This is the accepted version of the journal article: Porcuna Ferrer, Anna; Calvet Mir, Laura; Guillerminet, Théo; [et al.]. «"So many things have changed" : situated understandings of climate change impacts among the Bassari, south-eastern Senegal». Environmental science & policy, Vol. 148 (Oct. 2023), art. 103552. 13 pàg. DOI 10.1016/j.envsci.2023.103552 This version is available at https://ddd.uab.cat/record/282029 under the terms of the license 1 “So many things have changed”: Situated understandings of climate change 2 impacts among the Bassari, south-eastern Senegal 3 4 Anna Porcuna-Ferrer1,2,, Laura Calvet-Mir*3,4, Théo Guillerminet5,6, Santiago Alvarez- 5 Fernandez1, Vanesse Labeyrie2, Eva Porcuna-Ferrer7, Victoria Reyes-García1,8, 9 6 7 *corresponding author: Laura.Calvet@uab.cat 1 8 Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 9 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain 2 10 SENS, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, IRD, UPVM, Montpellier, France 3 11 Institut Metròpoli, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, 12 Spain 4 13 TURBA Lab, Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3), Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, 14 Barcelona, Spain 5 15 CIRAD, UMR AGAP, F-34398 Montpellier, France 6 16 AGAP Institute, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, INRAE, Montpellier SupAgro, Montpellier, 17 France 7 18 Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden 8 19 ICREA, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Barcelona, Spain 20 9 Departament d’Antropologia Social i Cultural, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 21 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain 22 23 24 25 Word count: 7229 words (from Introduction to Conclusions). 26 27 Abstract 28 Word count: 248 words. Journal guidelines max. 250 words. 29 30 Mainstream discourses frame anthropogenic climate change as a biophysical apolitical 31 problem, thus privileging Western science and silencing other worldviews. Through a 32 case study among the Bassari, an ethnic group in South-Eastern Senegal, we assess the 33 local, embodied, and situated understandings of climate change and the tensions that 34 arise when the apolitical global climate change discourse interacts with situated 35 understandings. Drawing on data from 47 semi-structured interviews and 176 surveys, 36 we find that while the global climate change discourse has not permeated into the 37 Bassari, they experience climate change through its many impacts on the biophysical 38 and socio-economic systems. Results also highlight that climate is not considered the 39 main or only driver of change, but that changes in elements of the climate system are 40 inextricably linked with political and economic dynamics and environmental 41 degradation. Finally, our results point toward the importance of values and supernatural 42 forces in defining situated ways of conceptualizing, interpreting, and responding to 43 change. By including situated worldviews in theoretical understandings of climate and 44 environmental change, we contribute to the claims about the need to reframe how 45 climate change is conceptualized. Our research emphasizes the importance of a 46 relational view of climate change, which requires moving beyond understanding 47 isolated climate change impacts towards defining climate change as a systemic problem. 48 Building on feminist and decolonial literature, we argue for the need for more plural and 49 democratic ways of thinking about climate change, crossing epistemological and 50 ontological boundaries and including local communities and their knowledge and 51 understandings. 52 Key words: climate science, climate justice, environmental change, epistemic justice, 53 Indigenous and local knowledge, network analysis, plural ontologies 54 1. Introduction 55 56 “So many things have changed! (…) If I am correct, it’s because of what we do with our 57 own hands. Before, there would be sacrifices in each house to ask for the rain, or for 58 the trees to give many flowers. (…). The world is changing, and mostly here. We cannot 59 go against climate change, us Bassari.” 60 - Bassari female elder, May 2021 61 62 Anthropogenic climate change is, perhaps, the most urgent global environmental 63 problem, as it threatens life on Earth as we know it. Atmospheric changes have 64 cascading effects on physical, biological, socio-economic, and cultural systems (Adger 65 et al., 2013; Reyes-García et al., 2019; Scheffers et al., 2016). 66 Scientific explanations present anthropogenic climate change as a biophysical 67 problem, relating it with greenhouse-gas emissions produced by fossil fuels (IPCC, 68 2021), with growing consensus about the diverse ways of experiencing climate change 69 (Hohenthal et al., 2018; Rosengren, 2018; Tschakert, 2012). The opening quotation 70 from our field research among the Bassari in South-Eastern Senegal illustrates the 71 complexity of local conceptualizations of climate change. It also reflects the tensions, 72 discontinuities, and contradictions that emerge when contrasting local perspectives 73 based on distinct cosmological, ontological, and epistemological grounds with the 74 scientific discourse that dominates climate change debates. 75 Feminist, post and decolonial studies1 and critical social scientists have a long 76 tradition of uncovering the uneven power dynamics that shape what knowledge is 77 considered legitimate, showing how power privileges Western science while dismissing 78 other knowledge systems (e.g., Blaser, 2013; Harding, 2009; Jasanoff, 2004; Lizcano, 79 2006; McLeod, 2000; Todd, 2015). Accordingly, an increasing body of literature 80 critically engages with climate change knowledge politics, analysing how knowledge is 1 Feminist and post and decolonial studies come from very different traditions but are strongly complementary. They both include analysis of power, justice, and knowledge production, decentring the dominant ways of thinking. The feminist lens is crucial considering the historical marginalization of women from Western science and the importance of gender for knowledge production processes. The post and decolonial lens is key to understand how Western scientific knowledge production is deeply imbricated in imperial and colonial relations and their contemporary remnants. Both co-constitute each other by showing how the intersecting and multiple power hierarchies in which we live are crucial to understand how and why the voices of the most affected and marginalized by the colonial, patriarchal and capitalist system (i.e., non-Western local knowledge systems) are also the ones most silenced (Harding, 2009; Hunt, 2014; Todd, 2016). 81 produced and whose knowledge and voices are heard (Goldman et al., 2018; Hulme, 82 2010; Mahony & Hulme, 2018). Overall, the global framing of climate change has 83 favoured ‘technical-biophysical’ Western science views, which, despite being presented 84 as objective and value-free, cannot be separated from colonialism, imperialism, 85 patriarchy, and capitalist resource extraction (Bee et al., 2015; Demeritt, 2001; Hulme, 86 2008; Nightingale et al., 2020). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 87 (IPCC), a key institution in making and validating scientific climate change knowledge, 88 is a good example of how certain voices are marginalized and suppressed from global 89 climate change discourses – e.g., through participation imbalances between Global 90 North and Global South countries (Hulme & Mahony, 2010), male-dominance 91 (Liverman et al., 2022), underrepresenting humanities scholars (Corbera et al., 2016) 92 and Indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) holders (Ford et al., 2016), or through the 93 ‘strategic unknowing’, including denial, dismissal, diversion, and displacement of other 94 ways of knowing (Arora-Jonsson & Wahlström, 2023). 95 Feminist post and decolonial studies advocate for collaboration across diverse ways 96 of knowing in climate change research and policy, based on the principles of consent, 97 cultural autonomy, and justice (Orlove et al., 2023), which ensures that gendered and 98 power hierarchies are made visible, questioned, and addressed (Bee et al., 2015; 99 Cameron, 2012; Carey et al., 2016; MacGregor, 2009; Todd, 2016). This entails 100 learning from grounded and localised understandings of climate change and drawing 101 attention to how climate change is differently lived and experienced by different 102 subjects that, through their everyday practices, are located and bound to different power 103 structures and inequalities2 (Bee et al., 2015; Brace & Geoghegan, 2011; Hulme, 2010). 104 Such an approach implies interpreting climate change’s physical dimensions through 105 cultural meanings3, e.g., understanding ‘weather’, ‘climate’ and ‘climate change’ as 106 ideas constructed through cultural practices (Hulme, 2008; Jasanoff, 2010). Thus, it is 107 crucial to study how climate change is lived and interpreted by people within particular 2 As opposed to universal, global knowledge, feminist approaches emphasize the importance of looking at climate change knowledge production from the notions of “embodiment” and the “everyday”. By paying attention to the spaces of everyday practice and to the experiences and intersecting subjectivities (gender, class, race, indigeneity, and other dimension of power) of the situated bodies that live and produce climate change knowledge, a focus on “everyday” and “embodiment” make visible how broader uneven power relations shape mundane spaces and experiences around climate change (Bee et al., 2015). 3 Previous research asserts that existing vernacular conceptions of climate and the environment (also referred as local cosmologies or ontological regimes) affect the way people perceive, experience, and react to environmental changes (Pyhälä et al., 2016). 108 social and historical contexts and how climate change experiences and understandings 109 fit into wider understandings of the world (Bee et al., 2015; Buechler & Hanson, 2015; 110 MacGregor, 2009). 111 Berkes (2009) suggests that local understandings of environmental (and climate) 112 change must be interpreted within the context of broader knowledge systems developed 113 locally. Literature on ILK highlights the unique, complex, holistic, empirical knowledge 114 that Indigenous peoples and local communities hold about climate and environmental 115 variability, in which human-nature relations and values, knowledge, and behaviour are 116 inextricably linked (Berkes & Berkes, 2009; Pyhälä et al., 2016; Reyes-García et al., 117 2016). In a similar vein, feminist studies refer to “situated knowledge” 4, emphasizing 118 that knowledge production is embedded in a particular language, culture, and contingent 119 to the history and power relations of the knowledge-holder group (Haraway, 1988). 