They operate with different methodologies, different standards of evidence, and different purposes.

But the scientific study of the tepui highlands has been enriched, repeatedly, by engagement with the knowledge of people who have lived with this landscape for generations.

The documentation of Pemón plant knowledge, for instance, has been productive for scientific botany.

Pemón knowledge of the uses and properties of tepui plants has pointed researchers toward species and compounds of pharmacological and ecological interest.

The ethnobotanical record of Pemón plant use provides a resource for understanding the ecological context of individual plant species that would be difficult to construct from purely laboratory-based research.