Giulia Mattalia
Biographic Data
| ID | 630490 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Giulia Mattalia |
| GIVEN NAMES | Giulia |
| FAMILY NAME | Mattalia |
| SIGNATURE | MATTALIA G |
| AFFILIATIONS | Ca' Foscari University of Venice |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1947-7007 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 30 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 60 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 30 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Cattle
Conservation efforts over the past century have often overlooked how human activities shape biodiversity, both positively and negatively. Biocultural approaches now seek to integrate cultural dimensions into conservation, with the concept of cultural keystone species offering a path to more equitable strategies. This study focuses on Bosco Gurin, a Walser village in the Swiss Alps, examining human-species relationships over time. Interviews and h…
When minority language persistence is not enough
Local ecological knowledge is an essential element of the Alpine biocultural diversity and is often linked to minority languages. However, its continuity does not necessarily correspond to the persistence of these languages. This study investigates how knowledge of wild plants (and mushrooms) is transmitted and transformed among three minority-language communities in the Italian Alps: Cimbrian, Mòcheno, and Ladin speakers. Ethnobotanical data wer…
Local farmers, custodians of wild food plant knowledge and uses in the touristified Venice Lagoon
The findings of this study reveal that LGK among farmers, thus people who live in close connection with the soil and vegetation of the Venice lagoon, is still vivid and it is increasingly economically valued. The study also shows a sharp distinction in the LGK on WFPs between farmers and fishers, revealing a strong knowledge specialization tied to their primary occupation, essential in a context of rural depopulation and touristification, for ide…
Improving visibility for knowledge holders in ethnobiological and ethnopharmacological publications
Human–nature relationships through the lens of reciprocity
In the context of climate change, biodiversity decline and social injustice, reciprocity emerges as a way of living and being in this world that holds transformative potential. Concepts of reciprocity vary and are enacted in specific cultural practices grounded in Indigenous and local knowledge systems. This editorial synthesises first‐hand evidence of how practising reciprocity can result in positive reciprocal contributions between people and n…
‘A Starving Man Does Not Sniff His Food’
The Holodomor (1932–1933) was a politically driven, genocidal famine that killed millions through starvation and disease, as well as disrupting Ukrainian society and agriculture. Through the analysis of various archival sources, particularly survivor narratives, we obtained information about 72 plants used as famine foods, foods not customarily eaten and plants eaten in unusual quantities or ways during the Holodomor. A total of at least 114 part…
Impacts of invasive algae from the perspective of fishers in the Lagoon of Venice, Northern Italy
Invasive alien species are generally considered a cause of biodiversity decline globally, and studying their evolution could provide valuable insights about their invasion mechanism and impacts to new habitats. The Lagoon of Venice (LV) is a significant gateway for invasive algae introduction into the Adriatic Sea. This work aims to address the pressing need to enhance research on the perceptions of local resource users, especially fishers, on in…
Crop diversity trends captured by Indigenous and local knowledge
Landraces and climate change
Beekeepers as guardians of apitherapeutic knowledge in Estonia, SW Ukraine, and NE Italy
Background Bees have been important to people in Europe in many ways. Honey was the only sweetener available for a long time. The introduction of frame hives allowed for the collection of various hive products and better production of honey and wax. Only a few ethnomedicinal studies on apitherapy have been published in Europe, highlighting hive products that are collected, sold, or used by beekeepers. The aim of this article is to provide a gener…
Foraging Educators as Vectors of Environmental Knowledge in Europe
Widely accessible education on edible wild plants is increasingly in demand as more people search for ways to explore wild culinary uses. Despite this growing trend of nature exploration, few scholars have investigated the contribution of this new mode of engagement to human–nature connection and pro-environmental attitudes. Therefore, this research aims to explore the societal role of such foraging educators. Through convenience and snowball sam…
Fishery and ecology-related knowledge about plants among fishing communities along Laguna Lake, Philippines
These results highlight that the knowledge of fishers regarding the ecosystem in which they conduct their fishing activities provides baseline information about the positive and negative relationships between plants and fishing activities in the region, which is vital for further understanding its biodiversity and ecosystem interactions. It is crucial to consider fisher knowledge and involve them as equal partners in conservation efforts of LB
Impacts of Industrialization on Foraging in Peri-Urban Areas. Insights from Padua, NE Italy
