Climate, climate change and the global diversity of human houses.

Globally, human house types are diverse, varying in shape, size, roof type, building materials, arrangement, decoration and many other features. Here we offer the first rigorous, global evaluation of the factors that influence the construction of traditional (vernacular) houses. We apply macroecological approaches to analyse data describing house features from 1900 to 1950 across 1000 societies. Geographic, social and linguistic descriptors for each society were used to test the extent to which key architectural features may be explained by the biophysical environment, social traits, house features of neighbouring societies or cultural history. We find strong evidence that some aspects of the climate shape house architecture, including floor height, wall material and roof shape. Other features, particularly ground plan, appear to also be influenced by social attributes of societies, such as whether a society is nomadic, polygynous or politically complex. Additional variation in all house features was predicted both by the practices of neighouring societies and by a society's language family. Collectively, the findings from our analyses suggest those conditions under which traditional houses offer solutions to architects seeking to reimagine houses in light of warmer, wetter or more variable climates.

Malnutrition in rural Solomon Islands: An analysis of the problem and its drivers.

Solomon Islands, like many Pacific Island nations, suffer from the burden of malnutrition. External drivers including population growth, declining agriculture and fisheries productivity and global food trade have contributed to the transition to greater reliance on imported foods. Globally, diets are recognized as both a cause of and solution to the burden of malnutrition. Using a mixed-method approach this study assessed nutritional status and key determinants of malnutrition among women and young children in rural Solomon Island communities. Quantitative 24-hour recall surveys identified diets of women and young children in these communities to be very limited in diversity. Typical daily diets comprised of fish, sweet potato (and/or rice) and slippery cabbage (a leafy green) usually boiled in coconut milk or baked. Participatory research using problem tree and biocultural approaches identified basic determinants of poor diets and opportunities to address these challenges. We highlight three domains of opportunity to improve diets across multiple scales; 1) improve nutrition-sensitive agriculture and fisheries to produce and distribute diverse, productive and nutrient rich foods; 2) nutrition education and empowerment, focusing on the first 1000 days of life, to influence and inform choices regarding food consumption; and 3) reducing the consumption of imported, energy-rich nutrient poor foods through national and regional policies. These multi-scale domains highlight that food system approaches that strengthen integrated policy and empower people are essential for healthy and sustainable diets in Solomon Islands and more broadly in the Pacific region.

Drivers of reef shark abundance and biomass in the Solomon Islands.

Remote island nations face a number of challenges in addressing concerns about shark population status, including access to rigorously collected data and resources to manage fisheries. At present, very little data are available on shark populations in the Solomon Islands and scientific surveys to document shark and ray diversity and distribution have not been completed. We aimed to provide a baseline of the relative abundance and diversity of reef sharks and rays and assess the major drivers of reef shark abundance/biomass in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands using stereo baited remote underwater video. On average reef sharks were more abundant than in surrounding countries such as Fiji and Indonesia, yet below that of remote islands without historical fishing pressure, suggesting populations are relatively healthy but not pristine. We also assessed the influence of location, habitat type/complexity, depth and prey biomass on reef shark abundance and biomass. Location was the most important factor driving reef shark abundance and biomass with two times the abundance and a 43% greater biomass of reef sharks in the more remote locations, suggesting fishing may be impacting sharks in some areas. Our results give a much needed baseline and suggest that reef shark populations are still relatively unexploited, providing an opportunity for improved management of sharks and rays in the Solomon Islands.

Biocultural approaches to well-being and sustainability indicators across scales.

Monitoring and evaluation are central to ensuring that innovative, multi-scale, and interdisciplinary approaches to sustainability are effective. The development of relevant indicators for local sustainable management outcomes, and the ability to link these to broader national and international policy targets, are key challenges for resource managers, policymakers, and scientists. Sets of indicators that capture both ecological and social-cultural factors, and the feedbacks between them, can underpin cross-scale linkages that help bridge local and global scale initiatives to increase resilience of both humans and ecosystems. Here we argue that biocultural approaches, in combination with methods for synthesizing across evidence from multiple sources, are critical to developing metrics that facilitate linkages across scales and dimensions. Biocultural approaches explicitly start with and build on local cultural perspectives - encompassing values, knowledges, and needs - and recognize feedbacks between ecosystems and human well-being. Adoption of these approaches can encourage exchange between local and global actors, and facilitate identification of crucial problems and solutions that are missing from many regional and international framings of sustainability. Resource managers, scientists, and policymakers need to be thoughtful about not only what kinds of indicators are measured, but also how indicators are designed, implemented, measured, and ultimately combined to evaluate resource use and well-being. We conclude by providing suggestions for translating between local and global indicator efforts.

D-PLACE: A Global Database of Cultural, Linguistic and Environmental Diversity.

