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Revisiting Optimal Foraging Theory (OFT) in a Changing Amazon: Implications for Conservation and Management

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Abstract

Hunter decision-making influences prey selection and is key to understanding the impacts of hunting on biodiversity. Optimal foraging theory (OFT) is often used to describe the decision-making and prey selection of subsistence hunters. We examined the behavior and game meat use of hunters in an indigenous Amazonian community and used free listing and generalized linear mixed-effects models under the framework of OFT to assess the decision-making of individuals who hunt for economic gain and subsistence. We found that prey selection generally followed OFT, and was influenced by hunters’ skills, patch choice, and characteristics of the prey encountered. Hunters preferred paca (Cuniculus paca), collared peccary (Pecari tajacu), and brocket deer (Mazama americana), and only partially preferred tapir (Tapirus terrestris) and large-bodied primates likely due to economic influences such as access to markets and prices, contrary to OFT predictions.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available since specific hunters are identifiable by the information in interviews but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the Maijuna community of Sucusari for their support and collaboration on this research. We would like to thank OnePlanet, Inc. and Explorama Lodges who provided in-kind support for the project. We would like to thank the Fulbright Association for providing a Fulbright U.S. Student Grant to BMG to complete this research.

Funding

This research was funded by a Fulbright U.S. Student Grant awarded to BMG.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Integrative Studies, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA

    Brian M. Griffiths & Michael P. Gilmore

  2. School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of Suffolk, Neptune Quay, Waterfront Building, Ipswich, IP4 1QJ, UK

    Mark Bowler

  3. Suffolk Sustainability Institute, Neptune Quay, Waterfront Building, Ipswich, IP4 1QJ, UK

    Mark Bowler

  4. Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation, 1500 Remount Rd, Front Royal, VA, 2263, USA

    Joseph Kolowski

  5. Smithsonian National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute, 1500 Remount Rd, Front Royal, VA, 22630, USA

    Jared Stabach

  6. OnePlanet Inc., 2444 Navarre Way, VA, 23456, Virginia Beach, USA

    Elizabeth L. Benson

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  1. Brian M. Griffiths
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Correspondence to Brian M. Griffiths.

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This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of George Mason University (project #1288488–1). Prior informed consent (PIC) was obtained from the community as well as from individual research participants before beginning this study.

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Griffiths, B.M., Bowler, M., Kolowski, J. et al. Revisiting Optimal Foraging Theory (OFT) in a Changing Amazon: Implications for Conservation and Management. Hum Ecol 50, 545–558 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-022-00320-w

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