Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Indigenous ecological calendars define scales for climate change and sustainability assessments

  • Special Feature: Case Report
  • Weaving Indigenous and Sustainability Sciences to Diversify Our Methods (WIS2DOM)
  • Published:
Sustainability Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Identifying appropriate temporal and spatial boundaries for assessments of human–environment systems continues to be a challenge in sustainability science. The livelihood of Indigenous peoples in the northwestern Brazilian Amazon are characterized by complex ecological management systems entwined with sociocultural practices and sophisticated astronomical and ecological calendars. Sustainability of fisheries and bitter manioc production, key elements of food systems and economic activities in this region, depend on cyclic high river levels for fish spawning as well as periods of dry days for preparation of agricultural fields. Since 2005, participatory research has been underway between Indigenous communities of the Tiquié River and the Brazilian Socio-environmental Institute (ISA). Indigenous agents of environmental management (AIMAs) keep notebooks of ethno-astronomical, ecological, and socio-economic observations of the annual cycles, and some of them have reported that river levels and dry periods have become more irregular in some years. To investigate how these possible climatic changes may impact the sustainability of resources, we share knowledge from the Tukano ecological calendar with methodology for examining changes in precipitation and river levels and their interactions at multiple timescales. Our collaboration indicates that high spatial and temporal variability in precipitation patterns and river levels may complicate climate change and sustainability analyses. However, combining results from participatory research with novel methods for climate analysis helps identify a 4-day trend in precipitation that may impact agroecosystem management. Indigenous participation in systematic data collection and interpretation of results is essential for distinguishing between socio-economic and climate forcings and evaluating climate impacts. Continued efforts to bridge Indigenous and Western knowledge systems are vital for sustainable environmental management in Indigenous territories and other regions where traditional management may be challenged in the context of global climate change.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alexander C, Bynum N, Johnson E, King U, Mustonen T, Neofotis P, Oettlé N, Rosenzweig C, Sakakibara C, Shadrin V, Vicarelli M, Waterhouse J, Weeks B (2011) Linking indigenous and scientific knowledge of climate change. Bioscience 61:477–484

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armitage D, Berkes F, Dale A, Kocho-Schellenberg E, Patton E (2011) Co-management and the co-production of knowledge: learning to adapt in Canada’s Arctic. Glob Environ Change 21:995–1004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ball J, Janyst P (2008) Enacting research ethics in partnerships with indigenous communities in Canada: “Do it in a Good Way”. JERHRE 3:33–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bayley PB (1995) Understanding large river-floodplain ecosystems. Bioscience 45(3):153–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berkes, F (2013) Bridging Sustainability and Indigenous Science. Workshop paper in: Weaving Indigenous and Sustainability Sciences: Diversifying our Methods (WIS2DOM) Workshop. National Science Foundation Arctic Social Sciences Program, Appendix 3, pp 27–32

  • Berkes F, Reid WV, Wilbanks TJ, Capistrano D (2006) Bridging scales and knowledge systems. In: Bridging scales and knowledge systems: Concepts and applications in ecosystem assessment. Millennium ecosystem assessment and Island Press, Washington, DC

  • Brewer JP II, Kronk Warner EA (2015) Guarding Against Exploitation: Protecting Indigenous Knowledge in the Age of Climate Change. University of Kansas, School of Law Working Paper. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2567995

  • Brunsell NA (2010) A multiscale information theory approach to assess spatial-temporal variability of daily precipitation. J Hydrol 385(1–4):165–172

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cabalzar A (2010) Manejo do Mundo: conhecimentos e práticas indígenas dos povos do Rio Negro. São Paulo: Instituto Socioambiental and São Gabriel da Cachoeira: Federação das Organizações Indígenas do Rio Negro

  • Cabalzar A (2013) Organização socioespacial e predomínios linguísticos no rio Tiquié. In: Epps, P and Stenzel, K. (Org) Upper Rio Negro: cultural and linguistic interaction in Northwestern Amazonia. 1ed. Rio de Janeiro: Museu do Índio FUNAI, Museu Nacional, pp 129–162

  • Cardoso TM (2010) O Saber Biodiverso: práticas e conhecimentos na agricultura indígena do baixo rio Negro. Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Manaus

    Google Scholar 

  • Casimirri G (2003) Problems with integrating traditional ecological knowledge into contemporary resource management. XII World Forestry Congress, Quebec City

    Google Scholar 

  • Chernela JM (1994) Tukanoan fishing. National Geographical Research and Exploration 10

  • Clark WC, Dickson NM (2003) Sustainability Science: The Emerging Research Program. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100(14):8059–8061

