Ethnoecology, Resource Use, Conservation And Development In A ...

via the exploitation of locally-available natural resources (chapter 8.1). Detailed
studies were made of explicit aspects of the knowledge of individuals, which revealed
the collective possession of a large body of information about the ecological
relationships of a number of animal species found locally. Compatibility with the
biological sciences was demonstrated in the first instance by the successful elicitation
of ethnoecological data within a research framework based upon categories derived
from the former (chapter 6). Comparison of the data set with published information
on the ecology of the animal species concerned showed there to be a large region of
overlap, in which the two correspond closely in detail (chapter 7). It also revealed
certain shortcomings of the ethnoecological data set as a source of information
compatible with scientific approaches to ecology.
In certain subject areas, such as population dynamics and detailed social
behaviour, informants did not provide useful information. This is assumed to be due
to methodological constraints, and to reflect an inherent limitation of local ecological
knowledge. For the majority of examined animal species, lists of food sources derived
from the ethnoecological data set were much shorter than those in the most
complete of the published ecological studies. In addition, much information on diet
was thrown out of the data set as a result of being mentioned by only one informant.
Various methodological improvements have been suggested as means to overcome
this. Until they have been tested in the field it is difficult to say to what extent this is
due to limitations in the methods employed for recording ethnoecological data or to
shortcomings of the knowledge base.
Ethnoecology is thus of value as a methodology that can generate baseline
ecological data sets, but its limitations mean that it does not by any means make
scientific methods in the study of ecology redundant. On the contrary, scientific
ecology can provide the means to overcome these limitations, in the form of
methodological approaches not normally available to informal students of natural
history. The complementary nature of the two was demonstrated by use of
ethnoecological data to generate a series of testable hypotheses concerning human
influences on the forest ecosystem (chapter 8.2). Wapishana hunters engaged in the
collection of ecological data on two species demonstrated that their skills are readily
transferable to the collection of ecological data (chapter 8.3). Many of the skills
employed in this are among those that are most difficult for an outsider to acquire,
such as orientation, tracking and interpreting animal signs, and accurate field
identification of plant and animal species. The possibility thus exists for a profound