Do levels of income explain differences in game abundance? An empirical
test in two Honduran villages
Demmer J, Godoy R, Wilkie D, Overman H, Taimur M, Fernando K, Gupta R, McSweeney
K, Brokaw N, Sriram S, Price T
BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION
11 (10): 1845-1868 2002
Abstract:
Although researchers have documented the role of anthropogenic hunting pressure
on the abundance of game, few have measured the direct effects of income or
economic development on game abundance. Economic theory tends to predict an
ambiguous causal relation between income and the abundance of game. Here we
test whether income (a standard proxy of economic development) erodes the abundance
of game in two Tawahka Amerindian villages in the rain forest of Honduras. The
two villages have similar ecologies and weather and lie 17 km apart but differ
in income, population size, wealth, the presence of outside institutions, and
hunting pressure. A census of animals done over 2 continuous years suggests
that the richer village had less game and relatively fewer large-bodied animals.
At the level of animal groups (e. g., mammals) or individual species, or when
we include controls for the simultaneous effect of vegetation type, distance
from the start of the hunting trail, and time of the year through a random-effect
probit model, the two villages display no statistically significant differences
in game abundance. A random-effect, multivariate tobit model, in fact, suggests
that being in the more remote village correlated with 43.5% fewer animals seen
in any one encounter; results were significant at the 99% confidence level.
The conclusions contain a discussion of why income might produce ambiguous effects
on game abundance and the tradeoffs of using bivariate and multivariate techniques
to analyze the covariates of game abundance in the tropical rain forests of
the New World.
Author Keywords:
animal census, economic development, game abundance, Honduras, income, mosquitia,
multivariate analysis, Tawahka
KeyWords Plus:
ROADS, CONSERVATION, AMAZONIA, ECOLOGY, GROWTH, BASIN, DIET
Addresses:
Godoy R, Brandeis Univ, Heller Sch Social Policy & Management, Sustainable
Int Dev Program, MS 078, Waltham, MA 02455 USA
Brandeis Univ, Heller Sch Social Policy & Management, Sustainable Int Dev
Program, Waltham, MA 02455 USA
Wildlife Conservat Soc, Bronx, NY 10460 USA
Univ Amsterdam, Inst Biodivers & Ecosyst Dynam, NL-1090 GB Amsterdam, Netherlands
Ohio State Univ, Dept Geog, Columbus, OH 43210 USA
Univ Puerto Rico, Inst Trop Ecosyst Studies, Rio Piedras, PR 00931 USA
Publisher:
KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBL, VAN GODEWIJCKSTRAAT 30, 3311 GZ DORDRECHT, NETHERLANDS
IDS Number:
597CJ
ISSN:
0960-3115