It is often claimed that there is not only one, but two different types of
solar dynamos: the one that is responsible for the appearance of sunspots and
the 11-yr cycle, frequently referred to as the "global dynamo", and a
statistically time-invariant dynamo, generally referred to as the "local
dynamo", which is supposed to be responsible for the ubiquitous magnetic
structuring observed at small scales. Here we examine the relative
contributions of these two qualitatively different dynamos to the small-scale
magnetic flux, with the following conclusion: The local dynamo does not play a
significant role at any of the spatially resolved scales, nearly all the
small-scale flux, including the flux revealed by Hinode, is supplied by the
global dynamo. This conclusion is reached by careful determination of the Sun's
noise-corrected basal magnetic flux density while making use of a flux
cancellation function determined from Hinode data. The only allowed range where
there may be substantial or even dominating contributions from a local dynamo
seems to be the scales below about 10 km, as suggested by observations of the
Hanle depolarization effect in atomic spectral lines. To determine the fraction
of the Hanle depolarization that may be due to the action of a local dynamo, a
synoptic program is being initiated at IRSOL (Istituto Ricerche Solari
Locarno)