Bag a Job, Bag Your Prey: Search Theory Used to Manage Threats from Overhunting

Globally, body size is an important determinant of prey value, the researchers wrote, and so it can help predict which species are threatened by overexploitation.

Tropical hunting tends to harvest a wide range of species, across mammals, birds and reptiles. The model is able to identify which ones are subject to hunting pressure. The opportunity cost of each hunting trip is factored in as well.

“Being able to evaluate hunter prey selection is critical to prioritizing limited resources for conservation management,” said lead author and NIMBioS postdoctoral fellow Charlotte Chang.

Chang and co-author Sarah Drohan, a doctoral student in applied mathematics at Princeton University, tested the model using data from the tropical rainforests of Southwest China, a biodiversity hotspot where several species, such as the Gaur and the Green peafowl, are under threat from overhunting.

The model could be used to infer whether there had been changes to harvested prey communities and to evaluate the efficacy of hunting regulations.

“The model was particularly informative and has the potential to simplify monitoring and management of overharvested areas,” Chang said.

The study was published in Ecological Application

Contacts and sources:
National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS)

Citation: Should I shoot or should I go? Simple rules for prey selection in multi‐species hunting systems
Charlotte H. Chang, Sarah E. Drohan. . Ecological Applications, 2018 DOI: 10.1002/eap.1796