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Wehr NH, Moore SA, Isaac EJ, Kellner KF, Millspaugh JJ, Belant JL. Spatial overlap of gray wolves and ungulate prey changes seasonally corresponding to prey migration. Mov Ecol 2024; 12:33. [PMID: 38671527 PMCID: PMC11046751 DOI: 10.1186/s40462-024-00466-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2023] [Accepted: 03/18/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Prey are more vulnerable during migration due to decreased familiarity with their surroundings and spatially concentrated movements. Predators may respond to increased prey vulnerability by shifting their ranges to match prey. Moose (Alces alces) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are primary gray wolf (Canis lupus) prey and important subsistence species for Indigenous communities. We hypothesized wolves would increase use of ungulate migration corridors during migrations and predicted wolf distributions would overlap primary available prey. METHODS We examined seasonal gray wolf, moose, and white-tailed deer movements on and near the Grand Portage Indian Reservation, Minnesota, USA. We analyzed GPS collar data during 2012-2021 using Brownian bridge movement models (BBMM) in Migration Mapper and mechanistic range shift analysis (MRSA) to estimate individual- and population-level occurrence distributions and determine the status and timing of range shifts. We estimated proportional overlap of wolf distributions with moose and deer distributions and tested for differences among seasons, prey populations, and wolf sex and pack affiliations. RESULTS We identified a single migration corridor through which white-tailed deer synchronously departed in April and returned in October-November. Gray wolf distributions overlapped the deer migration corridor similarly year-round, but wolves altered within-range distributions seasonally corresponding to prey distributions. Seasonal wolf distributions had the greatest overlap with deer during fall migration (10 October-28 November) and greatest overlap with moose during summer (3 May-9 October). CONCLUSIONS Gray wolves did not increase their use of the white-tailed deer migration corridor but altered distributions within their territories in response to seasonal prey distributions. Greater overlap of wolves and white-tailed deer in fall may be due to greater predation success facilitated by asynchronous deer migration movements. Greater summer overlap between wolves and moose may be linked to moose calf vulnerability, American beaver (Castor canadensis) co-occurrence, and reduced deer abundance associated with migration. Our results suggest increases in predation pressure on deer in fall and moose in summer, which can inform Indigenous conservation efforts. We observed seasonal plasticity of wolf distributions suggestive of prey switching; that wolves did not exhibit migratory coupling was likely due to spatial constraints resulting from territoriality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathaniel H Wehr
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
| | - Seth A Moore
- Department of Biology and Environment, Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Grand Portage, MN, USA
| | - Edmund J Isaac
- Department of Biology and Environment, Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Grand Portage, MN, USA
| | - Kenneth F Kellner
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Joshua J Millspaugh
- Wildlife Biology Program, Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences, W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA
- Camp Fire Program in Wildlife Conservation, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, USA
| | - Jerrold L Belant
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
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Enari H, Enari HS, Sekiguchi T, Tanaka M, Suzuki S. Differences in spatial niche of terrestrial mammals when facing extreme snowfall: the case in east Asian forests. Front Zool 2024; 21:3. [PMID: 38297312 PMCID: PMC10832220 DOI: 10.1186/s12983-024-00522-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/02/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Recent climate changes have produced extreme climate events. This study focused on extreme snowfall and intended to discuss the vulnerability of temperate mammals against it through interspecies comparisons of spatial niches in northern Japan. We constructed niche models for seven non-hibernating species through wide-scaled snow tracking on skis, whose total survey length was 1144 km. RESULTS We detected a low correlation (rs < 0.4) between most pairs of species niches, indicating that most species possessed different overwintering tactics. A morphological advantage in locomotion cost on snow did not always expand niche breadth. In contrast, a spatial niche could respond to (1) drastic landscape change by a diminishing understory due to snow, possibly leading to changes in predator-prey interactions, and (2) the mass of cold air, affecting thermoregulatory cost and food accessibility. When extraordinary snowfall occurred, the nonarboreal species with larger body sizes could niche shift, whereas the smaller-sized or semi-arboreal mammals did not. In addition, compared to omnivores, herbivores were prone to severe restriction of niche breadth due to a reduction in food accessibility under extreme climates. CONCLUSIONS Dietary habits and body size could determine the redundancy of niche width, which may govern robustness/vulnerability to extreme snowfall events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroto Enari
- Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University, 1-23 Wakabamachi, Tsuruoka, Yamagata, 997-8555, Japan.
