Is local ecological knowledge a useful conservation tool for small mammals in a Caribbean multicultural landscape?

Local ecological knowledge is an increasingly used, cost-effective source of data for conservation research and management. However, untrained observers are more likely to provide meaningful information on species that are charismatic and easily identifiable (e.g. large-bodied vertebrates) or of socio-economic importance, and may ignore or misidentify smaller-bodied, elusive and non-charismatic species. These problems may be further exacerbated by variation in environmental awareness and perception between different socio-cultural and ethnic groups often present across the range of threatened non-charismatic species. A community-based interview survey was carried out in southern Hispaniola on both sides of the Dominican Republic-Haitian border, to investigate the usefulness of local ecological knowledge for assessing status and threats to the Hispaniolan solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus) and Hispaniolan hutia (Plagiodontia aedium). These two small-bodied nocturnal endemic mammals are rarely targeted for bushmeat or encountered by rural community members, and may be confused with each other and with non-native small mammals. We demonstrate that, despite their elusive nature, both solenodons and hutias can be accurately identified by substantial numbers of respondents in rural communities. New quantitative data on levels of anthropogenic mortality also indicate that predation by free-roaming village dogs is responsible for numerous solenodon and hutia deaths. However, patterns of awareness and experience may be influenced by variation both in species status, ecology and distribution and in socio-cultural factors, and Dominican and Haitian respondents from the same landscapes have very different levels of awareness and experience of Hispaniolan native mammals, demonstrating an important distinction between local ecological knowledge and traditional ecological knowledge.