IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecomod/v300y2015icp40-49.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How valuable could traditional ecological knowledge education be for a resource-limited future?: An emergy evaluation in two Mexican villages

Author

Listed:
  • Falkowski, Tomasz B.
  • Martinez-Bautista, Isaias
  • Diemont, Stewart A.W.

Abstract

Emergy is an important evaluative tool to understand the sustainability of ecological systems. This methodology normalizes natural and economic inputs to permit a more holistic evaluation of systems. Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) is commonly not included in analyses of traditionally-designed ecosystems, or past evaluation has tended toward a qualitative valuation of TEK. Our research evaluated the emergy in the creation, maintenance, and transfer of TEK at the individual and community levels, as well as the biophysical and cultural resources that support this knowledge system. These evaluations took place within the Lacandon Maya village of Lacanja Chansayab, Mexico and with Zapotec farmers of Lalopa, Mexico. Respondents stressed the importance of inter-generational ties, the local forest, and community in their education. We found that TEK-based labor transformities (1.23E07sej/J in Lacanja Chansayab, Mexico and 6.54E06sej/J in Lalopa, Mexico) are similar to past qualitative estimates. TEK labor will result in minimal impact to the environment (i.e., environmental loading ratio) relative to Western education, which has comparable transformities, due to reliance on renewable local ecosystem inputs rather than fossil fuels and physical infrastructure. This research highlights the importance for sustainability of both preserving knowledge transfer systems resulting in TEK and in developing hands-on educational systems that rely upon the natural world as the primary classroom.

