Alpina Begossi

• Phd Ecology UC Davis USA 1989
• Senior Researcher at RESEARCHER AT NEPA/UNICAMP; Fisheries and Food Institute (FIFO) Executive Director

Small-scale fisheries (SSFs) are important sources of livelihood but are vulnerable to anthropogenic environmental changes, including heavy metal pollution, such as mercury (Hg). Fish-Hg contamination has well-known health effects, but restricting fish consumption is potentially challenging in places where fish is the main source of income and prot...

The Neotropics have vast river catchments with untapped hydroelectric potential, but there are multiple expected negative impacts of dams, including those on local food security and livelihoods. Yet, monitoring of dam effects on subsistence is rare, particularly during initial implementation. Our study assessed changes in human fish consumption nea...

The relevance of local ecological knowledge to conservation and development agendas is gaining momentum, and the Amazon biome features as one of the most promising areas for its empirical application. Considerable attention has been given to forest composition and Indigenous land use, while coastal and marine environments have only received cursory...

This paper presents a comparative study of plant knowledge and use in rural and urban areas in the municipality of Barcelos in the Rio Negro, Amazonas, Brazil, based on a total of 81 interviews. Using diversity indices (Shannon-Wiener), plant knowledge is compared among communities (urban-rural population), and between sex (male-female) and age (ol...

Frugivory and seed dispersal by fish is an important mutualistic interaction in complex and species-rich tropical rivers. The local ecological knowledge (LEK) held by fishers can provide new information on relationships between fishes and plants in less studied rivers. This study aims to investigate the feeding interactions between frugivorous fish...

Fishers’ Indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) has multidimensional contributions to improve fisheries and aquatic ecosystems science, ranging from algae to whales and including management, conservation, ecology, and impact assessment. The challenges are to sustain this knowledge, recognize its value, and to include ILK holders in resource managemen...

The dusky grouper Epinephelus marginatus is one of the Serranidae (Epinephelinae) listed as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Data regarding population structure and genetic variation levels can be analysed and incorporated into fishery science to increase the chances of succ...

Ethnobiological studies on folk, common, or popular names that fishers use to identify fish can help improve fisheries monitoring and collaborations between fishers and researchers. This study investigates fishers’ knowledge (recognition, naming, and habitat use) on 115 and 119 fish species, respectively, in the Negro and Tapajos Rivers, two megadi...

There are gaps in our knowledge of important fish consumed by people in tropical countries. Small-scale fisheries are difficult to regulate, especially in countries with no species monitoring. At Copacabana (Rio de Janeiro), we observed 490 individuals of badejo (Comb grouper) (Mycteropeca acutirostris in 2013-2014 and in 2018-2020. The average cat...

Comb grouper, fishing and genetics, coast of Brazil, SE, Rio de Janeiro.

Human impact on coastal ecosystems is one of the greatest environmental threats of our times. An understanding of the scale and magnitude of species and habitat degradation requires a long-term perspective that incorporates historical information from a range of sources, including local newspapers. Here we provide a novel contribution to the histor...

Amazonian livelihoods are largely dependent on rivers, with local protein consumption mainly relying on several species of fish. The UJER (Upper Juruá Extractive Reserve - Reserva Extrativista do Alto Juruá) is located in the state of Acre, bordering Peru and several indigenous areas. Here we summarize the data we collected in 1993/1994 on the popu...

There are large gaps in our knowledge of the biology of important fish consumed by people in tropical countries, which makes conservation difficult. Small-scale fisheries are difficult to study and regulate, especially in countries with no systematic species monitoring. It is even more difficult to estimate the influence of these fisheries on vulne...

• Governance of natural resources in the Amazon has changed over time, especially when it comes to participatory regimes. Yet these regimes have rarely focused on the conservation of aquatic systems or have failed to fully deliver social justice. • Participatory regimes in the Amazon basin that rely on the provision of freshwater ecosystem services...

Tracking fish consumption could provide additional information on changes to fish stocks, one of the planet’s main protein sources. We used data on seafood consumption in fishing villages in Brazil over time to test for changes in: species richness, diversity, and composition, fish size and trophic levels, consumption of endangered species, and fun...

