Ethnobiology is the scientific study of dynamic relationships between peoples, biota, and environments, from the distant past to the immediate present.1
"People-biota-environment" interactions around the world are documented and studied through time, across cultures, and across disciplines in a search for valid, reliable answers to two 'defining' questions: "How and in what ways do human societies use nature, and how and in what ways do human societies view nature?"2
Contents 1 History 1.1 Beginnings (1400s-1800s) 1.2 Phase I (1900s-1940s) 1.3 Phase II (1950s-1970s) 1.4 Present (1980s-2000s) 2 Subjects of Inquiry 2.1 Usage 2.2 Taxonomy 2.3 Cosmological, Moral and Spiritual Significance 2.4 Traditional Ecological Knowledge 3 Subdisciplines 3.1 Ethnobotany 3.2 Ethnozoology 3.3 Ethnoecology 4 Other Disciplines 5 Ethics 6 See also 7 Bibliography 8 References 9 External links // History Beginnings (1400s-1800s)Naturalists have been interested in local biological knowledge since the time Europeans started exploring the world, from the 15th century onwards3.
16th Century English map of the world showing extent of western geographic knowledge at that time (1599)Europeans not only sought to understand the new regions they intruded into but also were on the look-out for resources that they might profitably exploit, engaging in practices that today we should consider tantamount to biopiracy. Many new crops .. entered into Europe during this period, such as the potato, tomato, pumpkin, maize, and tobacco.3 (Page 121)
Local biological knowledge, collected and sampled over these early centuries significantly informed the early development of modern biology3:
during the 17th century Georg Eberhard Rumphius benefited from local biological knowledge in producing his catalogue, "Herbarium Amboinense", covering more than 1 200 species of the plants of Indonesia; during the 18th century, Carl Linnaeus relied upon Rumphius's work, and also corresponded with other people all around the world when developing the biological classification scheme that now underlies the arrangement of much of the accumulated knowledge of the biological sciences. during the 19th century, Charles Darwin, the 'father' of evolutionary theory, on his Voyage of the Beagle took interest in the local biological knowledge of peoples he encountered. Phase I (1900s-1940s)Ethnobiology itself, as a distinctive practice, only emerged during the 20th century as part of the records then being made about other peoples, and other cultures. As a practice, it was nearly always ancillary to other pursuits when documenting others' languages, folklore, and natural resource use:
At it earliest and most rudimentary, this comprised listing the names and uses of plants and animals in native non-Western or 'traditional' populations often in the context of salvage ethnography ..[ie] ethno-biology as the descriptive biological knowledge of 'primitive' peoples.4
This 'first phase' in the development of ethnobiology as a practice has been described as still having an essentially utilitarian purpose, often focusing on identifying those 'native' plants, animals and technologies of some potential use and value within increasingly dominant western economic systems45
Phase II (1950s-1970s)Arising out of practices in Phase I (above) came a 'second phase' in the development of 'ethnobiology', with researchers now striving to better document and better understand how other peoples' themselves "conceptualise and categorise" the natural world around them4.
By the mid-twentieth century .. utilitarian-focussed studies started to give way to more cognitively framed ones, notably studies that centred on elucidating classificatory schemes.3 (Page 122)
Some Mangyan (who count the Hanunóo among their members) men, on Mindoro island, Philippines, where Harold Conklin did his ethnobiological workThis 'second' phase is marked4:
in Northern America (mid 1950s) with Harold Conklin's completing his doctorate entitled "The relation of Hanunóo [1] culture to the plant world"6 in Britain (mid 1960s) with the publication of Claude Lévi-Strauss' book The Savage Mind7 legitimating "folk biological classification" as a worthy cross-cultural research endeavour in France (mid 1970s) with André-Georges Haudricourt's linguistic studies of botanical nomenclature8 and R. Porteres' and others work in economic biology9. Present (1980s-2000s)By the turn of the 20th century ethnobiological practices, research, and findings have had a significant impact and influence across a number of fields of biological inquiry including ecology10, conservation biology11, development studies12, and political ecology13.
The Society of Ethnobiology advises on its web page:
Ethnobiology is a rapidly growing field of research, gaining professional, student, and public interest .. internationally
Ethnobiology has come out from its place as an ancillary practice in the shadows of other core pursuits, to arise as a whole field of inquiry and research in its own right: taught within many tertiary institutions and educational programmes around the world4; with its own methods manuals14, its own readers15, and its own textbooks16
Subjects of Inquiry UsageAll societies make use of the biological world in which they are situated, but there are wide differences in use, informed by perceived need, available technology, and the culture's sense of morality and sustainability.citation needed Ethnobiologists investigate what lifeforms are used for what purposes, the particular techniques of use, the reasons for these choices, and symbolic and spiritual implications of them.
