Estimation of frequency and locality of collection of wild mushroom and wild vegetables by internet search

Abstract

We estimated the frequency of field harvests of wild mushrooms and wild vegetables, and clarified the locality of harvest frequencies based on Internet search results. The harvests were divided into private and organization-based. The Internet search was done for 133 cities, towns, and villages across the country with predetermined keywords. We constructed multiple regression models, to explain the relationships between the harvest frequencies and local traits such as population, forest area, temperature, snow cover days (SCD), and so on. The harvest frequency of both mushrooms and wild vegetables were positively correlated with SCD and were negatively correlated with temperature. This suggests that cool climates and frequent harvests of mushrooms and vegetables are closely related. Another trend identified was that private collectors preferred natural forests and that the collectors belonging to organizations utilized various forest types. It was hypothesized that private collectors enjoyed harvesting for leisure while collectors belonging to organizations were likely to work in areas where reliable harvesting was expected.