Belize terrestrial mammal database from: An integrated approach to measure hunting intensity and assess its impacts on mammal populations

1. Unsustainable hunting of wildlife is one of the greatest threats to diverse and healthy forests, yet our understanding of hunting activity is limited by our methods of accurately identifying its intensity and distribution. Several methods have been used to quantify hunting in past studies (e.g. interviews, ranger patrols, and camera traps). However, none of these alone have been able to produce precise spatiotemporal measures of hunting activity. 2. In this study, we used a new method to detect hunters through passive acoustic monitors and developed an integrated approach to measure hunting activity while simultaneously assessing its impacts on mammal populations using camera traps. 3. We applied a hierarchical community occupancy model that accounted for the imperfect detection of species on data from 45 trap locations, surveyed from January – June 2018, to investigate the impacts of spatial variation and intensity in hunting pressure on mammal species richness and occurrence in four protected areas in southern Belize. We developed spatiotemporally explicit indices of hunting activity separately from camera trap and acoustic monitor data and used a Bayesian model selection framework to identify predictors of site occurrence for individual species and three functional groups: carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores. 4. We found that camera traps underperformed in detecting hunting in the region by 939% compared to acoustic monitors. 5. Consistent with our predictions, hunting intensity was negatively correlated with site-level species richness, with an average decrease in richness of 31% across its range of variation. Occurrence patterns for the three functional groups were also negatively associated with hunting intensity. Often the target of hunters, herbivores displayed the strongest negative response to hunting, while omnivores were least affected. 6. Synthesis and applications Unsustainable hunting of wildlife is a global phenomenon with wide-ranging implications for ecological communities, especially mammals. Our study highlights mammal sensitivity to increasing hunting pressure at the community and species level and emphasizes the necessity for developing robust tools to accurately monitor hunting activity, while also providing a flexible framework for simultaneously assessing hunting and its impacts on mammal communities.

1. 对野生生物的不可持续捕猎是维系森林多样性与健康的最严峻威胁之一，但当前我们对捕猎活动的认知，受制于无法精准界定其强度与空间分布的现有监测手段。既往研究已采用多种方法量化捕猎活动，例如访谈、护林员巡逻与红外相机陷阱（camera traps），但单一此类方法均无法获取捕猎活动的精准时空监测数据。
2. 本研究依托被动声学监测器（passive acoustic monitors）研发了一种新型猎人侦测方法，并构建了整合式研究框架：一方面量化捕猎活动强度，另一方面同步利用红外相机陷阱评估捕猎活动对哺乳动物种群的影响。
3. 我们基于2018年1月至6月间对45个监测点位的调查采集数据，采用考虑物种不完全检出（imperfect detection）的层级群落占据模型（hierarchical community occupancy model），探究了伯利兹南部4处保护区内，捕猎压力的空间变异与强度对哺乳动物物种丰富度及物种出现情况的影响。本研究分别基于红外相机陷阱与被动声学监测器的数据，构建了具有明确时空属性的捕猎活动指数，并借助贝叶斯模型选择框架（Bayesian model selection framework），识别了单个物种以及食肉目、植食性、杂食性这3个功能类群的站点出现预测因子。
4. 本研究结果显示，相较于被动声学监测器，红外相机陷阱在本区域的捕猎侦测表现差939%。
5. 研究结果与预设假设一致：捕猎强度与站点尺度的物种丰富度呈显著负相关，在捕猎强度的变异范围内，物种丰富度平均下降31%。3个功能类群的物种出现模式同样与捕猎强度呈负相关。作为捕猎者的主要目标类群，植食性动物对捕猎活动的负向响应最为强烈，而杂食性动物受影响最小。
6. 【综合与应用】 对野生生物的不可持续捕猎是全球性生态问题，对生态群落尤其是哺乳动物群落具有广泛且深远的影响。本研究凸显了哺乳动物群落及单个物种对不断加剧的捕猎压力的敏感性，同时强调了研发精准监测捕猎活动的可靠工具的必要性，并为同步评估捕猎活动及其对哺乳动物群落的影响提供了一套灵活的研究框架。