The impacts of food systems on wildlife
Many if not most challenges in wildlife conservation can be linked to human food systems. Farming crops and raising livestock require vast amounts of space and resources, which drives habitat loss and pollution. Farming and ranching can also lead to conflict between people and wildlife when wildlife preys on people's livestock and consumes their hard-earned crops. Finally, millions of people hunt, fish, and consume wildlife—marine, freshwater, and terrestrial—directly for food and income. In many cases, such fishing, hunting, and consumption have become unsustainable; resulting in wildlife declines.
Many if not most challenges in wildlife conservation can be linked to human food systems. Farming crops and raising livestock require vast amounts of space and resources, which drives habitat loss and pollution. Farming and ranching can also lead to conflict between people and wildlife when wildlife preys on people's livestock and consumes their hard-earned crops. Finally, millions of people hunt, fish, and consume wildlife—marine, freshwater, and terrestrial—directly for food and income. In many cases, such fishing, hunting, and consumption have become unsustainable; resulting in wildlife declines.
For my dissertation, I am studying the impacts of human food systems on wildlife. Specifically, I am studying whether access to affordable fish and livestock can affect supply and demand for terrestrial wildlife consumed as food, and in turn, hunting and fishing rates and ultimately wildlife population trends. This can provide insights about whether, and if so when, conservation interventions focused on food security (e.g., aquaculture initiatives) may be most likely to succeed; or alternatively, where other conservation interventions should be prioritized.
I am also currently writing a review paper on snaring and trapping activities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Snaring and trapping, though often done out of subsistence needs, can devastate wildlife populations and result in food wastage when wildlife rots in traps. I am synthesizing previous research from Sub-Saharan Africa to present the causes and consequences of trapping in the region. I am also reviewing the specific factors that lead to wastage. Social and ecological consequences of wildlife loss and recovery Wild animals can perform important functional roles in ecosystems: they can distribute vast amounts of energy, nutrients, and propagules (e.g. seeds) across ecosystems; engineer habitats for other species; and regulate populations of their prey and competitors species. I am interested in understanding how declines and recoveries of wildlife affect ecosystem processes, and in turn, ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration, nutrient recycling, provisioning of water). Currently, I am working with the California Grizzly Research Network to better understand the ecological roles and impacts of brown bears. |
People and wildlife. In much of the world, people depend on wildlife for food; in other instances, wildlife prey on people's livestock or consume their crops. The result is often the same—humans kill wildlife to secure or defend their livelihoods. In doing so, they can remove functionally important species from ecosystems, sometimes with long-term impacts on biodiversity and human health.
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