As mulheres pescadoras lidam historicamente com a falta de reconhecimento de suas atividades, o que tem implicações socioeconômicas (e.g., falta de remuneração por seu trabalho) e de saúde (e.g.: falta de reconhecimento de suas doenças trabalhistas). Através de uma revisão da literatura, aqui avaliamos eventuais mudanças neste cenário para as pesca...

p>As mulheres pescadoras lidam historicamente com a falta de reconhecimento de suas atividades, o que tem implicações socioeconômicas (e.g., falta de remuneração por seu trabalho) e de saúde (e.g.: falta de reconhecimento de suas doenças trabalhistas). Através de uma revisão da literatura, aqui avaliamos eventuais mudanças neste cenário para as pes...

Riverine people of the UPPER JURUÁ, BRAZIL

Art, images of Drawings, Paintings, Porcelain, Tapestry, Woodcuts, among others, by LIGIA BEGOSSI (THE ART OF LIGIA BEGOSSI). 423pp. ISBN listed (as follows) from printed version.

This book integrates information on research about the dusky grouper, Epinephelus marginatus, in Brazil and the Mediterranean. Such studies include collaboration with artisanal fishermen as well as with researchers from different institutions, represented in the chapters of this book: Branko Glamuzina (Univer-sity of Dubrovnik, Croatia), Claudia Ke...

Background: Groupers are a vulnerable but economically important group of fish, especially for small-scale fisheries. We investigated catches and local ecological knowledge (LEK) of diet, habitat, and past fishing experiences. Methods: Landings, prices, interviews, and restaurants demand for two species, Epinephelus marginatus (dusky grouper) an...

We followed landings of dusky grouper, Epinephelus marginatus , from 2013 to 2019. We observed 1,896 individuals of dusky grouper, Epinephelus marginatus , in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, from September 2013 to February 2019. The total weight of the catches was 6,065.57 kg, with an average of 1,442.50 kg/year and a std of 147.30 kg. We integrated fi...

The lack of knowledge about the majority of fish species harvested in Amazonian small-scale fisheries, in association with impacts from hydroelectric power plants, may lead to biodiversity loss and a decrease in the protein food supply for riverine Amazonians. This study uses existing datasets on fisheries and riverine developmental projects to inf...

• Human population growth is a major cause of species extinction worldwide, and tropical fresh waters are among the most imperilled ecosystems. The identification of major drivers of human impacts on fish can benefit conservation programmes and management plans. • The influences of the proximity to urban centres and human population size on six eco...

Local communities throughout the world are experiencing extensive social, cultural, economic, environmental, and climatic changes. Rather than passively accepting the effects of such changes, many communities are responding in various ways to take advantage of opportunities and to minimize negative impacts. We review examples from 13 cases around t...

Small-scale fisheries of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest Coast (BAFC) depend on fish resources for food and income. Thus, if the catch diminishes or if fish species that are a target for fishers are overexploited or impacted, this could affect fishers' livelihoods. The exclusion of threatened fish species from the catch is believed to be a threat to...

Coastal marine protected areas (MPAs) can adversely affect the livelihood of those dependent upon those areas for their source of food or income, especially poor fishermen. MPAs can create poverty traps by prohibiting or limiting access to resources. Avoiding the poverty trap requires understanding of socioeconomic sustainability of fishing activit...

A resiliência, como propriedade de sistemas socioecológicos, está relacionada à capacidade que tais sistemas têm de se adaptar e lidar com perturbações. Este estudo examinou as características presentes em uma comunidade de pescadores artesanais por meio de alguns indicadores de resiliência (flexibilidade, capacidade de organização e capacidade de...

Artigo recebido em 21 de junho de 2016, versão final aceita em 8 de março de 2017. RESUMO: A resiliência, como propriedade de sistemas socioecológicos, está relacionada à capacidade que tais sistemas têm de se adaptar e lidar com perturbações. Este estudo examinou as características presentes em uma comu-nidade de pescadores artesanais por meio de...

In this study, we used microsatellite markers to examine the genetic structures of Centropomus undecimalis (Bloch, 1792) and Epinephelus marginatus (Lowe, 1834) populations collected from artisanal fishing sites along a stretch of coastline in southeastern Brazil. Based on F-statistics, there was no significant genetic differentiation evident in an...

Information on fish trophic levels is important to assess fishing impacts and to better understand the bioaccumulation of pollutants within aquatic food chains. The local ecological knowledge held by small-scale fishers can fill knowledge gaps in fish trophic ecology. We estimated the trophic levels of 69 tropical and subtropical fish species (33 c...

Homegardens are conservation units for native plants and reservoirs of exotic species from different origins. We analysed the species composition and diversity of edible plants on three groups of homegardens in a gradient from urban to rural situations, but under the same historical and cultural contexts, and verified how these homegardens can favo...

