The importance of leaf- and litter-feeding invertebrates as sources of animal protein for the Amazonian Amerindians

At least 32 Amerindian groups in the Amazon basin use terrestrial invertebr ates as food. Leaf- and litter-consuming invertebrates provide the more imp ortant, underestimated food sources for many Amerindian groups. Further, li tter-consuming earthworms are also an important food resource for the: Ye'K uana (also known as Makiritare) in the Alto Orinoco (Amazonas, Venezuela). By selecting these small invertebrates the Amerindians are choosing their a nimal food from those food webs in the rainforest which have the highest en ergy flow and which constitute the greatest renewable stock of readily avai lable nutrients. Hele we show that the consumption of leaf- and litter-feed ing invertebrates as a means of recovering protein, fat and vitamins by the forest-living peoples offers a new perspective for the development of sust ainable animal food production within the paradigm of biodiversity maintena nce.