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Coastal wetlands are rich and productive ecosystems historically used by small-scale fisheries due to their role as refuges and nursery habitats for commercial target species. We document the environmental history of coastal wetlands in the Northern Gulf of California, Mexico, through bibliographic sources, photographic records, and wetland resource users' Local Ecological Knowledge. We identify impacts that could have affected coastal fisheries by assessing historical patterns of commercial species abundance, areas of fishing importance, trophic levels, and species richness and composition. Areas of fishing importance within coastal wetlands decreased over time. We found a consistent downward trend in target species abundance that was perceived as more pronounced by fishers who began fishing in or prior to the 1950s, pointing to shifting baselines and the failure of resource users to recognize environmental changes and accept degraded states as normal. Perceived species richness and composition increased with wetland size. The trophic level of catch showed no distinct pattern across wetland sites or over time. Our analysis is relevant to food security and provides insight into how local populations adapt to depleted coastal food webs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnobotanical knowledge, also known as Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK), of edible plants includes identifying plants using local names and knowledge of specific preparations and ecological characteristics. We analyze children's ethnobotanical knowledge of 107 species of edible plants in two rural locations in western Mexico and the sociodemographic factors that influence their knowledge. We found a high consensus among the three domains we evaluated. Forty-four species were known to at least 90% of the children. The factors that influence children's knowledge include age, which was significant in both communities, and other variables such as gender, number of siblings, birth order, occupation and age of mother, occupation and age of father, size of household, and participation in planting the milpa field. These factors were significant in differing ways between the study communities. We found effective transmission of ethnobotanical knowledge to children to be influenced by intergenerational interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successful conservation of long‐lived species requires reliable understanding of long‐term trends and historical baselines. We present a framework for evaluating abundance trends and conservation outcomes for long‐lived marine species by integrating local ecological knowledge (LEK), ecological monitoring, and computer simulation, tested on a case‐study of long‐lived and heavily exploited green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in the Eastern Pacific. Models fit to LEK and monitoring data indicate that turtle abundance is increasing, but only after ∼40 years of safeguarding the species' nesting and foraging habitats in Mexico. However, current abundance is at ∼60% of baseline levels and historic population structure has not been reestablished, indicating the need for sustained, long‐term conservation actions. We demonstrate the potential of linking LEK and ecological science to provide critical information for conservation, by establishing reference baselines and gauging population status with a long‐term historical perspective, while promoting equitable and sustainable futures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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One strategy for ecological monitoring of protected areas involves data collection by local resource users instead of external scientists. Growing support for such programs comes from their potential to both reduce costs and influence how resource users perceive and support protected areas, but their effects on participants are only beginning to be understood. We contribute to this growing research area through an in-depth study of how participants, their close kin, and their peers perceived the individual and community-wide effects of an ecological monitoring program. We examined the case of fishers' involvement in ecological monitoring of a marine protected area network in Baja California Sur, Mexico, organized since 2012 by the Mexican non-governmental organization Niparajá. Based on in-depth interviews and participant observation in 2016 and 2017, we found that the most salient effect of the program was personal growth. Participants described becoming "more than a fisher" through newly gained civic and environmental awareness, ecological knowledge, and self-confidence in public speaking skills. Respondents also identified health risks from diving and emotional burdens on participants' families. Overall, other resource users in their communities seem to be supportive through reputational benefits of participants. These effects overlap with but seem more extensive than those documented in other citizen science programs. Environmentality provides a suitable explanation of the processes at play, where the act of monitoring is far more than data collection, intertwining participants' fortunes (for better or worse) with the political fate of the protected area network itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many shark species and populations are threatened globally due to human actions. Protecting these top predators is crucial to maintaining healthy marine ecosystems; however, for many habitats, long-term, historical datasets necessary to track population changes are lacking. In Islas Marías, Mexico, where