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Addressing Social-Ecological Systems across Temporal and Spatial Scales: a Conceptual Synthesis for Ethnobiology

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Abstract

We develop an integrative conceptual framework for addressing social-ecological systems across different spatial and temporal scales. Ethnobiologists study social-ecological systems through the lens of heterogeneous disciplines from the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Despite the integrative ambitions of the field, ethnobiology often remains fragmented through research programs that emphasize different methods and scales. We propose a conceptual synthesis of three processes: (1) cognitive processing, (2) cultural transmission, and (3) biocultural evolution. We also discuss how social negotiation is embedded in them. By showing how these different processes interact across different spatial and temporal scales, we develop a framework for ethnobiological scholarship that can address complex dynamics in social-ecological systems.

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Funding

This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Brasil (CAPES), Finance Code 001. This study benefitted from contributions of the INCT Ethnobiology, Bioprospecting, and Nature Conservation, certified by CNPq, with financial support from FACEPE (Foundation for Support to Science and Technology of the State of Pernambuco, grant number: APQ-0562-2.01/17). ISF thanks CAPES/FACEPE (PNPD program) for providing a postdoctoral scholarship (grant numbers: APQ-0700-2.05/16 and BCT-0259.22-05/17). Thanks to CNPq for the productivity grant awarded to UPA. David Ludwig’s research has been supported by an ERC Starting Grant (851004 LOCAL KNOWLEDGE) and a NWO Vidi Grant (V1.Vidi.195.026 ETHNOONTOLOGIES).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Ecologia e Evolução de Sistemas Socioecológicos (LEA), Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego, 1235, Cidade Universitária, Recife, Pernambuco, 50670-901, Brazil

    Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque, Ivanilda Soares Feitosa, Joelson Moreno Brito de Moura, Paulo Henrique Santos Gonçalves & Risoneide Henriques da Silva

  2. Knowledge Technology and Innovation (KTI) Group, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands

    David Ludwig

  3. Programa de Pós-graduação em Etnobiologia e Conservação da Natureza, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, PE, 52171900, Brazil

    Joelson Moreno Brito de Moura & Risoneide Henriques da Silva

  4. Laboratório de Ecologia, Conservação Evolução Biocultural, Campus de Engenharias e Ciências Agrárias, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, BR 104 s/n, Mata do Rolo, Rio Largo, Alagoas, 57100000, Brazil

    Patrícia Muniz de Medeiros

  5. Laboratório de Etnobiologia e Conservação de Ecossistemas, Universidade Estadual de Alagoas, Palmeira dos Índios, Al, 57604-597, Brazil

    Taline Cristina da Silva

  6. Laboratório de Síntese Ecológica e Conservação da Biodiversidade, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Dois Irmãos, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil

    Thiago Gonçalves-Souza

  7. Laboratório de Investigações Bioculturais no Semiárido, Universidade de Pernambuco, Campus Petrolina, Rodovia BR 203, Km 2, s/n – Vila Eduardo, Petrolina, PE, 56328-903, Brazil

    Washington Soares Ferreira Júnior

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  1. Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque
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  3. Ivanilda Soares Feitosa
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Correspondence to Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque.

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Ivanilda Soares Feitosa deceased.

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Albuquerque, U.P., Ludwig, D., Feitosa, I.S. et al. Addressing Social-Ecological Systems across Temporal and Spatial Scales: a Conceptual Synthesis for Ethnobiology. Hum Ecol 48, 557–571 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-020-00189-7

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