Bushmeat yields, species extinction rates and ecosystem-level impacts of bushmeat harvesting as predicted by the Madingley General Ecosystem Model

The datasets contain data generated using the
Madingley General Ecosystem Model for experiments decribed in the paper:
"T. Barychka, G.M.Mace and D.W.Purves (2021) The Madingley General
Ecosystem Model predicts bushmeat yields, species extinction rates and
ecosystem-level impacts of bushmeat harvesting. Oikos." The Madingley
General Ecosystem Model was used to generate predictions
of bushmeat yields, extinction rates and broader ecosystem
impacts for a range of harvesting intensities of duiker-sized endothermic
herbivores. Duiker antelope (such as Cephalophus callipygus and
Cephalophus dorsalis) are the most heavily hunted species in sub-Saharan
Africa, contributing 34%-95% of all bushmeat in the Congo
Basin. In the Madingley, the harvested group was described as
"Heterotroph – Herbivore – Terrestrial – Mobile – Iteroparous–
Endotherm", with adult bodymasses of 13-21 kg and juvenile
bodymasses of >100 g. Harvesting period was set at 30
years (n =30). In the first experiment, we used the Madingley
model to predict bushmeat yields ("Harvested
Biomasses") and extinction rates ("Density") from
harvesting duiker-sized herbivores using proportional harvesting strategy,
with harvest rates ranging from 0 to 0.90. These were compared to the
estimates of bushmeat yields and survival probabilities for two
duiker antelope species (Cephalophus callipygus and Cephalophus dorsalis)
from conventional single-species Beverton-Holt model.  In the
second experiment, we used the Madingley model to generate data on the
state ("State") of the harvested ecosystem. The datasets
contain estimates of biomasses, abundances, adult and juvenile
bodymasses, etc. of the harvested duiker-sized herbivores as well
as unharvested herbivores, omnivores and carnivores present in
the simulated ecosystem. In the paper we focused on abundances;
however, other estimates e.g., adult
bodymasses can be used to conduct further studies
on the effects of harvesting in tropical ecosystems. Main results
of the experiments are that: 1) the Madingley model gave
estimates for optimal harvesting rate, and extinction rate, that were
qualitatively and quantitatively similar to the estimates from
conventional single-species Beverton-Holt model; 2) the Madingley
model predicted a background local extinction probability for the target
species of at least 10%; 3) at medium and high levels of harvesting of
duiker-sized herbivores, the Madingley model predicted
 statistically significant, but moderate, reductions in the
densities of the targeted functional group; increases in small-bodied
herbivores; decreases in large-bodied carnivores; and minimal
ecosystem-level impacts overall.