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cochran FV, Brunsell NA (2012) Temporal scales of tropospheric CO2, precipitation, and ecosystem responses in the central Great Plains. Remote Sens Environ 127(C):316–328

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis M (2006) Bridging the Gap or Crossing a Bridge? In: Bridging scales and knowledge systems: Concepts and applications in ecosystem assessment. Millennium ecosystem assessment and Island Press, Washington, DC, pp 143–163

  • De’ath G, Fabricius K (2000) Classification and regression trees: a powerful yet simple technique for ecological data analysis. Ecology 81(11):3178–3192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emperaire L, Peroni N (2007) Traditional management of agrobiodiversity in Brazil: a case study of Manioc. Hum Ecol 35(6):761–768

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer J, Manning AD, Steffen W, Rose DB, Daniell K, Felton A, Garnett S, Gilna B, Heinsohn R, Lindenmayer DB, MacDonald B, Mills F, Newell B, Reid J, Robin L, Sherren K, Wade A (2007) Mind the sustainability gap. Trends Ecol Evol 22(12):621–624

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fraser JA (2010) The Diversity of Bitter Manioc (Manihot Esculenta Crantz) Cultivation in a Whitewater Amazonian Landscape. Diversity 2(4):586–609

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Getirana ACV, Bonnet MP, Rotunno Filho OC, Collischonn W, Guyot JL, Seyler F, Mansur WJ (2010) Hydrological modelling and water balance of the Negro River basin: evaluation based on in situ and spatial altimetry data. Hydrol Process 24(22):3219–3236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Getirana ACV, Espinoza JCV, Ronchail J, Filho OCR (2011) Assessment of different precipitation datasets and their impacts on the water balance of the Negro River basin. J Hydrol 404(3–4):304–322

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gloor M, Brienen RJW, Galbraith D, Feldpausch TR, Schöngart J, Guyot JL, Espinoza JC, Lloyd J, Phillips OL (2013) Intensification of the Amazon hydrological cycle over the last two decades. Geophys Res Lett 40(9):1729–1733

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gouhier T, Grinsted A (2014) biwavelet: Conduct univariate and bivariate wavelet analyses, R package version 0.17.3 edn

  • Goulding M, Carvalho M, Ferreira E (1988) Rio Negro: Rich Life in Poor Water. SPB Academic Publishing, The Hague

    Google Scholar 

  • Guston DH (2001) Boundary organizations in environmental policy and science: an introduction. Sci Technol Hum Values 26:399–408

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hewitt C, Mason S, Walland D (2012) The global framework for climate services. Nat Clim Change 2:831–832

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huntington HP (2000) Using traditional ecological knowledge in science: methods and applications. Ecol Appl 10(5):1270–1274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson M (1992) LORE: Capturing Traditional Environmental Knowledge. Dene Cultural Institute and the International Development Research Centre, Hay River

  • Johnson JT, Murton B (2007) Re/placing native science: indigenous voices in contemporary constructions of nature. Geogr Res 45:121–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson JT, Louis RP, Kliskey A (2013) Weaving Indigenous and Sustainability Sciences: Diversifying our Methods (WIS2DOM) Workshop. National Science Foundation Arctic Social Sciences Program, pp 1–116

  • Juarez RIN, Li W, Fu R, Fernandes K, Cardoso ADO (2009) Comparison of precipitation datasets over the tropical South American and African Continents. J Hydrometeorol 10:289–299

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Junk WJ, Soares MGM, Saint-Paul U (1997) The Central Amazon floodplain: ecology of a pulsing system. Springer, Berlin, pp 385–408

    Google Scholar 

  • Kates RW (2011) What kind of a science is sustainability science? Proc Natl Acad Sci 108:19449–19450

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar P, Foufoula-Georgiou E (1997) Wavelet analysis for geophysical applications. Rev Geophys 34(4):385–412

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LaDuke W (1994) Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Environmental Futures. Colo. J. Int’l Envtl. L. & Pol’y 5, p 127

  • Lang DJ, Wiek A, Bergmann M, Stauffacher M, Martens P, Moll P, Swilling M, Thomas CJ (2012) Transdisciplinary research in sustainability science: practice, principles, and challenges. Sustain Sci 7(S1):25–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langerwisch F, Rost S, Gerten D, Poulter B, Rammig A, Cramer W (2013) Potential effects of climate change on inundation patterns in the Amazon Basin. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 17(6):2247–2262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lau K, Weng H (1995) Climate signal detection using wavelet transform: how to make a time series sing. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 76(12):2391–2402

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lefale P (2003) Seasons in Samoa. Water Atmos 11(2):10–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Lertzman DA (2010) Best of two worlds: traditional ecological knowledge and Western science in ecosystem-based management. BC J Ecosyst Manag 10(3):104–126