| | - Haruka S Enari
- Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University, 1-23 Wakabamachi, Tsuruoka, Yamagata, 997-8555, Japan
| | - Tatsuhito Sekiguchi
- Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University, 1-23 Wakabamachi, Tsuruoka, Yamagata, 997-8555, Japan
| | - Motohisa Tanaka
- Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University, 1-23 Wakabamachi, Tsuruoka, Yamagata, 997-8555, Japan
| | - Sohsuke Suzuki
- Faculty of Agriculture, Yamagata University, 1-23 Wakabamachi, Tsuruoka, Yamagata, 997-8555, Japan
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Layton‐Matthews K, Reiertsen TK, Erikstad K, Anker‐Nilssen T, Daunt F, Wanless S, Barrett RT, Newell MA, Harris MP. Consequences of cross-season demographic correlations for population viability. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10312. [PMID: 37456077 PMCID: PMC10338798 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2023] [Revised: 04/20/2023] [Accepted: 07/02/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Demographic correlations are pervasive in wildlife populations and can represent important secondary drivers of population growth. Empirical evidence suggests that correlations are in general positive for long-lived species, but little is known about the degree of variation among spatially segregated populations of the same species in relation to environmental conditions. We assessed the relative importance of two cross-season correlations in survival and productivity, for three Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) populations with contrasting population trajectories and non-overlapping year-round distributions. The two correlations reflected either a relationship between adult survival prior to breeding on productivity, or a relationship between productivity and adult survival the subsequent year. Demographic rates and their correlations were estimated with an integrated population model, and their respective contributions to variation in population growth were calculated using a transient-life table response experiment. For all three populations, demographic correlations were positive at both time lags, although their strength differed. Given the different year-round distributions of these populations, this variation in the strength population-level demographic correlations points to environmental conditions as an important driver of demographic variation through life-history constraints. Consequently, the contributions of variances and correlations in demographic rates to population growth rates differed among puffin populations, which has implications for-particularly small-populations' viability under environmental change as positive correlations tend to reduce the stochastic population growth rate.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Kjell‐Einar Erikstad
- Norwegian Institute for Nature ResearchFRAM CentreTromsøNorway
- Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics CBDNorwegian University of Science and TechnologyTrondheimNorway
| | | | - Francis Daunt
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Bush EstatePenicuikUK
| | - Sarah Wanless
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Bush EstatePenicuikUK
| | | | - Mark A. Newell
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Bush EstatePenicuikUK
| | - Mike P. Harris
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Bush EstatePenicuikUK
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Sovie AR, Romanski MC, Orning EK, Marneweck DG, Nichols R, Moore S, Belant JL. Temporal variation in translocated Isle Royale wolf diet. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e9873. [PMID: 36937055 PMCID: PMC10019911 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9873] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2022] [Revised: 02/08/2023] [Accepted: 02/15/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Wolves (Canis lupus) can exert top-down pressure and shape ecological communities through the predation of ungulates and beavers (Castor spp.). Therefore, understanding wolf foraging is critical to estimating their ecosystem-level effects. Specifically, if wolves are consumers that optimize tradeoffs between the cost and benefits of prey acquisition, changes in these factors may lead to prey-switching or negative-density dependent selection with potential consequences for community stability. For wolves, factors affecting cost and benefits include prey vulnerability, risk, reward, and availability, which can vary temporally. We described the wolf diet by the frequency of occurrence and percent biomass and characterized the diet using prey remains found in wolf scats on Isle Royale National Park, Michigan, USA, during May-October 2019 and 2020. We used logistic regression to estimate prey consumption over time. We predicted prey with temporal variation in cost (availability and/or vulnerability) such as adult moose (Alces alces), calf moose, and beaver (Castor canadensis) to vary in wolf diets. We analyzed 206 scats and identified 62% of remains as beaver, 26% as moose, and 12% as other species (birds, smaller mammals, and wolves). Adult moose were more likely to occur in wolf scats in May when moose are in poor condition following winter. The occurrence of moose calves peaked during June-mid-July following birth but before calf vulnerability declined as they matured. By contrast, beaver occurrence in wolf scat did not change over time, reflecting the importance of low-handling cost prey items for recently introduced lone or paired wolves. Our results demonstrate that the wolf diet is responsive to temporal changes in prey costs. Temporal fluctuation in diet may influence wolves' ecological role if prey respond to increased predation risk by altering foraging or breeding behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adia R. Sovie
