title: Disentangling the relative effects of bushmeat availability on human nutrition in central Africa.
abstract: We studied links between human malnutrition and wild meat availability within the Rainforest Biotic Zone in central Africa. We distinguished two distinct hunted mammalian diversity distributions, one in the rainforest areas (Deep Rainforest Diversity, DRD) containing taxa of lower hunting sustainability, the other in the northern rainforest-savanna mosaic, with species of greater hunting potential (Marginal Rainforest Diversity, MRD). Wild meat availability, assessed by standing crop mammalian biomass, was greater in MRD than in DRD areas. Predicted bushmeat extraction was also higher in MRD areas. Despite this, stunting of children, a measure of human malnutrition, was greater in MRD areas. Structural equation modeling identified that, in MRD areas, mammal diversity fell away from urban areas, but proximity to these positively influenced higher stunting incidence. In DRD areas, remoteness and distance from dense human settlements and infrastructures explained lower stunting levels. Moreover, stunting was higher away from protected areas. Our results suggest that in MRD areas, forest wildlife rational use for better human nutrition is possible. By contrast, the relatively low human populations in DRD areas currently offer abundant opportunities for the continued protection of more vulnerable mammals and allow dietary needs of local populations to be met.
authors: ICCS, Division of Biology, Imperial College London, Ascot SL5 7PY, UK.
authors: Julia E
authors: JE
authors: Fa
authors: Grupo de Biogeografía, Diversidad y Conservación, Universidad de Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain.
authors: Jesús
authors: J
authors: Olivero
authors: Grupo de Biogeografía, Diversidad y Conservación, Universidad de Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain.
authors: Raimundo
authors: R
authors: Real
authors: Grupo de Biogeografía, Diversidad y Conservación, Universidad de Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain.
authors: Miguel A
authors: MA
authors: Farfán
authors: Grupo de Biogeografía, Diversidad y Conservación, Universidad de Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain.
authors: Ana L
authors: AL
authors: Márquez
authors: Grupo de Biogeografía, Diversidad y Conservación, Universidad de Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain.
authors: J Mario
authors: JM
authors: Vargas
authors: WWF Germany, 10117 Berlin, Germany and Department of Ecology and Evolution, University Frankfurt, 60438 Frankfurt on Main, Germany.
authors: Stefan
authors: S
authors: Ziegler
authors: DLR Berlin, German Aerospace Center (DLR), 82234 Wessling, Germany, and Department of Remote Sensing, Department of Geography and Geology, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, Germany.
authors: Martin
authors: M
authors: Wegmann
authors: School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford, 51/53 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6PE, UK.
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Brown
authors: Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK.
authors: Barrie
authors: B
authors: Margetts
authors: Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), CIFOR Headquarters, Bogor 16115, Indonesia.
authors: Robert
authors: R
authors: Nasi
mesh_terms: D000350:Africa, Central; D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004435:Eating; D006801:Humans; D008460:Meat; D008954:Models, Biological; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D011157:Population Dynamics
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