Los bosques andino-patagónicos como fuentes de alimento
Eduardo H. Rapoport, Ana H. Ladio
Bosque (Valdivia)
Urban Farm DB summary
This study gathered information on the potential contribution of non-timber forest products to the food system of developing countries. Natural plant communities normally contain about 10% native vascular species that can be edible, and this proportion can rise to 20-30% in disturbed habitats, or 30-90% when only weeds are considered. Point-sample frequencies of edible individuals recorded along transects in suburban Austrocedrus chilensis forests near Bariloche, Argentina, ranged from 15% to 66%. The probability of finding at least one edible plant in a random 0.25 m² sample (calculated from n=317 samples) was 0.675, rising to near 1.0 when calculated per hectare. In western Patagonia, the number of exotic edible weed species exceeds 90. The mean available edible biomass in vacant lots in Bariloche was 1,253 ± 392.8 kg/ha, based on 193 samples of 1/4 m² each. The study includes a table of quantitative frequencies for edible weeds and a list of 60 native food plants from Patagonian forests.