Background Although fishers’ knowledge has been recently considered into management programmes, there is still the need to establish a better understanding of fishers’ perceptions and cognition. Fishers can provide novel information on the biology and ecology of species, which can potentially be used in the management of fisheries. The knowledge fi...

The dusky grouper (Epinephelus marginatus) is a reef fish with high market, cultural and ecological values. Therefore, it is an important species to the food security of small-scale fishers in Brazil and in other coastal regions. Nevertheless, groupers can be susceptible to overfishing because they are large, sedentary and with delayed maturity. Th...

The present study analyzed and compared the daily consumption of foods of animal origin in eleven communities of the Lower Amazon, Trombetas and Purus Rivers, representing three different management systems and levels of conservation in the Brazilian Amazon. All food items of animal origin were weighed by at least 10% of the families in the study c...

A literatura sobre incentivos para conservar a biodiversidade frequentemente sobrepõe processos e resultados. Há necessidade de revisar os principais resultados, como governança e co-manejo; os principais processos, como confiança, legitimidade e transparência; os principais ‘drivers’ (motivadores, fatores impulsionadores) que podem ser positivos (...

Background: Nature is perceived in a variety of forms, and the perception of nature can also be expressed in different ways. Local art may represent the perception of nature by humans. It can embody perception, imagination and wisdom. Local art, in particular, reflects how people interact with nature. For example, when studying the representation...

Ecosystem services research needs to become more transdisciplinary.•ecoSERVICES will advance co-designed, transdisciplinary ecosystem service research. Ecosystem services have become a mainstream concept for the expression of values assigned by people to various functions of ecosystems. Even though the introduction of the concept has initiated a va...

35 Ecosystem services have become a mainstream concept for the expression of values assigned by people to various functions of ecosystems. Even though the introduction of the concept has initiated a vast amount of research, progress in using this knowledge for sustainable resource use remains insufficient. We see a need to broaden the scope of rese...

Este estudo inclui aspectos complementares da segurança alimentar através da ênfase na importância da trajetória do recurso, dentre outros. Os locais de estudo são Copacabana (Rio de Janeiro) e Paraty (RJ), bem como Bertioga (SP). Três exemplos (casos) ilustram esse estudo: 1) a escolha alimentar de populações da costa; 2) a extração de recursos ma...

Background Data derived from studies of fishers’ local ecological knowledge (LEK) can be invaluable to the proposal of new studies and more appropriate management strategies. This study analyzed the fisher’s LEK about trophic relationships of fishes in the southeastern Brazilian coast, comparing fishers’ LEK with scientific knowledge to provide new...

Most coastal degradation has been caused by anthropogenic actions, threatening the ecosystem services (ESs) humans depend on. Marine protected areas are a solution to protect ESs, such as fish stocks, although this could potentially lead to conflicts with fisheries and tourism. We investigated how fisheries and tourism in the SE Brazil interact wit...

Search Antiquity Click to enlarge Figure 1. Archaeological fish traps in northern Brazil (Maranhão); the local communities today attribute them to past indigenous populations; their chronological and cultural attribution is, however, unknown ©Google Earth. Bridging ancient and modern artisanal fisheries in Latin America: assessing the role of cultu...

The literature on incentives for conserving biodiversity frequently conflates causes and consequences or perhaps processes and outputs. There is, for example, a need to review briefly: outcomes (or outputs), such as governance and co-management; processes, such as trust, legitimacy and transparency; drivers, that can be positive (incentives, food s...

This article is a commentary on the experiences that motivated my decision to become a human ecologist and ethnobiologist. These experiences include the pleasure of studying and of having the sense of being within nature, as well as the curiosity towards understanding the world and minds of local people. In particular, such understanding could be d...

Resource-use patterns, especially through exchanges among farmers, may ultimately confer resilience to the local agrobiodiversity. We investigated the use of cassava ethnovarieties by swidden farming communities in Brazil, exploring the structure of networks depicting farmers and the varieties they cultivate. The emergent nested resource-use patter...

Empirical data are needed to show the efficacy of co-management, which is regarded as a promising approach to achieve conservation goals. In this study, we addressed the potential influence of fisheries co-management to increase fish abundance and fishing yields in the lower Tocantins River Basin (Brazilian Amazon), downstream from a large dam. We...

