I am a researcher working interdisciplinarily across the disciplines of ethnobiology, biocultural diversity research and sustainability science, with a focus on Indigenous and local knowledge systems.

My research aims to understand the reciprocal relations between humans and nature. I am interested in understanding (1) the dynamic changes of Indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) through space and time to support knowledge holders adaptation and resilience, and (2) the impacts of traditional management practices on the natural environement, especially plant community composition and structure. My research is often in relation with projects that partner with Indigenous and knowledge holders take a biocultural apprach to biodiversity conservation and social-ecological restoration.

Background

Biologist and ecologist by training (University of Barcelona, 2005-2011), I turned to the inter-discipline of ethnobiology during my PhD (University of Reading, 2014-2017) to study the cultural transmission of knowledge about medicinal plants in the Moroccan High Atlas. For that I mobilised ethnographic and botanical methods and research approaches and developed a collaboration with local communities and organisations. I continued to work with them after my PhD as a consultant for the NGO Global Diversity Foundation. With GDF I helped kick-off transdisciplinary research on how local communities protect the environment around them by creating and maintaining cultural landscapes.

In 2018, I received a postdoctoral fellowship (University of Oslo, 2018-2022) with the project “Nordic people and plants”. During this time I delved into historical ethnobiology in collaboration with archaeologists, historians, philologists and linguists to understand how local ecological knowledge changes though time at deep time scales (multiple centuries). By combining ethnographic, archival and linguistic data we evidenced the high dynamism of knowledge about plants. During my postdoc, I had the opportunity to be a visiting researcher at Naturalis (the Netherlands, 2019-2020) and at the Centre d’Ecologie Fontionnelle et Evolutive (CNRS, 2021-2022).

Since November 2022 I hold an IRD Junior Professorship at IMBE where I lead the 5-year project “People’s contributions to nature” (see Projects).

Awards

2022 - MSCA-Postdoctoral Fellowship « peopleC2eco »
2020 - Female researcher @the Natural History Museum of Oslo
2018 - MSCA-IF Seal of Excellence « VikingPlants »
2017 - PhD researcher of the year in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Reading

I lead a 5-year research project entitled “People’s contributions to nature” where, with a team of young researchers, doctoral and master students and in collaboration with international researchers and local partners, we aim to understand Indigenous and local practices to conserve, sustainably manage, and restore ecosystems emerging from Indigenous and local knowledge systems. The research objectives are : (1) to identify the underlying drivers of ecosystem servicing technique diversity, (2) to examine their effectiveness in buffering against biodiversity loss and land-use change, and (3) to mobilise results to inform and propose innovative nature-based solutions. These objectives will be addressed by the project’s team at local, regional, and global scales combining methods from ecology and the social sciences in collaboration with researchers at the IRD and across the globe, and ILK holders.

I am co-PI of the “Nordic People and Plants” project (2018-2026) and partner of the REA:Life project “Rediscovery of medicinal plant usage in the Age of Exploration : From cultural historical heritage to innovative pharmaceuticals” (2019-2024).

Peer-reviewed articles

Greene AM, Teixidor-Toneu I, Odonne G. 2023 To pick or not to pick : Photographic voucher specimens as an alternative method to botanical collecting in ethnobotany. Journal of Ethnobiology

Blakeney R, Teixidor-Toneu I, Kjesrud K, Kool A. 2023 Finding medieval medicine through archaeobotany : An ontological approach. Environmental Archaeology

Nkuruziza A, Mutaganzwa DI, Ndayitwayeko WM, Nkengurutse J, Kaplin BA, Teixidor-Toneu I, Zafra-Calvo N, Cuni-Sanchez A. 2023 Local observations of climate change and adaptation responses : A case study in the mountain region of Burundi-Rwanda. Land 12, 329

Teixidor-Toneu I, M’Sou S, Salamat H, Ait Baskad H, Ait Illigh F, Atyah T, Mouhdach H, Rankou H, Ait Babahmad R, Caruso E, Martin G, D’Ambrosio U. 2022 Which plants matter ? A comparison of academic and community assessments of plant value and conservation status in the Moroccan High Atlas. AMBIO 51, 799-810

Manzanilla V, Teixidor-Toneu I, Martin GJ, Hollingsworth PM, de Boer HJ, Kool A. 2022 Using target capture to address conservation challenges : Population-level tracking of a globally-traded herbal medicine. Molecular Ecology Resources 22, 212-224

De Groot W, Van Andel T, Kool A, Hazenberg M, Kjesrud K, Teixidor-Toneu I. 2022 The 16th-19th century Soundtoll Registers Online : Uncovering traded plant diversity between the North and the Baltic seas. Economic Botany

