Congruence of local ecological knowledge (LEK)-based methods and line-transect surveys in estimating wildlife abundance in tropical forests

Braga-Pereira, Franciany, Morcatty, Thais Q., El Bizri, Hani R., Tavares, Aline S., Mere-Roncal, Carla, González-Crespo, Carlos, Bertsch, Carolina, Ramos Rodriguez, Claudia, Bardales-Alvites, Claudio, von Mühlen, Eduardo M., Bernárdez-Rodríguez, Galicia Fernanda, Pozzan Paim, Fernanda, Segura Tamayo, Jhancy, Valsecchi, João, Gonçalves, Jonas, Torres-Oyarce, Leon, Pereira Lemos, Lísley, de Mattos Vieira, Marina A. R., Bowler, Mark, Gilmore, Michael P., Angulo Perez, Natalia Carolina, da Nóbrega Alves, Rômulo Romeu, Peres, Carlos A., Pérez-Peña, Pedro E. and Mayor, Pedro (2021) Congruence of local ecological knowledge (LEK)-based methods and line-transect surveys in estimating wildlife abundance in tropical forests. Methods in Ecology and Evolution. ISSN 2041-210X

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Abstract

1. Effective estimation of wildlife population abundance is an important component of population monitoring, and ultimately essential for the development of conservation actions. Diurnal line-transect surveys are one of the most applied methods for abundance estimations. Local ecological knowledge (LEK) is empirically acquired through the observation of ecological processes by local people.
LEK-based methods have only been recognized as valid scientific methods for surveying fauna abundance in the last three decades. However, the agreement between both methods has not been extensively analysed.
2. We compared concomitant abundance data for 91 wild species (mammals, birds and tortoises) from diurnal line transects (9,221 km of trails) and a LEK-based method (291 structured interviews) at 18 sites in Central and Western Amazonia.
We used biological and socioecological factors to assess the agreements and divergences between abundance indices obtained from both methods.
3. We found a significant agreement of population abundance indices for diurnaland game species. This relationship was also positive regardless of species sociality(solitary or social), body size and locomotion mode (terrestrial and arboreal);
and of sampled forest type (upland and flooded forests). Conversely, we didnot find significant abundance covariances for nocturnal and non-game species. Despite the general agreement between methods, line transects were not effective
at surveying many species occurring in the area, with 40.2% and 39.8% of all species being rarely and never detected in at least one of the survey sites. Onthe other hand, these species were widely reported by local informants to occur
at intermediate to high abundances.
4. Although LEK-based methods have been long neglected by ecologists, our comparative study demonstrated their effectiveness for estimating vertebrate abundance of a wide diversity of taxa and forest environments. This can be used
simultaneously with line-transect surveys to calibrate abundance estimates and record species that are rarely sighted during surveys on foot, but that are often observed by local people during their daily extractive activities. Thus, the
combination of local and scientific knowledge is a potential tool to improve our knowledge of tropical forest species and foster the development of effective strategies to meet biodiversity conservation goals.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: wildlife, conservation, ecology
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences
G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GF Human ecology. Anthropogeography
G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology
H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology
Q Science > QL Zoology
Divisions: Faculty of Health & Science > Department of Science & Technology
Depositing User: Mark Bowler
Date Deposited: 06 Jan 2022 12:17
Last Modified: 07 Jan 2022 14:24
URI: https://oars.uos.ac.uk/id/eprint/2187

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