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Hunting and the Likelihood of Extinction of Amazonian Mammals
Author(s) -
Bodmer Richard E.,
Eisenberg John F.,
Redford Kent H.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
conservation biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.2
H-Index - 222
eISSN - 1523-1739
pISSN - 0888-8892
DOI - 10.1046/j.1523-1739.1997.96022.x
Subject(s) - amazonian , amazon rainforest , extinction (optical mineralogy) , deforestation (computer science) , abundance (ecology) , ecology , geography , population , relative species abundance , biology , demography , paleontology , sociology , computer science , programming language
Species inhabiting tropical forests are thought to be on the verge of mass extinction. Much work has focused on extinction rates caused by deforestation; however, many of the recorded extinctions that have occurred since 1600 were a result of overhunting. We collected data on the relative abundance of large‐bodied mammals in the northeastern Peruvian Amazon in areas with persistent hunting pressure and in areas with infrequent hunting pressure. We quantified the effects of hunting by calculating the change in abundance of species between the infrequently and persistently hunted sites. We report that in Amazonian mammals weighing more than 1 kg the degree of population declines caused by hunting is correlated with the species’ intrinsic rate of natural increase (r max ), longevity, and generation time. Our results show that species with long‐lived individuals, low rates of increase, and long generation times are more vulnerable to extinction than species with short‐lived individuals, high rates of increase, and shorter generations.