Understanding Interrelationships Among Predictors (Age, Gender, and Origin) of Local Ecological Knowledge1

Traditional Knowledge in a Rural Community in the Semi-Arid Region of Brazil: Age and gender patterns and their implications for plant conservation

“…In the São Francisco community, traditional knowledge systems of useful plant species may exhibit intracultural variations mediated by factors such as age and gender that would be determinants in the perception of the local environment (Almeida et al 2012, Camou-Guerrero et al 2008, Dovie et al 2008, Souto & Ticktin 2012. There are clear differences in diversity of use between the youngest and oldest groups in the São Francisco community.…”

Diversity, Knowledge, and Use of Plants in Traditional Treatment of Diabetes in the Republic of Benin

“…First, it has been argued that the pattern of ethnobotanical knowledge, in relation to social factors, is more strongly associated with plant use categories, including medicinal plants. For example, in the gender-related knowledge about natural resources use, men were currently reported to have higher knowledge than women (Kristensen & Balslev 2003, Wekerle et al 2006, although the trend is inverted when looking at medicinal plants (Begossi et al 2002, Souto & Ticktin 2012. That is, according to the category of uses, the pattern of plant knowledge might vary among the social groups.…”

“…But, it is worth understanding whether this trend varies according to the type of occupation. In other words, the extent to which a social factor can explain the variation in people's knowledge may depend on the level of another one (Souto & Ticktin 2012).…”

“…Unfortunately, if the use of plants and the variation in knowledge within indigenous people are frequently related to the difference in social factors such as origin, gender, age, and occupation (Camou-Guerrero et al 2008, Campos & Ehringhaus 2003, Case et al 2005, Souto & Ticktin 2012, the application of geographical concepts is lagging (Beltrán-Rodríguez et al 2014). For instance, occupation is a decisive social variable for effective knowledge (CamouGuerrero et al 2008); a herbalist is assumed to be more knowledgeable in the healing attributes of plants than a farmer.…”

“…Moreover, using the number of reported species enables a quantitative indication of how much knowledge, in terms of species, exists within informants (Camou-Guerrero et al 2008). It is commonly used as a proxy to assess the degree of knowledge of plant resources (Beltrán-Rodríguez et al 2014, Camou-Guerrero et al 2008, Souto & Ticktin 2012. .…”