Le HTT, Nguyen LN, Pham HLB, Le HTM, Luong TD, Huynh HTT, Nguyen VT, Nong HV, Teixidor-Toneu I, de Boer HJ, Manzanilla V. 2022 Target capture reveals complex origin of Vietnamese ginseng. Frontiers in Plant Science 13, 814178

Miara MD, Negadi M, Tabak S, Bendif H, Dahmani W, Ait Hammou M, Sahnoun T, Snorek J, Porcher V, Reyes-García V, Teixidor-Toneu I. 2022 Climate change impacts can be differentially perceived across time scales : a study among the Tuareg of the Algerian Sahara. GeoHealth 6, e2022GH000620

Teixidor-Toneu I, Giraud NJ, Karlsen P, Annes A, Kool A. 2022 A transdisciplinary approach to define and assess wild food plant sustainable foraging in Norway. Plants People Planet

Teixidor-Toneu I, Kool A, Greenhill SJ, Kjesrud K, Sandstedt JJ, Manzanilla V, Jordan FM. 2021 Historical, archaeological and linguistic evidence test the phylogenetic inference of Viking-Age plant use. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 376(1828), 20200086

Teixidor-Toneu I, Elgadi S, Zine H, Manzanilla V, Ouhammou A, D’Ambrosio U. 2021 Medicines in the kitchen : Gender roles shape ethnobotanical knowledge in Marrakshi households. Foods 10(10), 2332

Montanari B, Teixidor-Toneu I. 2021 Mountain isolation and the retention of traditional knowledge in Morocco. Journal of North African Studies 1-21

El-Ghazouani F, El-Ouahmani N, Teixidor-Toneu I, Yacoubi B, Zekhnini A. 2021 A survey of medicinal plants used in traditional medicine by women and herbalists from the city of Agadir, southwestern of Morocco. European Journal of Integrative Medicine, 101284

Lei D, Al Jabri T, Teixidor-Toneu I, Saslis-Lagoudakis H, Ghazanfar S, Hawkins JA. 2020 Comparative analysis of four medicinal floras : Phylogenetic methods to identify cross-cultural patterns. Plants People Planet, 3, 1-13

Teixidor-Toneu I, Kjesrud K, Bjerke E, Parekj K, Kool A. 2020 From the “Norwegian Flora” (18th-C) to “Plants and Tradition” (20th-C) : 200 years of Norwegian knowledge about wild plants. Economic Botany 74(4), 398-410

Teixidor-Toneu I, Kjesrud K, Kool A. 2020 Sweetness beyond desserts : The cultural, symbolic, and botanical history of angelica (Angelica archangelica) in the Nordic region. Journal of Ethnobiology 40(3) : 289-304.

Wall J, Teixidor-Toneu I, Dafni A. 2020 Sweetness and loss : An urgent call for affiliative modes of living. Journal of Ethnobiology 40(3), 283-288

Alqethami A, Aldhebiani AY, Teixidor-Toneu I. 2020 Medicinal plants used in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia : A gender perspective. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 257, 112899.

Miara MD, Bendif H, Ouabed A, Rebbas K, Ait Hammou M, Amirat M, Greene A, Teixidor-Toneu I. 2019 Ethnoveterinary remedies used in the Algerian steppe : exploring the relationship with traditional human herbal medicine. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 244, 112164.

Miara MD, Teixidor-Toneu I, Sahnoun T, Bendif H, Ait Hammou M. 2019 Herbal remedies and traditional knowledge of the Tuareg community in the region of Illizi (Algerian Sahara). Journal of Arid Environements, 167, 65-73.

Teixidor-Toneu I, Jordan FM, Hawkins JA. 2018 Comparative phylogenetic methods and the cultural evolution of medicinal plant use. Nature Plants, 4:10.

Miara MD, Bendif H, Ait Hammou M, Teixidor-Toneu I. 2018 Ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used by nomadic peoples in the Algerian steppe. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 219, 248-256.

Vidal M, Aspillaga E, Teixidor-Toneu I, Delgado-Huertas A. 2018 Lateral transport of N-rich dissolved organic matter strengthens phosphorus deficiency in Western Subtropical North Atlantic. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 32(9), 1350-1366

Alqethami A, Hawkins JA, Teixidor-Toneu I. 2017 Medicinal plants used by women in Mecca : urban, Muslim and gendered knowledge. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 13:62.

Hawkins JA, Teixidor-Toneu I. 2017 Defining ‘ethnobotanical convergence’. Trends in Plant Science, 22, 639-640.

Teixidor-Toneu I, Martin GJ, Puri RK, Ouhammou A, Hawkins JA. 2017 Treating infants with frigg : Linking disease aetiologies, medicinal plant use and care-seeking behaviour in southern Morocco. Jounal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 13:4.

