Doctoral Dissertation Research: Human Use and Potential Conservation of River Turtles in Eastern Lowland Bolivia

经过几个世纪的开发，包括成龟和卵的收获，亚马逊盆地上游淡水海龟的数量在其大部分活动范围内都严重减少。这些海龟仍然是玻利维亚东部低地诺埃尔·肯普夫·梅尔卡多国家公园管辖范围内以河流为导向的社区的重要野生动物资源。该地区人民面临的一个主要挑战是在对海龟肉和海龟蛋的需求不断增长的情况下保持海龟的数量水平。这一博士论文研究项目将调查当代社会经济因素如何影响海龟种群的狩猎压力。将收集关于猎杀和消费白纹龟的两个社区的社会经济特征的数据。海龟种群的相对丰度将通过在狩猎活跃的地区以及在轻度或非狩猎的河流横断面进行晒太阳观察来评估。将使用全球定位系统对两个社区进入的河流横断面上的人类活动模式进行编目和记录。这些信息与相对丰富的数据和社会经济信息将在地理信息系统(GIS)中进行分析，以确定空间相关性的模式。相对丰度数据应为计算海龟可持续捕捞提供参数。对社会经济数据的回归分析将使人们深入了解推动甲鱼蛋白质消费的特定因素及其影响的重要性。据推测，随着更多的市场准入和创造现金的机会，作为生存的海龟肉和蛋的消费将会减少。还将审查微观经济学理论的相关性，这些理论认为，随着物种市场价值的增加，知识水平的提高将导致自然资源的保护，从而鼓励居民更有可能保护有价值的物种。通过该项目收集的综合相对丰度和社会经济信息将有助于了解更多地获得现金收入对野生动物资源的影响以及基于社区的保护和管理努力。研究区在保护区缓冲区的位置也应产生对保护区管理有用的结果。量化狩猎的影响及其背后的驱动力，将为制定以当地情况为基础的管理计划提供基础，因此比不考虑这些因素而制定的计划更有可能保持得当。这项研究收集的信息的汇总将有助于了解玻利维亚东部低地海龟的使用现状，并有助于以社区为基础保护亚马逊野生动物物种的潜力。作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立研究生涯。

After centuries of exploitation, including the harvest of both adults and eggs, populations of the freshwater turtles Podocnemis expansa and P. unifilis are seriously reduced throughout most of their ranges in the upper Amazon basin. These turtles remain important wildlife resources for river-oriented communities within the jurisdiction of National Park Noel Kempff Mercado in eastern lowland Bolivia. A major challenge facing people of this region is maintaining population levels of turtles in the face of growing demand for turtle meat and eggs. This doctoral dissertation research project will investigate how contemporary socioeconomic factors affect the hunting pressure on turtle populations. Data will be collected on socioeconomic characteristics of two communities where Podocnemis turtles are hunted and consumed. The relative abundance of turtle populations will be assessed through basking observations in areas with active hunting as well as in lightly or non-hunted river transects. Human activity patterns along transects of the rivers accessed by two communities will be cataloged and recorded using a global positioning system. This information, combined with the relative abundance data and socioeconomic information will be analyzed in a geographic information system (GIS) to ascertain patterns of spatial correlation. The relative abundance data should provide parameters for the calculation of sustainable turtle harvest. Regression analyses of socioeconomic data will offer insights into the importance of specific elements and their influence driving turtle protein consumption. It is hypothesized that with greater access to markets and cash-generating opportunities, consumption of turtle meat and eggs as subsistence will decrease. Also under examination will be the relevance of microeconomic theories that hold that increased levels of knowledge and ensuing protection of natural resources will result as the market values of species increase, thereby encouraging residents to be more likely to protect valuable species. The combined relative abundance and socioeconomic information that will be gathered through this project will contribute to knowledge about the effects of increased access to cash income on wildlife resources and community-based conservation and management efforts. The location of the study area in the buffer zone of a protected area should also yield results that are useful for protected-area management. Quantifying the impacts of hunting and the driving forces behind them will provide a basis for development of a management plan that is based on a local context and thus will be more likely to remain in tact than plans developed without consideration of such factors. The aggregation of the information collected in this study will contribute to the understanding of the present situation of turtle use in eastern lowland Bolivia and to the potential for community-based conservation of Amazonian wildlife species. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.