Local plant knowledge and its variation among farmer’s families in the Napf region, Switzerland

Background Local plant knowledge typically is unevenly distributed within a community. This knowledge variation is important in understanding people’s relationship with their environment. Here we ask about knowledge variation among farmers’ families in the Napf region of Switzerland. Methods In 2008 and 2009, 60 adults and children living on 14 farms were interviewed about known and used plant species, and the data analyzed for knowledge variation. The farms were chosen by random stratified sampling, and freelisting and semi-structured interviews were conducted individually in the local idiom. The data were organized in an access database and analyzed with descriptive statistics, correlations, Mann–Whitney U tests and cultural domain analysis. Results Totally, 456 folk taxa were listed, whereas frequently listed species are common meadow and forest species. Uses were indicated for 391 taxa, most of them culinary, followed by fodder, wood, medicinal and ornamental uses. Local plant knowledge correlates with age and gender. Due to professional specialization, adults above 20 years have broader plant knowledge than children and adolescents. This is true for almost all examined habitat and plant use categories except for toy uses. Women and men share a common body of plant knowledge especially about herbaceous grassland species and woody species. Specialized knowledge of men is linked to cattle fodder and the processing of wood, specialized knowledge of women concerns edible, medicinal and ornamental plants, often garden species, but also herbaceous forest species. Conclusion In a rural region like the Napf, people retain a solid basis of plant knowledge. The variation of plant knowledge within farmers’ families of this region reflects sociocultural patterns. As these patterns are changing and as (agro)biodiversity is declining, local plant knowledge in the Napf region is suspected to undergo a mainstreaming process.

Exploring diversity in expert knowledge: variation in local ecological knowledge of Alaskan recreational and subsistence fishers

Local ecological knowledge (LEK) of resource users is a valuable source of information about environmental trends and conditions. However, many factors influence how people perceive their environment and it may be important to identify sources of variation in LEK when using it to understand ecological change. This study examined variation in LEK arising from differences in people’s experience in the environment. From 2014 to 2016, we conducted 98 semi-structured interviews with subsistence fishers and recreational charter captains in four Alaskan coastal communities to document LEK of seven fish species. Fishers observed declines in fish abundance and body size, though the patterns varied among species, regions, and fishery sectors. Overall, subsistence harvesters provided a longer-term view of abundance changes compared with charter captains. Regression analyses indicated that the extent of people’s fishing areas and their years of fishing experience were relatively important factors in explaining variation in fishers’ perceptions of fish abundance. When taken together, perspectives from fishers in multiple regions and sectors can provide a more complete picture of changes in nearshore fish populations than any source alone. These findings underscore the importance of including people with different types of expertise in local knowledge studies designed to document environmental change.

PENGARUH KARAKTERISTIK TIM, PENGETAHUAN MANAJEMEN, DAN ETIKA KERJA TERHADAP KINERJA KETUA PROGRAM STUDI PADA SEKOLAH TINGGI ISLAM SWASTA DI PROVINSI JAMBI

ABSTRACTThe objective of the research is to obtain information concerning the effect ofteam characteristics, management knowledge, and job ethics, on heads ofstudy program performance. The research was carried out by means ofsurvey in Jambi Province, involving 75 heads of study program asrespondents who are selected through simple randomsampling and the datahas been analysed by path analysis after all variables put into thecorrelationmatrix. (1) there is a direct effect of team characteristics on heads ofstudyprogram performance.(2) there is direct effect management knowledgeon heads of studyprogram performance. (3) there is a direct effect job ethicson heads of study programperformance . (4) there is a direct effect of teamcharacteristics on job ethics, and (5) there is a direct effect managementknowledge on job ethics. Therefore, the variation ofheads of study programperformance are effected by the variation of team characteristics,variationmanagement knowledge, variation job ethics. Keywords: team characteristics, management knowledge, job ethics andheadsof study program performance.