- Department of Fisheries and WildlifeMichigan State UniversityEast LansingMichiganUSA
| | - Mark C. Romanski
- National Park ServiceIsle Royale National ParkHoughtonMichiganUSA
| | - Elizabeth K. Orning
- College of Environmental Science and ForestryState University of New YorkSyracuseNew YorkUSA
| | | | - Rachel Nichols
- Department of Biology and EnvironmentGrand Portage Band of Lake Superior ChippewaGrand PortageMinnesotaUSA
| | - Seth Moore
- Department of Biology and EnvironmentGrand Portage Band of Lake Superior ChippewaGrand PortageMinnesotaUSA
| | - Jerrold L. Belant
- Department of Fisheries and WildlifeMichigan State UniversityEast LansingMichiganUSA
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Suzuki KK, Kuwano Y, Yasuda M. A 17-Year Study of the Response of Populations to Different Patterns in Antlerless Proportion of Imposed Culls: Antlerless Culling Reduces Overabundant Deer Population. Biology 2022; 11:1607. [DOI: 10.3390/biology11111607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2022] [Revised: 11/01/2022] [Accepted: 11/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Increasing populations of large herbivores have caused environmental damage around the world, and it is necessary to improve population management strategies. Culling is a traditional management method. Antlerless deer proportions, consisting of adult female deer and fawn in Cervidae in wildlife statistics, are directly related to population increases; thus, the culling-based removal of individuals from habitats and the removal of these antlerless individuals by game hunting and nuisance control might be effective approaches for reducing population sizes. We evaluated the effectiveness of antlerless culling on 17-year density trends in the sika deer (Cervus nippon) population across an area of 1175 km2 in Fukuoka Prefecture (Japan). In 11 out of 47 grids (area measuring 5 by 5 km), the densities of sika deer tended to decline; meanwhile, in the remaining 36 grids, the densities increased. These density trends were explained by changes in the proportion of antlerless culling, as the densities declined with increasing proportions of antlerless deer. The results affirm the theory that antlerless culling is effective in population management; it is posited that antlerless-biased culling could be a crucial measure in managing overabundant populations of herbivores, contributing to more effective conservation of forest environments.
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Schooler SL, Svoboda NJ, Finnegan SP, Crye J, Kellner KF, Belant JL. Maternal carryover, winter severity, and brown bear abundance relate to elk demographics. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0274359. [PMID: 36173937 PMCID: PMC9521920 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2022] [Accepted: 08/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Ungulates are key components of ecosystems due to their effects on lower trophic levels, role as prey, and value for recreational and subsistence harvests. Understanding factors that drive ungulate population dynamics can inform protection of important habitat and successful management of populations. To ascertain correlates of ungulate population dynamics, we evaluated the effects of five non-exclusive hypotheses on ungulate abundance and recruitment: winter severity, spring nutritional limitation (spring bottleneck), summer-autumn maternal condition carryover, predation, and timber harvest. We used weather, reconstructed brown bear (Ursus arctos) abundance, and timber harvest data to estimate support for these hypotheses on early calf recruitment (calves per 100 adult females in July–August) and population counts of Roosevelt elk (Cervus canadensis roosevelti) on Afognak and Raspberry islands, Alaska, USA, 1958–2020. Increasing winter temperatures positively affected elk abundance, supporting the winter severity hypothesis, while a later first fall freeze had a positive effect on elk recruitment, supporting the maternal carry-over hypothesis. Increased brown bear abundance was negatively associated with elk recruitment, supporting the predation hypothesis. Recruitment was unaffected by spring climate conditions or timber harvest. Severe winter weather likely increased elk energy deficits, reducing elk survival and subsequent abundance in the following year. Colder and shorter falls likely reduced late-season forage, resulting in poor maternal condition which limited elk recruitment more than winter severity or late-winter nutritional bottlenecks. Our results additionally demonstrated potential negative effects of brown bears on elk recruitment. The apparent long-term decline in elk recruitment did not result in a decline of abundance, which suggests that less severe winters may increase elk survival and counteract the potential effects of predation on elk abundance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah L. Schooler
