Wolf functional response and regulation of moose in the Yukon

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Zoology
• Main Authors: Hayes, R D, Harestad, A S
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2000
• Subjects: Animal Science and Zoology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Yukon; Canis lupus; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z99-188; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z99-188

We studied kill rates by wolves (Canis lupus) on a rapidly growing moose population in the east-central Yukon. We added these data to the cumulative functional response curve obtained in other North American wolf studies. Our kill rates are higher than those predicted at low moose densities. The kill rate increases rapidly, reaching 2.4 moose per wolf per 100 days at 0.26 moose/km 2 and remains constant at this level. No data are available below 0.2 moose/km 2 to indicate the shape of the ascending curve. Based on moose distribution and the low prey-switching ability of wolves, we suggest that the functional response curve is of type II. Our wolf predation rate model predicts that moose are held to a low density equilibrium between 0.07 and 0.12/km 2 , slightly below densities observed in interior Alaska and the Yukon.