News report from Stanford University on our research: “By tapping the expertise of indigenous hunters, researchers found that conventional surveying techniques underestimate animal populations and miss species in the remote Amazon. Producing an accurate count is important for planning conservation efforts.” Continue reading “The Amazon rainforest may be home to more animals than previously thought, Stanford scientists show”
Community livelihoods depend upon accurate wildlife estimates
News article from Virginia Tech University on our research: “Evidence of wildlife passage, such as tracks, scat, fur, and disturbed surroundings, is a more accurate tool for assessing wildlife conservation status than actual encounters with animals, according to an international team of scientists from six universities, publishing in the April 13, 2016, issue of PLOS ONE.” Continue reading “Community livelihoods depend upon accurate wildlife estimates”
Levantamentos com Observações diretas Subestimam a Abundância de Mamíferos Terrestres: Implicações para uma Caça de Subsistência Sustentável
A conservação de espécies cinegéticas neotropicais deve levar em conta os meios de vida e necessidades alimentares das populações humanas locais.
Artigo: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0152659
New Publication: Line Transect Surveys Underdetect Terrestrial Mammals: Implications for the Sustainability of Subsistence Hunting
Collared peccary (copyright photo Jose MV Fragoso)
Our new paper in the journal PLOS ONE reports that we are grossly under-detecting hunted animal species. The results challenge the many studies showing serious negative impacts of subsistence hunting on wildlife species. Seems like the animals may be hiding from us. This research indicates that we need to reassess how we measure hunting impacts in the tropics.
Read the article: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0152659
New Publication: Socio–environmental sustainability of indigenous lands: simulating coupled human–natural systems in the Amazon
Our latest publication is out in Frontiers in Ecology and The Environment. We examine the socio-environmental sustainability of protected areas inhabited by indigenous and rural peoples and describe how socio-ecological change and development (e.g., forest clear-cutting outside indigenous areas, religious conversion, improved child mortality rates and introduction of resources from outside) outside these areas influences the sustainability of biodiversity, forest cover, and people inside. There are some surprising results so read the publication!
Read the article:
New in press: “Socio–environmental Sustainability of Indigenous Lands: Simulating Human-Nature Interactions in the Amazon” in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
Research collaborators Takuya Iwamura, Eric Lambin, Kirsten Silvius, Jeffrey B Luzar, and José Fragoso have a new paper in press. The publication examines the resiliency and sustainability of biodiversity, human livelihoods and forest cover within Amazonian indigenous lands under various future development scenarios. The paper is scheduled for publication in the February 2016 issue of the journal “Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment”.
Former Post-doc Takuya Iwamura takes Tenure-Track Position
Congratulations to Takuya (Tak) Iwamura, former post-doc with the Fragoso lab on attaining a tenure-track position as senior lecturer at the Zoology Department, Tel Aviv University (https://en-lifesci.tau.ac.il/profile/takuya). Tak will continue his work on understanding biodiversity loss using a natural and human systems approach, spatial modelling and systematic conservation planning .
Sustainability of indigenous culture, land and resources in the Amazon
Jose Fragoso gives lecture at Stanford’s Native American Cultural Center on indigenous spirituality and the sustainability of culture and the environment. http://events-prod.stanford.edu/events/499/49961/
“A fine line: new computer program predicts when human impact becomes too much”
We have completed a major work describing the sustainability of hunting, farming (land use) and local livelihoods in the tropics. We devised an agent based computer simulation model and explored the relationships between the above mentioned elements to consider what the future may hold for tropical forest biota, ecosystems and peoples.
Stanford University, Mongabay and others published news reports about the work. You can view two here: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/june/amazon-sustainability-model-061314.html
and http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0703-morgan-indigenous-model.html
Article:
Iwamura T., Lambin E., Silvius K.M., Luzar J.B. & Fragoso J.M.V. 2014. Agent-based modeling of hunting and subsistence agriculture on indigenous lands: understanding interactions between social and ecological systems. Environmental Modelling & Software, 58: 109-127.
View full article: Continue reading ““A fine line: new computer program predicts when human impact becomes too much””
“Assessing Carbon Stock Value of Forests is Tricky Business”
Mongabay’s Sanhya Sekar wrote two articles concerning the Fragoso Group’s work with indigenous people’s field measurements of tropical forest carbon stocks. Sekar writes “With financial incentives encouraging maintenance of carbon stocks and the increased popularity of carbon trading between countries, a forest has become economically a lot more than a clump of trees that supplements livelihoods. A forest now has an intrinsic value by just existing, a value that can be measured in economic terms.”
The Mongabay articles can be seen here: http://news.mongabay.com/2015/02/assessing-carbon-stock-value-of-forests-is-tricky-business-study-finds/
CITATION: Butt, N., Epps, K., Overman, H., Iwamura, T., & Fragoso, J. M.V. (2015). Assessing carbon stocks using indigenous peoples’ field measurements in Amazonian Guyana. Forest Ecology and Management, 338, 191-199.
View complete article: Continue reading ““Assessing Carbon Stock Value of Forests is Tricky Business””
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