Wolf functional response and regulation of moose in the Yukon
Dates
Year
2000
Citation
Hayes, R. D., and Harestad, A. S., 2000, Wolf functional response and regulation of moose in the Yukon: Canadian Journal of Zoology/Revue Canadien de Zoologie, v. 78, no. 1, p. 60-66.
Summary
We studied kill rates by wolves (Canis lupus) on a rapidly growing moose population in the east-central Yukon. We added these data to the cumulative functional response curve obtained in other North American wolf studies. Our kill rates are higher than those predicted at low moose densities. The kill rate increases rapidly, reaching 2.4 moose per wolf per 100 days at 0.26 moose/km2 and remains constant at this level. No data are available below 0.2 moose/km2 to indicate the shape of the ascending curve. Based on moose distribution and the low prey-switching ability of wolves, we suggest that the functional response curve is of type II. Our wolf predation rate model predicts that moose are held to a low density equilibrium between 0.07 [...]
Summary
We studied kill rates by wolves (Canis lupus) on a rapidly growing moose population in the east-central Yukon. We added these data to the cumulative functional response curve obtained in other North American wolf studies. Our kill rates are higher than those predicted at low moose densities. The kill rate increases rapidly, reaching 2.4 moose per wolf per 100 days at 0.26 moose/km2 and remains constant at this level. No data are available below 0.2 moose/km2 to indicate the shape of the ascending curve. Based on moose distribution and the low prey-switching ability of wolves, we suggest that the functional response curve is of type II. Our wolf predation rate model predicts that moose are held to a low density equilibrium between 0.07 and 0.12/km2, slightly below densities observed in interior Alaska and the Yukon.
