![]() This body of knowledge is dynamic, since the relationship between human beings and plants is a coevolution process based on a continuous interaction leading to adaptive responses to the environment ( Berkes et al., 2000). ![]() It is mainly orally transmitted from generation to generation ( Mesa, 1996). Traditional knowledge about wild plants is still important for ensuring food and nutritional security to many people around the globe, especially for poor and marginalized communities ( Kaoma and Shackleton, 2015 Ong and Kim, 2017 Ulian et al., 2020). On the other hand, there are several motivations for gathering and using wild food plants: (1) gathering is seen as a leisure and community building activity (2) the intense flavor of wild plants, which cannot be substituted by cultivated or commercial ones (3) positive values associated with some species consumed as everyday food that are now considered delicatessen and (4) the medicinal role of food, mainly food uses closer to medicine such as beverages and condiments. Factors that may explain the general erosion trend are linked to the abandonment of traditional agricultural practices and shepherding: (1) the decrease in the abundance and quality of wild food plants (2) wild food plants are no longer necessary for subsistence (3) the reduction of time spent in the countryside and (4) the negative connotations of some species that are considered famine food. We found several drivers of change in the use of wild food plants, some enhancing the trend of abandonment that affects differently certain uses and species, and others encouraging their maintenance. Among food use-categories, vegetables was the category with a higher cultural importance index, but beverages and condiments had the lowest cultural erosion rate. The most important species were three vegetables consumed cooked ( Scolymus hispanicus, Bryonia dioica, and Silene vulgaris), other two greens that were eaten raw ( Rumex papillaris and Montia fontana), a condiment ( Thymus zygis), and a fruit ( Rubus ulmifolius). The useful wild flora included 252 plant species, of which 74 were traditionally used as human food, which is the most culturally important use-category. We interviewed 132 informants and analyzed the cultural importance and present use of the following: (1) the human food use-category compared with all the other use-subcategories, (2) the food plant species, and (3) the human food use-subcategories (e.g., vegetables, fruits, condiments, or beverages). ![]() The paper assesses past and present use of wild food plants in Sierra Norte de Madrid (Spain) in order to understand which are the main drivers of its evolution. 3Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Cambio Global (CIBC-UAM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spainĭespite the increasing scientific and public interest in wild food plants, their traditional knowledge is undergoing a deep cultural erosion process at a global scale.2Departamento de Biología (Botánica), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.1Instituto Madrileño de Investigación y Desarrollo Rural, Agrario y Alimentario, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.Laura Aceituno-Mata 1,2 Javier Tardío 1 Manuel Pardo-de-Santayana 2,3 *
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