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The studies by Linares (1976), Irvine (1987), and Greenberg (1992) investigated gardens and 

 hunUng in lowland tropical forests where low densities of native peoples practiced shifting cultivation 

 and subsistence hunting. They concluded that there was a pattern of increased hunting of game in areas 

 where gardens had been planted. None of the studies, however, presented enough data to support the 

 model of garden hunting. Specifically, none demonstrated that game animals ate crops or that game 

 animals actually were more abundant around gardens than in forested areas. Without evidence that 

 game animals consumed crops and were more abundant in the vicinity of gardens than in forest areas 

 without gardens, the idea that deer and hunters coevolved through the practice of garden hunUng is 

 pure speculation. 



In order to measure the effects of shifting cultivation and subsistence hunting on the biomass of 

 game species as proposed by Linares (1976), Irvine (1987), and Greenberg (1992), this study was 

 designed to compare relative abundance and population densities of game in three successional stages of 

 forest. The three successional stages were categorized as 1) Combined/Early Secondary Forest 

 (including areas categorized as Other and Plots & Gardens), 2) Late Secondary Forest with Gardens, 

 and 3) Late Secondary Forest without Gardens. These stages represented a broad continuum of human 

 disturbance patterns and changes in the structure and composition of forest. There were three general 

 objectives to this study and several specific hypotheses: 



First objective. --Determine the number of taxa of game or potenUal game species inhabiting 

 three successional stages of forest. 



Second objective. -Compare the relative abundance of wildlife in three successional stages of 

 forest. The specific hypothesis tested was that there was no difference in the relative abundance of 

 birds and mammals between successional stages. 



Third objective. -Compare the population densities of wildlife in three successional stages of 

 forest. The specific hypothesis tested was that there was no difference in the population densities of 

 birds and mammals between successional stages. 



