EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY AND RESOURCE CONSERVATION

Recent field work has shown that, contrary to commonly held beliefs, s ubsistence hunters do not conserve prey resources. Evolutionary ecolog ists have approached this problem by using foraging theory to show tha t subsistence hunters prefer short-term returns over the potential lon g-term returns generated by resource conservation. An important reason for this outcome is that the resources exploited by subsistence hunte rs are often open-access, which means that collective-action problems can ensue. Ownership is critical for conservation to pay, but even if resources are privately owned high opportunity costs can minimize the long-term benefits of restraint. Because the benefits of conservation accrue in the future, the benefits must be discounted. This is because future benefits may not be realized for a variety of reasons. Recent efforts to understand evolved human time preference suggest an evolved discount rate between 2% and 6% annually, depending on many factors. If the growth rate of a potentially conserved prey population is less than the discount rate, the long-term benefits of conservation will fa ll short of the short-term benefits of exploitation.