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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Laura Braunholtz, Becky Sanderson, Professor Marion PfeiferORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Research on impacts of subsistence hunting on habitat use and species communities of forest wildlife is limited. Subsistence hunting of mammals in one of the world’s most biodiverse region, Manu National Park, Peru, is considered sustainable but this is based on sparse evidence. We analysed change in species relative abundance and functional composition of mammal communities, including non-hunted species along a hunting pressure gradient. We used camera trap data and tested for confounding effects of environmental and disturbance gradients (distances to rivers, lakes, settlements, and trails; NDVI at survey point). We found that sites with no hunting or at further distances from settlements harbour relatively more species with a larger body mass, long generation lengths and small litters (primarily carnivores: 36% at non-hunted site vs 13-29% at hunted sites), indicating selective impacts of hunting pressure on mammal communities. However, all carnivore species still occurred at all sites. Species with a smaller body mass, short generation lengths, and large litters were more prevalent at the hunted sites (mostly rodents: 23 – 31% at hunted sites vs 20% at non-hunted site). Surprisingly, large herbivores appeared unaffected by hunting despite being one of the most hunted mammals in Manu (25% at non-hunted site vs 23-27% at hunted sites). Our findings suggest that current hunting pressure is largely sustainable with only local depletion of a few sensitive species. Habitat is more important for some species than hunting pressure (e.g. distance to lake), further emphasizing the importance of local forest management.
Author(s): McFarlane JJ, Mujica Chacón O, Arauco-Aliaga RP, Braunholtz L, Sanderson R, Pfeifer M
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Biotropica
Year: 2024
Pages: Epub ahead of print
Online publication date: 26/07/2024
Acceptance date: 03/07/2024
Date deposited: 04/07/2024
ISSN (print): 0006-3606
ISSN (electronic): 1744-7429
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.13367
DOI: 10.1111/btp.13367
Data Access Statement: Data and R script are available from Figshare at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6627224.v3
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