Indigenous Technical Knowledge of Biotic Weather Indicators among the Moran Community of Assam, India

Indigenous technical knowledge includes locally developed observations and practices transmitted through social experience. This descriptive study documented weather-related invertebrate and bird indicators reported by Moran community members in Tinsukia district, Assam, India, and summarized the characteristics and knowledge classifications of 138 purposively selected respondents. Structured interviews, focus-group discussions, and key-informant accounts informed an inventory of 12 invertebrate-related descriptions and 11 bird-related observations. Respondents aged 41–59 years comprised 50.72% of the sample; 54.35% were women, and farming was the main household occupation for 51.45%. Regular contact with an Agricultural Development Officer was reported by 78.26%. Insect-associated knowledge was classified as low for 16 respondents (11.59%), medium for 81 (58.70%), and high for 41 (29.71%). Bird-related knowledge was classified as low for 26 (18.84%), medium for 89 (64.49%), and high for 23 (16.67%). The inventories describe community-reported associations; the classification thresholds and independent predictive performance of the indicators were not established. Prospective observations linked to meteorological records and fuller documentation of measurement procedures are needed to assess their utility.