Abstract
A mycological supply function of wild edible fungi is determined by a set of forest and economic variables, among which climate variables stand out. Focusing on wild mushroom picking with commercial value (Lactarius deliciosus (L.) Gray) as an example, the main objective of this paper is to obtain empirical evidence about the impact of meteorological and economic variables on the mushroom supply. A multidisciplinary vector error correction (VEC) model for mushroom supply is estimated. Coefficients for the Error Correction Term (ECT) are all significant, at the 0.01 significance level, both in the model for prices and for collected mushrooms. The value of the ECT coefficient in the equation for prices is −0.086 (t-value: −9.321), and for the collected mushroom equation is 0.499 (t-value: 3.913). The impact of precipitation on price changes is −0.104 (t-value: −1.66), and the impact of temperature on mushroom harvest picking is 0.605 (t-value: 3.07). We find that including climate factors to explain mushroom supply considerably strengthens the explanatory power of the model, and in some cases greatly changes the results.
Highlights
During the past few years, in numerous countries there has been an increase in the demand for some non-timber products from forests, edible wild mushrooms being a clear example of this trend [1,2]
Results obtained from Augmented Dickey–Fuller (ADF) and PP tests indicate that variables lactkg and lactpr are non-stationary in their levels, but become stationary after taking the first difference (Table 3)
We reiterate that in this study the supply of wild edible mushrooms was addressed only in terms of the mushroom harvests that are sold in a central market; recreational mushroom picking was not considered in the supply function, despite the importance of this kind of activity in many rural communities [6]
Summary
During the past few years, in numerous countries there has been an increase in the demand for some non-timber products from forests, edible wild mushrooms being a clear example of this trend [1,2]. From an economic point of view, the studies in this respect are somewhat scant, in spite of several favorable circumstances: the high value of commercialized edible mushrooms [4], the huge economic importance associated with their consumption [5], the sharp increase in their demand during the last 40 years [6], and their economic potential in some countries, such as in the Mediterranean [7]. In some studies on the saffron milk cap demand in Spain, social and cultural variables (mainly the geographical origin of families), is considered to characterize mushroom consumption. The elasticity of this social variable is positive and clearly significant [8], while some estimate the economic value per year of edible and marketable mushrooms in Catalonia (Spain) [9]
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