title: Riverine fishers' knowledge of extreme climatic events in the Brazilian Amazonia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Climate change is altering climate patterns, mainly increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme events with potentially serious impacts on natural resources and the people that use them. Adapting to such impacts will require the integration of scientific and local (folk) knowledge, especially the first-hand experiences and perceptions of resource users such as fishers. In this study, we identify how commercial riverine fishers in the Amazon remember extreme climatic events (flood and drought) and how they face the consequences of extreme events on fish availability.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected from the main Manaus fishery harbor between June and October of 2013. Semi-structured questionnaires and a historical timeline technique were used to gather data from artisanal commercial fishers. Fishers' knowledge of extreme climate events was assessed by their "cultural consensus" for identification of event years and perceived impacts. Fishers' responses were also compared to hydrological data to test their similarity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a high level of cultural consensus among fishers about extreme events years. They were able to identify four consecutive unusual droughts, between 2009 and 2012. Elevated levels of fish mortality and decreases in the fishery were perceived as consequences of the drought events, as well as, a reduction in fish size, and disappearance of some species. Extreme flood events were associated with greater difficulties accessing fishing grounds.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Extreme climatic events (floods and droughts) were remembered, and the recent increase in their intensity and frequency was also perceived. Moreover, extreme climate event (mainly droughts) impacts on fishery resources were also observed. Such information is potentially valuable for educational programs to further improve adaptation of local Amazonian fishing communities to future climate change, e.g. increasing local ecological knowledge using learning material based on their perception.
authors: National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), Av. André Araújo, 2.936, Petrópolis. CEP 69.067.375, Manaus, AM, Brazil. ana.albarraque@gmail.com.
authors: Ana Isabel
authors: AI
authors: Camacho Guerreiro
authors: Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL), Institute of Biological and Health Sciences (ICBS), Campus A. C. Simões; Av. Lourival Melo Mota s/n, Tabuleiro dos Martins. CEP 57.072.900, Maceió, AL, Brazil.|School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors: Richard J
authors: RJ
authors: Ladle
authors: National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), Av. André Araújo, 2.936, Petrópolis. CEP 69.067.375, Manaus, AM, Brazil.|Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL), Institute of Biological and Health Sciences (ICBS), Campus A. C. Simões; Av. Lourival Melo Mota s/n, Tabuleiro dos Martins. CEP 57.072.900, Maceió, AL, Brazil.
authors: Vandick
authors: V
authors: da Silva Batista
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D055864:Droughts; D005398:Fisheries; D005399:Fishes; D055868:Floods; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge
keywords: Climate change impacts; Cultural memory; Ethnoclimatology; Fishery resources; Historical knowledge