Western European societies, ecologies, and economies were significantly impacted by industrialization after WWII. Steadily increasing urbanization and the abandonment of traditional agricultural activities led to a rapid erosion of local environmental knowledge (LEK). We conducted 40 semi-structured interviews in Padua, one of the most industrialized areas of Italy, to identify changes and drivers of change in plant foraging. We documented the us…
Searching for Germane Questions in the Ethnobiology of Food Scouting
In the past two decades, ethnobiologists have increasingly paid attention to the scouting and documentation of endangered corpora of local food elements and associated traditional knowledge. In this endeavor, food scouting encompasses the methodological tools used for mapping, inventorying, and documenting food and food-related resources. The growing body of research in this field is shedding light on the potentialities of these practices in obta…
Ethnobotanical contributions to global fishing communities
Hutsuls' perceptions of forests and uses of forest resource in Ukrainian and Romanian Bukovina
Socio-economic and political contexts play a major role in a community's perception of the environment, determining natural resource use. We examined perceptions of forest and forest resource use among two Hutsul communities in Bukovina sharing a similar cultural background but living in a region divided by the national border created between Romania and Ukraine in the 1940s. Twenty-nine open-ended and 61 semi-structured interviews were conducted…
One more way to support Ukraine
Background: Ukraine holds a rich reservoir of cultural and biological diversity due to its complex history and variegated landscapes. However, the current aggression poses threats to it, attacking its identity expressed through local ecological practices. Therefore, in this photo essay, we aim to celebrate the great reservoir of biocultural diversity that we observed during several field investigations in different areas of Ukraine. Methods: We s…
The nexus between traditional foraging and its sustainability
Why the ongoing occupation of Ukraine matters to ethnobiology
Ethnobiology and ethnomedicine investigate the continuously changing complex and inextricable relations among culture, nature, and health. Since the emergence of modern ethnobiology a few decades ago, its essence and mission have been the study of biocultural diversities and the centers of its inquiries have been and are local communities and their co-evolutionary interrelationships between natural environments and social systems. At the core of …
“We Became Rich and We Lost Everything”
Profound socioeconomic changes affected mountains of Central Italy during the last century and many traditional agro-pastoral activities were abandoned. A few ethnobotanical studies in this area have specifically documented local wild plants used decades ago, but without analyzing in-depth how and why Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) has eroded or changed over time. In this study, we 1) document ethnobotanical uses of four high-altitude rem…
The role of crop diversity in climate change adaptation
Just beautiful green herbs
BackgroundThe use of plants in rituals is a little explored corner of biocultural diversity which has developed through time within a complex socio-ecological system. Indeed, rituals are complex interactions between humans and biodiversity shaped by history, culture, and ethnic belonging. Yet, in Western Ukraine, such rituals were forbidden for over 50 years (1939-1991). The current revival of rituals by rural inhabitants is an untapped reservoir…
Wild fish are a blessing
Several coastal communities rely heavily on wild-caught fish for personal consumption and their livelihoods, thus being sensitive to the rapid global change affecting fish availability. However, in the last century, aquaculture has been increasingly adopted. To understand the uses and changes of wild-caught fish, we conducted 30 semi-structured interviews with fishers of Laguna Lake, Philippines. Fishermen, with up to 60 years' experience, report…
Inventing a herbal tradition
Historical ethnobotanical investigations could help to avoid creating repeating waves of popularity of plants that have already been tried for certain diseases and later abandoned as not fully effective. There is, of course, a chance that E. angustifolium could also finally be proven to be clinically safe and cost-effective for treating benign prostatic hyperplasia, but this has not yet happened despite recent intensive research. Documented tradi…
Gaining momentum
Knowledge transmission patterns at the border
Background Cross-border research is a novel and important tool for detecting variability of ecological knowledge. This is especially evident in regions recently divided and annexed to different political regimes. Therefore, we conducted a study among Hutsuls, a cultural and linguistic minority group living in Northern and Southern Bukovina (Ukraine and Romania, respectively). Indeed, in the 1940s, a border was created: Northern Bukovina was annex…
Just beautiful green herbs
BackgroundThe use of plants in rituals is a little explored corner of biocultural diversity which has developed through time within a complex socio-ecological system. Indeed, rituals are complex interactions between humans and biodiversity shaped by history, culture, and ethnic belonging. Yet, in Western Ukraine, such rituals were forbidden for over 50 years (1939-1991). The current revival of rituals by rural inhabitants is an untapped reservoir…
Keeping or changing? Two different cultural adaptation strategies in the domestic use of home country food plant and herbal ingredients among Albanian and Moroccan migrants in Northwestern Italy