TaxonomyDifferent societies divide the living world up in different ways. Ethnobiologists attempt to record the words used in particular cultures for living things, from the most specific terms (analogous to species names in Linnean biology) to more general terms (such as 'tree' and even more generally 'plant'). They also try to understand the overall structure or hierarchy of the classification system (if there is one; there is ongoing debate as to whether there must always be an implied hierarchy17.
Cosmological, Moral and Spiritual SignificanceSocieties invest themselves and their world with meaning partly through their answers to questions like "how did the world happen?", "how and why did people come to be?", "what are proper practices, and why?", and "what realities exist beyond or behind our physical experience?" Understanding these elements of a societies' perspective is important to cultural research in general, and ethnobiologists investigate how a societies' view of the natural world informs and is informed by them.
Traditional Ecological KnowledgeIn order to live effectively in a given place, a people needs to understand the particulars of their environment, and many traditional societies have complex and subtle understandings of the places in which they live.citation needed Ethnobiologists seek to share in these understandings, subject to ethical concerns regarding intellectual property and cultural appropriation.
Subdisciplines Ethnobotany Main article: Ethnobotany Ethnobotany investigates the relationship between human societies and plants: how humans use plants- as food, technology, medicine, and in ritual contexts; how they view and understand them; and their symbolic and spiritual role in a culture. Ethnozoology Main article: Ethnozoology The subfield ethnozoology focuses on the relationship between animals and humans throughout human history. It studies human practices such as hunting, fishing and animal husbandry in space and time, and human perspectives about animals such as their place in the moral and spiritual realms.citation needed Ethnoecology Main article: Ethnoecology Ethnoecology refers to an increasingly dominant 'ethnobiological' research paradigm focused, primarily, on documenting, describing, and understanding how other peoples perceive, manage, and use whole ecosystems. Other DisciplinesStudies and writings within ethnobiology involve and draw upon the research and researchers from across such disciplines and fields of knowledge as1;
archaeology, geography, linguistics, systematics, population biology, ecology, cultural anthropology, ethnography, pharmacology, nutrition, conservation, and sustainable development. EthicsThrough much of the history of ethnobiology, its' practitioners were primarily from dominant cultures, and the benefit of their work often accrued to the dominant culture, with little control or benefit invested in the indigenous peoples whose practice and knowledge they recorded.
Just as many of those indigenous societies work to assert legitimate control over physical resources such as traditional lands or artistic and ritual objects, many work to assert legitimate control over their intellectual property.
In an age when the potential exists for large profits from the discovery of, for example, new food crops or medicinal plants, modern ethnobiologists must consider intellectual property rights, the need for informed consent, the potential for harm to informants, and their "debt to the societies in which they work"18.
Furthermore, these questions must be considered not only in light of western industrialized nations' common understanding of ethics and law, but also in light of the ethical and legal standards of the societies from which the ethnobiologist draws information19.