120 Recognizing voices and knowledge systems marginalized by mainstream 121 approaches allows to explore different ways of understanding climate change impacts, 122 as well as a deeper understanding of the complex web of relations between climate (and 123 environmental) change and cultural, political, and socio-economic changes at the local, 124 regional, and global scales (Boillat & Berkes, 2013; Li et al., 2021). Moreover, using 125 multiple perspectives helps to think about the current gaps in climate science, question 126 assumptions, and pose new questions – e.g., Goldman et al., 2018; Mahony & Hulme, 127 2018; Nightingale, 2016. While scholarly interest in introducing local worldviews into 128 theoretical understandings of climate change is growing, the approach continues to be 129 marginalized in global debates (Barnes et al., 2013; Castree et al., 2014; Reyes-García 130 et al., 2019). 131 Building on previous work calling for epistemological and ontological plurality in 132 understanding climate change (Orlove et al., 2023), our work aims at empirically 133 exploring the local, embodied and situated understandings of climate change through a 134 case-study among the Bassari, an ethno-linguistic minority inhabiting South-Eastern 135 Senegal. To do so, we first investigate whether the global scientific concept of ‘climate 136 change’ has made its way to the Bassari, and if so, who has access to this knowledge 4 We use the concept “situated knowledge” (Haraway, 1988) to emphasize the extensive body of critical research that challenges the historical Western categorization of non-Western cultures as “local”, “traditional”, or “Indigenous” while considering (Western) science as universal (e.g., Cameron, 2012; Todd, 2015). The notion of situated knowledge recognizes the knowledge-practice-belief based on the multigenerational cultural transmission and evolving adaptive processes that characterizes ILK (Berkes, 1999) and brings attention to colonial legacies and contemporary power dynamics. 137 and how it merges with local notions of change, resulting in local meanings of ‘climate 138 change’. Then, we explore local reports of environmental changes and the perceived 139 importance of climate change amongst other drivers of change. Finally, building on 140 feminist and decolonial literature we discuss the frictions that arise when the apolitical, 141 global, science-based framings of climate change interact with the local, embodied, and 142 situated understandings of local communities with nature-dependent livelihoods, 143 considering the implications of these frictions for adaptation and climate change 144 governance, and arguing for more diverse representations and conceptualizations of 145 climate change. 146 147 2. Case study and methods 148 149 2.1. The Bassari of South-Eastern Senegal 150 151 The Bassari country, Southeast Senegal, is a region characterized by tropical 152 savannah with dry-winter characteristics (Peel et al., 2007) and mean annual rainfall ca. 153 1172 mm (2005-2015) distributed along one rainy season (June-July to October- 154 November) (ANACIM, 2020). The landscape and livelihood activities are determined 155 by the yearly rhythm of dry and rainy seasons, which, as in the rest of the Sahel area, 156 shows high inter-annual variability. During the 1970s and 1980s, the region was 157 affected by intense droughts, and thereafter, there has been an increase in annual 158 rainfall, widespread warming, and an increase in climate extremes (IPCC 2007, p. 299). 159 These trends, however, are not clear, and climate change projections for the area remain 160 uncertain and subject to large local variability (Sultan & Gaetani, 2016). 161 Situated in one of the most remote regions of Senegal, the Bassari country has 162 historically been socially, politically, and economically isolated from the rest of 163 Senegal. Historical accounts depict the Bassari as hunter-gatherers and small-scale 164 subsistence farmers, with dispersed settlement patterns and a self-sufficient lifestyle 165 until the beginning of the 20th century. Most social changes in the area accelerated in the 166 20th century, with French colonialism and increasing integration into the mainstream 167 market economy (Porcuna-Ferrer et al., under review). 168 French colonial rule (1900-1960) placed the Bassari territory in a particular 169 development trajectory, characterized by the imposition of a tax-system, forced labour 170 recruitments, the establishment of French schools and Catholic and Protestant missions, 171 the creation of transport infrastructure and weekly markets, and the establishment of the 172 Niokolo Koba National Park in an area traditionally used for hunting and gathering by 173 local populations. After Senegal’s independence (1960), the Bassari territory integration 174 into the Senegalese economy continued through development projects and NGOs, 175 which enhanced access to health and education and promoted agricultural 176 mechanization, the use of chemical inputs, and new improved seed varieties. Small- 177 scale tourism developed in the area in the 2000s, bolstered by UNESCO's designation of 178 the Bassari Country as a World Heritage site. 179 The study area is located at the foothills of the Fouta-Djallon mountain range, below 180 the Gambia river and is bounded to the West and North by the Niokolo Koba. A paved 181 road connects the departmental capital, Kedougou, with the market town of Salemata, 182 which is about 11 kilometres away (Figure 1). Nowadays, the main livelihood activity 183 in the area is slash-and-burn agriculture, mostly for subsistence and cereal crops, with 184 some legume and vegetable cultivation and cotton as the only cash-crop. Most Bassari 185 families own some cattle as a cash-saving strategy. Bassari are increasingly involved in 186 market-based economic activities such as construction, tourism, and gold mining 187 (Porcuna-Ferrer et al., under review). 188 [FIGURE 1 ABOUT HERE] 189 2.2. Methods 190 191 Data collection took place over 16 months between 2019 and 2021. We worked on 192 three Bassari villages, with populations of approximately 200, 433, and 986 inhabitants, 193 representing the area’s diverse environmental and socioeconomic conditions (see 194 below). Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods (Reyes-García et 195 al., 2023a), we collected and interpreted data on Bassari familiarity with the Western 196 concept of climate change as well as situated reports of environmental change. We 197 collected data in French, with translations into Bassari by two experienced local 198 research assistants, one man and one woman, who assisted us in ensuring that the 199 questions were culturally-appropriate and correctly translated and understood. Research 200 assistants belonged to the biggest village. When conducting research in the other two 201 villages, a local interpreter belonging to each community also accompanied us. All 202 members of the communities that participated in the research agreed research assistants 203 and interpreters to be financed during the research period. 204 Before starting data collection, we obtained permission to conduct research from the 205 official and customary authorities at village level (i.e., the préfet, the chefs de village 206 and the chefs coutumiers) and each household and individual participating in the 207 research. The research protocol was approved by the ethics committee of the Universitat 208 Autònoma de Barcelona (CEEAH 4781). All authors of this paper are European, as 209 such, we acknowledge that not being Bassari scholars might limit our understanding of 210 Bassari knowledge and cosmologies, affecting our interpretations of Bassari reports of 211 climate and environmental change and their drivers. 212 213 2.3. Bassari’s familiarity with Western scientific notions of climate change 214 215 To explore whether the scientific concept of ‘climate change’ had permeated in the 216 local communities, we conducted a survey (n = 176). Participant selection followed 217 stratified random sampling, balancing the number of selected individuals per case-study 218 village, and gender and age quotas (Table 1). We asked survey participants: (i) Have 219 you heard the term ‘climate change’? (yes/no); If yes: (ii) where did you learn about it? 220 (i.e., TV, radio, other people, health post, school) and (iii) what does ‘climate change’ 221 mean to you? (open text, documented verbatim). We also documented basic individual 222 socio-demographic characteristics (i.e., biological sex, age, level of schooling, and 223 village of residence). 224 [TABLE 1 ABOUT HERE] 225 We coded the answers into a variable called “matching”, which took the value of 226 “yes” if the interviewee referred to changes in the atmospheric system and (but not 227 necessarily) CO2 emissions or pollution; “partially” if the interviewee referred to 228 environmental changes potentially driven by changes in climate (e.g., crops produce 229 lower yields, wild trees decrease production, etc.) but did not specify the driver; and 230 “no” if the interviewee mentioned changes that were not related to climate or 231 environmental change (e.g., arrival of phones, radio, new crops, etc.). 232 We used percentages to quantify people’s level of familiarity with scientific 233 understandings of climate change and assessed whether responses to the variable 234 “matching” were associated to informants’ sex, age and level of schooling. To test 235 independence between response and explanatory variables, we used the Exact Fisher’s 236 test for categorical variables (i.e., sex and level of schooling) instead of a Chi-squared 237 test for which we had too few observations. A Kruskall-Wallis test was used for the 238 numerical variable (i.e., age). The association between source of information and the 239 variable “matching” was assessed with a Chi-squared test. In the text, we mention the 240 test name when referring to the Kruskal-Wallis test or to Chi-squared test; otherwise, p- 241 values were obtained through the Exact Fisher’s test. 242 All data analyses were run in R (R Core Team, 2021). We used the ggplot2 package 243 (Wickham, 2016) and Inkscape v.1.2 for other visualizations. 