Literaturdatenbank |
Anadón, J. D., Giménez Casalduero, A., & Ballestar, R. (2009). Evaluation of local ecological knowledge as a method for collecting extensive data on animal abundance. Conservation Biology, 23(3), 617–625.
Added by: Admin (22 Feb 2009 11:56:06 UTC) Last edited by: Beate Pfau (16 Apr 2011 12:25:01 UTC) |
Resource type: Journal Article DOI: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.01145.x BibTeX citation key: Anadon2009 View all bibliographic details |
Categories: General Keywords: Habitat = habitat, Schildkröten = turtles + tortoises, Südwesteuropa = South-Western Europe, Testudinidae, Testudo, Testudo graeca Creators: , Anadón, Ballestar, Giménez Casalduero Collection: Conservation Biology |
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Abstract |
Testudinidae The use of local ecological knowledge (LEK) has been advocated for biodiversity monitoring and management. To date, however, it has been underused in studying wild populations of animals and, particularly, in obtaining quantitative abundance estimates. We evaluated LEK as a tool for collecting extensive data on local animal abundance and population trends. We interviewed shepherds in southeastern Spain, asking them to estimate the local abundance of the terrestrial tortoise Testudo graeca. We quantified reliability of abundance estimates derived from interviews by comparing them with those obtained from standard field-sampling protocols (distance sampling). We also explored the complementarity of these 2 approaches. LEK provided high-quality and low-cost information about both distribution and abundance of T. graeca. Interviews with shepherds yielded abundance estimates in a much wider range than linear transects, which only detected the species in the upper two-thirds of its abundance range. Abundance estimates from both methodologies showed a close relationship. Analysis of confidence intervals indicated local knowledge could be used to estimate mean local abundances and to detect mean population trends. A cost analysis determined that the information derived from LEK was 100 times cheaper than that obtained through linear-transect surveys. Our results should further the use of LEK as a standard tool for sampling the quantitative abundance of a great variety of taxa, particularly when population densities are low and traditional sampling methods are expensive or difficult to implement.
Added by: Admin Last edited by: Beate Pfau |