- Department of Environmental Biology, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, New York, United States of America
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Nathan J. Svoboda
- Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Wildlife Division, Kodiak, Alaska, United States of America
| | - Shannon P. Finnegan
- Department of Environmental Biology, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, New York, United States of America
| | - John Crye
- Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Wildlife Division, Kodiak, Alaska, United States of America
| | - Kenneth F. Kellner
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America
| | - Jerrold L. Belant
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America
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Johnson HE, Lenart EA, Gustine DD, Adams LG, Barboza PS. Survival and reproduction in Arctic caribou are associated with summer forage and insect harassment. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.899585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Investigators have speculated that the climate-driven “greening of the Arctic” may benefit barren-ground caribou populations, but paradoxically many populations have declined in recent years. This pattern has raised concerns about the influence of summer habitat conditions on caribou demographic rates, and how populations may be impacted in the future. The short Arctic summer provides caribou with important forage resources but is also the time they are exposed to intense harassment by insects, factors which are both being altered by longer, warmer growing seasons. To better understand the effects of summer forage and insect activity on Arctic caribou demographic rates, we investigated the influence of estimated forage biomass, digestible energy (DE), digestible nitrogen (DN), and mosquito activity on the reproductive success and survival of adult females in the Central Arctic Herd on the North Slope of Alaska. We tested the hypotheses that greater early summer DN would increase subsequent reproduction (parturition and late June calving success) while greater biomass and DE would increase adult survival (September–May), and that elevated mosquito activity would reduce both demographic rates. Because the period when abundant forage DN is limited and overlaps with the period of mosquito harassment, we also expected years with low DN and high harassment to synergistically reduce caribou reproductive success. Examining these relationships at the individual-level, using GPS-collared females, and at the population-level, using long-term monitoring data, we generally found support for our expectations. Greater early summer DN was associated with increased subsequent calving success, while greater summer biomass was associated with increased adult survival. Mosquito activity was associated with reductions in adult female parturition, late June calving success, and survival, and in years with low DN, had compounding effects on subsequent late June calving success. Our findings indicate that summer nutrition and mosquito activity collectively influence the demographic rates of Arctic caribou, and may impact the dynamics of populations in the future under changing environmental conditions.
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Kautz TM, Fowler NL, Petroelje TR, Beyer DE, Duquette JF, Belant JL. White-tailed deer exploit temporal refuge from multi-predator and human risks on roads. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9125. [PMID: 35898426 PMCID: PMC9309034 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2022] [Revised: 05/17/2022] [Accepted: 05/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Although most prey have multiple predator species, few studies have quantified how prey respond to the temporal niches of multiple predators which pose different levels of danger. For example, intraspecific variation in diel activity allows white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to reduce fawn activity overlap with coyotes (Canis latrans) but finding safe times of day may be more difficult for fawns in a multi-predator context. We hypothesized that within a multi-predator system, deer would allocate antipredation behavior optimally based on combined mortality risk from multiple sources, which would vary depending on fawn presence. We measured cause-specific mortality of 777 adult (>1-year-old) and juvenile (1-4-month-old) deer and used 300 remote cameras to estimate the activity of deer, humans, and predators including American black bears (Ursus americanus), bobcats (Lynx rufus), coyotes, and wolves (Canis lupus). Predation and vehicle collisions accounted for 5.3 times greater mortality in juveniles (16% mortality from bears, coyotes, bobcats, wolves, and vehicles) compared with adults (3% mortality from coyotes, wolves, and vehicles). Deer nursery groups (i.e., ≥1 fawn present) were more diurnal than adult deer without fawns, causing fawns to have 24-38% less overlap with carnivores and 39% greater overlap with humans. Supporting our hypothesis, deer nursery groups appeared to optimize diel activity to minimize combined mortality risk. Temporal refuge for fawns was likely the result of carnivores avoiding humans, simplifying diel risk of five species into a trade-off between diurnal humans and nocturnal carnivores. Functional redundancy among multiple predators with shared behaviors may partially explain why white-tailed deer fawn predation rates are often similar among single- and multi-predator systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Todd M Kautz