Approaches towards the management of artisanal fisheries have been enlightening the scientific literature for approximately the last 20 years. Coming from diverse disciplines such as anthropology, biology, economy, and ecology (especially human ecology), these approaches have dealt with common theory, strategies for cooperation, decision-making mod...

Resumo A Etnobiologia originou-se da Ecologia humana e da Antropologia Cognitiva e busca entender como o mundo é percebido, conhecido e classificado por diversas culturas humanas. Dentro desse estudo ela está inserida na Etnoictiologia, que busca compreender a interação entre populações humanas e peixes. A família de peixes estudada é a Lutjanidae...

Reef Fishes: Urgent needs for Knowledge and Management in Tropical Waters (Editorial)

Open access journals allow scientific results to be visible to a large audience of scientists, managers and others [1]. In particular, open access journals allow researchers and students in developing countries to obtain scientific information. The Journal of Marine Science: Research and Development covers, among other fields, oceans, seas, marine...

This study includes complementary aspects of food security by emphasizing the importance of the traceability of the resource, among others. Study sites are Copacabana (Rio de Janeiro) and Paraty (RJ) as well as Bertioga (SP). Three examples (cases) illustrate this study: 1) the food choice by coastal populations; 2) the extraction of marine resourc...

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been regarded as an alternative to protect natural resources and to improve fisheries. However, MPAs may also have negative socio-economic consequences on fishing communities. We aimed to check the effectiveness of a socially conflicting MPA in Brazil by assessing target reef fish biomass in islands inside (n = 6)...

Medicines and foods are not always exclusive categories in ethnopharmacology. What is eaten, the diets of the animals being consumed, which foods are healthy, and which foods should not be eaten when one is sick are some examples of the ways in which native populations interact with foods, medicines, and natural resources. This study examined nativ...

Marine protected areas created in a top-down way can be costly and ineffective due to low compliance of resource users. Conversely, employing users’ local knowledge and involving them in decision-making processes could decrease costs and conflicts, in addition to increasing the chances of management success. Here the potential to change conflicting...

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo a descrição da composição alimentar encontrada em conteúdos estomacais da espécie Centropomus undecimalis. Os itens mais representativos são: “resto de peixe” (45,5%) - que correspondem aos teleósteos em avançado estado de digestão - seguido por: Caratinga (18,2%), Sardinha (16,4%) e Cangoá (12,7%). Os dados aq...

This study seeks to investigate the occurrence of prototypes in folk biology (specifically fisher folk taxonomy) and to understand the variables linked to their determination. A prototype is the most representative item within a group, category, or set of items. Given a group of fisher communities where snappers are fished, can we find prototypes i...

This article investigates the folk taxonomy of four artisanal fisheries communities in Ilhabela/SP. The local folk taxonomy shows how these fishermen identify, name and classify fish resources in the environment exploited by them. Forty-two fishermen from four different local communities of Ilhabela were interviewed through a structured questionnai...

This study intends to give recommendations to the management of Paraty fishery in Brazil through an interplay of local and scientific knowledge. In particular, the objectives are the following: 1) to describe the Paraty fishery; 2) to compare the fishermen's local ecological knowledge with recorded fish landings and previous studies in Paraty; 3) t...

Supplementary Material Begossi el al.

We analyzed fishermen's local ecological knowledge (LEK) about the feeding habits, trophic interactions, habitats, fishing grounds, migration, and reproduction of nine coastal fishes in Búzios Island, southeastern Brazilian coast. We interviewed 39 fishermen using standardized questionnaires. Fishermen's LEK on habitat use and trophic interactions...

This study was conducted in three communities of artisanal fishermen from Ilhabela, located on the northern coast of São Paulo, Brazil. The objective was to analyze the preferences, taboos and medicinal indications of fish and thus representing one of the interactions of fishermen with fish stocks. Data collection was conducted through interviews w...

only a small portion of the world´s biological diversity has been studied, its capacity to generate socioeconomic benefits has been recognised everywhere. Local knowledge is a useful resource for the development of medicinal drugs and other substances. For this reason, the rights to areas with high biodiversity have been an area of debate and of le...

This work was developed in Ilhabela, northern coast of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The objective was to characterize artisanal fisheries in fishing communities of Jabaquara Beach, Serraria Beach, Fome Beach and Bonete Beach. Fishing methods, strategies and equipment used by fishers, as well as, local forms of marketing and exploited fishery res...

Artisanal fisheries are of great importance in Brazil, as they are responsible for more than 50% of national fish production. This importance, associated with the necessity of conserving marine environments threatened by multiple competing uses, leads us to propose mechanisms for co-management of fisheries by users and public authorities. This prop...

