The demise of caterpillar fungus in the Himalayan region due to climate change and overharvesting
Demand for traditional medicine ingredients is causing species declines globally. Due to this trade, Himalayan caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) has become one of the world’s most valuable biological commodities, providing a crucial source of income for hundreds of thousands of collecto...
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/213878 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1811591115 |
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ftunivlouvain:oai:dial.uclouvain.be:boreal:213878 2024-05-12T08:09:57+00:00 The demise of caterpillar fungus in the Himalayan region due to climate change and overharvesting Hopping, Kelly A. Chignell, Stephen M. Lambin, Eric UCL - SST/ELI/ELIC - Earth & Climate 2018 http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/213878 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1811591115 eng eng National academy of sciences boreal:213878 http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/213878 doi:10.1073/pnas.1811591115 urn:ISSN:0027-8424 urn:EISSN:1091-6490 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Proceedings of the National academy of sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 115, no.45, p. 11489-11494 (2018) local ecological knowledge | niche commodities | species distribution modeling | Ophiocordyceps sinensis | Tibetan Plateau local ecological knowledge niche commodities species distribution modeling ophiocordyceps sinensis tibetian plateau info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2018 ftunivlouvain https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1811591115 2024-04-17T16:49:56Z Demand for traditional medicine ingredients is causing species declines globally. Due to this trade, Himalayan caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) has become one of the world’s most valuable biological commodities, providing a crucial source of income for hundreds of thousands of collectors. However, the resulting harvesting boom has generated widespread concern over the sustainability of its collection. We investigate whether caterpillar fungus production is decreasing—and if so, why—across its entire range. To overcome the limitations of sparse quantitative data, we use a multiple evidence base approach that makes use of complementarities between local knowledge and ecological modeling. We find that,according to collectors across four countries, caterpillar fungus production has decreased due to habitat degradation, climate change,and especially overexploitation. Our statistical models corroborate that climate change is contributing to this decline. They indicate that caterpillar fungus is more productive under colder conditions, growing in close proximity to areas likely to have permafrost. With significant warming already underway throughout much of its range, we conclude that caterpillar fungus populations have been negatively affected by a combination of overexploitation and climate change. Our results underscore that harvesting is not the sole threat to economically valuable species, and that a collapse of the caterpillar fungus system under ongoing warming and high collection pressurewould have serious implications throughout the Himalayan region. Article in Journal/Newspaper permafrost DIAL@UCLouvain (Université catholique de Louvain) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115 45 11489 11494 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
DIAL@UCLouvain (Université catholique de Louvain) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivlouvain |
language |
English |
topic |
local ecological knowledge | niche commodities | species distribution modeling | Ophiocordyceps sinensis | Tibetan Plateau local ecological knowledge niche commodities species distribution modeling ophiocordyceps sinensis tibetian plateau |
spellingShingle |
local ecological knowledge | niche commodities | species distribution modeling | Ophiocordyceps sinensis | Tibetan Plateau local ecological knowledge niche commodities species distribution modeling ophiocordyceps sinensis tibetian plateau Hopping, Kelly A. Chignell, Stephen M. Lambin, Eric The demise of caterpillar fungus in the Himalayan region due to climate change and overharvesting |
topic_facet |
local ecological knowledge | niche commodities | species distribution modeling | Ophiocordyceps sinensis | Tibetan Plateau local ecological knowledge niche commodities species distribution modeling ophiocordyceps sinensis tibetian plateau |
description |
Demand for traditional medicine ingredients is causing species declines globally. Due to this trade, Himalayan caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) has become one of the world’s most valuable biological commodities, providing a crucial source of income for hundreds of thousands of collectors. However, the resulting harvesting boom has generated widespread concern over the sustainability of its collection. We investigate whether caterpillar fungus production is decreasing—and if so, why—across its entire range. To overcome the limitations of sparse quantitative data, we use a multiple evidence base approach that makes use of complementarities between local knowledge and ecological modeling. We find that,according to collectors across four countries, caterpillar fungus production has decreased due to habitat degradation, climate change,and especially overexploitation. Our statistical models corroborate that climate change is contributing to this decline. They indicate that caterpillar fungus is more productive under colder conditions, growing in close proximity to areas likely to have permafrost. With significant warming already underway throughout much of its range, we conclude that caterpillar fungus populations have been negatively affected by a combination of overexploitation and climate change. Our results underscore that harvesting is not the sole threat to economically valuable species, and that a collapse of the caterpillar fungus system under ongoing warming and high collection pressurewould have serious implications throughout the Himalayan region. |
author2 |
UCL - SST/ELI/ELIC - Earth & Climate |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hopping, Kelly A. Chignell, Stephen M. Lambin, Eric |
author_facet |
Hopping, Kelly A. Chignell, Stephen M. Lambin, Eric |
author_sort |
Hopping, Kelly A. |
title |
The demise of caterpillar fungus in the Himalayan region due to climate change and overharvesting |
title_short |
The demise of caterpillar fungus in the Himalayan region due to climate change and overharvesting |
title_full |
The demise of caterpillar fungus in the Himalayan region due to climate change and overharvesting |
title_fullStr |
The demise of caterpillar fungus in the Himalayan region due to climate change and overharvesting |
title_full_unstemmed |
The demise of caterpillar fungus in the Himalayan region due to climate change and overharvesting |
title_sort |
demise of caterpillar fungus in the himalayan region due to climate change and overharvesting |
publisher |
National academy of sciences |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/213878 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1811591115 |
genre |
permafrost |
genre_facet |
permafrost |
op_source |
Proceedings of the National academy of sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 115, no.45, p. 11489-11494 (2018) |
op_relation |
boreal:213878 http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/213878 doi:10.1073/pnas.1811591115 urn:ISSN:0027-8424 urn:EISSN:1091-6490 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1811591115 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |
container_volume |
115 |
container_issue |
45 |
container_start_page |
11489 |
op_container_end_page |
11494 |
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