Title
Laying the foundations: Distribution of game and jaguar prey species in response to subsistence hunting in the Eastern Maya Biosphere Reserve / Estableciendo las bases: Distribución de especies cinegéticas y presas de jaguar en respuesta a la cacería de subsistencia en el este de la Reserva de Biosfera Maya
Author(s)
Roan McNab; Erick Baur; John Polisar; Rony Garcia-Anleu; Jeremy Radachowsky; Victor Hugo Ramos
Published
2019
Abstract
Working with local inhabitants, we conducted 6 related studies in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve between 1991 and 2004 to examine human use, distribution, and abundance of wildlife species important to rural human and large cat populations. Of these, 3 studies documented 76 months of wildlife use in the Forest Communities of Uaxactún and Carmelita, located in the Multiple-use Zone of the Reserve, and 18 months in remote forest camps in their respective catchment basins. Also, 4 studies registered over 6000 km of line transect sampling to compare wildlife abundance across gradients extending from communities into less accessible parts of the Multiple-use Zone and 2 national parks. Mammals accounted for 85 % and 90 % of the consumable biomass in the villages, with the 7 most-hunted mammal species being Cuniculus paca, Mazama temama, Mazama pandora, Odocoileus virginianus, Tayassu pecari, Pecari tajacu, and Dasypus novemcinctus. Dasypus novemcinctus and Nasua narica dominated harvests in camps. The 3 most hunted bird species were Crax rubra, Penelope purpurascens, and Meleagris ocellata. Dietary preferences of Panthera onca and humans completely overlapped. For most species, the decrease in abundance was directly associated to ease of human access, with lower abundance frequencies and densities of the majority of species near settlements, relative to more remote or more effectively protected areas. These spatial trends were strongest for T. pecari, but were also evident for P. tajacu, M. temama, M. pandora, and N. narica. Insights gained across 13 years of field sampling contributed to locally adapted strategies for community forest management in the Reserve. Drawing on another 13 years of experience acquired since, we present recommendations relevant for hunting management in similar extractive forest reserves across the Neotropics.
Keywords
Cracidae; densities; forest concessions; Guatemala; Neotropical mammal
Additional Notes
ISBN: 978-9929-726-33-8
Full Citation
McNab, R., E. Baur, J. Polisar, R. Garcia-Anleu, J. Radachowsky, and V. H. Ramos (2019). Laying the foundations: Distribution of game and jaguar prey species in response to subsistence hunting in the Eastern Maya Biosphere Reserve / Estableciendo las bases: Distribución de especies cinegéticas y presas de jaguar en respuesta a la cacería de subsistencia en el este de la Reserva de Biosfera Maya. In Kraker, C., Calderón, A. P. and Cabrera, A. A. (Eds.), Research Perspectives on the Wild Mammals of Guatemala / Perspectivas de investigación sobre los mamíferos silvestres de Guatemala. Guatemala City, Guatemala: Asociación Guatemalteca de Mastozoólogos.
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DMX4516300000