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Applied Mycology Can Contribute to Sustainable Rural Livelihoods: Building upon China’s Matsutake Management Initiatives

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Abstract

Matsutake mushrooms are an important part of rural livelihoods and forest ecosystems across large parts of China, as well as elsewhere in East Asia, Northern Europe and North America. Mushroom harvesters have developed sophisticated understandings of matsutake ecology and production, and are applying this knowledge in various innovative management strategies. At the same time, Chinese government agencies and scientists are promoting matsutake-based livelihoods to support development and conservation goals. We collaborated with matsutake harvesters in one Yunnan community to carry out a systematic experiment on a popular shiro-level management technique: covering matsutake shiros with either plastic or leaf litter. Our experimental results suggest that although leaf litter coverings are superior to plastic coverings, shiros that are left uncovered may produce the highest yields. Complementing our experimental work is a multi-sited household survey of existing matsutake management practices across Yunnan, which shows that a high proportion of harvesters are already engaged in a broad range of potentially beneficial management strategies. Though both findings highlight limitations of previous initiatives led by government and research actors in China, this existing body of work is an important foundation and opportunity for developing applied mycology in the region. In and beyond China, working with communities to develop site-specific management strategies through rigorous and participatory scientific inquiry can provide salient benefits for both scientists and resource users.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by The Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant number QYZDY-SSW-SMC014); The CGIAR Research Program: Forests, Trees, and Agroforestry; a Sustainable Biodiversity Fund grant from Cornell University’s Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future; the Center for East Asian Studies at Stanford University; a GRFP fellowship from the US National Science Foundation (DGE–1147470); and a Yunnan Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security postdoctoral fellowship (number 179122). We would also like to thank Jun He, Peter Mortimer, Anne Ostermann, and Jianchu Xu for providing invaluable feedback and support at various stages of this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hamer Center for Community Design, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, 16801, USA

    Madeline Brown

  2. The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), East and Central Asia, Kunming, Yunnan, China

    Madeline Brown, Timothy McLellan, Huili Li & Samantha C. Karunarathna

  3. Center for Mountain Ecosystem Studies, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China

    Timothy McLellan & Samantha C. Karunarathna

  4. Department of Anthropology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Timothy McLellan

  5. Key Laboratory of Economic Plants and Biotechnology, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China

    Huili Li & Samantha C. Karunarathna

  6. Center of Excellence in Fungal Research, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand

    Huili Li

  7. School of Science, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand

    Huili Li

Authors
  1. Madeline Brown
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  2. Timothy McLellan
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  3. Huili Li
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  4. Samantha C. Karunarathna
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Correspondence to Timothy McLellan.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Madeline Brown and Timothy McLellan are co-first authors.

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Brown, M., McLellan, T., Li, H. et al. Applied Mycology Can Contribute to Sustainable Rural Livelihoods: Building upon China’s Matsutake Management Initiatives. Environmental Management 61, 263–274 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-017-0976-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-017-0976-3

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