This is from my presentation at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater. It was about the first case of a species depletion caused by Europeans on the American continent. You can read the article at:

1. Death and Taxes:
The First Depletion of a Natural Resource Caused
by Europeans in the American Continent
Aldemaro Romero Jr., Ph.D.

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3. Conservation Biology from a
Historical Perspective (II)
"Ecologically Noble Savage" Hypothesis

4. Conservation Biology from a
Historical Perspective (I)
Neoextinctions

5. Arrival of Europeans to the
American Continent
1. Historical documentation
2. Relatively recent
3. Archaeological evidence
4. Ecological evidence

6. Geographic Setting

7. Geographic Setting (II)

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9. The Natural Setting

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27. The End of Riches
- 1530: Cumaná fortress destroyed by an
earthquake
- 1531: Signs of acute depletion
- Number of boats and divers/boat are limited
- Only four hours of diving per day
- 1533: Six-month moratorium

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30. Pearl Production in Cubagua

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33. Social Impacts
- Nueva Cádiz as a collection point for slaves
- To gain access to a oyster-pearl bed you had to be
a "Señor de Canoa“ (boat lord)
- You had to have at least 12 divers
- Original coastal population of 50,000 was
decimated as well as Lucayos and African slaves

34. Ecological Impacts
How to use tax information to calculate ecological depletion
- THE MOST CONSERVATIVE APPROACH
- Multiplied taxed pearls by 5
- More than half never declared
- Highest productivity yield
- Assumed all pearls were of
the highest quality
- Only since 1515

35. Results
11,326.35 kilos
566,300 carats (1 carat = 20 g)
200 oysters per carat
= 113,260,000 oysters

36. Can it be Confirmed?
- 1527: 7,170 Marks
= 1,649.1 kilos
= 82,455 carats
= 16,490,000 oysters harvested
= 52,019 oysters/day (except Sunday)
= 74.31 oysters/day/diver (700 divers;
diving dawn to dusk)
- That is conservative

37. Ecological Sustainability
The Natural History of the Pearl-Oyster (Pinctada imbricata)
- Abundance and growth
rate diminishes with depth
- Recruitment between
March and July
- Spawning between April
and August
- Five years life span
- Pearls are not produced until the 4th. year

38. Possible Natural Recovery?
- Competes with the sympatric turkey-wing mussel
(Arca zebra)
- Resuspension of bottom sediments
> increase of suspended particulate
material (SPM) > lower quality and
quantity of nutrients
- Turkey-wing mussel does better
under these conditions
- Also has lower feeding rates
- Today has replaced the pearl-oyster

39. Conclusions
- This is the first documented case of a natural
resource depletion by Europeans in the American
continent
- This exploitation was unsustainable because:
1. Its intensity
2. Lack of supporting natural resources
3. The biology of P. imbricata and A. zebra
- Was not socio-economically productive

40. Conclusions (II)
- Produced serious impacts on the local human
populations in the form of:
1. Displacement
2. Destruction of native cultures
3. Disruption of existing economic and political
networks