The 'cerco flutuante', a floating trap net, is used by the caiçaras from the southeastern coast of Brazil for artisanal fishing. This technique is part of a set of historical influences that formed the caiçara culture, and it was introduced in Brazil by the Japanese at the beginning of the last century. Fishing with floating nets occurs in Trindade...

Abstract  Brazilian shrimp trawlers and gillnetters were compared regarding their decisions concerning effort, processing of fish, time spent fishing and how they are affected by environmental, cultural and economic factors. Landings were recorded over 13 months (n = 424) and comprised mainly sea bob shrimp -Xyphopenaeus kroyeri (Heller) (95% of th...

Optimal Foraging Theory (OFT) is here applied to analyse the foraging behaviour of Brazilian artisanal fishers of the Atlantic coast (Itacuruçá and São Paulo Bagre villages) and of the inland Amazonian region (Jarauá and Ebenezer villages). Two OFT predictions are tested. Hypotheis1: A fisher who travels to more distant sites should return with mor...

Studies using Optimal Foraging Theory to understand human behavior have stated that daily variation in patch profitability could explain mismatches between theoretical predictions and actual behavior. In this paper, we tested whether the return rate of the last fishing trip could predict fishers' choices to return or choose a different fishing grou...

This study uses the socio-ecological resilience concept to compare two categories of fisheries co-management in Brazil: Extractive and Sustainable Development Reserves. Ecological resilience was estimated by the indicators: reserve areas, human density and the existence of buffer zones around the reserves. Indicators for social-resilience were grou...

In this study, we sought to investigate the biology (diet and reproduction) and ethnobiology (fishers knowledge and fishing spots used to catch snappers) of five species of snappers (Lutjanidae), including Lutjanus analis, Lutjanus synagris, Lutjanus vivanus, Ocyurus chrysurus, and Romboplites saliens at five sites along the northeast (Riacho Doce,...

The cerco flutuante, a floating trap net, is used by the caiçaras from the southeastern coast of Brazil for artisanal fishing. This technique is part of a set of historical influences that formed the caiçara culture, and it was introduced in Brazil by the Japanese at the beginning of the last century. Fishing with floating nets occurs in Trindade,...

Bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) has a worldwide distribution, being targeted by fishers all along its range, which includes the Brazilian coast. We formulated and checked hypotheses regarding bluefish diet, migration, and reproduction based on fishers’ local ecological knowledge (LEK). We interviewed 49 experienced fishers (40years and older) from f...

Os quelônios da bacia amazônica constituem um ítem alimentar desde antes da chegada do colonizador europeu, e um importante produto regional para subsistência e comercialização, desde o período colonial até os dias de hoje. Todavia, muito pouco se sabe a respeito dos níveis de exploração e pressão sobre os estoques naturais, embora o declínio popul...

The theme of the mare 2009 Conference, 'Living with Uncertainty and Adapting to Change', is well suited to Latin American reality when thinking of the uncertainties of fisheries and the economically poor livelihoods of people in riverine and coastal areas. Currently, there are multiple pressures on those liveli-hoods, many of which come from impose...

The Brazilian Atlantic Forest is considered one of the hotspots for conservation, comprising remnants of rain forest along the eastern Brazilian coast. Its native inhabitants in the Southeastern coast include the Caiçaras (descendants from Amerindians and European colonizers), with a deep knowledge on the natural resources used for their livelihood...

Cet article présente une étude comparative du savoir botanique ainsi que de l'utilisation des plantes dans les régions rurales et urbaines de la municipalité de Barcelos située sur le Rio Negro (Amazonie, Brésil). Elle est basée sur un total de 81 interviews. Un index de diversité (celui de Shannon-Wiener) est utilisé afin de comparer le savoir bot...

Los problemas de las pesquerías y las alternativas de manejo rebasan el análisis simple de la disponibilidad de especies, abarcando las características socioeconómicas y las conductas de los pescadores. Se presenta un estudio de caso donde una comunidad orientada a la pesca de peces de la costa de SaoPaulo, SE de Brasil, está siendo desplazada por...

In this study we perform an ecological analysis of the resources use in the diet of the ribeirinho populations of the Barcelos municipality, Rio Negro, Amazonas, Brazil. Data on food composition, seasonality, and origin took place during three field trips between 1999 and 2000. Data were gathered based on structured interviews and observations from...