The problems with pooling poop: confronting sampling method biases in wolf ( Canis lupus) diet studies
Wolf (Canis lupus L., 1758) diet is commonly estimated via scat analysis. Several researchers have concluded that scat collection method can bias diet estimates, but none of these studies properly accounted for interpack, age class, and temporal variability, all of which could bias diet estimates. W...
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/cjz-2016-0308 2024-06-23T07:51:57+00:00 The problems with pooling poop: confronting sampling method biases in wolf ( Canis lupus) diet studies Gable, T.D. Windels, S.K. Bruggink, J.G. 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2016-0308 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2016-0308 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2016-0308 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 95, issue 11, page 843-851 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 journal-article 2017 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2016-0308 2024-05-30T08:13:49Z Wolf (Canis lupus L., 1758) diet is commonly estimated via scat analysis. Several researchers have concluded that scat collection method can bias diet estimates, but none of these studies properly accounted for interpack, age class, and temporal variability, all of which could bias diet estimates. We tested whether different scat collection methods yielded different wolf diet estimates after accounting for these other potential biases. We collected scats (n = 2406) monthly from four packs via three scat collection methods (at home sites, at clusters of GPS locations, and opportunistically) in and adjacent to Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, USA, during April–October 2015. Diet estimates were not affected by scat collection method but did vary temporally, among packs, and by age class. To more accurately estimate wolf population diets, researchers should collect 10–20 adult scats/pack per month from home sites and (or) opportunistically from packs that are representative of the population of interest. Doing so will minimize the potential biases associated with temporal, interpack, and age-class variability. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Canadian Science Publishing Canadian Journal of Zoology 95 11 843 851 |
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Open Polar |
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Canadian Science Publishing |
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crcansciencepubl |
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English |
description |
Wolf (Canis lupus L., 1758) diet is commonly estimated via scat analysis. Several researchers have concluded that scat collection method can bias diet estimates, but none of these studies properly accounted for interpack, age class, and temporal variability, all of which could bias diet estimates. We tested whether different scat collection methods yielded different wolf diet estimates after accounting for these other potential biases. We collected scats (n = 2406) monthly from four packs via three scat collection methods (at home sites, at clusters of GPS locations, and opportunistically) in and adjacent to Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, USA, during April–October 2015. Diet estimates were not affected by scat collection method but did vary temporally, among packs, and by age class. To more accurately estimate wolf population diets, researchers should collect 10–20 adult scats/pack per month from home sites and (or) opportunistically from packs that are representative of the population of interest. Doing so will minimize the potential biases associated with temporal, interpack, and age-class variability. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Gable, T.D. Windels, S.K. Bruggink, J.G. |
spellingShingle |
Gable, T.D. Windels, S.K. Bruggink, J.G. The problems with pooling poop: confronting sampling method biases in wolf ( Canis lupus) diet studies |
author_facet |
Gable, T.D. Windels, S.K. Bruggink, J.G. |
author_sort |
Gable, T.D. |
title |
The problems with pooling poop: confronting sampling method biases in wolf ( Canis lupus) diet studies |
title_short |
The problems with pooling poop: confronting sampling method biases in wolf ( Canis lupus) diet studies |
title_full |
The problems with pooling poop: confronting sampling method biases in wolf ( Canis lupus) diet studies |
title_fullStr |
The problems with pooling poop: confronting sampling method biases in wolf ( Canis lupus) diet studies |
title_full_unstemmed |
The problems with pooling poop: confronting sampling method biases in wolf ( Canis lupus) diet studies |
title_sort |
problems with pooling poop: confronting sampling method biases in wolf ( canis lupus) diet studies |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2016-0308 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2016-0308 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2016-0308 |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 95, issue 11, page 843-851 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2016-0308 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
95 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
843 |
op_container_end_page |
851 |
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1802643106677391360 |