- College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Global Wildlife Conservation Center State University of New York Syracuse New York USA
| | - Nicholas L Fowler
- College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Global Wildlife Conservation Center State University of New York Syracuse New York USA
| | - Tyler R Petroelje
- College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Global Wildlife Conservation Center State University of New York Syracuse New York USA.,Wildlife Division Michigan Department of Natural Resources Lansing Michigan USA
| | - Dean E Beyer
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Michigan State University East Lansing Michigan USA
| | - Jared F Duquette
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Michigan State University East Lansing Michigan USA
| | - Jerrold L Belant
- College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Global Wildlife Conservation Center State University of New York Syracuse New York USA
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McGraw AM, Storm DJ, Bronson DR, Pearson T. Habitat and weather influence body condition in white‐tailed deer, Wisconsin, USA. J Wildl Manage 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.22176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Amanda M. McGraw
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources 107 Sutliff Avenue Rhinelander WI 54501 USA
| | - Daniel J. Storm
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources 1300 W. Clairemont Eau Claire WI USA
| | - Dustin R. Bronson
- Forest Service Northern Forest Research Station 5985 County Highway K Rhinelander WI 54501 USA
| | - Teresa Pearson
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources 107 Sutliff Avenue Rhinelander WI 54501 USA
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Bright Ross JG, Newman C, Buesching CD, Connolly E, Nakagawa S, Macdonald DW. A fat chance of survival: Body condition provides life-history dependent buffering of environmental change in a wild mammal population. Climate Change Ecology 2021; 2:100022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecochg.2021.100022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
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Olson L, Van Deelen T, Storm D, Crimmins S. Understanding environmental patterns of canid predation on white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). CAN J ZOOL 2021. [DOI: 10.1139/cjz-2021-0024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
The outcome of encounters between predators and prey affects predation rates and ultimately population dynamics. Determining how environmental features influence predation rates helps guide conservation and management efforts. We studied where gray wolves (Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758) and coyotes (Canis latrans Say, 1823) killed white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus (Zimmermann, 1780)) in northern Wisconsin, USA. We monitored 499 white-tailed deer for cause-specific mortality between 2011 and 2014 using VHF radio collars. We investigated the locations of 125 deer mortalities and determined that 63 were canid (wolf or coyote) kill sites. We analyzed spatial patterns of kill sites using resource selection functions in a model selection framework, incorporating environmental variables including vegetative cover, human development, snow depth, and water. We found no evidence that vegetative cover or human development affected predation risk; however, we did find that increasing snow depth resulted in increased relative predation risk. This finding is consistent with existing research on the influence of snow cover on white-tailed deer survival. Our results suggest that understanding the spatial and temporal patterns of white-tailed deer predation requires a better understanding of snow depth variation in space and time. As climate change scenarios predict changes in snowfall throughout the northern hemisphere, understanding the effect on predator–prey spatial dynamics will be important for management and conservation efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- L.O. Olson
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - T.R. Van Deelen
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - D.J. Storm
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, 1300 West Clairemont Avenue, Eau Claire, WI 54701-6127, USA
| | - S.M. Crimmins
- College of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, 800 Reserve Street, Stevens Point, WI 54481, USA