244 245 2.4. Situated reports of environmental change and its drivers 246 247 We used a two-step process to assess situated reports of environmental change and 248 the relative importance of climate change as a driver. We first conducted 47 semi- 249 structured interviews (SSIs) with people locally recognized as knowledgeable, selecting 250 individuals who could hold different knowledge on local environmental changes (Table 251 1). We tried to balance our sample across age, sex, and main livelihood activity, 252 selecting the most common activities performed in the area (i.e., farming, hunter- 253 gathering, fishing). Women participation was lower than desired (28%), which we 254 primarily attribute to the fact that, for logistical reasons, we had no option but to 255 conduct SSIs during the main harvest time. Since women, besides being farmers also 256 shoulder most responsibilities of household caregiving, they were less available than 257 men for interviews. 258 Following Reyes-García et al., 2023a, SSIs started with the question “compared to 259 your youth, what changes in the environment have you noticed?”; followed by questions 260 about changes in a) the weather, seasons, temperature, rain; b) soils, river, and streams; 261 c) wild plants, animals, and fish; and d) farming, livestock-keeping, or any other 262 livelihood activities. For each change mentioned, we asked why the informant thought it 263 happened and what was causing it. We then organized three focus group discussions, 264 one in each village, to assess the community consensus regarding environmental 265 changes and their drivers and to clarify unclear or contradictory observations. 266 Verbatim environmental change observations were coded into summary indicators 267 following the hierarchical classification system proposed by Reyes-García et al., 2019 , 268 where environmental changes are classified according to the ‘system’ (i.e., atmospheric, 269 physical, biological, socio-economic), ‘sub-system’ (e.g., temperature, terrestrial 270 physical system, cultivated plant species) and ‘impacted element’5 where they are 271 observed (e.g., seasonal temperature, wild flora productivity, cultivated spp. 272 productivity). For example, we coded similar expressions (e.g., “now it rains less”, “it 273 does not rain like before”) into an indicator (i.e., “changes in mean rainfall”) which, 274 following the classification used, was assigned to an impacted element (“mean 275 precipitation”), a subsystem (“precipitation”), and a system (“atmospheric system”). 276 When a change was reportedly driven by another environmental change, we used 277 the same process to classify the driver. However, when drivers of change were not 278 environmental, we drew on the IPBES classification of drivers, which distinguishes 279 between ‘direct’ drivers of change (i.e., land-use change, resource extraction, pollution, 280 invasive alien species) and ‘indirect’ drivers of change (i.e., values, demographic, 281 technological, economic, governance) (Balvanera et al., 2019). We extended the IPBES 282 classification by adding ‘supernatural forces’ as driver of environmental change (e.g., 283 “trees have stopped producing fruits as a punishment because now we sell their fruits”, 284 “because of God”). To integrate both classification systems (IPBES and LICCI), we 285 chose to work at the level with the highest correspondence between them, although we 286 are aware that this correspondence is not exact. 287 We used network analysis to assess interactions between reported environmental 288 change impacts and their drivers (Brandes, 2005), focusing on the relationships between 289 changes rather than on the changes themselves. For this, we created an edge-list, with 290 one column indicating the list of environmental change impacts and another indicating 291 the reported drivers (adding one line per additionally reported drivers for the same 292 impact). We only used impacts and drivers for which there was consensus in the focus 293 group discussions. When visualizing the edge-list as a network, nodes represented either 294 drivers or impacts of environmental change, and ties represented directed relations 295 between nodes. So, an oriented tie from change (i) to change (j) indicated that change (i) 296 drives change (j). 297 To analyse the network, we calculated two measures at the node and network levels: 298 (i) Indegree. At node level, indegree, i.e., the number of incoming ties, represents the 299 number of drivers reported for a particular change. At network level, a high indegree 300 centralization indicates that a limited number of impacts are linked to many drivers 5 In the text we also refer to ‘impacted elements’ as ‘environmental change impacts’ 301 while the rest are linked to a few. (ii) Outdegree. At node level, outdegree, i.e., the num- 302 ber of outgoing ties, represents the number of times a change is mentioned as driver. At 303 the network level, high outdegree centralization indicates that a small group of drivers 304 causes most impacts. We calculated all directed networks using the R package “net- 305 work” (Butts, 2015). 306 307 3. Results 308 309 3.1. Bassari’s familiarity with Western scientific notions of climate change 310 311 Fifty-three percent of the sample (n=176) reported hearing about climate change; 312 but only 55% of those provided a definition. 59% of respondents who had never heard 313 the term climate change were women, 68% were over 40, and 58% had never attended 314 school (Figure 2). 315 Younger people (Kruskal-Wallis test, p = 0.003) and people with higher level of 316 schooling were significantly more likely to have heard the term ‘climate change’ than 317 their peers (p < 0.05). Everyone who had reached high school had heard about ‘climate 318 change’. We found no statistically significant relationship between gender and having 319 heard the term climate change (p > 0.05). Men (p = 0.02), young people (Kruskal- 320 Wallis test, p = 0.02), and people with schooling (p < 0.05) provided explanations that 321 most closely matched scientific notions of ‘climate change’ (Figure 2). 322 The most common sources of information about ‘climate change’ were other people 323 (54.73% of the interviewees) and the radio (30.52%). Informants of different age, 324 gender, and level of schooling used different sources. In general, men accessed climate 325 change knowledge through the radio more often than women, who mostly accessed this 326 knowledge by talking to other people (p < 0.01). Similarly, people who had completed 327 middle school had heard about climate change at school, whereas people with no 328 schooling generally accessed climate change knowledge by talking to other people (p < 329 0.01). We also found an association between the climate change knowledge source used 330 and providing explanations that match Western scientific notions of ‘climate change’ (p 331 = 0.002). Standardized residuals of the Chi-squared test show a positive association 332 between providing explanations of ‘climate change’ that do not match Western 333 scientific meanings and relying on ‘other people’ as climate change information source 334 (std.res = 3.66). On the contrary, providing climate change explanations that match 335 Western scientific notions of climate change was positively associated with school 336 attendance (std.res = 2.05) and access to TV (std.res = 2.49). 337 338 [FIGURE 2 ABOUT HERE] 339 In explaining ‘climate change’, informants often referred to broader socio- 340 economic changes affecting them (i.e., globalization and integration into market 341 economy). From those that provided an explanation (n = 51), 48%, 41%, and 9% 342 referred to atmospheric, socio-economic, and biological changes, respectively. 343 Meanwhile, 14% of respondents referred to change in general. Only 17% referred to 344 combined effects in more than one system. For some, ‘climate change’ was not an 345 unprecedented phenomenon, but part of a cycle, like exemplified by the definition 346 provided by a young male informant: ‘Sometimes there is a lot of rain, sometimes not. 347 The elders explain there was a time when no rain came in a whole rainy season” 348 (Anonymous, April 2021). 349 When explaining the meaning of ‘climate change’, the most reported atmospheric 350 changes were temperature increase, lack of rain, shift and shortening of the rainy 351 season, drought, and general changes in weather patterns. Changes in the biological 352 system included forest degradation, plant and animal diversity loss, and soil erosion, 353 and those in the socio-economic system referred to changes in crop phenology or 354 productivity, but also the increasing use of technologies, access and importance of 355 money and material goods, pollution, dietary changes, and changes in knowledge access 356 and circulation. Some informants also associated the concept of climate change with 357 changes in habits and customs. Specifically, interviewees mentioned changes in the 358 traditional value-system, abandonment of ancestral practices, and intensification of a 359 utilitarian relationship towards nature. For example, one informant mentioned: ‘There 360 used to be a clan that was in charge of asking for the rain, but now they don’t do it 361 anymore, so the rain does not come’ (Anonymous, April 2021). Some informants also 362 referred to super-natural forces and considered ‘climate change’ as their punishment. 363 Bassari view spiritual beings as having a conscious agency in the physical world, which 364 depends on the good relationship and mutual respect between humans and spiritual 365 beings. In that sense, interviewees often referred to the punishment of ‘super-natural 366 forces’ for the abusive or cultural disrespectful exploitation of nature. Like a middle- 367 aged male explained: ‘Nothing is like before; the people of nowadays are not anymore 368 like the people of before. Before, there used to be more respect [to the customs and 369 traditions], now there is no respect. This is why things get worse’ (Anonymous, May 370 2021). 371 372 3.2 Bassari reports of environmental change 373 374 Beyond the definition of the term ‘climate change’ prompted in surveys, during SSIs 375 and focus group discussions Bassari did report many environmental changes. Most 376 observations referred to changes in the socio-economic system (37% of the total), 377 followed by changes in the physical (30%), atmospheric (18%), and biological systems 378 (15%) (Supplementary material 1). 379 Most changes in the atmospheric system referred to a decrease in precipitation, 380 including changes in the abundance and distribution of rainfall and fog decrease. As a 381 middle-aged woman described, ‘Nowadays, it does not rain as before. Before, when the 382 first rain arrived you knew there would be rain. Nowadays, sometimes the first rain 383 arrives and there are four days without rain or even a whole month!’ and she continued 384 ‘Sometimes you could spend two or three days with “okubina” [specific type of fog], 385 but last year we did not even see it one day’ (Anonymous, January 2020). The general 386 perception of a drier climate was noticed in the shortening of the rainy season (later 387 onset, earlier end). Informants also mentioned temperature rises. Wind changes were 388 rarely mentioned without prompting, but those who reported them provided extensive 389 information about changes in wind strength and temperature. 390 Changes in the physical system related to river regimes, well depletion, soil erosion, 391 and wildfires increase. During focus group discussion, hydrological changes seemed to 392 be of especial concern, e.g., ‘Behind my house there was a stream where we fished 393 during the rainy season. It does not exist anymore’ (Anonymous, February 2020). 394 Informants widely discussed the faster depletion of water in the wells, which posed 395 problems, particularly for women, who are obliged to carry water from a greater 396 distance. Furthermore, soils were said to have warmed up due to a lack of humidity. 397 Decreased soil fertility was also reported, which informants closely linked with soil 398 erosion: ‘When we open a new field, it does not give like before. The soil is dry and 399 tired (…). The wind and the strong rains take all the richness away. When a heavy rain 400 comes, water cannot penetrate the soil and just runs off all the soil’ (Anonymous, 401 February 2020). 402 Interviewees also mentioned several changes in the biological system, with the 403 disappearance of wild fauna as a major topic. Bush-meat plays a central role in Bassari 404 culinary culture, but it is no longer (or rarely) consumed. Observers cited the local 405 extinction of elephants, panthers, hyenas, hippopotamus, crocodiles and other large 406 animals, as well as certain bird and fish species, which “had run away”. Certain monkey 407 species were also mentioned as having vanished, a local extinction seen as ‘positive’ 408 since monkeys damage food crops. Concerns were also raised about the disappearance 409 of certain wild plants; respondents mostly mentioned a decrease in edible species for 410 household consumption and sale, such as baobab, weda or madd, shea tree and African 411 locust bean, as well as trees and other species specially valued for their timber, such as 412 the local raffia palm. 413 Bassari also mentioned changes in livelihood activities, primarily in agricultural 414 practices. People were acutely aware of changes in crop sowing times, lower harvests 415 due to drought, and increased crop pest pressure, particularly during grain storage. As a 416 young woman farmer explained: ‘Last year, I stored my peanuts in these recipients, and 417 three months later, it was all powder!’ (Anonymous, February 2020). Interviewees also 418 mentioned that livestock had to travel further to find fresh pasture and they all agreed 419 that livestock epidemics were becoming more common. 420 421 3.3 A network of changes 422 423 Most reported changes drive other environmental changes. Only a few socio- 424 economic changes were exclusively mentioned either as impacts (i.e., infrastructure and 425 human health) or as drivers (i.e., governance, demographic, economic, supernatural 426 forces) (Table 2). 427 [TABLE 2 ABOUT HERE] 428 In general, elements of the ‘atmospheric’ (32.1% of observations) and ‘socio- 429 economic’ systems (32.1%) were reported in a higher number as drivers of 430 environmental changes, compared to elements of the ‘physical’ (18.5%) and ‘biological’ 431 systems (17.3%). Impacts on the ‘socio-economic’ (31.5% of observations) and 432 ‘physical’ systems (31.5%) were more frequently reported than impacts on the 433 ‘biological’ (23.5%) and ‘atmospheric’ systems (13.6%) (Figure 3). 434 [FIGURE 3 ABOUT HERE] 435 436 3.3.1 Drivers of environmental change 437 438 The relationships among changes reported by the Bassari underscores the complex 439 interrelations and multiple reinforcements among environmental change impacts and 440 drivers (Figure 4). 441 [FIGURE 4 ABOUT HERE] 442 The centralization outdegree score of the network was low (1.72%), suggesting that 443 the Bassari perceive many drivers of environmental change. Moreover, 65% of the 444 impacts mentioned were associated with more than one driver. 445 Our measure of nodes’ outdegree suggests that water-related changes, specifically 446 changes related to ‘precipitation’ and ‘continental waters’, were the most important 447 drivers of environmental changes. Another important driver was ‘resource extraction’, 448 which had the third highest outdegree (Table 3). The decrease in seasonal precipitation 449 impacted a wide range of elements including wind temperature, aquifer recharge, 450 wildfires, soil fertility, wild plants productivity and distribution, livestock, pasture 451 availability, and crop yields and mortality. Given the local importance of farming, the 452 effects of precipitation changes on the agricultural system were a common concern. As 453 an old man explained: ‘Before, there was less rain, but it would last for the whole day, 454 we called it "tib ind eyam" [=rain of the good harvest]. Nowadays it rains for a shorter 455 period of time but stronger and the rain takes away the soil and plants’ (Anonymous, 456 February 2020). 457 [TABLE 3 ABOUT HERE] 458 Changes in ‘continental waters’ (i.e., rivers and streams) were also reported to 459 impact many other elements, including wild flora and fauna, pastures, crops, livestock, 460 transport infrastructure, and human health. Interviewees also reported that the drying up 461 of rivers resulted in temperature increase and changes in wind seasonal patterns. 462 Bassari related increasing resource extraction with impacts on the atmospheric, 463 physical and biological systems. In general, interviewees referred to the 464 overexploitation of nature mostly through small-prey hunting (e.g., birds, small 465 mammals), honey, palm-wine, wild edible fruits and timber harvesting, and well-water 466 consumption. For the Bassari, intensification of species extraction drives defaunation 467 and deforestation, as one of the interviewees explained: ‘When the season comes, 468 everybody goes in search of madd (wild edible fruit with high market value). Before we 469 would leave some fruits for the birds or animals to eat. Also, some fruits would fall near 470 the mother tree and produce new seedlings. Now fruits do not reach the ground, that’s 471 why it’s rare to see a small tree!’ (Anonymous, March 2020). Bassari also related 472 increasing extraction with rainfall decrease arguing that tree species that ‘call for the 473 rain’ are now rare. As explained by an elder woman: ‘The rain does not come like 474 before because we cut many trees’ (Anonymous, February 2020). Moreover, as 475 explained by a focus group discussion participant, the decrease in forest surface and 476 river-bank vegetation also impoverishes local diets, as many wild edible plant species 477 became rare. 478 Finally, some changes in elements of the socio-economic system were regarded as 479 drivers of environmental change (Table 2). These include population growth and village 480 expansion, access to services (e.g., schools, doctors) and material goods (e.g., solar 481 panels), technological innovations (e.g., introduction of new crops and varieties, 482 pesticides and fertilizers), land-use changes (e.g., agricultural expansion), and changes 483 in governance and the economic regime. One interviewee, for example, explained land- 484 use change as follows: ‘If you go back 15 years from now, to go from our household to 485 the household of X you had to cross a lot of bush. Today, all this bush are fields, and the 486 land can’t rest’ (Anonymous, February 2020). Bassari often refer to the shift in local 487 values as a driver of change, and particularly the growing importance of money, the 488 abandonment of local traditions, and the instrumentalization of nature. For example, 489 some interviewees linked the decline in game productivity to abusive hunting, while 490 others suggested that the decline in wild fruit productivity was a punishment for 491 harvesting too much for commercialization: ‘Trees do not give like before (…) because 492 now people harvest to sell, not to eat. That’s why trees have stopped giving’ 493 (Anonymous, February 2020). 494 495 3.3.2 Impacts of environmental change 496 497 The centralization indegree score of the full network was low (1.06%), indicating 498 that there were many impacts connected to many drivers. According to the indegree 499 node measure, the nodes impacted by the most drivers are ‘terrestrial wild flora’, 500 ‘continental waters’, and ‘soil and land’. 501 Changes in ‘terrestrial wild flora’ were reportedly driven by changes in the 502 atmospheric, physical, and socio-economic systems, including precipitation decrease, 503 temperature increase, decreased availability of continental waters, higher rates of 504 species extraction, demographic and land-use changes, and changes in values. On the 505 latter, one informant commented: ‘We used to have ceremonies and many cultural 506 practices for trees to give a lot of flowers. Now nobody practices them anymore, 507 therefore trees give less fruits’ (Anonymous, December 2019). Some informants 508 specially highlighted the impact that practices oriented to generate income have in wild 509 flora: ‘Nowadays people cut trees near the river because they only think of earning 510 money. Those areas are forbidden by the tradition’ (Anonymous, December 2019). 511 Changes in ‘continental waters’ were allegedly driven by decreased precipitation, 512 intensification of agricultural practices and livestock keeping, land-use change, and 513 increased extraction of terrestrial wild flora. Increased resource extraction was also 514 linked to the drying of rivers: ‘We cut all the raphia. It was the raphia that retained the 515 water’ (Anonymous, February 2020). The disappearance of freshwater fauna is also 516 mentioned as a cause of river drying up. 517 Changes in ‘soils and land’ were reportedly driven by changes in rainfall and wind 518 patterns, wild plant species abundance and distribution, and agricultural practice 519 changes, such as shorter fallow periods, chemical inputs increasing, or changes in 520 ploughing methods. 