See also Biocultural diversity Cultural landscapes Darrell A. Posey Ethnobotany Historical ecology Declaration of Belem Traditional knowledge Hawaiian Ethnobiology Bibliography ALEXIADES, M.N. (1996) Selected guidelines for ethnobotanical research: a field manual. The New York Botanical Garden. New York. BALLEE, W (1998) (ed.) Advances in historical ecology. New York: Columbia University Press. BERLIN, Brent (1992) Ethnobiological Classification - Principles of Categorization of Plants and Animals in Traditional Societies. Princeton University Press, 1992. CASTETTER, E.F. (1944) "The domain of ethnobiology". The American Naturalist. Volume 78. Number 774. Pages 158-170. CONKLIN, H.C. (1954) The relation of Hanunóo culture to the plant world. Ph.D. dissertation, Yale University. COTTON, C.M (1996) Ethnobotany: principles and applications. John Wiley. London. CUNNINGHAM, A.B (2001) Applied ethnobotany: people, wild plant use and conservation. Earthscan. London DODSON, Michael (2007). "Report of the Secretariat on Indigenous traditional knowledge" (PDF). Report to the United Nation's Economic and Social Council's Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Sixth Session, New York, 14-25 May. United Nation's Economic and Social Council. New York. http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/6_session_dodson.pdf. Retrieved 2007-11-28. ELLEN, Roy (1993) The Cultural Relations of Classification, an Analysis of Nuaulu Animal Categories from Central Seram. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ELLEN, Roy (2006). "Introduction" (PDF). Special Edition of the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. S1-S22. http://www.kent.ac.uk/anthropology/files/jrai_270.pdf. Retrieved 2008-04-21. HARRINGTON, J.P (1947) "Ethnobiology". Acta Americana. Number 5. Pages 244-247 HAUDRICOURT, Andre-Georges (1973) "Botanical nomenclature and its translation." In M. Teich & R Young (Eds) Changing perspectives in the history of science: Essays in honour of Joseph Needham Heinemann. London. Pages 265-273. JOHANNES, R.E (Ed)(1989) Traditional ecological knowledge. IUCN, The World Conservation Union. Cambridge LAIRD, S.A. (Ed) (2002) Biodiversity and traditional knowledge: equitable partnerships in practice. Earthscan. London. LEVI-STRAUSS, Claude (1966). The savage mind. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. London. MARTIN, G.J (1995) Ethnobotany: a methods manual. Chapman & Hall. London. MINNIS, P (Ed) (2000) Ethnobotany: a reader. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman. PLOTKIN, M.J (1995) "The importance of ethnobotany for tropical forest conservation." in R.E. Schultes & Siri von Reis (Eds) Ethnobotany: evolution of a discipline (eds) Chapman & Hall. London. Pages 147-156. PORTERES, R. (1977)."Ethnobotanique." Encyclopaedia Universalis Organum Number 17. Pages 326-330. POSEY, D.A & W. L. Overal (Eds.), 1990) Ethnobiology: Implications and Applications. Proceedings of the First International Congress of Ethnobiology. Belém: Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi. POSEY, D. A. (Ed.), (1999) Cultural and Spiritual Values of Biodiversity. London: United Nations Environmental Programme & Intermediate Technology Publications. SCHULTES, R.E. & VON REIS, S (1995) (Eds) Ethnobotany: evolution of a discipline (eds) Chapman & Hall. London. Part 6. SILLITOE, Paul (2006) "Ethnobiology and applied anthropology: rapprochement of the academic with the practical". Special Edition of the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute S119-S142 STEVENSON, M.C. (1914) "Ethnobotany of the Zuni Indians." Bureau of American Ethnology Annual Report. Volume 30. Number 31102, Government Printing Office. Washington, D.C. TUXILL, J & NABHAN, G.P (2001) People, plants and protected area. Earthscan. London. WARREN, D.M; SLIKKERVEER, L; & BROKENSHA, D. (Eds) (1995) The cultural dimension of development: indigenous knowledge systems. Intermediate Technology Publications. London. ZERNER, C (Ed) (2000) People, plants and justice: the politics of nature conservation. Columbia University Press. New York. References ^ a b Society of Ethnobiology's "What is Ethnobiology" webpage Accessed 12 April 2008 ^ Berlin, Brent (1992) Page 4 ^ a b c d Sillitoe, Paul (2006) ^ a b c d e Ellen, Roy (2006) ^ Examples of studies from this 'first' phase in the development of ethnobiology include Stevenson (1915), Castetter (1944) and Harrington (1947) ^ Conklin, H.C. (1954) ^ Lévi-Strauss, Claude (1966) ^ Haudricourt, Andre-Georges (1973) ^ Porteres, R. (1977) ^ for instances of ethnobiology's influence on ecology, see Balée (1998); Plotkin (1995); Schultes & von Reis (1995) ^ for instances of ethnobiology's influence on conservation biology see Cunningham (2001); Johannes (1989); Laird (2002); Tuxill & Nabhan (2001) ^ for an instancing of ethnobiology's influence on development studies, see Warren, Slikkerveer & Brokensha (1995) ^ for an instancing of ethnobiology's influence on political ecology see Zerner (2000) ^ Ethnbiology methods manuals include Alexiades (1996) and Martin (1995) ^ one Ethnobiology reader is Minnis (2000) ^ one Ethnobiology textbook is Cotton (1996) ^ Ellen, Roy (1993) pages 216 forward ^ Code of Ethics of the American Anthropological Association, section A ^ Dodson (2007) External links Biology on-line "Ethnobiology" articles Ethnobiology — Traditional Biological Knowledge in Contemporary Global Context. (Athabasca University Course Resource List) International Society of Ethnobiology Journal of Ethnobiology Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine Society of Ethnobiology v • d • e Ethnobiology Primary subdisciplines Ethnobotany · Ethnozoology · Ethnoecology Other subdisciplines Ethnoentomology · Ethnoherpetology · Ethnolichenology · Ethnomycology · Ethnoornithology Correlated fields Cultural ecology · Ecological anthropology · Ethnoarchaeology · Ethnomedicine · Historical ecology · Human ecology · Paleoethnobotany · Zooarchaeology Notable ethnobiologists William Balée · Brent Berlin · Harold Conklin · Wade Davis · Roy Ellen · Gary P. Nabhan · Andrew Pawley · Darrell Posey · Richard E. Schultes · Manuel Torres · Nancy Turner Category · ProjectNonprofit professional organization dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of the relationships of plants and animals with human cultures worldwide.
