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Traditional ecological knowledge of plants is an important aspect of scholarship in relation to land use and contributes to the sustainable use and management of natural resources as well as to the monitoring of changes in the natural environment. The aim of the present paper was to examine traditional ecological knowledge in Hungarian communities in Slovenia in connection with knowledge of the plants growing in the region, their local names, and their uses. We quantified the earlier role of the utilized plant species in order to determine the former significance of certain species. We carried out structured interviews with a total of 20 individuals in three studied settlements. In the Hungarian communities in Slovenia, we uncovered knowledge of a total of 130 folk taxa. Of these, 123 taxa have local names. The majority of the folk taxa can be correlated with a single biological species. A significant proportion of the known species were utilized in some way, most of them as medicinal plants, wild edible plants, or ornamental plants. As in other farming communities, the most important species are mainly woody plants, which include the common hornbeam, the common juniper, and the silver birch. Among the herbaceous plants, utilization of the dandelion, nettle, and bulrush was significant. Members of the older generations living in the Hungarian communities in Slovenia still retain knowledge of plants that were once used on a daily basis, along with their local names and the traditional ecological knowledge connected with their earlier use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although a significant proportion of folk knowledge of nature concerns knowledge of invertebrates and vertebrates living in the wild, very little ethnozoological research has been carried out in Central Europe focusing on the whole fauna. In writing the present paper, our aim was to contribute to filling this gap by interviewing 40 local farmers who are particularly knowledgeable on this topic, half of them from the Őrség region of Hungary, and half from the neighboring villages in Slovenia, and by recording their knowledge with respect to nondomesticated animals. Our research identified the second highest number of taxa (242 species-level folk taxa) in terms of investigations carried out in the Hungarian language area in relation to the entire fauna. These included 129 invertebrate folk taxa, 73% of which were called by a species-specific name. They also included 109 vertebrate folk taxa, 103 of which had a separate species-level local name. In the case of two groups (butterflies and mammals), we also investigated attributes that were important and salient from the point of view of species knowledge: morphology and size were of particular relevance in relation to mammal species; while salient habitat features and frequency were relevant in relation to butterfly species. In the case of both groups, usefulness was the least important factor. Despite the general erosion of traditional ecological knowledge in Europe, these recently collected data indicate that a rich, vibrant knowledge is still to be found among the Hungarians whom we interviewed in the Őrség region and the neighboring villages in Slovenia. The especially large number of recorded folk taxa, and the accurate knowledge required to differentiate between them confirm, that even today it is worth carrying out investigations on this topic in East Central Europe in the interests of obtaining knowledge of, and conserving cultural and natural values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species-rich semi-natural grasslands are important components of European cultural landscapes. In Transylvania, Romania, they are managed by extensive land- use systems which, in turn, are maintained to this day through in-depth traditional ecological knowledge. Interdisciplinary approaches should help to better understand how these land-use systems operate, including their impact on vegetation, as well as help to solve a complex problem encountered in nature conservation, namely how to maintain such systems in the face of social and economic changes that often lead to either abandonment or intensification. The purpose of this paper is to explore the traditional local knowledge related to the flora and vegetation of species-rich hay meadows in the Gyimes/ Ghimeş region of the Eastern Carpathians, Romania. First, 30 farmers were asked about 77 wild plant species of the grasslands, about their habitat preferences, and about the vegetation of the hay meadows and pastures, using structured indoor and field interviews and participatory observation. For a botanical description of grasslands, 30 4x4 m phytosociological relevés (quadrats) were made on both hay meadows and pastures. We listed all together 85 wild plant species that were associated with meadows or pastures by the Gyimes people. The majority of constant and sub-constant species found in relevés of hay meadows and pastures were well known and often used by locals (wild edible, medicinal, poisonous plants and important forage and fodder plants). Interestingly, however, local people could list only a few of these plant species when they were asked to list species typical of meadows and pastures, i.e. an average 2.0 species names were given in a free listing. We conclude that Gyimes people do not use their detailed knowledge about habitat preferences of wild plant species to create abstract lists of “species composition per habitat”. In-depth knowledge of species and habitat preferences plays an important role in the lives of local communities. Gyimes people’s knowledge extends to almost all key species of the flora of grasslands that provide important ecosystem services. Extensive land-use practices contributed to a great extent to the development and maintenance of European cultural landscapes. A closer look at these systems would provide a framework to harmonise ethnographic and ecological research, as well as assist NGOs and governments in developing more site-specific, culturally more appropriate and thus more effective conservation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]