521 Finally, some changes in socio-economic system elements are predominantly or 522 exclusively considered environmental change impacts (Table 2). These include 523 transportation infrastructure expansion and improvement, effects on human health, and 524 changes in pastures and grasslands, livestock, and cultivated plant species. Impacts on 525 human health were deemed positive due to increased access to health services, but also 526 negative, owing to the increase of vector-borne diseases and the adoption of diets high 527 in processed foods and sugar. The effects on pastures, crops and livestock were complex 528 and steamed from many simultaneous environmental and socio-economic drivers of 529 change. A good example of the complex local discourse about the synergic effect of 530 multiple drivers is one from an old local male farmer: ‘It's now that the livestock need to 531 go that far looking for food. Before there was always a "bas-fond" [lowland fertile 532 areas] with good grass and herbs for eating, but now bas-fonds are for rice and rivers 533 have become dry. People used to have only few cows, now there are many cows. And 534 not only ours! “Aga” [transhumant herders] coming from the North arrive each year 535 with their big herds, they cut down the trees to find fodder for their sheep, but they do 536 not respect anything. They leave the cut branches around the trunks and then big trees 537 are also burn with wildfires’ (Anonymous, February 2020). 538 4 Discussion and conclusions 539 540 Before discussing the main findings of this work, we start by acknowledging three 541 important limitations. We are aware that 1) due to epistemological differences it is not 542 possible for us to fully assess Bassari knowledge by just interacting with community 543 members for a limited period, 2) by focusing on consensual information, we are 544 ignoring the sociological complexity that determines how knowledge is locally 545 distributed and how environmental change impacts are differently lived by different 546 socio-demographic groups within the Bassari (e.g., according to gender, age, or social 547 status), and 3) that some of our conclusions are drawn from information collected using 548 different samples. Thus, while not claiming that the results presented here represent 549 Bassari worldviews, but rather our interpretation of them, we believe this representation 550 can help to better understand the impacts of climate change in the context of global 551 change. 552 Herein, we discuss the main results and debate the existing tensions between 553 scientific and situated and plural understandings of climate change, based on 554 Indigenous, embodied, and experiential knowledges. 555 556 4.1 Situated perspectives of the global climate change discourse 557 558 Bassari were, in general, not very familiar with the term ‘climate change’. Most 559 interviewees had either never heard the term or provided definitions that do not match 560 the Western scientific meaning of the concept. These results resemble those among 561 other local communities of the Global South, where the scientific discourse of climate 562 change has barely reached (e.g., Byg, 2009; Fernández-Llamazares et al., 2015), 563 suggesting a lower familiarity with the Western scientific discourse of anthropogenic 564 climate change than in less isolated regions. For example, on the Marshall Islands 565 (Pacific archipelago), 80% of the interviewees had some awareness of the Western 566 scientific notion of climate change (Rudiak-Gould, 2011), and in South England, only 567 2.9% of respondents were not familiar with the term ‘climate change’ (Whitmarsh, 568 2009). Overall, however, it is difficult to draw a conclusion, as there are very few 569 studies explicitly asking about the term ‘climate change’ in Global South communities 570 (Rudiak-Gould, 2011), and most studies have assessed this familiarity indirectly, by 571 documenting local observations of climate change and its impacts (Boillat & Berkes, 572 2013; Marin, 2010). 573 Our results show how access to global ‘climate change’ knowledge is mediated by 574 gender, age, and level of schooling. Among the Bassari, young well-educated men were 575 more familiar with the Western scientific concept than the rest of the population. Our 576 results also point to wealth as a mediating factor for access to the Western scientific 577 discourse on climate change, as people with access to TV were more aware of the 578 Western scientific discourse around climate change and locally only members of few 579 wealthy households own and have access to TV. Since people’s perceptions and 580 understandings of climate change can influence their behaviour toward adaptation and 581 mitigation strategies (Naess, 2013; Patt & Weber, 2014; Spence et al., 2011), 582 differential access to Western scientific climate change knowledge may lead to wealthy 583 young well-educated men being more engaged in the implementation of externally- 584 driven (often top-down) climate change adaptation interventions, and thus to a better 585 representation of their interests and needs compared to those of elders, women, or 586 people without access to schooling. However, we recognize that to build effective 587 adaptation strategies, a focus on the diversity of people’s lived experiences and 588 everyday adaptation is crucial (Moulton & Carey, 2023). Drawing from our 589 ethnographic experience, we recognize the pivotal contribution of women and elders to 590 local adaptation. Despite not accessing Western scientific representations, through 591 decades of observation and experimentation other groups have accumulated a wealth of 592 knowledge that ensures that adaptations respond to the needs and desires of local 593 communities’ and are culturally appropriate and locally feasible. 594 To the level to which the concept of ‘climate change’ has made its way to the 595 Bassari communities, it has merged with situated notions of change to form new 596 meanings. Survey participants who stated familiarity with the Western scientific 597 ‘climate change’ concept, did not only refer to changes happening in the atmospheric 598 system, but also referred to climate change information and meaning with local beliefs 599 and their own traditional representations of the world. Several interviewees stated that 600 ‘everything is changing’ (referring to changes in the environment, socio-economic 601 system, and way of life). Drawing on situated knowledge and worldviews, others 602 interpreted ‘climate change’ as cyclical or as a punishment from super-natural forces for 603 inappropriate behaviour. Thus, our findings agree with those reported for other 604 Indigenous peoples and local communities, showing that situated interpretations of 605 changing climatic conditions have ontological foundations (Boillat & Berkes, 2013; 606 Rosengren, 2018; Scoville-Simonds, 2018). Our research also confirms that local 607 communities do not always absorb the Western scientific climate change discourse 608 despite having access to it (Fernández-Llamazares et al., 2015; Marin & Berkes, 2013), 609 which might be explained by the epistemological gap between the information heard 610 and the one perceived (Hulme, 2009; Marin & Berkes, 2013) and the lack of trust on 611 Western scientific experts (Hmielowski et al., 2014). 612 613 4.2 Climate change from the lens of the ‘everyday’ 614 615 While Bassari people are not necessarily familiar with the ‘climate change’ concept, 616 they reported many changes in the atmospheric system, with cascading effects on the 617 physical, biological, and socio-economic systems. Similarly, previous research showed 618 that communities that live in close proximity to the environment have detailed 619 perceptions of weather changes (Fernández-Llamazares et al., 2015; García-del-Amo, 620 2021; Green & Raygorodetsky, 2010; Reyes-García et al., 2023b). However, by 621 employing a network approach, our results quantitatively assess the relative importance 622 of the various drivers and interactions between climatic and non-climatic changes, with 623 conceptual and practical implications. 624 Conceptually, the complex network of drivers and impacts derived from Bassari 625 responses revealed the difficulty of disentangling climate change from the web of 626 material and inmaterial relations that shape people’s interactions with their environment 627 (Barnes et al., 2013). Comparably to other Indigenous and local communities (Boillat & 628 Berkes, 2013; García-del-Amo et al. 2023; Peloquin & Berkes, 2009), the Bassari did 629 not see climate change as an isolated phenomenon. Atmospheric changes were 630 inextricably linked to other environmental, social, spiritual, and politico-economic 631 changes that are transforming their life. Interestingly, this blurs the conceptual 632 distinction between climate change impacts and impacts from other socio-economic and 633 environmental drivers, implying that viewing atmospheric changes solely through a 634 climate change lens marginalises and obscures other changes with more immediate 635 significance for people (Nyantakyi-frimpong & Bezner-Kerr, 2015; Ribot, 2014). 636 Accordingly, current scientific research also underscores the importance of shifting 637 away from disciplinary approaches to climate change research and acknowledges the 638 importance of synergies and trade-offs between climate, environmental, and other 639 underlying socio-economic and cultural changes (Arneth et al., 2020; IPCC & IPBES, 640 2020). 641 From a practical perspective, these findings highlight the importance of shifting our 642 focus away from conceptualizing climate change as a biophysical problem that can be 643 tackled in isolation. Understanding ‘climatic’ drivers as distinct from ‘biological’, 644 ‘physical’, and ‘socio-economic’ drivers leads to the development of climate-change 645 policies that are disconnected from broader trajectories of socio-environmental change, 646 preventing holistic action. 647 Regarding the local mechanisms of causality and role of immaterial / spiritual 648 entities in Bassari explanations of change, Bassari rationales for the causes of local 649 environmental changes combined a mix of material – i.e., changes in elements of the 650 atmospheric, physical, biological, and socio-economic systems – and immaterial causes 651 – i.e., super-natural forces and changes in the value system. Similar elements and 652 mechanisms of causality can be found in traditional Tibetan (Byg, 2009; Huber & 653 Pedersen, 1997), Amazonian (Reyes-García et al., 2023c; Rosengren, 2018), and 654 Andean communities (Boillat & Berkes, 2013; Scoville-Simonds, 2018), with 655 interpretations of weather/climate change where local people also experience, know, 656 and understand many of the complex environmental changes through super-natural 657 forces and spiritual entities. Importantly, in most cases, material and immaterial 658 explanations were linked to local human behaviour, either through direct environmental 659 impacts (e.g., overhunting, deforestation) or indirectly, by influencing super-natural 660 forces (e.g., angering them). 