1,721,015 research outputs found
Biocultural Diversity at Risk Amidst and Beyond Overtourism: The Decline in Wild Green Foraging in Corfu over the Past 50 Years
No full textThis study focuses on the interplay between ecological, demographic, and developmental factors while examining the changes in wild greens (WGs) uses in Corfu from 1970 to 2024. A comparative analysis of historical and contemporary datasets reveals a decline in WG species from 58 (belonging to 47 genera and 18 families) in 1971 to 42 species (37 genera, 16 families) in 2024. The reduction in cropland and, therefore, the herbaceous vegetation has significantly contributed to this loss, alongside urbanisation, demographic shifts, and the rise of tourism-driven economies. Changes in climatic factors, like a 1.5 °C increase in temperature and reduced rainfall, further affect plant biodiversity. Shifts in the occupations of local populations (from farming to touristic services), the declining role of women-centred foraging, and the pervasive influence of formal botanical education may have altered the cultural landscape of WG use. This study underlines the urgent need to integrate traditional ecological knowledge into conservation strategies to mitigate biodiversity loss and sustain cultural heritage
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Historical Ethnobotany: Interpreting the Old Records
No full textHistory is the basis for our interpretation of humanity’s past. Indeed, new developments in digital humanities and the digitalization of archives can place historical sources in a new light. Systematized historical sources allow us to see the practical changes that have occurred over centuries of ethnobotany and analyze (although sometimes solely hypothesize on) the causes of such changes. Studying history helps us to understand the influences on the evolution of local ecological knowledge regarding plant use. In ethnobotany, numerous understudied historical sources are awaiting modern interpretations. Old uses enhanced by the new possibilities offered by technology can enrich our everyday lives. Yet, understanding historical sources, especially in ethnobotany, where several disciplines are involved, is not univocal. Mistakes introduced by misidentified plants or information misinterpreted from old languages can have negative, long-term consequences. This Special Issue provides examples of the critical analyses of various historical sources and insights into ongoing historical and diachronic studies on plant use. This reprint is intended for a broad interdisciplinary audience interested in historical ethnobotany, history of plant studies, and human culture
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Ravimtaimemaastik
Full text linkVäitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsioone.Ravimtaimemaastik on maastik, mis moodustub inimese suhetest raviotstarbel kasutatavate taimedega. See haarab isikliku või kogukondliku teadmise ümbruskonnas kättesaadavatest ravimtaimedest. Ravimtaimemaastik on kognitiivne väli, mis tekib ravi või profülaktika vajaduste ilmnemisel ja moodustub kindlas looduse ja kultuuriruumis. Olles üheaegselt dünaamiline (muutuv ajas ja ruumis) teadmiste kogum, mis on samas staatiliselt seotud kindla paigaga (inimese elukoha ja/või sagedase külastuskohaga), on ravimtaimemaastiku elemendid märgina tajutavad vaid mitme asjaolu (taime kasutuse vajadus, taime tundmine, õige koha külastamine) täitumisel. Käesolevas töös on ravimtaimemaastik kui maastiku tajumise fenomen kasutusel mudelina, mille abil analüüsitakse ravimtaimede kasutamise mehhanisme ning nende muutusi ajas, süvendades nõnda taimravi kognitiivsete, inimökoloogiliste ja semiootiliste põhimõtete mõistmist.The herbal landscape is personal or community-shared knowledge of the medicinal plants available in the surroundings (be it farm garden, local meadow, nearby forest, faraway bog, etc., but also the kitchen-self or the pharmacy store). The herbal landscape develops in the course of people's everyday activities. As plants were traditionally gathered from places visited daily or on certain occasions, the more frequent the visits to the habitat where the plant was growing, the greater the chance that that particular plant would be discovered and used in case of need. Although being a phenomenon of perception, in this dissertation the notion of herbal landscape is primarily used as a model to explain the mechanism of the use of medicinal plants and its changes over time, deepening in this way the understanding of the cognitive and human ecological concepts underlying the use of medicinal plants
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Divergent trajectories of local ecological knowledge among divided communities : insights from Hutsuls and Romanians of Bukovina (Romania and Ukraine)
Full text linkLes plantes són crucials per a la supervivència de la humanitat. La relació entre persones i plantes ha evolucionat al llarg dels segles, conformada per diferent contextos geogràfics, ecològics, socials, culturals, econòmics i polítics en els què es troben persones i plantes. De fet, és àmpliament reconegut que els sistemes de coneixement ecològic local no són estàtics, sinó que evolucionen constantment, adaptant-se a les noves condicions ecològiques, socials, culturals i polítiques. També es sabut que els sistemes de coneixement locals es veuen cada cop més compromesos per la rapidesa dels canvis ambientals i socioeconòmics que vivim avui en dia. Entre els diferents canvis que afecten el coneixement local, l'efecte de les polítiques institucionals ha rebut poca atenció. En particular, l'impacte de les polítiques sobre el coneixement local només s'ha estudiat parcialment a Europa, amb un parell d'investigacions abordant el coneixement etnobotànic transfronterer. En aquest context, aquesta tesi té com a objectiu aprofundir en la nostra comprensió de com les fronteres polítiques afecten el coneixement local relatiu a l'ús d'aliments silvestres i plantes medicinals i a la transmissió d'aquest coneixement, així com a les percepcions ambientals locals. Per assolir aquest objectiu, vaig treballar al territori de Bucovina, una regió històrica de l'Europa de l'Est, que als anys quaranta va ser dividida entre la Unió Soviètica i la República Socialista de Romania, actualment Ucraïna i Romania. En aquesta regió multicultural, em vaig centrar en l'estudi del coneixement