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Outsized effect of predation: Wolves alter wetland creation and recolonization by killing ecosystem engineers

Posted on November 30, 2020

Gray wolves are a premier example of how predators can transform ecosystems through trophic cascades. However, whether wolves change ecosystems as drastically as previously suggested has been increasingly questioned. We demonstrate how wolves alter wetland creation and recolonization by killing … read more

Posted in Trophic Cascade

Population responses of common ravens to reintroduced gray wolves

Posted on November 30, 2020

Top predators have cascading effects throughout the food web, but their impacts on scavenger abundance are largely unknown. Gray wolves (Canis lupus) provide carrion to a suite of scavenger species, including the common raven (Corvus corax). Ravens are wide‐ranging and … read more

Posted in Trophic Cascade | Tagged Canis lupus, common raven, Corvus corax, gray wolf, scavenger, Yellowstone National Park

Wolves, Moose, and Tree Rings on Isle Royale

Posted on October 27, 2020

Investigation of tree growth in Isle Royale National Park in Michigan revealed the influence of herbivores and carnivores on plants in an intimately linked food chain. Plant growth rates were regulated by cycles in animal density and responded to annual … read more

Posted in Trophic Cascade

Wolves, trophic cascades, and rivers in the Olympic National Park, USA

Posted on October 27, 2020

Gray wolves (Canis lupus) were extirpated in the early 1900s from the Olympic Peninsula of northwestern Washington. Thus, we studied potential cascading effects of wolf removal by undertaking a retrospective study of Roosevelt elk (Cervus elaphus) populations, riparian forests, and … read more

Posted in Trophic Cascade | Tagged channel morphology, elk, riparian plant communities, trophic cascades, wolves

Tall willow thickets return to northern Yellowstone

Posted on May 31, 2020

Northern Yellowstone National Park provides an example of passive restoration, as wetlands and riparian areas there lost most tall willows in the 20th century, due to intensive herbivory by elk (Cervus canadensis). Following large carnivore restoration in the late 1990s, … read more

Posted in Trophic Cascade | Tagged bison, browsing, Cervus canadensis, passive restoration, Salix, sandbar willow, tall willows, trophic cascade, ungulate herbivory, yellowstone

Reciprocity in Restoration Ecology: When Might Large Carnivore Reintroduction Restore Ecosystems?

Posted on July 6, 2019

Carnivore reintroduction is often expected to revert community and ecosystem properties to their natural states via risk effects and the direct killing of prey. Because large carnivore extirpation and reintroduction are usually believed to have symmetric and offsetting effects, fulfilling … read more

Posted in Trophic Cascade | Tagged carnivore, ecology, large, might, reciprocity, reintroduction, restoration

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Wolfwatcher

4 hours ago

Study: Depleted wolf packs unlikely to welcome immigrants
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"I think it's highlighting that it's a more nuanced relationship," lead author Sarah Bassing said. "It's not going to be as cut and dry as you harvest wolves and they're coming back. Period."

Instead, it seems that even packs reduced through legal hunting are unlikely to accept newcomers. The study was published in Animal Conservation in December and sheds further light on the social and hierarchical nature of wolf packs. ... See MoreSee Less

Study: Depleted wolf packs unlikely to welcome immigrants

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SPOKANE — Footloose and unaffiliated wolves don't often integrate with established packs, even when there is room for them to do so.

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Wolfwatcher

19 hours ago

More wolves show up in Eastern Oregon
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The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has identified a new area of known wolf activity in the Murderers Creek Wildlife Unit of Eastern Oregon.
A gray wolf started to show up roughly a year ago. Torland said this was throughout the winter and then disappeared in the spring.
He said it started to show up more consistently from late July to early August this year. In late November, he said ODFW issued an “area of known wolf activity” for the gray wolf.
Torland said ODFW identified a pack of wolves in the Desolation Unit this year in March.
He said there are a pair of wolves in the Northside Unit. He said ODFW is not aware of the pair successfully raising a pup.
Torland said, if a pup survives through December, they consider it as part of the population of wolves in the area. He said ODFW assumes if the pup survived that long it will make it.
The agency counts the population from January through March, he said.
“So any wolves we count would meet those criteria of being recruited into the population,” he said.
Torland said ODFW’s official population count as of March was seven. With the agency’s recent designation at Murderers Creek, the unofficial count is now at eight.
He said he does not believe more wolves are in Northside, but he does think there might be more in Desolation.
According to ODFW’s website, an “Area of Known Wolf Activity” is an area designated by ODFW showing where resident wolves and packs have become established.

photo: John E. Marriott Wildlife and Nature Photography ... See MoreSee Less

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