TRADITIONAL USE OF AMPHIBIANS IN THE STATE OF MEXICO

Abstract

The traditional knowledge that human groups have about fauna is being lost, generating the need to collect the cultural information they have about their natural resources in order to rescue that knowledge for the sustainable management of ecosystems before the loss of species. The objective of this work was to document the traditional knowledge and practices that human communities in the State of Mexico have about amphibians and and to assess if there is a current relationship between the loss of traditional knowledge of amphibians with respect to their habitat and the loss of resource knowing the perception of people with respect to their habitat. Open and semi-structured interviews were applied, supported by a photographic catalog for the identification of amphibian species. The use and utilization of twelve species was documented. The axolotls and frogs are the amphibians most used in medicine and food. There are also breeding sites for bullfrogs (Aquarana catesbeiana), which are purchased locally for didactic use in schools, while tadpoles and frogs are also used locally for food and adult frogs are captured and sold on request. Knowledge and traditional practices may be being lost either because of economic activities or because of the decrease in amphibian populations due to contamination and the drying out of aquatic bodies.