Ethnomycological Study of Macrofungi from Mpanga Forest in Mpigi District, Central Uganda

Abstract

This study focused on the documentation of wild macrofungi species used by village communities living around Mpanga Forest in Mpigi District, Central Uganda. In order to determine the variability of knowledge and the modes of use of macrofungi by the local communities, a total of 100 people, distributed in 4 villages (Kalagala, Nakigudde, Mpambire, and Lwanga) including 25 people in each, were interviewed following a semi-structured survey. The information focused on vernacular names, different species of macrofungi used, different categories of uses (food, medicinal, commercial, mythical, and traditional beliefs), Seasonality, habitat, preservation, and preparation methods. The diversity of macrofungi was assessed by combining visits in Mpanga forest and ethnomycological surveys. Ethnomycological indices such as Total Use Value (TUV), Diversity Index (DI), Pielou Regularity Index (EI), and Sorensen's K test were calculated to analyze the use differences between the 4 village communities. To determine the influence of age, gender and literacy level on the mycological knowledge held by village communities, one-way ANOVA and t-tests were used. The field collections associated with the ethnomycological surveys made it possible to identify a total of 35 species useful for the local communities among which, 29 are edible, 14 are medicinal, 5 are used for income and 4 are used for mythical and traditional beliefs. Due to their higher total use value (TUV>1), species such as Leucoagaricus rubrotinctus (Ggudu), Termitomyces sp.1 (Bubbala) and Termitomyces sp.2 (Nakyebowa) are the most exploited by local communities. The study revealed that ethnomycological knowledge is held by a minority of respondents (IE<0.5) within each village community, a consistency homogeneity of this knowledge within this minority (DI<DImax/2), but high variability in the use of macrofungi between village communities as indicated by TUV values ​​and Sorensen's K test. The study also shown that the distribution of mycological knowledge of local communities was significantly (P < 0.05) influenced by gender, age and level of education. The results of this study provided information that could, in the future, be used in the domestication of wild macrofungi species and in mycomedecine to contribute to food security and improve public health care.