Understanding Interrelationships Among Predictors (Age, Gender, and Origin) of Local Ecological Knowledge

• Published in: Economic botany 2012-06, Vol.66 (2), p.149-164
• Main Authors: Souto, Tamia, Ticktin, Tamara
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Biological and medical sciences; Ecology; Economic botany; Ethnobotany; Forest ecology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Medicinal plants; Men; Natural history; Plant ecology; Plants; Riparian forests
• ISSN: 0013-0001; 1874-9364
• DOI: 10.1007/s12231-012-9194-3

Understanding which factors predict local ecological knowledge can provide insight into how this knowledge is learned and how it may change in the future. We assess how knowledge of both useful plants and plant natural history vary according to gender, age, and origin in mestizo communities in Venezuela's Caura Basin. Two sets of structured questionnaires were carried out with a total of 83 adults in three communities. Multiple regression analyses were used to identify the predictors of knowledge of 6 plant-use categories and natural history knowledge of 12 plant species. Gender, age, and origin (> 2 generations in the Caura vs. foreign-born) were all important predictors of knowledge of useful plants and natural history; however, their importance differed between the two types of knowledge. Origin was a more important predictor of knowledge of useful plants, whereas age was more important in predicting knowledge of natural history. This suggests differences in how each type of knowledge is learned and transmitted. Gender was an important predictor variable in most models, reflecting gender roles in the Caura mestizo communities. Also, for most categories of plant-use knowledge, the interactions among predictors were significant, indicating that the effect of one variable depended on the level of the other. These results illustrate how overlooking interactions among variables, as most studies to date have done, can risk misinterpretation of results by simplifying complex situations. Comprender los factores que predicen el conocimiento ecológico local puede aportar un mayor entendimiento de como este conocimiento es aprendido y como podría cambiar en el futuro. Evaluamos como el conocimiento de plantas útiles y la historia natural de las mismas varia en función del sexo, la edad y el origen en comunidades mestizas de la Cuenca del Caura, Venezuela. Dos series de cuestionarios estructurados se llevaron a cabo, entrevistando a un total de 83 adultos en tres comunidades. Análisis de regresión múltiple fueron empleados para identificar los predictores del conocimiento de 6 categorías de uso de plantas y el conocimiento de historia natural de 12 especies de plantas. Sexo, edad y origen (> 2 generaciones viviendo en el Caura vs personas nacidas fuera) fueron predictores importantes del conocimiento plantas útiles y el conocimiento de historia natural, ademas su importancia difiere entre los dos tipos de conocimiento. Origen fue la variable independiente más impor