area since at least 12,000 B.P. It is recognized as one of the most ancient areas of agriculture in the Americas, and a broad spectrum of management practices aimed to ensure the availability of desirable plants has been documented, but it has not been analysed for animals. This study aimed to investigate the use and management practices directed to wild animals along current settlements within the TCV and neighbouring areas. METHODS: We conducted an extensive search, review and analysis of documental sources for the period between 1967 and 2018. We found 38 documents providing information about the presence of animal species and 15 describing their use and/or management. We included our own observations from four case studies among the Ixcatec, Cuicatec, Nahua and Mestizo people, as well as from regional studies of biodiversity. We used unconstrained multivariate data analysis to describe the management typology of the animals in the region. RESULTS: Hitherto, 652 vertebrate species and 765 species of insects have been recorded in this area; and until present, 107 wild animal species have been reported to be used in 11 use-type categories, mostly for food (65.42%), ornamental (27.52%) and medicinal (21.10%) purposes by the Nahua, Cuicatec, Popolocan, Ixcatec, Mazatec and Mestizo people. Their extraction entails manual capture and gathering as well as hunting and trapping strategies, some of them involving planning in time or space and communitarian regulations; in addition, relocation actions and care in captivity were recorded. Nearly 178 of the species distributed in the region with no reports of local use are used in other localities of Mesoamerica. Ethnozoological information is still lacking for the Mixtec, Chinantec and Chocholtec people in the area. CONCLUSIONS: Wild fauna is still a valuable resource for the inhabitants of the TCV. Animals are obtained through extractive practices, which vary from one another in their qualitative attributes. With this work, we provide a context for further research priorities on fauna management in a region of high biocultural significance.
Assuntos
Criação de Animais Domésticos/métodos , Animais Selvagens , Animais , Antropologia Cultural , Conservação dos Recursos Naturais , Domesticação , Humanos , Medicina Tradicional , MéxicoRESUMO
Vegetation type and seasonality promote changes in the species composition and abundance of parasite hosts. However, it is poorly known how these variables affect host-parasite interaction networks. This information is important to understand the dynamics of parasite-host relationships according to biotic and abiotic changes. We compared the specialization of host-bat fly interaction networks, as well as bat fly and host species composition between upland dry forest and riparian forest and between dry and rainy seasons in a tropical dry forest in Jalisco, Mexico. Bat flies were surveyed by direct collection from bats. Our results showed that host-bat fly interaction networks were more specialized in upland dry forest compared to riparian forest. Bat fly species composition was different between the dry and rainy seasons, while host species composition was different between upland dry forest and riparian forest. The higher specialization in upland dry forest could be related to the differences in bat host species composition and their respective roosting habits. Variation in the composition of bat fly species between dry and rainy seasons coincides with the seasonal shifts in their species richness. Our study confirms the high specialization of host-bat fly interactions and shows the importance of biotic and abiotic factors to understand the dynamics of parasite-host interactions.