The importance of Indigenous and local people for cataloging biodiversity

Editorial Material Multidisciplinary Sciences

Escaping Darwin's shadow: how Alfred Russel Wallace inspires Indigenous researchers

Camila C. C. Ribas

NATURE (2023)

Article Ecology

Fishers' Knowledge Reveals Ecological Interactions Between Fish and Plants in High Diverse Tropical Rivers

Paula Evelyn Rubira Pereyra et al.

Summary: This study investigates the feeding interactions between frugivorous fish and plants in three rivers in the Brazilian Amazon based on local ecological knowledge held by fishers. The study found that a total of 92 plants were consumed by the six frugivorous fishes in the three rivers. The interaction networks varied in nestedness, connectance, and modularity among the rivers. The findings contribute to our understanding of ecological interactions and the effects of anthropic changes in tropical rivers.

ECOSYSTEMS (2023)

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Article Biodiversity Conservation

Drawing on local knowledge and attitudes for the conservation of critically endangered rhino rays in Goa, India

Trisha Gupta et al.

Summary: This study utilized local ecological knowledge (LEK) to understand the socio-ecological status of rhino rays in Goa, India. The research investigated their habitat use, interaction with fisheries, socio-economic uses, and relational values. The study also explored fishers' attitudes towards rhino rays and their conservation. LEK revealed important insights, such as the identification of nursery grounds and the severe decline of certain rhino ray species in the region.

PEOPLE AND NATURE (2023)

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Article Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Engagement with indigenous people preserves local knowledge and biodiversity alike

Elliot M. Gardner et al.

CURRENT BIOLOGY (2022)

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Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

A set of principles and practical suggestions for equitable fieldwork in biology

Valeria Ramirez-Castaneda et al.

Summary: This article discusses issues of equality, inclusivity, ethics, and safety in field biology research and proposes four guiding principles for equitable practices. It also provides suggestions for global collaborators to make field biology more fair and encourages baseline training.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (2022)

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Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Language and ethnobiological skills decline precipitously in Papua New Guinea, the world's most linguistically diverse nation

Alfred Kik et al.

Summary: Papua New Guinea has a diverse range of languages and biocultural knowledge, but is facing challenges in language and ethnobiological knowledge loss. The language skills and ethnobiological knowledge of students are declining at an accelerating rate, influenced by factors such as family language use, mixed-language families, urbanization, and traditional skills.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (2021)

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Article Ecology

Building ecological networks with local ecological knowledge in hyper-diverse and logistically challenging ecosystems

Lisa Ong et al.

Summary: Collecting interaction data in highly diverse ecosystems can be challenging, but by utilizing local ecological knowledge of indigenous communities, quantitative interaction databases and networks can be built. In a biodiversity hotspot in Peninsular Malaysia, interactions of animal fruit consumption and seed dispersal were documented through visually oriented interviews with indigenous people, field data, and published records. The majority of interactions were identified through local ecological knowledge interviews, supporting the validity of this approach in building detailed ecological interaction databases.

METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION (2021)

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Editorial Material Ecology