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Full-Text Articles in Behavior and Ethology

Yellowstone Wolf (Canis Lupus) Density Predicted By Elk (Cervus Elaphus) Biomass, L. David Mech, Shannon M. Barber-Meyer Jan 2015

Yellowstone Wolf (Canis Lupus) Density Predicted By Elk (Cervus Elaphus) Biomass, L. David Mech, Shannon M. Barber-Meyer

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

The Northern Range (NR) of Yellowstone National Park (YNP) hosts a higher prey biomass density in the form of elk (Cervus elaphus L., 1758) than any other system of gray wolves (Canis lupus L., 1758) and prey reported. Therefore, it is important to determine whether that wolf–prey system fits a long-standing model relating wolf density to prey biomass. Using data from 2005 to 2012 after elk population fluctuations dampened 10 years subsequent to wolf reintroduction, we found that NR prey biomass predicted wolf density. This finding and the trajectory of the regression extend the validity of the model …


Evaluation Of A Formula That Categorizes Female Gray Wolf Breeding Status By Nipple Size, Shannon M. Barber-Meyer, L. David Mech Jan 2015

Evaluation Of A Formula That Categorizes Female Gray Wolf Breeding Status By Nipple Size, Shannon M. Barber-Meyer, L. David Mech

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

The proportion by age class of wild Canis lupus (Gray Wolf) females that reproduce in any given year remains unclear; thus, we evaluated the applicability to our long-term (1972–2013) data set of the Mech et al. (1993) formula that categorizes female Gray Wolf breeding status by nipple size and time of year. We used the formula to classify Gray Wolves from 68 capture events into 4 categories (yearling, adult non-breeder, former breeder, current breeder). To address issues with small sample size and variance, we created an ambiguity index to allow some Gray Wolves to be classed into 2 categories. We …


Gray Wolf (Canis Lupus) Dyad Monthly Association Rates By Demographic Group, Shannon M. Barber-Meyer, L. David Mech Jan 2015

Gray Wolf (Canis Lupus) Dyad Monthly Association Rates By Demographic Group, Shannon M. Barber-Meyer, L. David Mech

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Preliminary data from GPS-collared wolves (Canis lupus) in the Superior National Forest of northeastern Minnesota indicated wolves had low association rates with packmates during summer. However, aerial-telemetry locations of very high frequency (VHF)-radioed wolves in this same area showed high associations among packmates during winter. We analyzed aerial-telemetry-location data from VHF-collared wolves in several packs (n=18 dyads) in this same area from 1994-2012 by month, and found lowest association rates occurred during June. While other studies have found low association among wolf packmates during summer, information on differences in association patterns depending on the wolf associates’ demographics is …


White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) Fawn Risk From Gray Wolf (Canis Lupus) Predation During Summer, L. David Mech, Aaron Morris, Shannon M. Barber-Meyer Jan 2015

White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) Fawn Risk From Gray Wolf (Canis Lupus) Predation During Summer, L. David Mech, Aaron Morris, Shannon M. Barber-Meyer

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Little is known about how often various prey animals are at risk of predation by Gray Wolves (Canis lupus). We used a system to monitor the presence during the day of two radio-collared Gray Wolves within 2 km of a radio-collared White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) with a fawn or fawns in August 2013 in the Superior National Forest of northeastern Minnesota. We concluded that the fawn or fawns were at risk of predation by at least one wolf at least daily.