Griffiths, Brian, Bowler, Mark, Kolowski, Joseph, Stabach, Jared, Benson, Elizabeth and Gilmore, Michael P. (2022) Revisiting optimal foraging theory (OFT) in a changing Amazon: Implications for conservation and management. Human Ecology, 50. pp. 545-558. ISSN 0300-7839

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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 hunter prowess, 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.

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