661 In this regard, Bassari’s holistic perspective provides an alternative view of climate 662 change, focusing on the complex synergistic effects between drivers of change, moving 663 beyond the understanding of single elements to the understanding of these elements 664 through their interrelations. Additionally, incorporating perspectives from other 665 knowledge systems necessitates the inclusion of a set of political questions concerning 666 not only whose and what knowledge counts, but also “what worlds” are permitted to 667 exist (Goldman et al., 2018). While most climate change research has focused on 668 material aspects of adaptation, resilience, and vulnerability, our findings highlight the 669 importance of immaterial aspects (such as values or super-natural forces) in the way 670 Bassari understand and interpret change. This entails that values, beliefs, and symbolic 671 representations of the world absent from Western science need to be taken seriously if 672 we want to foster inter-epistemological and inter-ontological dialogue for a fairer 673 climate knowledge. 674 675 4.3 Other framings, other responses: epistemological and ontological plurality 676 for justice and change 677 678 Global framings of climate change privilege Western science, marginalizing other 679 ways of knowing that are embedded in lived experiences and cultural memories (Bee et 680 al., 2015; Hulme, 2010; MacGregor, 2009). Climate change assessments reproduce 681 power dynamics that stem from colonial histories and their continuity in current 682 capitalist relations (Corbera et al., 2016; Hulme & Mahony, 2010; MacGregor, 2009). 683 The consideration of ‘climate change’ as a discernible and abstract problem that stems 684 from greenhouse gas emissions happens within a set of values and social relations that 685 are embedded in the status quo of a global and patriarchal capitalist economy and is not 686 free from political implications (Demeritt, 2001; Hulme, 2008, Nightingale et al., 2020). 687 By prioritizing certain voices in the generation of climate change knowledge, certain 688 interests are prioritized in the design of adaptation and mitigation strategies. For 689 example, the Western scientific construct of climate change has constrained the 690 conception of solutions, leading to the prioritization of ‘technical fixes’ (e.g., carbon 691 offsetting) that do not challenge the root causes of climate change (Nightingale et al., 692 2020). As argued by Hulme, instead of addressing why our society is designed around 693 emission intensive production and consumption processes, the global construction of 694 climate change as a physical problem “readily allows climate change to be 695 appropriated uncritically in support of an expanding range of ideologies… of green 696 colonialism, of the commodification of Nature” (Hulme, 2008, p. 9). Accordingly, 697 feminist and decolonial scholars argue that efforts to promote climate change adaptation 698 need to ask critical questions about how climate change knowledge is generated and by 699 whom, directly addressing structural social inequalities and social and epistemological 700 justice questions (Bee et al. 2015; Cameron, 2012; Todd, 2016). Such effort will be 701 fruitless without a deep understanding of how climate change differently affects people 702 on the ground – mediated by gender or other key intersectional dimensions of difference 703 and inequality, whether ethnicity, race, poverty, indigeneity, or coloniality (Buechler & 704 Hanson, 2015). 705 Contrastingly, when the knowledge systems and views from marginalized voices are 706 acknowledged and inherent power inequalities rooted in histories of colonial extraction 707 made explicit, very different research and policy priorities emerge, which can lead to 708 more transformative solutions (Orlove et al. 2023). Our results highlight the complexity 709 of social, ecological, economic, and cultural relations that mediate how local people 710 experience, interpret, and enact change, contributing with empirical ground to the 711 claims about needing to reframe the way we, as Western scientists, conceptualize and 712 engage with ‘climate change’. Our research brings at the forefront people’s lived 713 experiences – including emotional, spiritual, and moral dimensions –, pointing to the 714 importance of considering climate change from a relational perspective. Understanding 715 climate change within the broader trajectories of socio-environmental change will 716 encourage acting systemically, beyond technical fixes. 717 718 Acknowledgements 719 720 This project received funding from the European Research Council under an 721 ERC Consolidator Grant (FP7-771056-LICCI) and contributes to the “María de Maeztu 722 Unit of Excellence” (CEX2019-000940-M). We are grateful to two anonymous 723 reviewers and a number of colleagues for their thoughtful feedback and discussion on 724 various versions of this paper. The ideas discussed here have benefited from discussions 725 with the LICCI core team and Ndeye Fatou Faye from ISRA-BAME. Special thanks to 726 Benjamin Klappoth for invaluable help during fieldwork and to David García del Amo, 727 for opening us the way in the world of environmental change networks. We thank P. 728 Indega Bindia, S. Boubane, A. Yera Bonang, H. Sike Bindia, J. Yera Bidiar, D. 729 Thiaroly Bindia, J. Indega Bindia, T. Kaly Boubane for their assistance during 730 fieldwork. We are deeply grateful to the three Bassari communities with whom we 731 worked, for welcoming us and teaching us with patience about their worldviews. Any 732 errors and omissions remain our responsibility. 733 References 734 735 Adger, W., Barnett, J., Brown, K., Marshall, N., & O’Brien, K. (2013). Cultural 736 dimensions of climate change impacts and adaptation. Nature Climate Change, 737 3(2), 112. 738 ANACIM. (2020). National Weather Data, Agence Nationale de l’Aviation Civile et de 739 la Météorologie. 740 Arneth, A., Shin, Y. J., Leadley, P., Rondinini, C., Bukvareva, E., Kolb, M., … Saito, 741 O. (2020). Post-2020 biodiversity targets need to embrace climate change. 742 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 743 117(49), 30882–30891. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2009584117 744 Arora-Jonsson S., Wahlström N. (2023). Can climate policies be transformative: The 745 production of ignorance and the imperative of a feminist post and decolonial 746 interevention. Environmental Science and Policy. 747 Balvanera, P., Pfaff, A., Viña, A., Frapolli, E. G., Merino, L., Minang, P. A., … 748 Sidorovich, A. (2019). Status and trends - drivers of change. Global assessment 749 report of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and 750 Ecosystem Services. 751 Barnes, J., Dove, M., Lahsen, M., Mathews, A., McElwee, P., McIntosh, R., … Yager, 752 K. (2013). Contribution of anthropology to the study of climate change. Nature 753 Climate Change, 3(6), 541–544. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1775 754 Bee, B. A., Rice, J., & Trauger, A. (2015). A Feminist Approach to Climate Change 755 Governance: Everyday and Intimate Politics. Geography Compass, 9(6), 339–350. 756 https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12218 757 Berkes, F. (1999). Sacred ecology (4th ed.). New York: Routledge. Retrieved from 758 https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781136341731 759 Berkes, F. (2009). Indigenous ways of knowing and the study of environmental change. 760 Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 39(4), 151–156. 761 https://doi.org/10.1080/03014220909510568 762 Berkes, F., & Berkes, M. K. (2009). Ecological complexity, fuzzy logic, and holism in 763 indigenous knowledge. Futures, 41(1), 6–12. 764 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2008.07.003 765 Blaser, M. (2013). Ontological conflicts and the stories of peoples in spite of Europe: 766 Toward a conversation on political ontology. Current Anthropology, 54(5), 547– 767 568. https://doi.org/10.1086/672270 768 Boillat, S., & Berkes, S. (2013). Perception and interpretation of climate change among 769 Quechua farmers of Bolivia: indigenous knowledge as a resource for adaptive 770 capacity. Ecology and Society, 18(4), 21. Retrieved from 771 https://www.jstor.org/stable/26269399 772 Brace, C., & Geoghegan, H. (2011). Human geographies of climate change: Landscape, 773 temporality, and lay knowledges. Progress in Human Geography, 35(3), 284–302. 774 https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132510376259 775 Brandes, U. (2005). Network Analysis: Methodological Foundations (Vol. 3418). 776 Springer Science & Business Media. 777 Buechler, S., & Hanson, A. M. (2015). A political ecology of women, water and global 778 environmental change. A Political Ecology of Women, Water and Global 779 Environmental Change. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315796208 780 Butts, C. (2015). network: Classes for Relational Data. The Statnet Project (). R package version 1.13.0.1, . 783 Byg, A. (2009). Local perspectives on a global phenomenon—Climate change in 784 Eastern Tibetan villages. Global Environmental Change, 19(2), 156–166. 785 https://doi.org/10.1016/J.GLOENVCHA.2009.01.010 786 Cameron, E. S. (2012). Securing Indigenous politics: A critique of the vulnerability and 787 adaptation approach to the human dimensions of climate change in the Canadian 788 Arctic. Global environmental change, 22(1), 103-114. 789 Carey, M., Jackson, M., Antonello, A., & Rushing, J. (2016). Glaciers, gender, and 790 science: A feminist glaciology framework for global environmental change 791 research. Progress in Human Geography, 40(6), 770–793. 792 https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132515623368 793 Castree, N., Adams, W. M., Barry, J., Brockington, D., Büscher, B., Corbera, E., … 794 Wynne, B. (2014). Changing the intellectual climate. Nature Climate Change, 795 4(9), 763–768. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2339 796 Corbera, E., Calvet-Mir, L., Hughes, H., & Paterson, M. (2016). Patterns of authorship 797 in the IPCC Working Group III report. Nature Climate Change, 6(1), 94–99. 798 https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2782 799 Demeritt, D. (2001). The construction of global warming and the politics of science. 800 Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 91(2), 307–337. 801 https://doi.org/10.1111/0004-5608.00245 802 Fernández-Llamazares, Á., Méndez-López, M. E., Díaz-Reviriego, I., McBride, M. F., 803 Pyhälä, A., Rosell-Melé, A., & Reyes-García, V. (2015). Links between media 804 communication and local perceptions of climate change in an indigenous society. 805 Climatic Change, 131(2), 307–320. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-015-1381-7 806 Ford, J. D., Cameron, L., Rubis, J., Maillet, M., Nakashima, D., Willox, A. C., & 807 Pearce, T. (2016). Including indigenous knowledge and experience in IPCC 808 assessment reports. Nature Climate Change, 6(4), 349–353. 809 https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2954 810 García-del-Amo, D. (2021). Climate Change Indicators. A local perspective. 811 García-del-Amo, D., Calvet-Mir, L., Mortyn, G., & Reyes-García, V. (2023). Network 812 analysis of climate change impacts reported by local communities of Sierra 813 Nevada, Spain. In V. Reyes-García, S. Alvarez-Fernandez, P. Benyei, L. Calvet- 814 Mir, D. García-del-Amo, A. B. Junqueira, X. Li, V. Porcher, A. Porcuna-Ferrer, A. 815 Schlingman, & R. Soleymani (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Climate Change 816 Impacts and Adaptation Strategies of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. 817 Routledge. 818 Goldman, M. J., Turner, M. D., & Daly, M. (2018). A critical political ecology of 819 human dimensions of climate change: Epistemology, ontology, and ethics. Wiley 820 Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 9(4), 1–15. 821 https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.526 822 Green, D., & Raygorodetsky, G. (2010). Indigenous knowledge of a changing climate. 823 Climatic Change, 100(2), 239–242. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-010-9804-y 824 Haraway, D.J. 1988. Situated knowledges: The science question in feminism and the 825 priviledge of partial perspective. Feminist studies 14: 575-599. 826 Harding, S. (2009). Postcolonial and feminist philosophies of science and technology: 827 convergences and dissonances. Postcolonial Studies, 12(4), 401–421. 828 https://doi.org/10.1080/13688790903350658 829 Hmielowski, J. D., Feldman, L., Myers, T. A., Leiserowitz, A., & Maibach, E. (2014). 830 An attack on science? Media use, trust in scientists, and perceptions of global 831 warming. Public Understanding of Science, 23(7), 866–883. 832 https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662513480091 833 Hohenthal, J., Räsänen, M., & Minoia, P. (2018). Political ecology of asymmetric 834 ecological knowledges: Diverging views on the eucalyptus-water nexus in the 835 Taita Hills, Kenya. Journal of Political Ecology, 25(1), 1–19. 836 https://doi.org/10.2458/v25i1.22005 837 Huber, T., & Pedersen, P. (1997). Meteorological Knowledge and Environmental Ideas 838 in Traditional and Modern Societies : The Case of Tibet. The Journal of the Royal 839 Anthropological Institute, 3(3), 577–597. 840 Hulme, M. (2008). Geographical Work at the Boundaries of Climate Change Published. 841 Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 33(1), 5–11. 842 Hulme, M. (2009). Why We Disagree about Climate Change: Understanding 843 Controversy, Inaction and Opportunity. Cambridge University Press. 844 https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511841200 845 Hulme, M. (2010). Problems with making and governing global kinds of knowledge. 846 Global Environmental Change, 20(4), 558–564. 847 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2010.07.005 848 Hulme, M., & Mahony, M. (2010). Climate change: What do we know about the IPCC? 849 Progress in Physical Geography, 34(5), 705–718. 850 https://doi.org/10.1177/0309133310373719 851 Hunt, S. (2014). Ontologies of Indigeneity: The politics of embodying a 852 concept. Cultural geographies, 21(1), 27-32. 853 IPCC. (2021). Summary for Policymakers. Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science 854 Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the 855 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press. 856 https://doi.org/10.1260/095830507781076194 857 IPCC, & IPBES. (2020). IPBES-IPCC Co-sponsored workshop Biodiversity and 858 climate change. Scientific outcome. 859 IPCC. (2007). Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of 860 Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel 861 on Climate Change [Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B. 862 Averyt, M. Tignor and H.L. Miller (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, 863 Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, 996 pp. 864 Jasanoff, S. (2004). States of Knowledge: The Co-production of Science and Social 865 Order. London and New York: Routledge. 866 Jasanoff, S. (2010). A new climate for society. Theory, Culture and Society, 27(2), 233– 867 253. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276409361497 868 Li, X., Junqueira, A. B., & Reyes-García, V. (2021). At the Crossroad of Emergency: 869 Ethnobiology, Climate Change, and Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. 870 Journal of Ethnobiology, 41(3), 307–312. https://doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771- 871 41.3.307 872 Liverman, D., von Hedemann, N., Nying’uro, P., Rummukainen, M., Stendahl, K., Gay- 873 Antaki, M., ... & Wagle, R. (2022). Survey of gender bias in the 874 IPCC. Nature, 602(7895), 30-32. 875 Lizcano, E. (2006). Metáforas que nos piensan. Sobre Ciencia, Democracia y otras 876 Poderosas Ficciones. Ediciones Bajo Cero. 877 MacGregor, S. (2009). A stranger silence still: the need for feminist social research on 878 climate change. Sociological Review, 57(2), 124–140. 879 Mahony, M., & Hulme, M. (2018). Epistemic geographies of climate change: Science, 880 space and politics. Progress in Human Geography, 42(3), 395–424. 881 https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132516681485 882 Marin, A. (2010). Riders under storms: Contributions of nomadic herders’ observations 883 to analysing climate change in Mongolia. Global Environmental Change, 20(1), 884 162–176. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.GLOENVCHA.2009.10.004 885 Marin, A., & Berkes, F. (2013). Local people’s accounts of climate change: To what 886 extent are they influenced by the media? Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate 887 Change, 4(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.199 888 McLeod, R. (2000). Nature and Empire: Science and the Colonial Enterprise. 889 University of Chicago Press. 890 Moulton, H., & Carey M. (2023). Futuremaking in a Disaster Zone: Everyday climate 891 change adaptation amongst Quechua women in the Peruvian Cordillera Blanca. 892 Environmental Science and Policy. 893 Naess, L. O. (2013). The role of local knowledge in adaptation to climate change. Wiley 894 Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 4(2), 99–106. 895 https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.204 896 Nightingale, A. J. (2016). Adaptive scholarship and situated knowledges? Hybrid 897 methodologies and plural epistemologies in climate change adaptation research. 898 Area, 48(1), 41–47. https://doi.org/10.1111/area.12195 899 Nightingale, A. J., Eriksen, S., Taylor, M., Forsyth, T., Pelling, M., Newsham, A., … 900 Whitfield, S. (2020). Beyond Technical Fixes: climate solutions and the great 901 derangement. Climate and Development, 12(4), 343–352. 902 https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2019.1624495 903 Nyantakyi-Frimpong, H., & Bezner-Kerr, R. (2015). The relative importance of climate 904 change in the context of multiple stressors in semi-arid Ghana. Global 905 Environmental Change, 32, 40–56. 906 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2015.03.003 907 Orlove, B., N. Dawson, P. Sherpa, I. Adelekan, W. Alangui, R. Carmona, D. Coen, M. 908 Nelson, V. Reyes-García, G. Sanago, A. Wilson. (2023). Placing diverse 909 knowledge systems at the core of transformative climate research. Ambio. 910 Accepted, pending major revisions. 911 Patt, A. G., & Weber, E. U. (2014). Perceptions and communication strategies for the 912 many uncertainties relevant for climate policy. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: 913 Climate Change, 5(2), 219–232. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.259 914 Peel, M. C., Finlayson, B. L., & McMahon, T. A. (2007). Updated world map of the 915 Köppen-Geiger climate classification. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 916 11(5), 1633–1644. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007 917 Peloquin, C., & Berkes, F. (2009). Local knowledge, subsistence harvests, and social- 918 ecological complexity in James Bay. Human Ecology, 37(5), 533–545. 919 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-009-9255-0 920 Porcuna-Ferrer, A., Calvet-Mir L., Faye N. F., Klappoth B., Reyes-García V., Labeyrie 921 V. The decline of drought-tolerant indigenous crops in a climate change context: A 922 historical political agroecology account of the Bassari, south-eastern Senegal. 923 Under review. 924 Pyhälä, A., Fernández-Llamazares, Á., Lehvävirta, H., Byg, A., Ruiz-Mallén, I., 925 Salpeteur, M., & Thornton, T. F. (2016). Global environmental change: Local 926 perceptions, understandings, and explanations. Ecology and Society, 21(3), 1–27. 927 https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-08482-210325 928 R Core Team. (2021). R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. 929 Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. 930 Reyes-García, V., Álvarez-Fernandez, S., Benyei, P., García-del-Amo, D., Junqueira, A. 931 B., Labeyrie, V., … Soleymani, R. (2023a). Local indicators of climate change 932 impacts described by Indigenous Peoples and local communities: Study protocol. 933 PloS one, 18 (1), e0279847. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279847 934 Reyes-García, V., Alvarez-Fernandez, S., Benyei, P., Calvet-Mir, L., García-del-Amo, 935 D., Junqueira, A. B., Li, X., Porcher V., Porcuna-Ferrer A., Schlingman, A., & 936 Soleymani R. (2023b). Understanding climate change impacts on Indigenous 937 Peoples and local communities. A global perspective from local studies. In V. 938 Reyes-García, S. Alvarez-Fernandez, P. Benyei, L. Calvet-Mir, D. García-del- 939 Amo, A. B. Junqueira, X. Li, V. Porcher, A. Porcuna-Ferrer, A. Schlingman, & R. 940 Soleymani (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Climate Change Impacts and 941 Adaptation Strategies of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. Routledge. 942 Reyes-García V., Benyei P., Junqueira A. B., Huanca T., Conde E. (2023c). A complex 943 matrix. Perceptions of environmental change and its drivers by the Tsimane', 944 Bolivian Amazon. In V. Reyes-García, S. Alvarez-Fernandez, P. Benyei, L. 945 Calvet-Mir, D. García-del-Amo, A. B. Junqueira, X. Li, V. Porcher, A. Porcuna- 946 Ferrer, A. Schlingman, & R. Soleymani (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Climate 947 Change Impacts and Adaptation Strategies of Indigenous Peoples and Local 948 Communities. Routledge. 949 Reyes-García, V., García-del-Amo, D., Benyei, P., Fernández-Llamazares, Á., Gravani, 950 K., Junqueira, A. B., … Soleymani-Fard, R. (2019). A collaborative approach to 951 bring insights from local observations of climate change impacts into global 952 climate change research. