Romulo Romeu Nobrega Alves – författare

Ethnozoology: Animals In Our Lives represents the first book about this discipline, providing a discussion on key themes on human-animal interactions and their implications, along with recent major advances in research.

Humans share the world with a bewildering variety of other animals, and have interacted with them in different ways. This variety of interactions (both past and present) is investigated through ethnozoology, which is a hybrid discipline structured with elements from both the natural and social sciences, as it seeks to understand how humans have perceived and interacted with faunal resources throughout history.

In a broader context, ethnozoology, and its companion discipline, ethnobotany, form part of the larger body of the science of ethnobiology. In recent years, the importance of ethnozoological/ethnobiological studies has increasingly been recognized, unsurprisingly given the strong human influence on biodiversity.

From the perspective of ethnozoology, the book addresses all aspects of human connection, animals and health, from its use in traditional medicine, to bioprospecting derivatives of fauna for pharmaceuticals, with expert contributions from leading researchers in the field.

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 transformation of natural spaces. 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 is a promising discipline that can play a key role as a mediator of dialogue between different academic disciplines and traditional knowledge, a union essential in enabling contextualized and sustainable alternatives to exploitative practices and biodiversity management.

Methods and Techniques in Ethnobiology and Ethnoecology introduces the basic techniques and methods traditionally used in ethnobiology and ethnoecology. Comprised of 28 chapters, the book covers the different qualitative and quantitative aspects of ethnobiology research methods, as well as methods from natural and social sciences that will be useful to both beginners and senior researchers. Written by internationally renowned experts in the fields, Methods and Techniques in Ethnobiology and Ethnoecology is a valuable resource for researchers and students interested in ethnobiology.

Ethnobiology and ethnoecology have become very popular in recent years. Particularly in the last 20 years, many manuals of methods have published the most classical approaches to the subject. There have been, however, many advances in research as a result of interaction with different disciplines, but also due to more recent results, new original and interesting questions.

This handbook provides the current state of the art methods and techniques in ethnobiology and ethnoecology, and related fields. This new volume, besides bringing new and original aspects of what is found in the literature, fills some of the gaps in volume one by including the most systematic and extensive treatment of methods and techniques in qualitative research. Along with the various methods covered in the individual chapters, the handbook also includes an extensive bibliography that details the current literature in the field.

People have relied on medicinal products derived from natural sources for millennia, and animals have long been an important part of that repertoire; nearly all cultures, from ancient times to the present, have used animals as a source of medicine. Ingredients derived from wild animals are not only widely used in traditional remedies, but are also increasingly valued as raw materials in the preparation of modern medicines. Regrettably, the unsustainable use of plants and animals in traditional medicine is recognized as a threat to wildlife conservation, as a result of which discussions concerning the links between traditional medicine and biodiversity are becoming increasingly imperative, particularly in view of the fact that folk medicine is the primary source of health care for 80% of the world’s population. This book discusses the role of animals in traditional folk medicine and its meaning for wildlife conservation. We hope to further stimulate further discussions about the use of biodiversity and its implications for wildlife conservation strategies.