shark fishing has occurred for decades, data on landings by species remain unavailable and the presence of a prison in the archipelago from 1905 to 2019 has hindered monitoring efforts. We used a synthesis of fishers' local ecological knowledge (LEK) to address this knowledge gap about changes in shark populations near Islas Marías. Using LEK documented from interviews with 82 fishers, we cataloged shark species diversity, catch, and perceived relative abundance in the region. Fishers reported the presence of 15 species and one genus of sharks near Islas Marías. Overall, catch sizes and perceived relative abundance trends derived from interviews suggest that populations of sharks near Islas Marías have been in decline since at least the 1960 s. Interview participants attributed shark declines to environmental, social, and market factors. These results highlight the importance of fishers' expert knowledge in reconstructing species population trends. • Fishers' local ecological knowledge (LEK) helps reconstruct trends for conservation and fisheries management. • Around Islas Marías, Mexico, fishers reported observations of 15 species and one genus of sharks. • Catch sizes and perceived relative abundance of sharks have declined over time around Islas Marías. • Fishers' LEK also identified potential causes of shark abundance declines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: New kinds of knowledge, usage patterns and management strategies of natural resources emerge in local communities as a way of coping with uncertainty in a changing world. Studying how human groups adapt and create new livelihoods strategies are important research topics for creating policies in natural resources management. Here, we study the adoption and development of lagartos (Crocodylus moreletii) commercial hunting by Mayan people from a communal land in Quintana Roo state. Two questions guided our work: how did the Mayan learn to hunt lagartos? And how, and in what context, did knowledge and management practices emerge? We believe that social structures, knowledge and preexisting skills facilitate the hunting learning process, but lagarto ecological knowledge and organizational practice were developed in a "learning by doing" process. Methods: We conducted free, semi-structured and in-depth interviews over 17 prestigious lagartos hunters who reconstructed the activity through oral history. Then, we analyzed the sources of information and routes of learning and investigated the role of previous knowledge and social organization in the development of this novel activity. Finally, we discussed the emergence of hunting in relation to the characteristic of natural resource and the tenure system. Results: Lagarto hunting for skin selling was a short-term activity, which represented an alternative source of money for some Mayans known as lagarteros. They acquired different types of knowledge and skills through various sources of experience (individual practice, or from foreign hunters and other Mayan hunters). The developed management system involved a set of local knowledge about lagartos ecology and a social organization structure that was then articulated in the formation of "working groups" with particular hunting locations (rumbos and trabajaderos), rotation strategies and collaboration among them. Access rules and regulations identified were in an incipient state of development and were little documented. Conclusions: In agreement to the hypothesis proposed, the Mayan used multiple learning paths to develop a new activity: the lagarto hunting. On the one hand, they used their traditional social organization structure as well as their culturally inherited knowledge. On the other hand, they acquired new ecological knowledge of the species in a learning-by-doing process, together with the use of other sources of external information. The formation of working groups, the exchange of information and the administration of hunting locations are similar to other productive activities and livelihood practiced by these Mayan. Skills such as preparing skins and lagartos ecological knowledge were acquired by foreign hunters and during hunting practice, respectively. We detected a feedback between local ecological knowledge and social organization, which in turn promoted the emergence of Mayan hunting management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of local actors and socioeconomic constraints on biological invasions is often ignored. Wetland plant harvesters appeared to intentionally influence cattail ( Typha domingensis) invasion around Lake Pátzcuaro, México, by altering their harvesting regimes, according to interviews with 44 expert respondents and botanical surveys. The oldest and most experienced harvesters reported controlling Typha initially, sometimes through organized eradication efforts, in order to protect Schoenoplectus californicus, an economically and culturally valuable wetland plant. Later, outsiders commoditized Typha by introducing new weaving designs popular with tourists, while industrial products and new livelihood activities reduced Schoenoplectus harvest. Harvesters from several communities began to promote Typha re-growth. Some harvesters, however, continued to combat Typha to maintain Schoenoplectus production, especially where supply was limited. Interviews suggested novel ecological cause–effect mechanisms and restoration strategies; some local harvesting regimes could efficiently conserve rare plants. An understanding of local ecological knowledge and incentives can inform invasive species control and conservation policy at a broader scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]