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. 953 Elsevier B.V. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2019.04.007 954 Reyes-García, V., Fernández-Llamazares, Á., Guèze, M., Garcés, A., Mallo, M., Vila- 955 Gómez, M., & Vilaseca, M. (2016). Local indicators of climate change: The 956 potential contribution of local knowledge to climate research. Wiley 957 Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 7(1), 109–124. 958 https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.374 959 Ribot, J. (2014). Cause and response: vulnerability and climate in the Anthropocene. 960 Journal of Peasant Studies, 41(5), 667–705. 961 https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2014.894911 962 Rosengren, D. (2018). Science, Knowledge and Belief. On Local Understandings of 963 Weather and Climate Change in Amazonia. Ethnos, 83(4), 607–623. 964 https://doi.org/10.1080/00141844.2016.1213760 965 Rudiak-Gould, P. (2011). The importance of reception studies. Anthropology Today, 966 27(2), 9–12. 967 Scheffers, B. R., De Meester, L., Bridge, T. C. L., Hoffmann, A. A., Pandolfi, J. M., 968 Corlett, R. T., … Watson, J. E. M. (2016). The broad footprint of climate change 969 from genes to biomes to people. Science, 354(6313). 970 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf7671 971 Scoville-Simonds, M. (2018). Climate, the Earth, and God – Entangled narratives of 972 cultural and climatic change in the Peruvian Andes. World Development, 110, 973 345–359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.06.012 974 Spence, A., Poortinga, W., Butler, C., & Pidgeon, N. F. (2011). Perceptions of climate 975 change and willingness to save energy related to flood experience. Nature Climate 976 Change, 1(1), 46–49. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1059 977 Sultan, B., & Gaetani, M. (2016). Agriculture in West Africa in the twenty-first century: 978 climate change and impacts scenarios, and potential for adaptation. Frontiers in 979 Plant Science, 7, 1262. 980 Sundberg, J. (2014). Decolonizing posthumanist geographies. Cultural 981 geographies, 21(1), 33-47. 982 Todd, Z. (2015). Indigenizing the anthropocene. Art in the Anthropocene: Encounters 983 among aesthetics, politics, environments and epistemologies, 241-54. 984 Todd, Z. (2016). An indigenous feminist's take on the ontological turn:‘Ontology’is just 985 another word for colonialism. Journal of historical sociology, 29(1), 4-22. 986 Tschakert, P. (2012). From impacts to embodied experiences: Tracing political ecology 987 in climate change research. Geografisk Tidsskrift, 112(2), 144–158. 988 https://doi.org/10.1080/00167223.2012.741889 989 Whitmarsh, L. (2009). What’s in a name? Commonalities and differences in public 990 understanding of “climate change” and “global warming.” Public Understanding 991 of Science, 18(4), 401–420. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662506073088 992 Wickham, H. (2016). ggplot2: Elegant Graphics for Data Analysis. New York: 993 Springer-Verlag. 994 995 996 997 Figures 998 Figure 1: Location of the study area and illustrations of environmental changes reported 999 by the Bassari. (A) Map of the study villages. (B) A spontaneous wildfire near a 1000 household. (C) A Bassari artisan transporting bamboo stripes for the construction of 1001 fences. Due to higher rates of resource extraction, the plant is becoming increasingly 1002 rare. 1003 1004 1005 Figure 2: Socio-economic correlates to the local understanding of the scientific concept 1006 of ‘climate change’. (A) The first bar displays familiarity with the term ‘climate 1007 change’, and the second matching between people’s definitions and the scientific 1008 understandings of ‘climate change’. Pie charts (B) and (C) and violin plots (D) represent 1009 the distribution of individual socio-demographic characteristics within each subgroup. 1010 1011 1012 Figure 3: Sankey diagram showing the reported relation between atmospheric, physical, 1013 biological, socio-economic drivers and socio-environmental changes. 1014 1015 1016 1017 1018 1019 Figure 4: Network plot: representation of changes (drivers and impacts) collectively 1020 perceived by the Bassari. 1021 1022 1023 1024 1025 1026 Tables 1027 Table 1: Summary descriptive statistics of the sample composition 1028 Method Sample Variable name Descriptive statistics size Survey 176 Age 21 from 17-25 years (12 %) 58 from 26-40 years (33 %) 74 from 41-60 years (42 %) 23 from 61 to 100 years (13 %) Sex 48 % men 52 % women Level of schooling 79 no schooling (45 %) 59 primary school (34 %) 21 middle school (12 %) 13 high school (7 %) 4 beyond high school (2 %) Semi-structured 47 Age 0 from 17-25 years (0 %) interview 10 from 26-40 years (21 %) 19 from 41-60 years (41 %) 18 from 61 to 100 years (38 %) Sex 72 % men 28 % women Focus group 69 (in 3 Age 4 from 17-25 years (6 %) discussions groups) 10 from 26-40 years (14 %) 39 from 41-60 years (57 %) 16 from 61 to 100 years (23 %) Sex 49 % men 51 % women 1029 1030 Table 2: Categorization of subsystems according to whether they are only impacts, 1031 mostly impacts, mostly drivers, or only drivers 1032 Ratio (Indegree/ou Categorization Subsystem tdegree) Outdegree Indegree Only impacts Infrastructure Inf 0 2 Human health Inf 0 10 Mostly impacts Pastures and grass- 6.00 lands 1 6 Cultivated plant spp 5.00 4 20 Freshwater fauna 3.00 2 6 Terrestrial Wild Fauna 2.67 3 8 Terrestrial Wild Flora 2.17 12 26 Soil & Land 2.09 11 23 Temperature 2.00 1 2 Continental waters 1.92 13 25 Livestock 1.20 5 6 Mostly drivers Air masses 0.57 7 4 Land-use change 0.50 6 3 Precipitation 0.30 40 12 Resource extraction 0.17 12 2 Pollution 0.17 6 1 Values 0.11 9 1 Technological 0.11 9 1 Only drivers Governance 0 3 0 Demographic 0 8 0 Economic 0 4 0 Supernatural forces 0 2 0 1033 Table 3: Ranking of indegree and outdegree values for each of the subsystems 1034 Rank Subsystems Outdegree Indegree 1 Precipitation Terrestrial Wild Flora 2 Continental waters Continental waters 3 Resource extraction Soil & Land 4 Terrestrial Wild Flora Cultivated plant spp 5 Soil & Land Precipitation 6 Values Human health 7 Technological Terrestrial Wild Fauna 8 Demographic Pastures and grasslands 9 Air masses Livestock 10 Pollution Freshwater fauna 11 Land-use change Air masses 12 Livestock Land-use change 13 Cultivated plant spp Infrastructure 14 Economic Resource extraction 15 Governance Temperature 16 Terrestrial Wild Fauna Values 17 Freshwater fauna Technological 18 Supernatural forces Pollution 19 Temperature Governance 20 Pastures and grasslands Demographic 21 Infrastructure Economic 22 Human health Supernatural forces 1035 1036 Supplementary material 1037 1038 Supplementary material 1: Classification and coding of the observations of environmental change and respective drivers reported by the Bassari 1039 in the semi-structured interviews with consensus in the focus group discussions. Numeric values correspond to the proportions of times a driver 1040 system was cited for a given change. Drivers (in %) System / Subsystem Changes Atmospheric Physical Biological Socioeconomic Atmospheric system Changes in mean temperature Temperature (not further specified) 0 50 50 0 Changes in the amount of Precipitation rainfall in a given season 0 16.6 33.3 50 Changes in the length /duration of dry spells 0 0 0 100 Changes in the predictability of rainfall 50 0 50 0 Changes in fog thickness / density 50 50 0 0 Changes in the frequency of fog or misty days 50 50 0 0 Changes in the length / duration of fog 50 50 0 0 Changes in air moisture / humidity 100 0 0 0 Changes in wind strength or Air masses speed 0 0 50 50 Changes in wind temperature 50 50 0 0 Physical system Changes in freshwater Continental waters availability 0 22.2 44.4 33.3 1 Changes in freshwater quality (not further specified) 0 100 0 0 Changes in the phreatic level 100 0 0 0 Changes in abundance of rivers or streams 33.3 0 33.3 33.3 Changes in river / stream 100 0 0 0 water flow, volume, level and/or depth Changes in the timing of 20 0 60 20 seasonal fluctuation in river / stream / lake water level Changes in the number of natural freshwater springs 33.3 66.6 0 0 Changes in the intensity of river / lake floods 100 0 0 0 Changes in the speed of aquifer recharge 100 0 0 0 Soil & Land Changes in soil fertility 33.3 0 0 66.6 Changes in soil moisture / humidity 66.6 0 33.3 0 Changes in soil temperature 0 50 50 0 Changes in soil water infiltration 50 0 50 0 Changes in rain-induced soil erosion and soil loss 50 0 0 50 Changes in wind-induced soil erosion and soil loss 50 0 0 50 Changes in wildfire frequency 20 0 0 80 Biological system 2 Freshwater fauna Changes in the abundance of 0 66.6 0 33.3 freshwater animal species, excluding fish (mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, crustaceans, etc) Changes in the abundance of 0 100 0 0 freshwater fish Terrestrial Wild Fauna Changes in the abundance of 0 0 28.57 71.42 terrestrial fauna (mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, etc) Terrestrial Wild Flora Changes in the abundance or density of wild plant or fungi species 0 40 20 40 Changes in the distribution of wild plant or fungi species 16.6 16.6 0 66.6 Changes in the regeneration of wild plant species 0 50 0 50 Changes in wild plant or fungi species mortality 66.6 0 0 33.3 Change in the productivity of 55.5 11.1 0 33.3 wild plant or fungi species (without further specification) Socio-economic system Changes in the frequency of Livestock livestock disease 25 0 25 50 Changes in livestock behaviour 33.3 0 33.3 33.3 Cultivated plant spp. Changes in crop maturation time 100 0 0 0 3 Changes in crop mortality rates 83.3 66.6 0 0 Changes in crop productivity / yield 62.5 12.5 25 0 Changes in the frequency of crop ´pests´ (insects, birds, larvae, etc) 0 0 0 100 Changes in the frequency of successful cropping seasons 100 0 0 0 Changes in length of cropping 100 0 0 0 ´season´ (not further specified) Pastures and grasslands Changes in pasture cover, surface or abundance 33.3 33.3 0 33.3 Changes in the species composition of pastures 0 0 66.6 33.3 Human health Changes in the frequency of conflicts over natural resources 0 33.3 33.3 33.3 Changes in the incidence of human diseases (flu, allergies, etc) 0 33.3 0 66.6 Change in the incidence of human waterborne diseases 0 100 0 0 Changes in the shelf life of food products 0 0 100 0 Changes in frequency of Infrastructure problems with transportation 33.3 33.3 0 0 Values Changes in cultural-identity- spiritual values 0 0 100 0 4 Other drivers Land-use change 0 0 0 100 Pollution 0 0 0 100 Resource extraction 0 0 0 100 Technological 0 0 0 100 1041 5