Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque Luiz Vital Fernandes Cruz da Cunha Reinaldo Farias Paiva de Lucena Rômulo Romeu Nóbrega Alves Editors Methods and Techniques in Ethnobiology and Ethnoecology S PRINGER PROTOCOLS HANDBOOKS™ For further volumes: http://www.springer.com/series/8623 Methods and Techniques in Ethnobiology and Ethnoecology Edited by Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil Luiz Vital Fernandes Cruz da Cunha Departmento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Católica de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil Reinaldo Farias Paiva de Lucena Departamento de Fitotecnia e Ciências Ambientais, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Paraíba, Areia, Brazil Rômulo Romeu Nóbrega Alves Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil Editors Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque Luiz Vital Fernandes Cruz da Cunha Departamento de Biologia Departmento de Ciências Biológicas Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco Universidade Católica de Pernambuco Recife, Pernambuco , Brazil Recife , Pernambuco, Brazil Reinaldo Farias Paiva de Lucena Rômulo Romeu Nóbrega Alves Departamento de Fitotecnia e Departamento de Biologia Ciências Ambientais Universidade Estadual da Paraíba Universidade Federal da Paraíba Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil Centro de Ciências Agrárias Paraíba, Areia, Brazil ISSN 1949-2448 ISSN 1949-2456 (electronic) ISBN 978-1-4614-8635-0 ISBN 978-1-4614-8636-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-8636-7 Springer New York Heidelberg Dordrecht London Library of Congress Control Number: 2013951153 © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifi cally for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher’s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Permissions for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the Copyright Clearance Center. Violations are liable to prosecution under the respective Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein. Printed on acid-free paper Humana Press is a brand of Springer Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Pref ace Humans represent just one of many species that constitute the planet’s biodiversity. Nevertheless, as the dominant species, humans have been the primary agent of the transfor- mation of natural spaces, which can be seen as positive or negative. Therefore, the study of human interactions, biodiversity, and the environment that surrounds them is a basic tool for understanding the factors that bind human societies to natural resources. Within this context, ethnobiology appears to be a promising discipline that can play a key role as a mediator of dialogue between different academic disciplines and traditional knowledge, a union essential to enable contextualized and sustainable alternatives to exploitative prac- tices and biodiversity management. Thus, this book comes with the original proposal of realizing the main methods that allow us to assess this diverse and complex relationship between people and nature. This book represents the evolution of the book Methods and Techniques in Ethnobotany Research published in Brazil in 2004. We realized that this book was consulted not only by researchers and students interested in ethnobotany but also by people in different fi elds. Thus, this book, Methods and Techniques in Ethnobiology and Ethnoecology , is an improved and expanded edition of the third edition of the Brazilian text (2010). This book was writ- ten to guide people in the following methods: think about the data you collect, choose the most appropriate procedures for collecting such data, and refl ect on your practice and sci- entifi c work. Over the years, we have continued to improve the text, engage new authors, and expand chapters to offer a broader view of the possible range of tools that can be used in this type of research. Certainly, the text is not without fl aws, but as with the Brazilian editions, we are also open to suggestions and comments from readers regarding ways of perfecting each new edition. In this book, the reader will fi nd 28 different chapters covering different qualitative and/or quantitative aspects. We have several works on research methods, and each year texts that are increasingly practical and complete enter the book market. However, the intent of this book is to be a bedside manual to help readers make deci- sions. Much of this book is the result of the authors’ experience with the themes; so their examples give substance to ideas and procedures that are often abstract. Therefore, we are grateful to the commitment and involvement of all the authors, for they made this work possible. Because this is a translated and revised edition of the Portuguese language version, many of the references the reader fi nds in the course of the chapters are written in Portuguese. It has been requested of the authors that, to the extent possible, they favor English language publications in the references, especially texts of wide circulation and/or easy access. Unfortunately, this is not currently possible in many cases, and we apologize to v vi Preface our readers. However, surely this aspect does not limit the scope of the work and/or the reader’s approach to it. This book, then, dear reader, is the result of years of investigation and research by the authors with the sole intention of providing a manual with the main methods that can be useful in any ethnobiological investigation. Recife , Pernambuco , Brazil Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil Luiz Vital Fernandes Cruz da Cunha Areia , Paraíba , Brazil Reinaldo Farias Paiva de Lucena Campina Grande , Paraíba , Brazil Rômulo Romeu Nóbrega Alves Acknowledgements A debt of gratitude is owed to many people who helped make this book possible. Thanks are due to Eric Stannard, editor at Springer, for supporting the proposal and Jacob Gallay, who later assisted in the process of producing the book. We also thank all the authors who accepted our invitation to review the texts originally published in Brazil, with a subsequent version produced in the English language, and who understood our requirement to have this version edited by international services specializing in translating and editing scientifi c texts. We are also grateful to the authors who produced texts specifi cally for this edition of Springer. We are especially grateful to the National Council for Scientifi c and Technological Development (CNPq) for fi nancial support in the form of scholarships for scientifi c pro- ductivity given to RRNA and UPA. vii Contents Preface . v Acknowledgements . vii Contributors . xiii 1 Selection of Research Participants . 1 Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque, Reinaldo Farias Paiva de Lucena, and Ernani Machado de Freitas Lins Neto 2 Methods and Techniques Used to Collect Ethnobiological Data . 15 Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque, Marcelo Alves Ramos, Reinaldo Farias Paiva de Lucena, and Nélson Leal Alencar 3 Participatory Methods in Ethnobiological and Ethnoecological Research. 39 Shana Sampaio Sieber, Taline Cristina da Silva, Letícia Zenóbia de Oliveira Campos, Sofia Zank, and Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque 4 Oral History in Ethnobiology and Ethnoecology . 59 Maria Franco Trindade Medeiros, Taline Cristina da Silva, Rosemary da Silva Sousa, and Rafael Ricardo Vasconcelos Silva 5 Procedures for Documentary Analysis in the Establishment of Ethnobiological Information. 75 Maria Franco Trindade Medeiros 6 Use of Visual Stimuli in Ethnobiological Research. 87 Patrícia Muniz de Medeiros, Alyson Luiz Santos de Almeida, Reinaldo Farias Paiva de Lucena, Francisco José Bezerra Souto, and Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque 7 Methods in Research of Environmental Perception . 99 Taline Cristina da Silva, Margarita Paloma Cruz, Thiago Antônio de Sousa Araújo, Maria Luiza Schwarz, and Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque 8 Methods for Data Collection in Medical Ethnobiology . 111 Washington Soares Ferreira Jr., Nélson Leal Alencar, and Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque 9 Introduction to Botanical Taxonomy . 123 Alessandro Rapini 10 Analysis of Vegetation in Ethnobotanical Studies. 141 Elcida de Lima