Spatial tools for modeling the sustainability of subsistence hunting in tropical forests.

Subsistence hunting provides a crucial food source for rural populations in tropical forests, but it is often practiced unsustainably. We use the empirical observation that subsistence hunters are central-place foragers to develop three "bio-demographic" hunting models of increasing complexity and realism for assessing the sustainability of hunting of an indicator species. In all our models, we calculate the spatial pattern of depletion of an indicator species (here, a large-bodied primate) across a landscape. Specifically, we show how to identify the area surrounding a human settlement that is expected to suffer local extinction. Our approach is an improvement over well-known sustainability indices of hunting, which are prone to error and do not provide clear links to policy prescriptions. Our first approach models the long-term effect of a single settlement and (1) can be parameterized with easily obtainable field data (such as settlement maps and knowledge of the major weapon used), (2) is simple enough to be used without requiring technical skill, and (3) reveals the asymptotic relationship between local human density and the level of game depletion. Our second model allows multiple settlements with overlapping hunting zones over large spatial scales. Our third model additionally allows temporal changes in human population size and distribution and source-sink dynamics in game populations. Using transect and hunting data from two Amazonian sites, we show that the models accurately predict the spatial distribution of primate depletion. To make these methods accessible, we provide software-based tools, including a toolbox for ArcGIS, to assist in managing and mapping the spatial extent of hunting. The proposed application of our models is to allow the quantitative assessment of settlement stabilization approaches to managing hunting in Amazonia.

The sustainability of subsistence hunting by Matsigenka native communities in Manu National Park, Peru.

The presence of indigenous people in tropical parks has fueled a debate over whether people in parks are conservation allies or direct threats to biodiversity. A well-known example is the Matsigenka (or Machiguenga) population residing in Manu National Park in Peruvian Amazonia. Because the exploitation of wild meat (or bushmeat), especially large vertebrates, represents the most significant internal threat to biodiversity in Manu, we analyzed 1 year of participatory monitoring of game offtake in two Matsigenka native communities within Manu Park (102,397 consumer days and 2,089 prey items). We used the Robinson and Redford (1991) index to identify five prey species hunted at or above maximum sustainable yield within the approximately 150-km(2) core hunting zones of the two communities: woolly monkey (Lagothrix lagotricha), spider monkey (Ateles chamek), white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), Razor-billed Currasow (Mitu tuberosa), and Spix's Guan (Penelope jacquacu). There was little or no evidence that any of these five species has become depleted, other than locally, despite a near doubling of the human population since 1988. Hunter-prey profiles have not changed since 1988, and there has been little change in per capita consumption rates or mean prey weights. The current offtake by the Matsigenka appears to be sustainable, apparently due to source-sink dynamics. Source-sink dynamics imply that even with continued human population growth within a settlement, offtake for each hunted species will eventually reach an asymptote. Thus, stabilizing the Matsigenka population around existing settlements should be a primary policy goal for Manu Park.