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: Utilizing Amerindian Hunter’s Descriptions to Guide the Production of a Vegetation Map
Anthony Ravindra Cummings led the Project Fauna team in the production of a vegetation map for the Rupununi region of Guyana, with the participation of Makushi, Wapichana and other Amerindians. Cummings and co-authors Jane Read (Syracuse University, USA) and Jose Fragoso state that with hunter’s vegetation descriptions and remotely sensed imagery we produced an eleven-class vegetation map that covered the main vegetation types described by hunters. “The final map shows that indigenous hunters can be important partners in the map-making process…”.
Full article:
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/
Monitoring in Support of Local, National and International Environmental Priorities
Jose Fragoso lectures at Stanford’s Center for Latin American Studies (link: http://events.stanford.edu/events/482/48261/) on what leads to success and failure in environmental and social monitoring by local people.
You can view a video recording of the lecture here: https://vimeo.com/117443887
The lecture is highly recommended for academics, researchers, professionals and students interested in the success and failure of participatory and citizen science monitoring approaches
“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””
Upcoming New Book! Wild Fruits of the Guiana Shield
Jean Huffman and Jose Fragoso have completed a draft of their book “Wild Fruits of the Guiana Shield”. They hope to submit it for publication by spring of 2016.
Customized Atlases of the Rupununi, Amazon
Jane Read from Syracuse University and the Fragoso lab (Project Fauna) produced atlases for 23 villages of the Rupununi, Guyana. Each atlas provides a socio-economic and environmental profile of the village.
Atlases for Fairview, Wowetta, Paipong / Tiger Pond, Katoka, Kwaimatta, Tipuru, Aishalton, Achawib, Para Bara, Karaudarnau and Awarewanau can be downloaded from the North Rupununi District Development Board at: http://www.nrddb.org/projectfaunaaltlases
The US National Public Radio’s The World program reported on our return of the atlases to communities. The reporter, Elsa Yougstead actually traveled for two weeks with us through the villages. You can hear the report here: http://www.pri.org/stories/2011-08-25/slideshow-customized-atlases-amazon
Fragoso Lab 