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu Y, San Liang X, Weisberg RH (2007) Rectification of the bias in the wavelet power spectrum. J Atmos Ocean Technol 24:2093–2102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marengo JA (2004) Characteristics and spatio-temporal variability of the Amazon River Basin Water Budget. Clim Dyn 24(1):11–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marengo JA (2007) Tropical rainforest responses to climate change, chapter climate change and hydrological modes of the wet tropics. Springer, Berlin, pp 236–268

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Marengo JA, Nobre CA, Tomasella J, Oyama MD, Sampaio de Oliveira G, de Oliveira R, Camargo H, Alves LM, Brown IF (2008) The Drought of Amazonia in 2005. J Clim 21(3):495–516

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marengo JA, Tomasella J, Soares WR, Alves LM, Nobre CA (2011) Extreme climatic events in the Amazon basin. Theor Appl Climatol 107(1–2):73–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer AL (2008) Strengths and weaknesses of common sustainability indices for multidimensional systems. Environ Int 34(2):277–291

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mazzocchi F (2008) Analyzing knowledge as part of a cultural framework: the case of traditional ecological knowledge. Environ J 36(2):39–57

    Google Scholar 

  • McNie EC (2013) Delivering climate services: organizational strategies and approaches for producing useful climate-science information. Wea Clim Soc 5:14–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moran EF (1991) Human adaptive strategies in amazonian blackwater ecosystems. Am Anthropol 93:361–382

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nadasdy P (1999) The Politics of Tek: Power and the “Integration” of Knowledge. Arctic Anthropol 36(½):1–18

  • Nakashima DJ, Galloway McLean K, Thrulstrup HD, Ramos Castillo A, Rubis J (2012) Weathering uncertainty: traditional knowledge for climate change assessment and adaptation. UNESCO, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Palm C, Tomich T, van Noordwijk M, Vosti S, Gockowski J, Alegre J, Verchot L (2003) Mitigating GHG emissions in the humid tropics: case studies from the Alternatives to Slash-and-Burn Program (ASB). Environ Dev Sustain 6:145–162

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petheram L, Zander KK, Campbell BM, High C, Stacey N (2010) ‘Strange changes’: Indigenous perspectives of climate change and adaptation in NE Arnhem land (Australia). Glob Environ Change 20(4):681–692

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Potter C, Klooster S, Hiatt C, Genovese V, Castilla-Rubio JC (2011) Changes in the carbon cycle of Amazon ecosystems during the 2010 drought. Environ Res Lett 6(3):034024

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • RAISG (2012) Amazônia 2012. Áreas Protegidas, Territórios Indígenas: http://raisg.socioambiental.org/

  • Raymond CM, Fazey I, Reed MS, Stringer LC, Robinson GM, Evely AC (2010) Integrating local and scientific knowledge for environmental management. J Environ Manag 91:1766–1777

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riedlinger D, Berkes F (2001) Contributions of traditional knowledge to understanding climate change in the Canadian Arctic. Polar Rec 37:315–328

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts M (1996) Indigenous knowledge and western science: perspectives from the Pacific. R Soc N Z Misc Ser 50:69–75

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruddell BL, Kumar P (2009) Ecohydrologic process networks: 2. Analysis and characterization. Water Resour Res 45(3):1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Salick J, Ross N (2009) Traditional peoples and climate change (Introduction to Special Issue). Glob Environ Change 19:137–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sánchez-Cortés MS, Chavero EL (2011) Indigenous perception of changes in climate variability and its relationship with agriculture in a Zoque community of Chiapas, Mexico. Clim Change 107:363–389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Satyamurty P, da Costa CPW, Manzi AO, Candido LA (2013) A quick look at the 2012 record flood in the Amazon Basin. Geophys Res Lett. doi:10.1002/grl.50245

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith HA, Sharp K (2012) Indigenous climate knowledges. WIREs Clim Change 3:467–476

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spracklen DV, Arnold SR, Taylor CM (2012) Observations of increased tropical rainfall preceded by air passage over forests. Nature 489(7415):282–285

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stoy PC, Richardson AD, Baldocchi DD, Katul GG, Stanovick J, Mahecha MD, Reichstein M, Detto M, Law BE, Wohlfahrt G, Arriga N, Campos J, McCaughey JH, Montagnani L, KTP U, Sevanto S, Williams M (2009) Biosphere-atmosphere exchange of CO2 in relation to climate: a cross-biome analysis across multiple time scales. Biogeosciences 6:2297–2312