BACKGROUND: Ethnobotanical field studies concerning migrant groups are crucial for understanding temporal changes of folk plant knowledge as well as for analyzing adaptation processes. Italy still lacks in-depth studies on migrant food habits that also evaluate the ingredients which newcomers use in their domestic culinary and herbal practices. METHODS: Semi-structured and open in-depth interviews were conducted with 104 first- and second-generat…
Dissymmetry at the Border
Scholarly vs. Traditional Knowledge
The role of crop diversity in climate change adaptation
Foraging Educators as Vectors of Environmental Knowledge in Europe
Widely accessible education on edible wild plants is increasingly in demand as more people search for ways to explore wild culinary uses. Despite this growing trend of nature exploration, few scholars have investigated the contribution of this new mode of engagement to human–nature connection and pro-environmental attitudes. Therefore, this research aims to explore the societal role of such foraging educators. Through convenience and snowball sam…
Gaining momentum
Landraces and climate change
Why the ongoing occupation of Ukraine matters to ethnobiology
Ethnobiology and ethnomedicine investigate the continuously changing complex and inextricable relations among culture, nature, and health. Since the emergence of modern ethnobiology a few decades ago, its essence and mission have been the study of biocultural diversities and the centers of its inquiries have been and are local communities and their co-evolutionary interrelationships between natural environments and social systems. At the core of …
Wild fish are a blessing
Several coastal communities rely heavily on wild-caught fish for personal consumption and their livelihoods, thus being sensitive to the rapid global change affecting fish availability. However, in the last century, aquaculture has been increasingly adopted. To understand the uses and changes of wild-caught fish, we conducted 30 semi-structured interviews with fishers of Laguna Lake, Philippines. Fishermen, with up to 60 years' experience, report…
Interstitial but Resilient
Scholarly vs. Traditional Knowledge
Keeping or changing? Two different cultural adaptation strategies in the domestic use of home country food plant and herbal ingredients among Albanian and Moroccan migrants in Northwestern Italy
BACKGROUND: Ethnobotanical field studies concerning migrant groups are crucial for understanding temporal changes of folk plant knowledge as well as for analyzing adaptation processes. Italy still lacks in-depth studies on migrant food habits that also evaluate the ingredients which newcomers use in their domestic culinary and herbal practices. METHODS: Semi-structured and open in-depth interviews were conducted with 104 first- and second-generat…
Inventing a herbal tradition
Historical ethnobotanical investigations could help to avoid creating repeating waves of popularity of plants that have already been tried for certain diseases and later abandoned as not fully effective. There is, of course, a chance that E. angustifolium could also finally be proven to be clinically safe and cost-effective for treating benign prostatic hyperplasia, but this has not yet happened despite recent intensive research. Documented tradi…
Gaining momentum
Dissymmetry at the Border
Knowledge transmission patterns at the border
Background Cross-border research is a novel and important tool for detecting variability of ecological knowledge. This is especially evident in regions recently divided and annexed to different political regimes. Therefore, we conducted a study among Hutsuls, a cultural and linguistic minority group living in Northern and Southern Bukovina (Ukraine and Romania, respectively). Indeed, in the 1940s, a border was created: Northern Bukovina was annex…
“We Became Rich and We Lost Everything”
Profound socioeconomic changes affected mountains of Central Italy during the last century and many traditional agro-pastoral activities were abandoned. A few ethnobotanical studies in this area have specifically documented local wild plants used decades ago, but without analyzing in-depth how and why Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) has eroded or changed over time. In this study, we 1) document ethnobotanical uses of four high-altitude rem…
The role of crop diversity in climate change adaptation
Just beautiful green herbs
BackgroundThe use of plants in rituals is a little explored corner of biocultural diversity which has developed through time within a complex socio-ecological system. Indeed, rituals are complex interactions between humans and biodiversity shaped by history, culture, and ethnic belonging. Yet, in Western Ukraine, such rituals were forbidden for over 50 years (1939-1991). The current revival of rituals by rural inhabitants is an untapped reservoir…
Wild fish are a blessing
Several coastal communities rely heavily on wild-caught fish for personal consumption and their livelihoods, thus being sensitive to the rapid global change affecting fish availability. However, in the last century, aquaculture has been increasingly adopted. To understand the uses and changes of wild-caught fish, we conducted 30 semi-structured interviews with fishers of Laguna Lake, Philippines. Fishermen, with up to 60 years' experience, report…
Hutsuls' perceptions of forests and uses of forest resource in Ukrainian and Romanian Bukovina