From the foods we eat and the houses we construct, to our religious practices and political organization, to who we can marry and the types of games we teach our children, the diversity of cultural practices in the world is astounding. Yet, our ability to visualize and understand this diversity is limited by the ways it has been documented and shared: on a culture-by-culture basis, in locally-told stories or difficult-to-access repositories. In this paper we introduce D-PLACE, the Database of Places, Language, Culture, and Environment. This expandable and open-access database (accessible at https://d-place.org) brings together a dispersed corpus of information on the geography, language, culture, and environment of over 1400 human societies. We aim to enable researchers to investigate the extent to which patterns in cultural diversity are shaped by different forces, including shared history, demographics, migration/diffusion, cultural innovations, and environmental and ecological conditions. We detail how D-PLACE helps to overcome four common barriers to understanding these forces: i) location of relevant cultural data, (ii) linking data from distinct sources using diverse ethnonyms, (iii) variable time and place foci for data, and (iv) spatial and historical dependencies among cultural groups that present challenges for analysis. D-PLACE facilitates the visualisation of relationships among cultural groups and between people and their environments, with results downloadable as tables, on a map, or on a linguistic tree. We also describe how D-PLACE can be used for exploratory, predictive, and evolutionary analyses of cultural diversity by a range of users, from members of the worldwide public interested in contrasting their own cultural practices with those of other societies, to researchers using large-scale computational phylogenetic analyses to study cultural evolution. In summary, we hope that D-PLACE will enable new lines of investigation into the major drivers of cultural change and global patterns of cultural diversity.

Defining biocultural approaches to conservation.

We contend that biocultural approaches to conservation can achieve effective and just conservation outcomes while addressing erosion of both cultural and biological diversity. Here, we propose a set of guidelines for the adoption of biocultural approaches to conservation. First, we draw lessons from work on biocultural diversity and heritage, social-ecological systems theory, integrated conservation and development, co-management, and community-based conservation to define biocultural approaches to conservation. Second, we describe eight principles that characterize such approaches. Third, we discuss reasons for adopting biocultural approaches and challenges. If used well, biocultural approaches to conservation can be a powerful tool for reducing the global loss of both biological and cultural diversity.

Local perceptions of changes in traditional ecological knowledge: a case study from Malekula island, Vanuatu.

Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) is a critical global resource that may be eroding amid social and environmental change. Here, we present data on local perceptions of TEK change from three communities on Malekula Island in Vanuatu. Utilizing a structured interview (n = 120), we find a common perception of TEK loss. Participants defined two key periods of TEK erosion (roughly 1940-1960 and 1980-present), and noted that TEK decline was driven both external (e.g., church) and internal (e.g., shifting values) processes. Erosion was perceived to more comprehensive in the worldview domain than in aspects of ethnobiological knowledge and practice. These data indicate the perceived fragility of TEK systems and the complexity of TEK change. TEK systems are critical to natural resource management, and data such as these will assist in designing nuanced responses to the ongoing loss of cultural knowledge and practice.

Perceptions of the value of traditional ecological knowledge to formal school curricula: opportunities and challenges from Malekula Island, Vanuatu.

BACKGROUND: The integration of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) into formal school curricula may be a key tool for the revitalisation of biocultural diversity, and has the potential to improve the delivery of educational objectives. This paper explores perceptions of the value of TEK to formal education curricula on Malekula Island, Vanuatu. We conducted 49 interviews with key stakeholders (local TEK experts, educators, and officials) regarding the use of the formal school system to transmit, maintain, and revitalise TEK. Interviews also gathered information on the areas where TEK might add value to school curricula and on the perceived barriers to maintaining and revitalising TEK via formal education programs. RESULTS: Participants reported that TEK had eroded on Malekula, and identified the formal school system as a principal driver. Most interviewees believed that if an appropriate format could be developed, TEK could be included in the formal education system. Such an approach has potential to maintain customary knowledge and practice in the focus communities. Participants identified several specific domains of TEK for inclusion in school curricula, including ethnomedical knowledge, agricultural knowledge and practice, and the reinforcement of respect for traditional authority and values. However, interviewees also noted a number of practical and epistemological barriers to teaching TEK in school. These included the cultural diversity of Malekula, tensions between public and private forms of knowledge, and multiple values of TEK within the community. CONCLUSIONS: TEK has potential to add value to formal education systems in Vanuatu by contextualising the content and process of curricular delivery, and by facilitating character development and self-awareness in students. These benefits are congruent with UNESCO-mandated goals for curricular reform and provide a strong argument for the inclusion of TEK in formal school systems. Such approaches may also assist in the maintenance and revitalisation of at-risk systems of ethnobiological knowledge. However, we urge further research attention to the significant epistemological challenges inherent in including TEK in formal school, particularly as participants noted the potential for such approaches to have negative consequences.