Comment: Regulation of moose populations by wolf predation
We discuss regulation of moose (Alces alces) populations by wolves (Canis lupus) in the context of a recent article by Eberhardt (L.L. Eberhardt. 1997. Can. J. Zool. 75: 1940-1944), who contended that the killing rate of moose by wolves was constant. Further, he argued that wolf population size was...
| Published in: | Canadian Journal of Zoology |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Canadian Science Publishing
2000
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z99-220 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z99-220 |
| Summary: | We discuss regulation of moose (Alces alces) populations by wolves (Canis lupus) in the context of a recent article by Eberhardt (L.L. Eberhardt. 1997. Can. J. Zool. 75: 1940-1944), who contended that the killing rate of moose by wolves was constant. Further, he argued that wolf population size was proportional to prey density, and that wolf predation exerted a regulatory effect on ungulate-prey numbers. We argue that this combination of functional and numerical responses results in density-independent predation that cannot regulate prey numbers. We discuss the present understanding of wolf-moose interactions and conclude that there is evidence suggesting density dependence in both functional and numerical responses. Further, we conclude that predation by wolves is density-dependent, at least at low moose densities, and therefore can act as a regulatory factor. |
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