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The Behavioral Ecology of Shellfish Gathering in Western Kiribati, Micronesia. 2: Patch Choice, Patch Sampling, and Risk

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Abstract

The prey choice model, previously applied among shellfish gatherers in Kiribati, Micronesia, has shown that they are foraging in a manner that matches the predictions of optimal foraging theory by maximizing their net energy return rates. Similar conclusions can be drawn subsequent to testing the patch choice model, including patch switching; patch sampling; and the analysis of risk. In light of these results, it is argued that natural selection probably never encouraged the persistence of conservation because individuals have nearly always benefited from short-term goals to ensure greater fitness. However, the possibility remains that as a result of changed circumstances brought about by increasing human population, more efficient extractive technologies, and expanding market opportunities, genuine, as opposed to epiphenomenal conservation, may become established in heavily impacted environments.

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Notes

  1. Details of sampling methodology and the sociocultural context of shellfish harvesting can be found in Thomas (1999, 2003a, 2007).

  2. Methods used for obtaining kcal values are described in Thomas (2007).

  3. Ecological surveys have demonstrated high spatio-temporal variability in recruitment among shellfish, making generalizations regarding absolute density, and thus calorific value of a given foraging area, difficult (Paulay 2001; Tebano and Paulay 2001). However, there is a broad inverse correlation between abundance and size (McNab 1963). For example, the larger A. uropigimelana is likely to be less abundant overall than the smaller bivalves.

  4. There is an alternative to live storage of Giant Clam meat. T. maxima are often preserved in salt, sometimes for several months. This is less common for T. gigas and H. hippopus. Preservation of T. maxima is linked to its marketable value, whereas individual households primarily carry out live storage of T. gigas and H. hippopus.

  5. This may explain why ideas concerning better management and conservation of resources appear to have gained wider acceptance among ordinary citizens in both industrialized and developing countries, together with calls for greater social justice to reduce further environmental deterioration, largely attributed to the economics of corporate globalization (cf. Merchant 2005).

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Acknowledgements

Data for this research were collected between 1993 and 1998 among several communities on the atolls of Abaiang, Tarawa, Maiana, Abemama, and Tabiteuea North. I am grateful to the many I-Kiribati shellfish gatherers who cooperated in the study. Special thanks to Douglas Bird and Bruce Winterhalder for sharing their views on intertidal gathering and the analysis of risk and sharing. Martin Daly and Margo Wilson made suggestions to improve this manuscript. The author also acknowledges comments by three anonymous reviewers. The following organizations provided financial assistance: Sigma Xi (Grant-in Aid of Research nos. 2719 and 8326); Conchologists of America, Inc; The Hawaiian Malacological Society; and the University of Hawaii Arts and Sciences Advisory Council.

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    Frank Thomas

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Thomas, F. The Behavioral Ecology of Shellfish Gathering in Western Kiribati, Micronesia. 2: Patch Choice, Patch Sampling, and Risk. Hum Ecol 35, 515–526 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-007-9119-4

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