Suggested Citation

  • Falkowski, Tomasz B. & Martinez-Bautista, Isaias & Diemont, Stewart A.W., 2015. "How valuable could traditional ecological knowledge education be for a resource-limited future?: An emergy evaluation in two Mexican villages," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 300(C), pages 40-49.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:300:y:2015:i:c:p:40-49
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2014.12.007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304380014006139
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2014.12.007?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alfaro-Arguello, Rigoberto & Diemont, Stewart A.W. & Ferguson, Bruce G. & Martin, Jay F. & Nahed-Toral, José & David Álvarez-Solís, J. & Ruíz, René Pinto, 2010. "Steps toward sustainable ranching: An emergy evaluation of conventional and holistic management in Chiapas, Mexico," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 103(9), pages 639-646, November.
    2. Flores, Miguel & Bradshaw, Benjamin & Hoque, Nazrul, 2013. "Regional differences in life expectancy at birth in Mexican municipalities, 1990-2000," MPRA Paper 55212, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Abel, Thomas, 2010. "Human transformities in a global hierarchy: Emergy and scale in the production of people and culture," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 221(17), pages 2112-2117.
    4. Louis Verchot & Meine Noordwijk & Serigne Kandji & Tom Tomich & Chin Ong & Alain Albrecht & Jens Mackensen & Cynthia Bantilan & K. Anupama & Cheryl Palm, 2007. "Climate change: linking adaptation and mitigation through agroforestry," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 12(5), pages 901-918, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wei Liu & Jinyan Zhan & Zhihui Li & Siqi Jia & Fan Zhang & Yifan Li, 2018. "Eco-Efficiency Evaluation of Regional Circular Economy: A Case Study in Zengcheng, Guangzhou," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-16, February.
    2. Lupinacci, Daniel M. & Bonilla, Silvia H., 2018. "Exploring approaches and dimensions of human transformity through an educational case," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 368(C), pages 336-343.
    3. Tomasz B. Falkowski & Adolfo Chankin & Stewart A. W. Diemont & Robert W. Pedian, 2019. "More than just corn and calories: a comprehensive assessment of the yield and nutritional content of a traditional Lacandon Maya milpa," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(2), pages 389-404, April.
    4. Berrios, Fernando & Campbell, Daniel E. & Ortiz, Marco, 2017. "Emergy evaluation of benthic ecosystems influenced by upwelling in northern Chile: Contributions of the ecosystems to the regional economy," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 359(C), pages 146-164.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Raissa Sorgho & Carlos A. Montenegro Quiñonez & Valérie R. Louis & Volker Winkler & Peter Dambach & Rainer Sauerborn & Olaf Horstick, 2020. "Climate Change Policies in 16 West African Countries: A Systematic Review of Adaptation with a Focus on Agriculture, Food Security, and Nutrition," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-21, November.
    2. Claudio Szlafsztein, 2014. "Development projects for small rural communities in the Brazilian Amazon region as potential strategies and practices of climate change adaptation," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 143-160, February.
    3. Emmanuel Kasongo Yakusu & Joris Van Acker & Hans Van de Vyver & Nils Bourland & José Mbifo Ndiapo & Théophile Besango Likwela & Michel Lokonda Wa Kipifo & Amand Mbuya Kankolongo & Jan Van den Bulcke &, 2023. "Ground-based climate data show evidence of warming and intensification of the seasonal rainfall cycle during the 1960–2020 period in Yangambi, central Congo Basin," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 176(10), pages 1-28, October.
    4. Sherren, Kate & Fischer, Joern & Fazey, Ioan, 2012. "Managing the grazing landscape: Insights for agricultural adaptation from a mid-drought photo-elicitation study in the Australian sheep-wheat belt," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 106(1), pages 72-83.
    5. Agostinho, F. & Oliveira, M.W. & Pulselli, F.M. & Almeida, C.M.V.B. & Giannetti, B.F., 2019. "Emergy accounting as a support for a strategic planning towards a regional sustainable milk production," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    6. Trinh, Thoai Quang & Rañola, Roberto F. & Camacho, Leni D. & Simelton, Elisabeth, 2018. "Determinants of farmers’ adaptation to climate change in agricultural production in the central region of Vietnam," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 224-231.
    7. Thomas A. Tsalis & Ioannis E. Nikolaou, 2017. "Assessing the Effects of Climate Change Regulations on the Business Community: A System Dynamic Approach," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(6), pages 826-843, September.
    8. Vladimir Ivezić & Klaus Lorenz & Rattan Lal, 2022. "Soil Organic Carbon in Alley Cropping Systems: A Meta-Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-14, January.
    9. Giovanna Giusti & Patricia Kristjanson & Mariana C. Rufino, 2019. "Agroforestry as a climate change mitigation practice in smallholder farming: evidence from Kenya," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 153(3), pages 379-394, April.
    10. Vermeulen, S. J. & Aggarwal, Pramod & Ainslie, A. & Angelone, C. & Campbell, B. M. & Challinor, A. J. & Hansen, J. W. & Ingram, J. S. I. & Jarvis, A. & Kristjanson, P. & Lau, C. & Nelson, G. C. & Thor, 2010. "Agriculture, food security and climate change: outlook for knowledge, tools and action. Background paper prepared for The Hague Conference on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change, 31 October ," IWMI Research Reports H044643, International Water Management Institute.
    11. Hannah Gosnell & Kerry Grimm & Bruce E. Goldstein, 2020. "A half century of Holistic Management: what does the evidence reveal?," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(3), pages 849-867, September.
    12. Gennifer Meldrum & Stefano Padulosi & Gaia Lochetti & Rose Robitaille & Stefano Diulgheroff, 2018. "Issues and Prospects for the Sustainable Use and Conservation of Cultivated Vegetable Diversity for More Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-21, July.
    13. José Roberto Aguilar-Jiménez & José Nahed-Toral & Manuel Roberto Parra-Vázquez & Francisco Guevara-Hernández & Lucio Alberto Pat-Fernández, 2019. "Adaptability of Cattle-Raising to Multiple Stressors in the Dry Tropics of Chiapas, Mexico," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-21, April.
    14. Xiumei Xu & Chao Feng & Yongshan Du & Qimeng Wang & Gaige Zhang & Yicheng Huang, 2022. "Evaluating the sustainability of a tourism system based on emergy accounting and emergetic ternary diagrams: a case study of the Xinjiang Kanas tourism area," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(5), pages 6731-6787, May.
    15. Solomon Asfaw & Nancy McCarthy & Leslie Lipper & Aslihan Arslan & Andrea Cattaneo, 2016. "What determines farmers’ adaptive capacity? Empirical evidence from Malawi," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(3), pages 643-664, June.
    16. André Vizinho & David Avelar & Cristina Branquinho & Tiago Capela Lourenço & Silvia Carvalho & Alice Nunes & Leonor Sucena-Paiva & Hugo Oliveira & Ana Lúcia Fonseca & Filipe Duarte Santos & Maria José, 2021. "Framework for Climate Change Adaptation of Agriculture and Forestry in Mediterranean Climate Regions," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-33, February.
    17. Quandt, A. & Kimathi, Y.A., 2017. "Adapting livelihoods to floods and droughts in arid Kenya: Local perspectives and insights," African Journal of Rural Development (AFJRD), AFrican Journal of Rural Development (AFJRD), vol. 1(1), June.
    18. Craig R. Elevitch & D. Niki Mazaroli & Diane Ragone, 2018. "Agroforestry Standards for Regenerative Agriculture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-21, September.
    19. Ferguson, Bruce G. & Diemont, Stewart A.W. & Alfaro-Arguello, Rigoberto & Martin, Jay F. & Nahed-Toral, José & Álvarez-Solís, David & Pinto-Ruíz, René, 2013. "Sustainability of holistic and conventional cattle ranching in the seasonally dry tropics of Chiapas, Mexico," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 38-48.
    20. Barton, David N. & Benjamin, Tamara & Cerdán, Carlos R. & DeClerck, Fabrice & Madsen, Anders L. & Rusch, Graciela M. & Salazar, à lvaro G. & Sanchez, Dalia & Villanueva, Cristóbal, 2016. "Assessing ecosystem services from multifunctional trees in pastures using Bayesian belief networks," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 165-174.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:300:y:2015:i:c:p:40-49. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/ecological-modelling .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.