Intra‐seasonal variation in wolf Canis lupus kill rates
Knowing kill rate is essential for knowing the basic nature of predation. We compared estimates of kill rate for previously observed wolf‐prey systems with new observations from wolves Canis lupus which preyed on white‐tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus in Michigan, USA. For the five packs that we s...
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crwiley:10.2981/11-061 2024-09-15T18:01:08+00:00 Intra‐seasonal variation in wolf Canis lupus kill rates Vucetich, John A. Huntzinger, Brett A. Peterson, Rolf O. Vucetich, Leah M. Hammill, James H. Beyer, Dean E. 2012 http://dx.doi.org/10.2981/11-061 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2981/11-061 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.2981/11-061 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Wildlife Biology volume 18, issue 3, page 235-245 ISSN 1903-220X 1903-220X journal-article 2012 crwiley https://doi.org/10.2981/11-061 2024-07-11T04:34:27Z Knowing kill rate is essential for knowing the basic nature of predation. We compared estimates of kill rate for previously observed wolf‐prey systems with new observations from wolves Canis lupus which preyed on white‐tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus in Michigan, USA. For the five packs that we studied during 2001‐2004, the mean kill rate was 0.68 kill/pack/day (∼7.7 kg/wolf/day). However, kill rates varied considerably. In particular, the coefficient of variation associated with the means was 0.55 for kills/pack/day and 0.68 for kg/wolf/day. Our analysis of previously observed kill rates also revealed a negative correlation between the duration of observation and the estimated kill rate. This correlation is the basis for showing how most published estimates of kill rate for wolves during winter tend to overestimate, by 50%, the season‐long average kill rate during winter. The negative association between duration of observation and estimated kill rate occurs, in part, because wolves are unable to maintain very high kill rates for a long time. We also document how estimates of kill rate based on ground tracking tended to be 3.3 times greater than aerial‐based estimates (2.4 vs 7.9 kg/wolf/day). Ground tracking is better able to detect multiple carcasses at one site, and better able to detect carcasses when wolves bed far from their kills. These previously undocumented biases are surprising given that wolves are so extensively studied. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Wiley Online Library Wildlife Biology 18 3 235 245 |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
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English |
description |
Knowing kill rate is essential for knowing the basic nature of predation. We compared estimates of kill rate for previously observed wolf‐prey systems with new observations from wolves Canis lupus which preyed on white‐tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus in Michigan, USA. For the five packs that we studied during 2001‐2004, the mean kill rate was 0.68 kill/pack/day (∼7.7 kg/wolf/day). However, kill rates varied considerably. In particular, the coefficient of variation associated with the means was 0.55 for kills/pack/day and 0.68 for kg/wolf/day. Our analysis of previously observed kill rates also revealed a negative correlation between the duration of observation and the estimated kill rate. This correlation is the basis for showing how most published estimates of kill rate for wolves during winter tend to overestimate, by 50%, the season‐long average kill rate during winter. The negative association between duration of observation and estimated kill rate occurs, in part, because wolves are unable to maintain very high kill rates for a long time. We also document how estimates of kill rate based on ground tracking tended to be 3.3 times greater than aerial‐based estimates (2.4 vs 7.9 kg/wolf/day). Ground tracking is better able to detect multiple carcasses at one site, and better able to detect carcasses when wolves bed far from their kills. These previously undocumented biases are surprising given that wolves are so extensively studied. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Vucetich, John A. Huntzinger, Brett A. Peterson, Rolf O. Vucetich, Leah M. Hammill, James H. Beyer, Dean E. |
spellingShingle |
Vucetich, John A. Huntzinger, Brett A. Peterson, Rolf O. Vucetich, Leah M. Hammill, James H. Beyer, Dean E. Intra‐seasonal variation in wolf Canis lupus kill rates |
author_facet |
Vucetich, John A. Huntzinger, Brett A. Peterson, Rolf O. Vucetich, Leah M. Hammill, James H. Beyer, Dean E. |
author_sort |
Vucetich, John A. |
title |
Intra‐seasonal variation in wolf Canis lupus kill rates |
title_short |
Intra‐seasonal variation in wolf Canis lupus kill rates |
title_full |
Intra‐seasonal variation in wolf Canis lupus kill rates |
title_fullStr |
Intra‐seasonal variation in wolf Canis lupus kill rates |
title_full_unstemmed |
Intra‐seasonal variation in wolf Canis lupus kill rates |
title_sort |
intra‐seasonal variation in wolf canis lupus kill rates |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.2981/11-061 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2981/11-061 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.2981/11-061 |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_source |
Wildlife Biology volume 18, issue 3, page 235-245 ISSN 1903-220X 1903-220X |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.2981/11-061 |
container_title |
Wildlife Biology |
container_volume |
18 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
235 |
op_container_end_page |
245 |
_version_ |
1810438333004775424 |