On Using Expert-Based Science to "Test" Local Ecological Knowledge
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4239571 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ryan K Brooks (0000-0003-1658-1607, University of Manitoba), Stéphane M Mclachlan (University of Manitoba) |
| Year | 2005 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Publication date | 2005-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Conservation Ecology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1195-5449 • E-ISSN: 1708-3087 |
| Publisher | Resilience Alliance (PUBLISHER • CA) |
| DOI | 10.5751/es-01478-1002r03 |
| OpenAlex | W13337788 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 30 |
| References cited | 7 |
The challenges and opportunities of incorporating information collected through scientific studies with the experience-based knowledge of resourcedependent communities have been the focus of numerous studies (e.g., Freeman 1992, Agrawal 1995, Weeks and Packard 1997, Turner et al. 2000). However, there are relatively few examples in which ecological science and local knowledge have both been successfully incorporated to provide meaningful input into resource management (Berkes 2004). In their recent article in Ecology and Society, Gilchrist et al. (2005) provide a thorough evaluation of Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) using expert-based ecological studies often referred to as “western science.” Although we applaud their recognition of the value of and desire to promote LEK, it is unfortunate that they use expert-based ecological data as a “test” to determine the “reliability” of LEK. Even though the authors indicate their wish to use the two different approaches to identify “constraints and limitations of both approaches,” they fail to discuss the assumptions, limitations, or constraints of the ecological studies that they use. We do not take issue with their ecological studies; we presume they are of the highest quality. However, to assume that the ecological studies are error free and without any bias or limitation is perhaps somewhat misguided, albeit an assumption that many scientists still make (Harding 1991, Rykiel 2001). Indeed, Freeman (1992) provides examples in which conflicts occurred in the Canadian Arctic between LEK and expert-based science over aerial surveys of bowhead whales in the Beaufort Sea and caribou in what is now Nunavut, where local perceptions of the state of these wildlife populations were initially considered “unreliable” but were resolved when biases in ecological studies were corrected using local knowledge. These case studies illustrate the limitations of ecological research and monitoring, and provide a cautionary tale against accepting them as “truth.”
Biology · Environmental resource management · Sociology · Sociology of scientific knowledge · Computer Science · Environmental Science · Indigenous Studies and Ecology · Species Distribution and Climate Change · Wildlife Ecology and Conservation · Ecology
Local knowledge in ecological modeling
The Challenge of Forest Diagnostics
Accurate Mental Maps as an Aspect of Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK)
Comparing Expert-Based Science With Local Ecological Knowledge
Using Inuit traditional ecological knowledge for detecting and monitoring avian cholera among Common Eiders in the eastern Canadian Arctic
Integration of Local Ecological Knowledge and Conventional Science
The Use of Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Forest Management
The Problem of Scale in Indigenous Knowledge
Gardening in Ashes
What is “Ecological” in Local Ecological Knowledge? Lessons from Canada and Vietnam
Transgressions of the man on the moon
Adaptive Co-Management and Grizzly Bear-Human Conflicts in Two Northern Canadian Aboriginal Communities
Polar Bear Conservation in Canada
Constructing confidence
Local ecological knowledge of fisheries charts decline of sharks in data-poor regions
Monitoring Data and Public Perception Diverge – Especially When Species Abundance Increases
From silence to resilience
Bridging Knowledges
Transformative research as knowledge mobilization
Challenges in combining Indigenous and scientific knowledge in the Arctic
Identifying transformational space for transdisciplinarity
Integrating Indigenous and scientific perspectives on environmental changes
The value and limitations of local ecological knowledge
Weaving Indigenous and Western knowledge systems across a continuum of knowledge and decision-making spaces
Hatching Knowledge
Unpacking the Red List
Experts' Perspectives on the Integration of Indigenous Knowledge and Science in Wet Tropics Natural Resource Management
Bird naming systems by Akan people in Ghana follow scientific nomenclature with potentials for conservation monitoring
The determinants of dietary diversity and nutrition
Local perceptions of grassland degradation in China
Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Wisdom of Aboriginal Peoples in British Columbia
Rethinking Community‐Based Conservation
Whose Science? Whose Knowledge?
Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge
Climate Change and Sea Ice
Challenging the boundaries of local and scientific knowledge in Australia
Can Local Ecological Knowledge Contribute to Wildlife Management? Case Studies of Migratory Birds
| Unique citing works | 30 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,58 |
| Citation span | 2007 - 2026 (20) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 17 |