{"id":25,"date":"2021-03-05T17:26:43","date_gmt":"2021-03-05T17:26:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu\/levit\/?page_id=25"},"modified":"2021-03-05T17:49:27","modified_gmt":"2021-03-05T17:49:27","slug":"human-livelihoods-and-the-tropical-biodiversity-conservation","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu\/levit\/research\/human-livelihoods-and-the-tropical-biodiversity-conservation\/","title":{"rendered":"Human Livelihoods and the Tropical Biodiversity Conservation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Subsistence hunting provides a crucial food source for rural populations in tropical forests but is often said to be unsustainable. However, previous methods treat sustainability as a binary \u2018yes\u2019 or \u2018no\u2019 question, which is particularly problematic because the answer to that question depends entirely on the spatial scale being considered. To remedy this, my research treats sustainability as an inherently spatial problem. Rather than label hunting as sustainable or not sustainable, I quantify the spatial area where hunting will cause local extirpation, and assess how this area depends on the adoption of firearms, human population growth, the creation of new settlements, hunter effort, and the speed at which animals recolonize hunted areas. Previous methods were also limited to assessing sustainability in a single settlement, but the models that I have developed predict wildlife population densities in space even when hunted by multiple settlements with overlapping hunting ranges and different human population sizes. My models also predict how human harvest rates change as wildlife are depleted, which has implications for the livelihoods of subsistence hunters. To make these methods accessible, I provide software-based tools, including a toolbox for ArcGIS, to assist in managing and mapping the spatial extent of hunting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have worked primarily with two large projects. The first is the People vs. Parks project in Manu National Park, Peru where I lived and worked with Matsigenka hunters to monitor hunting behavior and harvest. I recently joined Project Fauna in the Rupununni region of Guyana. Project fauna conducted ambitious wildlife sampling with the help of Macuxi and Wapishana Indians on a massive spatial scale. I use distance sampling and statistical models to assess how wildlife population densities relate to anthropogenic disturbance, such as hunting, versus natural variation in habitat and fruit availability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relevant Publications<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sabino-Santos Jr., G., Fernandes, F.F, da Silva, D.J.F., Melo, D.M., da Silva, S.G., S\u00e3o Bernardo, C.S., Filho, M.D.S., Levi, T.<\/strong>, Figueiredo, L.T.M., Peres, C.A., Bronzoni, R.V.M, Canale, G.R. In review.<\/em> Othohantavirus antibodies among phyllostomid bats from the arc of deforestation in Southern Amazonia, Brazil<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wolf, C., Levi, T.<\/strong>, Ripple, W.J., Z\u00e1rrate-Charry, D.A., Betts, M.G. In review.<\/em> Forest loss within the world\u2019s protected areas<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pedrosa, F., Berc\u00ea, W., Levi, T<\/strong>. Pires, M., Galetti, M. In revision<\/em>. Invasive species promote critical seed dispersal services in defaunated landscapes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pedrosa, F., Berc\u00ea, W., Costa, V.D., Levi, T.<\/strong>, Galetti, M. In revision<\/em>. Large scale agriculture is subsidizing the invasion of wild pigs in Brazil<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Betts, M.G., Wolf, C., Ripple, B., Phalan, B., Millers, K., Duarte, A., Butchart, S., Levi, T. <\/strong>2017. <\/em>Global forest loss disproportionately erodes biodiversity in intact landscapes. Nature<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ripple, W.J., Chapron, G., Lopez-Bao, J.V., Durant, S.M., Macdonald, D.W., Lindsey, P.A., Bennett, E.L., Beschta, R.L., Bruskotter, J.T., Campos-Arceiz, A., Corlett, R.T., Darimont, C.T., Dickman, A.J., Dirzo, R., Dublin, H.T., Estes, J.A., Everatt, K.T., Galetti, M., Goswami,V.R., Hayward, M.W., Hedges, S., Hoffman, M., Hunter, L.T.B., Kerley, G.I.H., Letnic, M., Levi, T.<\/strong>, Maisels, F., Morrison, J.C., Nelson, M.P., Newsome, T.M., Painter, L., Pringle, R.M., Sandom, C.J., Terborgh, J., Treves, A., Valkenburgh, B.V., Vucetich, J.A., Wirsing, A.J., Wallach, A.D., Wolf, C., Woodroffe, R., Young, H., Zhang, Li. 2016. Conserving the World\u2019s Megafauna and Biodiversity: The Fierce Urgency of Now. Bioscience.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ripple W.J., Abernethy, K., Chapron, G., Levi, T.<\/strong>, Lindsey, P.A., Newsome, T.M., Peres, C.A., Wallach, A.D., Wolf, C. 2016. <\/em>Are we eating the world\u2019s mammals to extinction. Royal Society Open Science<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Antunes, A.P., Fewster, R., Venticinque, E.M., Peres, C.A., Levi, T.<\/strong>, Rohe, F., Shepard-Jr, G.H. 2016. <\/em>Empty rivers rather than empty forests: a century of commercial hunting in Amazonia. Science Advances<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ripple, W.J., Chapron, G., Lopez-Bao, J.V., Durant, S.M., Macdonald, D.W., Lindsey, P.A., Bennett, E.L., Beschta, R.L., Bruskotter, J.T., Campos-Arceiz, A., Corlett, R.T., Darimont, C.T., Dickman, A.J., Dirzo, R., Dublin, H.T., Estes, J.A., Everatt, K.T., Galetti, M., Goswami,V.R., Hayward, M.W., Hedges, S., Hoffman, M., Hunter, L.T.B., Kerley, G.I.H., Letnic, M., Levi, T.