Space use by gray wolves ( Canis lupus) in response to simulated howling: a case study and a call for further investigation
Simulated wolf howling sessions are a popular ecotourism activity, but no exhaustive evaluation has been made on their potential impacts on wolf ecology. We evaluated the effects of simulated wolf howling sessions on the space use of gray wolves (Canis lupus L., 1758) in the Montmorency Forest (Queb...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Zoology |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2016-0191 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2016-0191 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2016-0191 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/cjz-2016-0191 2024-09-15T18:01:07+00:00 Space use by gray wolves ( Canis lupus) in response to simulated howling: a case study and a call for further investigation Leblond, Mathieu Dussault, Christian St-Laurent, Martin-Hugues 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2016-0191 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2016-0191 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2016-0191 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 95, issue 3, page 221-226 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 journal-article 2017 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2016-0191 2024-06-27T04:11:03Z Simulated wolf howling sessions are a popular ecotourism activity, but no exhaustive evaluation has been made on their potential impacts on wolf ecology. We evaluated the effects of simulated wolf howling sessions on the space use of gray wolves (Canis lupus L., 1758) in the Montmorency Forest (Quebec, Canada). Although we equipped 22 individuals with GPS collars from 2005 to 2008, only four wolves could potentially hear our 20 simulated howls (July to October 2008). We used power analyses to select two spatiotemporal scales of analysis with sufficient location data to investigate wolf reactions. We evaluated the distance and orientation of wolf movements relative to howling stations, their movement rates, and their mean distance to other collared pack members, which we used as an index of pack cohesion. We found that wolves approached howling stations (at both scales) and were closer to other pack members (at broad scale only) after simulated howls. The reactions of wolves were of relatively low magnitude, and we conclude that simulated howling sessions were unlikely to have strong negative impacts on the movement patterns of wolves. We encourage future studies to evaluate the effects of simulated howling on the activity levels and fine-scale space use by wolves. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Canadian Science Publishing Canadian Journal of Zoology 95 3 221 226 |
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Open Polar |
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Canadian Science Publishing |
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crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
Simulated wolf howling sessions are a popular ecotourism activity, but no exhaustive evaluation has been made on their potential impacts on wolf ecology. We evaluated the effects of simulated wolf howling sessions on the space use of gray wolves (Canis lupus L., 1758) in the Montmorency Forest (Quebec, Canada). Although we equipped 22 individuals with GPS collars from 2005 to 2008, only four wolves could potentially hear our 20 simulated howls (July to October 2008). We used power analyses to select two spatiotemporal scales of analysis with sufficient location data to investigate wolf reactions. We evaluated the distance and orientation of wolf movements relative to howling stations, their movement rates, and their mean distance to other collared pack members, which we used as an index of pack cohesion. We found that wolves approached howling stations (at both scales) and were closer to other pack members (at broad scale only) after simulated howls. The reactions of wolves were of relatively low magnitude, and we conclude that simulated howling sessions were unlikely to have strong negative impacts on the movement patterns of wolves. We encourage future studies to evaluate the effects of simulated howling on the activity levels and fine-scale space use by wolves. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Leblond, Mathieu Dussault, Christian St-Laurent, Martin-Hugues |
spellingShingle |
Leblond, Mathieu Dussault, Christian St-Laurent, Martin-Hugues Space use by gray wolves ( Canis lupus) in response to simulated howling: a case study and a call for further investigation |
author_facet |
Leblond, Mathieu Dussault, Christian St-Laurent, Martin-Hugues |
author_sort |
Leblond, Mathieu |
title |
Space use by gray wolves ( Canis lupus) in response to simulated howling: a case study and a call for further investigation |
title_short |
Space use by gray wolves ( Canis lupus) in response to simulated howling: a case study and a call for further investigation |
title_full |
Space use by gray wolves ( Canis lupus) in response to simulated howling: a case study and a call for further investigation |
title_fullStr |
Space use by gray wolves ( Canis lupus) in response to simulated howling: a case study and a call for further investigation |
title_full_unstemmed |
Space use by gray wolves ( Canis lupus) in response to simulated howling: a case study and a call for further investigation |
title_sort |
space use by gray wolves ( canis lupus) in response to simulated howling: a case study and a call for further investigation |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2016-0191 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2016-0191 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2016-0191 |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 95, issue 3, page 221-226 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2016-0191 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
95 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
221 |
op_container_end_page |
226 |
_version_ |
1810438310024183808 |