Effects of ungulate availability on wolf reproductive potential in Alaska
We compared wolf (Canis lupus) reproductive data for March and April, when ungulate biomass per wolf was high, moderate, and low. The percentage of reproductively active adult females was significantly lower (66% compared with ≥96%, P < 0.001) when ungulate biomass per wolf was low versus moderat...
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Canadian Science Publishing
1992
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z92-328 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z92-328 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/z92-328 2024-05-12T08:02:12+00:00 Effects of ungulate availability on wolf reproductive potential in Alaska Boertje, R. D. Stephenson, R. O. 1992 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z92-328 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z92-328 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 70, issue 12, page 2441-2443 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 1992 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/z92-328 2024-04-18T06:54:53Z We compared wolf (Canis lupus) reproductive data for March and April, when ungulate biomass per wolf was high, moderate, and low. The percentage of reproductively active adult females was significantly lower (66% compared with ≥96%, P < 0.001) when ungulate biomass per wolf was low versus moderate or high. Reproductively inactive adult females had significantly less subcutaneous fat (P < 0.01) than reproductively active females when ungulate biomass per wolf was relatively abundant. Average litter size, estimated by counting blastocysts or fetuses, declined significantly (P < 0.001), from 6.9 to 4.6, as ungulate biomass per wolf declined. We conclude that wolf productivity declines as prey availability per wolf declines. However, only when ungulate biomass per wolf declined below levels previously reported in the literature did we observe significant declines in reproductive potential. Ungulate biomass per wolf was low because of large, rapid declines in ungulates and lesser declines in wolves. We recognize that functional relationships, e.g., prey vulnerability and feeding dominance, can influence wolf productivity independently of ungulate biomass per wolf. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Alaska Canadian Science Publishing Canadian Journal of Zoology 70 12 2441 2443 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Boertje, R. D. Stephenson, R. O. Effects of ungulate availability on wolf reproductive potential in Alaska |
topic_facet |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
We compared wolf (Canis lupus) reproductive data for March and April, when ungulate biomass per wolf was high, moderate, and low. The percentage of reproductively active adult females was significantly lower (66% compared with ≥96%, P < 0.001) when ungulate biomass per wolf was low versus moderate or high. Reproductively inactive adult females had significantly less subcutaneous fat (P < 0.01) than reproductively active females when ungulate biomass per wolf was relatively abundant. Average litter size, estimated by counting blastocysts or fetuses, declined significantly (P < 0.001), from 6.9 to 4.6, as ungulate biomass per wolf declined. We conclude that wolf productivity declines as prey availability per wolf declines. However, only when ungulate biomass per wolf declined below levels previously reported in the literature did we observe significant declines in reproductive potential. Ungulate biomass per wolf was low because of large, rapid declines in ungulates and lesser declines in wolves. We recognize that functional relationships, e.g., prey vulnerability and feeding dominance, can influence wolf productivity independently of ungulate biomass per wolf. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Boertje, R. D. Stephenson, R. O. |
author_facet |
Boertje, R. D. Stephenson, R. O. |
author_sort |
Boertje, R. D. |
title |
Effects of ungulate availability on wolf reproductive potential in Alaska |
title_short |
Effects of ungulate availability on wolf reproductive potential in Alaska |
title_full |
Effects of ungulate availability on wolf reproductive potential in Alaska |
title_fullStr |
Effects of ungulate availability on wolf reproductive potential in Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
Effects of ungulate availability on wolf reproductive potential in Alaska |
title_sort |
effects of ungulate availability on wolf reproductive potential in alaska |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
1992 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z92-328 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z92-328 |
genre |
Canis lupus Alaska |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus Alaska |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 70, issue 12, page 2441-2443 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/z92-328 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
70 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
2441 |
op_container_end_page |
2443 |
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1798844299066998784 |