Teixidor-Toneu I, Martin GJ, Ouhammou A, Puri RK, Hawkins JA. 2016 An ethnomedicinal survey of a Tashelhit-speaking community in the High Atlas, Morocco. Jounal of Ethnopharmacology, 188, 96-110.

Teixidor-Toneu I, Martin GJ, Ouhammou A, Puri RK, Hawkins JA. 2016 Comprehensive dataset of the medicinal plants used by a Tashelhit-speaking community in the High Atlas, Morocco. Data in Brief, 8, 516-519

Book chapters

Kjesrud K, Olsen ln, Teixidor-Toneu I, Sandstedt JJ, Kool A, Christiansen L. 2022 Plant remains as sources to cultural history in South-Eastern Norway. In : Complexity and dynamics : Settlement and landscape from the Iron Age and Medieval period in the Nordic countries (eds. Ystgaard I, Ødegaard M). Sidestone Press.

Kool A, Kjesrud K, Teixidor-Toneu I, Sandstedt JJ. 2021 Mennsker og planter i fortid og fremtid. In : O.A. Høeg Planter og tradisjon 2nd edition. Kolofon, Oslo.

Teixidor-Toneu I, Martin GJ, M’Sou S, D’Ambrosio U. 2020 Integrating Amazigh cultural practices in Moroccan High Atlas biodiversity conservation. In : Handbook of Indigenous Environmental Knowledge (eds. Bhaqwat S, Thornton TF), pp. 201-213. Routledge.

Teixidor-Toneu I, Elhajjam A, D’Ambrosio U. 2020 Ethnoveterinary practices in the Maghreb. In : Ethnoveterinary medicine (eds. Ali Abdalla M, McGaw LJ) pp. 285-304. Springer, Cham.

Non peer-reviewed articles

Teixidor-Toneu I. 2023 La cueillette durable, un example de contribution réciproque entre les humains et la nature. Fiche Science de la Durabilité 52. IRD publications

Teixidor-Toneu I, Montúfar R, Bilhaut AG, Auffray T, González D, Dangles O. 2022 Following a button : A transdisciplinary journey. The Ethnobotanical Assembly, 9

D’Ambrosio U, Teixidor-Toneu I. 2021 Els Amazics i les plantes. Milfulles, 5. Flora Catalana

Teixidor-Toneu I. 2020 Your secret life with plants. The Ethnobotanical Assembly, 6

Teixidor-Toneu I. 2015 Isafarn nudrar : Flowerpots help preserve biocultural conservation diversity in the High Atlas, Morocco. Langscape, 4(2), 53-56.

On-going projects

2022-2027 - People’s contributions to nature (peopleC2eco) PI - IRD CPJ
2020-2024 - Rediscovery of medicinal plant use in the Age of Exploration (REA:Life) partner - UiO Convergent environment
2018-2026 - Nordic people and plants (NPP) co-PI - SAMKUL Research Council of Norway

Completed projects

2021-2022 - Modelling and preserving Nordic ethnobotanical heritage PI - Researcher Mobility, Research Council of Norway
2018-2019 - Biodiversity and traditional knowledge flourish through Bishkek’s Botanical Garden co-PI - Darwing Scoping Award
2018 - Traditional plant knowledge in Norway co-PI - GBIF Norway

Teaching

Master Biodiversité Ecologie et Evolution @AMU
– Landscape ethnobiology (UE BF24 Landscape structure and dynamics)
– Biocultural approaches to ecological restoration (UE BA24 Ecological restoration and integrity)
– Ethnobiology : concepts and methods (UE BE31 Global ecology and field school)

(co-)Supervision

PhD
2023 - Mirela Santos, Federal University of Pernambuco (Brazil)
2022 - Océane Cobelli, CIRAD (France)
2022 - Anja Fischer, University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
2020 - Karoline Heien, University of Oslo (Norway)
2019 - Afnan Alqethami, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Saudi Arabia)

Master 2
2023 - Mathilde Huet, Université de Rennes (France)
2022 - Gabriela Loayza, FLACSO (Ecuador)
2021 - Anja H. Storaker, University of Oslo (Norway)
2020 - Nicolas J. Giraud, PURPAN (France)
2020 - Willemien de Groot, Wageningen University & Research (The Netherlands)
2017 - Hannah Lindh, University of Kent (UK)
2017 - Juliette Totten, University of Kent (UK)
2016 - Afnan Alqethami, University of Reading (UK)

Editing and revision
– Associate editor for People & Nature, Journal of Ethnobiology, Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, Revue d’Ethnoécologie
– Reviewer for People & Nature, Journal of Ethnobiology, Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Ecologia Mediterranea, Révue d’Ethnoécologie, Plants People Planet