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Therneau TM, Atkinson B, Ripley B (2010) rpart: Recursive partitioning, R package version 3.8 edn

  • Torrence C, Compo GP (1998) A practical guide to wavelet analysis. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 79(1):61–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tyler NJC, Turi JM, Sundset MA, Strøm Bull K, Sara MN, Reinert E, Oskal N, Nellemann C, McCarthy JJ, Mathiesen SD, Martello ML, Magga OH, Hovelsrud GK, Hanssen-Bauer I, Eira NI, Eira IMG, Corell RW (2007) Saami reindeer pastoralism under climate change: applying a generalized framework for vulnerability studies to a sub-arctic social–ecological system. Glob Environ Change 17:191–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van der Ent RJ, Savenije HHG, Schaefli B, Steele-Dunne SC (2010) Origin and fate of atmospheric moisture over continents. Water Resour Res 46(9):1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • van der Veld P-J (2014) A agricultura indígena do Alto e Médio Rio Negro. AGRÁRIA. In Review

  • Veleda D, Montagne R, Araujo M (2012) Cross-wavelet bias corrected by normalizing scales. J Atmos Ocean Technol 29(9):1401–1408

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waliser DE, Moncrieff MW, Burridge D, Fink AH, Gochis D, Goswami BN, Guan B, Harr P, Heming J, Hsu H-H, Jakob C, Janiga M, Johnson R, Jones S, Knippertz P, Marengo J, Nguyen H, Pope M, Serra Y, Thorncroft C, Wheeler M, Wood R, Yuter S (2012) The “Year” of tropical convection (May 2008–April 2010): climate variability and weather highlights. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 93(8):1189–1218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whyte KP (2013) Justice forward: tribes, climate adaptation and responsibility. Clim Change 120:517–530

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wohl E, Barros A, Brunsell N, Chappell NA, Coe M, Giambelluca T, Goldsmith S, Harmon R, Hendrickx JMH, Juvik J, McDonnell J, Ogden F (2012) The hydrology of the humid tropics. Nat Clim Change 2(9):655–662

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood H (1999) Displacing Natives: the Rhetorical Production of Hawai‘i Pacific Formations. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Lanham

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Funding for participatory research was provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Instituto Arapyaú, Projeto Demonstrativo de Povos Indígenas (PDPI) do Ministério do Meio Ambiente, and Rainforest Foundation Norway. We gratefully acknowledge the work of the 15 AIMAs of the Tiquié who recorded their observations during 2005–2008, particularly the team coordinators Evaristo Azevedo, Rogelino Alves Azevedo, and Roberval Araújo Pedrosa. We also appreciate the long-time work of ISA and the Programa Rio Negro Socioambiental researchers, specifically Aloisio Cabalzar and Pieter-Jan van der Veld, along with colleagues Walmir Thomazi Cardoso and Melissa Oliveira. F.V. Cochran additionally thanks the Bohnstengl Endowment Fund and the IGERT C-CHANGE NSF080152 program for funding and interdisciplinary training. This paper is dedicated to Jean-Pierre Vuillomenet (1937–2014), an aficionado and resident of the Upper Rio Negro since 1968.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of Kansas, 1475 Jayhawk Blvd, Lawrence, KS, 66045-7613, USA

    Ferdouz V. Cochran, Nathaniel A. Brunsell & Levi J. Winegar

  2. Instituto Socioambiental, Av. Higienópolis, 901, SL30, São Paulo, SP, 01238-001, Brazil

    Aloisio Cabalzar & Pieter-Jan van der Veld

  3. Associação das Comunidades Indígenas do Médio Tiquié (ACIMET), c/o FOIRN, Av. Alvaro Maia, 79, Centro, São Gabriel da Cachoeira, CEP: 69750000, Brazil

    Evaristo Azevedo & Roberval Araújo Pedrosa

  4. Associação da Escola Indígena Tukano Yupuri (AEITY), c/o FOIRN, Av. Alvaro Maia, 79, Centro, São Gabriel da Cachoeira, CEP: 69750000, Brazil

    Rogelino Alves Azevedo

Authors
  1. Ferdouz V. Cochran
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nathaniel A. Brunsell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Aloisio Cabalzar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Pieter-Jan van der Veld
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Evaristo Azevedo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Rogelino Alves Azevedo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Roberval Araújo Pedrosa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Levi J. Winegar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ferdouz V. Cochran.

Additional information

Handled by Andrew Kliskey, University of Idaho, USA.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Cochran, F.V., Brunsell, N.A., Cabalzar, A. et al. Indigenous ecological calendars define scales for climate change and sustainability assessments. Sustain Sci 11, 69–89 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-015-0303-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-015-0303-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation