Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59802, USA.
Wildlife Biology Program, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59802, USA.
Proc Biol Sci. 2019 Jul 24;286(1907):20190966. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.0966. Epub 2019 Jul 17.
Wild meat (or 'bushmeat') hunting is nearly ubiquitous across the tropics and is very often unsustainable-driving declines and extirpation of numerous mammal populations. Loss of these animals can alter the transport of nutrients within and between ecosystems. But whether the physical removal of vertebrate carcasses and the nutrients that they store can reduce overall nutrient availability in ecosystems has been little explored. At 32 sites on three continents, we show that annual phosphorus (P) loss via mammal exploitation was low relative to the rate of atmospheric P deposition. But at four sites in Africa and Southeast Asia, removal of P in the skeletons of hunted mammals exceeded the atmospheric input of this nutrient by 10-fold or more. Because P is the growth-limiting nutrient for many tropical terrestrial ecosystems and certain large mammals, the imbalance created by the removal of mammal biomass under very high hunting scenarios could reduce ecosystem carrying capacity if no compensatory P additions occur in the system. This biogeochemical perspective on bushmeat exploitation raises further concerns about harvest sustainability and human food security in areas where hunting rates are high and ecosystem P inputs low.
野生动物狩猎（或“丛林肉”）在热带地区几乎无处不在，而且往往是不可持续的，导致许多哺乳动物种群减少甚至灭绝。这些动物的消失会改变生态系统内部和之间的营养物质传输。但是，脊椎动物尸体及其储存的营养物质的物理去除是否会降低生态系统中整体营养物质的可用性，这一点还很少被探讨。在三大洲的 32 个地点，我们发现通过哺乳动物开发每年损失的磷（P）相对低于大气 P 沉积的速率。但是在非洲和东南亚的四个地点，被猎捕哺乳动物的骨骼中 P 的去除量超过了大气中这种营养物质的输入量的 10 倍以上。由于 P 是许多热带陆地生态系统和某些大型哺乳动物的生长限制因素，如果系统中没有补偿性的 P 添加，那么在非常高的狩猎情况下，由于去除哺乳动物生物量而造成的这种营养物质失衡可能会降低生态系统的承载能力。从生物地球化学的角度来看，丛林肉的开发利用引发了人们对狩猎率高、生态系统 P 输入低地区的可持续性和人类粮食安全的进一步关注。