etnobotànic de les comunitats transfrontereres de hutsuls i romanesos. Els estius 2018 i 2019 vaig realitzar 135 entrevistes semiestructurades sobre l'ús d'aliments silvestres i plantes medicinals, la transmissió d'aquests coneixements, i la percepció del bosc i els seus recursos. L'anàlisi d'aquesta informació estructura els tres capítols centrals d'aquesta tesi. El primer capítol empíric examina el corpus de coneixement relacionats amb les plantes, especialment medicinals, de les comunitats d'estudi. El resultat principal es que el corpus de coneixements de plantes medicinals i alimentàries es més rics entre ells hutsuls i romanesos que viuen a Ucraïna que entre hutsuls i romanesos que viuen a Romania. A la discussió dels resultats, argumento que aquesta diferència s'origina en el context polític (i multilingüe) que viuen els dos països, i en el que només Ucraïna te influències soviètiques. En el segon capítol empíric examino les formes de transmissió del coneixement etnobotànic als dos costats de la frontera. Hutsuls i, sobretot, romanesos que viuen a Ucraïna, a més de la informació transmesa oralment, també utilitzen les fonts escrites i visuals per obtenir informació sobre plantes silvestres utilitzades com medicina i aliment. En canvi, a Romania, aquesta informació es transmet principalment oralment dins de la família o per part dels ancians de la comunitat. El tercer capítol examina percepcions dels boscos. El principal resultat es que els hutsuls que viuen en bandes diferents de la frontera comparteixen percepcions dels beneficis forestals, però difereixen en els seus percepcions dels motors del canvi forestal, possiblement a causa dels contextos polítics divergents que viuen i, per tant, d'estar exposats a diferent polítiques de gestió forestal. A més, possiblement com a conseqüència de diferents condicions socioeconòmiques, els hutsuls que viuen a Ucraïna depenen més dels plantes medicinals que els hutsuls que viuen a Romania. En conclusió, els resultats d'aquest treball suggereixen que en el context de Bucovina, i possiblement més enllà, la creació de nous límits polítics pot donar lloc a diferents corpus de coneixements locals relacionats amb els usos de plantes silvestres, diferent estratègies de transmissió del coneixement local, i diferent percepcions del medi natural. Aquestes diferencies poden ser degudes als diferents contextos socioeconòmics creats com a resultat de diferents polítiques institucionals. Més recerca en altres contextos geogràfics amb es requereixen situacions geopolítiques transfrontereres similars per confirmar els resultats d'aquest treball.Plants are crucial for the survival of the humankind. The relationship between people and plants has evolved over centuries, shaped by specific geographical, ecological, social, cultural, economic and political contexts in which people and plants are found. Indeed, it is widely acknowledged that local ecological knowledge systems are not static, but constantly evolve, adapting to new ecological, social, cultural and political conditions. It is also recognized that these local knowledge systems are being increasingly jeopardized by the rapid environmental and socio-economic changes we see today. Among the various socioeconomic changes that affect local knowledge, institutional policies have received little scholarly attention, although they can have important impacts on local knowledge. In particular, the impact of policies on local knowledge has only been partially studied in Europe, with a couple of investigations addressing cross-border ethnobotanical knowledge. In this context, this dissertation aims to further our understanding of how political borders affect local knowledge of the use of wild food and medicinal plants and its transmission, as well as local environmental perceptions. To this end, I worked in the territory of Bukovina, a historical region of Eastern Europe united until the 1940s, when it was divided between the Soviet Union and the Socialist Republic of Romania, currently Ukraine and Romania. Specifically, in this multicultural region, I focused on cross-border communities of Hutsuls and Romanians. The 135 semi-structured interviews conducted in summers 2018 and 2019 on the use of wild food and medicinal plants, the transmission of such knowledge, and the perception of forest and its resources, revealed three main divergences that constitute the three central chapters of this dissertation. First, the corpora of knowledge related to plants, especially medicinal plants, are richer among Hutsuls and Romanians living in Ukraine than among Hutsuls and Romanians living in Romania. I argue that this difference originates in the divergent political (and multilingual) context of the two countries, with only Ukraine being influenced by Soviet-derived elements. Second, ethnobotanical knowledge transmission occurs in divergent forms across the border. Hutsuls and especially Romanians living in Ukraine, in addition to information transmitted 3 orally, significantly rely on written and visual sources for obtaining information regarding wild food and medicinal plants. Conversely, in Romania, this information is mainly transmitted orally within the family or by local elders. Third, Hutsuls living across the border share perceptions of forest benefits but differ in their perceptions of the drivers of forest change, possibly due to the diverging political contexts in which they live, and thus diverging forest management policies. In addition, possibly as a result of different socio-economic conditions, Hutsuls living in Ukraine rely more on forest medicinal plants than do Hutsuls living in Romania. In conclusion, the results of this work suggest that in the context of Bukovina, and possibly beyond it, the creation of new political boundaries can result in different corpora of local knowledge related to wild food and medicinal plants, divergent trajectories of ethnobotanical knowledge transmission strategies, and dissimilar perceptions and use of relevant milieux. I argue that such dissymmetry can be due to the different socio-economic contexts created as a result of different institutional policies. Further research in other geographical contexts with similar cross-border geopolitical situations is required to confirm the results of this work
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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