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INTERSPECIFIC RELATIONSHIPS AFFECTING ENDANGERED SPECIES RECOGNIZED BY O'ODHAM AND COMCÁAC CULTURES
Author(s) -
Nabhan Gary Paul
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
ecological applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.864
H-Index - 213
eISSN - 1939-5582
pISSN - 1051-0761
DOI - 10.1890/1051-0761(2000)010[1288:iraesr]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - endangered species , ecology , indigenous , traditional knowledge , habitat , threatened species , interspecific competition , biology , geography
Because certain indigenous peoples have lived in the same habitats for centuries, their languages often encode traditional ecological knowledge about interactions between plant and animal species that occur in those habitats. This local knowledge is sometimes complementary to more broadly derived knowledge accrued by academically trained field ecologists. In this analysis of recent ethnoecological studies from the Sonoran Desert, it is clear that O'odham and Comcáac foragers recognize, name, and interpret ecological interactions among locally occurring species, regardless of whether these species directly benefit them economically. It is demostrated how their knowledge of ecological interactions involving threatened species may offer Western‐trained scientists and resource managers hypotheses to test, and to apply to endangered species recovery efforts. It is proposed that endangered species recovery teams include local para‐ecologists from indigenous communities to aid in the integration of knowledge bases derived from various cultural perspectives.