Traditional knowledge and satellite tracking as complementary approaches to ecological understanding

• Published in: Environmental conservation Vol. 31; no. 3; pp. 177 - 180
• Main Authors: HUNTINGTON, HENRY P., SUYDAM, ROBERT S., ROSENBERG, DANIEL H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.09.2004; CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
• Subjects: Animals; Cetacea; COMMENT; Conservation; Delphinapterus leucas; Ecological life histories; Ecology; Environmental conservation; Environmental management; Environmental monitoring; Game fishes; Marine ecology; Melanitta fusca; Melanitta perspicillata; Migratory species; Population ecology; Satellite communications; Telemetry; Traditional knowledge; Transmitters; Whales; USA, Alaska
• ISSN: 0376-8929; 1469-4387
• DOI: 10.1017/S0376892904001559

The integration or co-application of traditional knowledge and scientific knowledge has been the subject of considerable research and discussion (see Johannes 1981; Johnson 1992; Stevenson 1996; McDonald et al. 1997; Huntington et al. 1999, 2002), with emphasis on various specific topics including environmental management and conservation (see Freeman & Carbyn 1988; Ferguson & Messier 1997; Ford & Martinez 2000; Usher 2000; Albert 2001). In most cases, examples of successful integration compare traditional and scientific observations at similar spatial scales to increase confidence in understanding or to fill gaps that appear from either perspective. We present a different approach to integration, emphasizing complementarity rather than concordance in spatial perspective, using two migratory species as examples.