Snow conditions influence grey wolf ( Canislupus) travel paths: the effect of human-created linear features

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Zoology
• Main Authors: Droghini, Amanda, Boutin, Stan
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2018
• Subjects: Canis lupus
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2017-0041; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2017-0041; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2017-0041

Although travel in deep snow imposes high energetic costs, animals can mitigate these costs through behavioural adaptations. For example, they can select habitats with shallower or more supportive snow. It is less well known, however, if animals select for favourable snow conditions at the scale of the step, i.e., along the travel paths themselves. We snow-tracked grey wolves (Canis lupus L., 1758) over 187 km and used a paired design to compare snow conditions on travel paths to snow 1 m and 10 m away. Snow on travel paths was 3.2 cm shallower than measurements 1 m away, except when wolves travelled on linear features recently compacted by humans. In those cases, the mean difference in snow depth increased to 17.5 cm. Our analyses suggest that, under natural snow conditions, wolves are limited in the fine-scale differences they can achieve along their travel paths. By creating areas with highly favourable snow conditions, anthropogenic activities drastically change the winter landscape, with potential implications for energetics and predator–prey dynamics.