<\/strong>, Maisels, F., Morrison, J.C., Nelson, M.P., Newsome, T.M., Painter, L., Pringle, R.M., Sandom, C.J., Terborgh, J., Treves, A., Valkenburgh, B.V., Vucetich, J.A., Wirsing, A.J., Wallach, A.D., Wolf, C., Woodroffe, R., Young, H., Zhang, Li. 2016. <\/em>Saving the world\u2019s terrestrial megafauna. Bioscience. P.biw092<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fragoso, J.M.V., Levi, T.<\/strong>, Oliveira, L.F.B., Luzar, J.B., Overman, H., Read, J.M., Silvius, K.M. 2016.<\/em> Line transect surveys under detect terrestrial mammals: implications for the sustainability of subsistence hunting. PLoS ONE<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ripple, W.J., Newsome, T.M., Wolf, C., Dirzo, R., Everatt, K.T., Galetti, M., Hayward, M.W., Kerley, G.I.H., Levi, T.<\/strong>, Lindsey, P.A., Macdonald, D.W., Malhi, Y., Painter, L.E., Sandom, C.J., Terborgh, J., Van Valkenburgh, B. 2015. Collapse of the World\u2019s Largest Herbivores. Science Advances<\/em>. 1(4): e1400103<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Levi, T.<\/strong>, Silvius, K.M., Oliveira, L.F.B, Fragoso, J.MV. 2013. Competition and facilitation in the capuchin-squirrel monkey relationship<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0Biotropica<\/em>. doi:10.1111\/btp.12046<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Levi, T.<\/strong>, Peres, C.A. 2013.<\/em>Dispersal vacuum in the seedling recruitment of a primate-dispersed Amazonian tree<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0Biological Conservation<\/em>. 163:99-106<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yu, D.W., Shepard, G.H., Ohl-Schacherer, J., Levi, T.<\/strong>, 2013. Resolviendo el conflicto \u201cparque-personas\u201d en el Manu, con la estrategia \u201cOcupar la Amazon\u00eda\u201d. Groenendijk, J., and A. Tovar editors. Reporte Manu: Pasi\u00f3n por la Investigaci\u00f3n en la Amazon\u00eda Peruana. San Diego Zoo Global Peru y SERNANP. 466pp<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shepard, G.H.,\u00a0Levi, T.<\/strong>, Neves, E., Peres, C.A., Yu, D.W. 2012.<\/em>Hunting in ancient and modern Amazonia: Rethinking sustainability<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0American Anthropologist<\/em>. 114(4)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Levi, T.,\u00a0<\/strong>Lu, F., Yu, D.W., Mangel, M. 2011.\u00a0The behavior and diet breadth of central-place foragers: an application to human hunters and Neotropical game management<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0Evolutionary Ecology Research.<\/em>\u00a013:171-185.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Levi, T<\/strong>., Shepard, G. H. Jr., Ohl-Schacherer, J., Wilmers, C.C., Peres, C. A., D. W. Yu. 2010.\u00a0Spatial tools for modeling the sustainability of subsistence hunting in tropical forests<\/strong><\/a>. Ecological Applications. 21: 1802\u20131818.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yu, D. W.,\u00a0Levi, T.<\/strong>\u00a0and Shepard, G. H. 2010.\u00a0Conservation In Low-Governance Environments<\/strong><\/a>. Biotropica. 42: 569\u2013571.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Levi, T.,<\/strong>\u00a0Shepard Jr., G.H., Ohl-Schacherer, J., Peres, C.A., Yu, D.W. 2009.\u00a0Modeling the long-term sustainability of indigenous hunting in Manu National Park, Peru: Landscape-scale management implications for Amazonia<\/strong><\/a>. Journal of Applied Ecology 46: 804-814.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ohl-Schacherer, J., Shepard, G. H. Jr., Kaplan, H., Peres, C. A.,\u00a0Levi, T<\/strong>., D. W. Yu. 2007.\u00a0The sustainability of hunting by Matsigenka native communities in Manu National Park, Peru<\/strong><\/a>. Conservation Biology 21: 1174-1185.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Subsistence hunting provides a crucial food source for rural populations in tropical forests but is often said to be unsustainable. However, previous methods treat sustainability as a binary \u2018yes\u2019 or \u2018no\u2019 question, which is particularly problematic because the answer to that question depends entirely on the spatial scale being considered. To remedy this, my research […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":224,"featured_media":0,"parent":15,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-25","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu\/levit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu\/levit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu\/levit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu\/levit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/224"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu\/levit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu\/levit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53,"href":"https:\/\/agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu\/levit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25\/revisions\/53"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu\/levit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu\/levit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}