www.ethnobiology.org
Case three shows examples of classification systems both native Mexican and European used to organize the plants of the New World Case four highlights post
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Ethnobiology and Biocultural Diversity: Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Ethnobiology University of Georgia Press
The International Society of Ethnobiology (ISE) is committed to achieving greater understandings of the complex relationships that exist within and between human ...
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Mobility and Migration in Indigenous Amazonia: Contemporary Ethnoecological Perspectives (Studies in Environmental Anthropology and Ethnobiology) Berghahn Books
Showcases original research exploring the roles of plants and animals in the intellectual, aesthetic, and spiritual lives of the world's peoples.
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Figure 3 Regression of the cultural importance of the families mCIf on the number of species in the family Discontinuous lines mark the 95 confidence interval
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Conversations on the Beach: Fishermans's Knowledge, Metaphor And Environmental Change In South India (Studies in Environmental Anthropology and Ethnobiology) Berghahn Books
African Journal of Ethnobiology is a leading resource for: Environment, Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IK), Traditional Environmental Knowledge (TEK) and culture.
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green Búzios Island blue Vitória Island Metapopulation II the arrows show the migration paths black Casa de Farinha red Picinguaba blue Sertão do Puruba green Puruba Figure 3
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Modern Crises and Traditional Strategies: Local Ecological Knowledge in Island (Environmental Anthropology & Ethnobiology) Berghahn Books
Ethnobiology is the study of dynamic relationship among people, biota, ... More specifically, Ethnobiology is the systematic cross cultural study of how people ...
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Figure 1 Localization of the six survey sites in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula Figure 2 Cultural importance index CI of the 20 most relevant species in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula in descending order by
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Local Science vs Global Science (Studies in Environmental Anthropology and Ethnobiology) Berghahn Books
An open access, online journal of ethnosciences. Includes topics in medicinal and cultural uses of plants.
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The adaptive cycles of caiçaras considering the economic cycles of sugar cane and coffee 1870 1890 small scale agriculture 1900 1950 and fishing and tourism after 1950 Figure 4
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Ethnobiology and the Science of Humankind (Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute Special Issue Book Series) (No. 1) Wiley-Blackwell
For folks who are interested in how people around the world satisfy their needs for food, medicine, and materials using locally available resources in order
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Figure 2 Cultural importance index CI of the 20 most relevant species in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula in descending order by mean value mCI Figure 3 Regression of the cultural importance of the families mCIf on the number of species in the family Discontinuous lines mark the
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Medical Ethnobiology of the Highland Maya of Chiapas, Mexico Princeton University Press
Ethnobiology is the scientific study of dynamic relationships between ... Ethnobiology itself, as a distinctive practice, only emerged during the 20th century as ...
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Fishing boat at Baixios Bahia after prohibition by governmental environmental agencies of constructing rafts using the wood pau de jangada
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Virtualism, Governance and Practice: Vision and Execution in Enviornmental Conservation (Studies in Environmental Anthropology and Ethnobiology) Berghahn Books
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and in Navarra Visited villages Bioclimates Blank area Temperate oceanic Random dotted area Temperate oceanic sub mediterranean Aggregately dotted area Mediterranean pluviseasonal
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Local Science Vs. Global Science: Approaches to Indigenous Knowledge in International Development (Environmental Anthropology and Ethnobiology) Berghahn Books
Study sites mentioned in the study including metapopulations of Caiçaras blue and red inhabitants of the Atlantic Forest coast Figure 2
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