@article{fdi:010090752,
  title = {{H}ow do young identify plants ? {U}sing the drawing method to explore early ethnobotanical knowledge in {M}adagascar},
  author = {{P}orcher, {V}. and {G}allois, {S}. and {R}eyes-{G}arcía, {V}. and {R}aketabakoly, {S}. {C}. and {A}lvarez-{F}ernández, {S}. and {C}arri{\`e}re, {S}t{\'e}phanie {M}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{I}n small-scale societies, people learn to identify plant species during childhood. {P}lant recognition is an important baseline knowledge, immediately useful to avoid intoxication risk due to wrong identification. {P}lant recognition is the basis of other ethnobotanical knowledge essential for safeguarding biocultural diversity. {H}owever, despite many studies on folk classification, we still have a narrow understanding of the criteria locally used for species identification; the gap being even larger regarding children's plant identification criteria. {H}ere, we study the criteria used by {B}etsileo children and adolescents to identify wild edible plant ({WEP}) species using a child-adapted method including drawings and follow-up interviews. {W}e worked with 80 teenagers (from 12 to 17 years old; 51 girls, and 29 boys). {O}ur results suggest that teenagers use a large spectrum of visual criteria to identify plants and that these criteria match with botanical and ecological knowledge documented in the literature and herbarium vouchers. {W}e found that 35% of the identification criteria used were non-morphological (e.g. phenology, biotic interactions), suggesting deep ecological knowledge. {O}n average, teenagers use more than nine distinct criteria per plant, which allows them to identify most plant species with a very high level of precision. {T}he precision level of plant representation increases with age for boys, but remains constant for girls, suggesting different dynamics in plant identification knowledge acquisition. {W}e also found that boys and girls use different identification criteria: girls focus on morphological criteria while boys also incorporate ecological criteria, such as landscape features and biotic interactions, in their spectrum of identification keys. {O}ur results highlight the complexity of teenagers' plant knowledge and the importance of the ecological context and gender in plant identification's knowledge acquisition. {T}his knowledge acquired very early in childhood, constitutes the foundation of future interactions with nature and should be at the heart of environmental humanities studies and knowledge co-production projects to tackle socio-ecological concerns. {H}ence, we urge further research to explore innovative methods that complement traditional ethnoecological tools and capture complex sensory aspects of folk children's taxonomy to better understand human-plant interactions and knowledge.{R}ead the free {P}lain {L}anguage {S}ummary for this article on the {J}ournal blog.},
  keywords = {{B}etsileo ; children knowledge ; cognitive anthropology ; plant identification ; {MADAGASCAR}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{P}eople and {N}ature},
  volume = {[{E}arly access]},
  numero = {},
  pages = {[15 p.]},
  year = {2024},
  DOI = {10.1002/pan3.10651},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010090752},
}