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Norton AS, Storm DJ, Van Deelen TR. White‐Tailed Deer, Weather and Predation: a New Understanding of Winter Severity for Predicting Deer Mortality. J Wildl Manage 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.22083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew S. Norton
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology University of Wisconsin‐Madison 1630 Linden Drive Madison WI 53706 USA
| | - Daniel J. Storm
- Office of Applied Science, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources 107 Sutliff Avenue Rhinelander WI 54501 USA
| | - Timothy R. Van Deelen
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology University of Wisconsin‐Madison 1630 Linden Drive Madison WI 53706 USA
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Chimienti M, Beest FM, Beumer LT, Desforges J, Hansen LH, Stelvig M, Schmidt NM. Quantifying behavior and life‐history events of an Arctic ungulate from year‐long continuous accelerometer data. Ecosphere 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Marianna Chimienti
- Department of Bioscience Aarhus University Frederiksborgvej 399 Roskilde4000Denmark
| | - Floris M. Beest
- Department of Bioscience Aarhus University Frederiksborgvej 399 Roskilde4000Denmark
- Arctic Research Centre Aarhus University Ny Munkegade 116 Aarhus C8000Denmark
| | - Larissa T. Beumer
- Department of Bioscience Aarhus University Frederiksborgvej 399 Roskilde4000Denmark
- Arctic Research Centre Aarhus University Ny Munkegade 116 Aarhus C8000Denmark
| | - Jean‐Pierre Desforges
- Department of Bioscience Aarhus University Frederiksborgvej 399 Roskilde4000Denmark
- Arctic Research Centre Aarhus University Ny Munkegade 116 Aarhus C8000Denmark
- Natural Resource Sciences McGill University Ste Anne de Bellevue QuebecH9X 3V9Canada
| | - Lars H. Hansen
- Department of Bioscience Aarhus University Frederiksborgvej 399 Roskilde4000Denmark
- Arctic Research Centre Aarhus University Ny Munkegade 116 Aarhus C8000Denmark
| | - Mikkel Stelvig
- Centre for Zoo and Wild Animal Health Copenhagen Zoo Frederiksberg2000Denmark
| | - Niels Martin Schmidt
- Department of Bioscience Aarhus University Frederiksborgvej 399 Roskilde4000Denmark
- Arctic Research Centre Aarhus University Ny Munkegade 116 Aarhus C8000Denmark
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Petroelje TR, Kautz TM, Beyer DE, Belant JL. Interference competition between wolves and coyotes during variable prey abundance. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:1413-1431. [PMID: 33598141 PMCID: PMC7863399 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2020] [Revised: 12/02/2020] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Interference competition occurs when two species have similar resource requirements and one species is dominant and can suppress or exclude the subordinate species. Wolves (Canis lupus) and coyotes (C. latrans) are sympatric across much of their range in North America where white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) can be an important prey species. We assessed the extent of niche overlap between wolves and coyotes using activity, diet, and space use as evidence for interference competition during three periods related to the availability of white-tailed deer fawns in the Upper Great Lakes region of the USA. We assessed activity overlap (Δ) with data from accelerometers onboard global positioning system (GPS) collars worn by wolves (n = 11) and coyotes (n = 13). We analyzed wolf and coyote scat to estimate dietary breadth (B) and food niche overlap (α). We used resource utilization functions (RUFs) with canid GPS location data, white-tailed deer RUFs, ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) and snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) densities, and landscape covariates to compare population-level space use. Wolves and coyotes exhibited considerable overlap in activity (Δ = 0.86-0.92), diet (B = 3.1-4.9; α = 0.76-1.0), and space use of active and inactive RUFs across time periods. Coyotes relied less on deer as prey compared to wolves and consumed greater amounts of smaller prey items. Coyotes exhibited greater population-level variation in space use compared to wolves. Additionally, while active and inactive, coyotes exhibited greater selection of some land covers as compared to wolves. Our findings lend support for interference competition between wolves and coyotes with significant overlap across resource attributes examined. The mechanisms through which wolves and coyotes coexist appear to be driven largely by how coyotes, a generalist species, exploit narrow differences in resource availability and display greater population-level plasticity in resource use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tyler R Petroelje
- Global Wildlife Conservation Center College of Environmental Science and Forestry State University of New York Syracuse NY USA
| | - Todd M Kautz
- Global Wildlife Conservation Center College of Environmental Science and Forestry State University of New York Syracuse NY USA
| | - Dean E Beyer
- Wildlife Division Michigan Department of Natural Resources Marquette MI USA
| | - Jerrold L Belant
- Global Wildlife Conservation Center College of Environmental Science and Forestry State University of New York Syracuse NY USA
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