Socio-economic and political contexts play a major role in a community's perception of the environment, determining natural resource use. We examined perceptions of forest and forest resource use among two Hutsul communities in Bukovina sharing a similar cultural background but living in a region divided by the national border created between Romania and Ukraine in the 1940s. Twenty-nine open-ended and 61 semi-structured interviews were conducted…
One more way to support Ukraine
Background: Ukraine holds a rich reservoir of cultural and biological diversity due to its complex history and variegated landscapes. However, the current aggression poses threats to it, attacking its identity expressed through local ecological practices. Therefore, in this photo essay, we aim to celebrate the great reservoir of biocultural diversity that we observed during several field investigations in different areas of Ukraine. Methods: We s…
The nexus between traditional foraging and its sustainability
Why the ongoing occupation of Ukraine matters to ethnobiology
Ethnobiology and ethnomedicine investigate the continuously changing complex and inextricable relations among culture, nature, and health. Since the emergence of modern ethnobiology a few decades ago, its essence and mission have been the study of biocultural diversities and the centers of its inquiries have been and are local communities and their co-evolutionary interrelationships between natural environments and social systems. At the core of …
Searching for Germane Questions in the Ethnobiology of Food Scouting
In the past two decades, ethnobiologists have increasingly paid attention to the scouting and documentation of endangered corpora of local food elements and associated traditional knowledge. In this endeavor, food scouting encompasses the methodological tools used for mapping, inventorying, and documenting food and food-related resources. The growing body of research in this field is shedding light on the potentialities of these practices in obta…
Ethnobotanical contributions to global fishing communities
Foraging Educators as Vectors of Environmental Knowledge in Europe
Widely accessible education on edible wild plants is increasingly in demand as more people search for ways to explore wild culinary uses. Despite this growing trend of nature exploration, few scholars have investigated the contribution of this new mode of engagement to human–nature connection and pro-environmental attitudes. Therefore, this research aims to explore the societal role of such foraging educators. Through convenience and snowball sam…
Fishery and ecology-related knowledge about plants among fishing communities along Laguna Lake, Philippines
These results highlight that the knowledge of fishers regarding the ecosystem in which they conduct their fishing activities provides baseline information about the positive and negative relationships between plants and fishing activities in the region, which is vital for further understanding its biodiversity and ecosystem interactions. It is crucial to consider fisher knowledge and involve them as equal partners in conservation efforts of LB
Impacts of Industrialization on Foraging in Peri-Urban Areas. Insights from Padua, NE Italy
Western European societies, ecologies, and economies were significantly impacted by industrialization after WWII. Steadily increasing urbanization and the abandonment of traditional agricultural activities led to a rapid erosion of local environmental knowledge (LEK). We conducted 40 semi-structured interviews in Padua, one of the most industrialized areas of Italy, to identify changes and drivers of change in plant foraging. We documented the us…
Human–nature relationships through the lens of reciprocity
In the context of climate change, biodiversity decline and social injustice, reciprocity emerges as a way of living and being in this world that holds transformative potential. Concepts of reciprocity vary and are enacted in specific cultural practices grounded in Indigenous and local knowledge systems. This editorial synthesises first‐hand evidence of how practising reciprocity can result in positive reciprocal contributions between people and n…
‘A Starving Man Does Not Sniff His Food’
The Holodomor (1932–1933) was a politically driven, genocidal famine that killed millions through starvation and disease, as well as disrupting Ukrainian society and agriculture. Through the analysis of various archival sources, particularly survivor narratives, we obtained information about 72 plants used as famine foods, foods not customarily eaten and plants eaten in unusual quantities or ways during the Holodomor. A total of at least 114 part…
Impacts of invasive algae from the perspective of fishers in the Lagoon of Venice, Northern Italy
Invasive alien species are generally considered a cause of biodiversity decline globally, and studying their evolution could provide valuable insights about their invasion mechanism and impacts to new habitats. The Lagoon of Venice (LV) is a significant gateway for invasive algae introduction into the Adriatic Sea. This work aims to address the pressing need to enhance research on the perceptions of local resource users, especially fishers, on in…
Crop diversity trends captured by Indigenous and local knowledge
Landraces and climate change
Geography (20 works) · Ecology (19 works) · Biology (18 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Ethnobotanical and Medicinal Plants Studies (12 works) · Traditional knowledge (12 works) · Ethnobotany (11 works) · Political science (11 works) · Agriculture (8 works) · Biodiversity (8 works)