The relationship between population density and body size of wolverines Gulo gulo in Scandinavia
The number of wolverines Gulo gulo in Scandinavia has declined dramatically since the middle of the last century, and the numbers killed continued to decrease until the species was protected. In 1968 the species was protected in Sweden; in 1973 the wolverine was given full protection in southern Nor...
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crwiley:10.2981/wlb.1995.021 2024-09-15T18:01:18+00:00 The relationship between population density and body size of wolverines Gulo gulo in Scandinavia Landa, Arild Skogland, Terje 1995 http://dx.doi.org/10.2981/wlb.1995.021 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.2981/wlb.1995.021 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2981/wlb.1995.021 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Wildlife Biology volume 1, issue 3, page 165-175 ISSN 1903-220X 1903-220X journal-article 1995 crwiley https://doi.org/10.2981/wlb.1995.021 2024-08-09T04:27:43Z The number of wolverines Gulo gulo in Scandinavia has declined dramatically since the middle of the last century, and the numbers killed continued to decrease until the species was protected. In 1968 the species was protected in Sweden; in 1973 the wolverine was given full protection in southern Norway and protection during the breeding period in northern Norway; and in 1982 the species was also given full protection in northern Norway. The protection has resulted in some increase in number, but the population density remains much lower than at the turn of the century, and the wolverine has yet not reoccupied all of its former range. Our analyses show that body size, as reflected by skull characters, was inversely correlated with population density from the mid‐nineteenth to the mid‐to late twentieth century. In contrast we found a strong decline in body size in the decades after ca 1960. The unexpectedly low wolverine resilience in this century may be explained by an energy‐restricted model whose main factors include: 1) habitat fragmentation, 2) loss of habitat, 3) extinction of the dominant predator, the wolf Canis lupus , and 4) a maximised turnover in managed ungulate populations that has resulted in less natural mortality and fewer weakened animals available for scavengers and less efficient predators like the wolverine. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Gulo gulo Northern Norway Wiley Online Library Wildlife Biology 1 3 165 175 |
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Open Polar |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
The number of wolverines Gulo gulo in Scandinavia has declined dramatically since the middle of the last century, and the numbers killed continued to decrease until the species was protected. In 1968 the species was protected in Sweden; in 1973 the wolverine was given full protection in southern Norway and protection during the breeding period in northern Norway; and in 1982 the species was also given full protection in northern Norway. The protection has resulted in some increase in number, but the population density remains much lower than at the turn of the century, and the wolverine has yet not reoccupied all of its former range. Our analyses show that body size, as reflected by skull characters, was inversely correlated with population density from the mid‐nineteenth to the mid‐to late twentieth century. In contrast we found a strong decline in body size in the decades after ca 1960. The unexpectedly low wolverine resilience in this century may be explained by an energy‐restricted model whose main factors include: 1) habitat fragmentation, 2) loss of habitat, 3) extinction of the dominant predator, the wolf Canis lupus , and 4) a maximised turnover in managed ungulate populations that has resulted in less natural mortality and fewer weakened animals available for scavengers and less efficient predators like the wolverine. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Landa, Arild Skogland, Terje |
spellingShingle |
Landa, Arild Skogland, Terje The relationship between population density and body size of wolverines Gulo gulo in Scandinavia |
author_facet |
Landa, Arild Skogland, Terje |
author_sort |
Landa, Arild |
title |
The relationship between population density and body size of wolverines Gulo gulo in Scandinavia |
title_short |
The relationship between population density and body size of wolverines Gulo gulo in Scandinavia |
title_full |
The relationship between population density and body size of wolverines Gulo gulo in Scandinavia |
title_fullStr |
The relationship between population density and body size of wolverines Gulo gulo in Scandinavia |
title_full_unstemmed |
The relationship between population density and body size of wolverines Gulo gulo in Scandinavia |
title_sort |
relationship between population density and body size of wolverines gulo gulo in scandinavia |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
1995 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.2981/wlb.1995.021 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.2981/wlb.1995.021 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2981/wlb.1995.021 |
genre |
Canis lupus Gulo gulo Northern Norway |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus Gulo gulo Northern Norway |
op_source |
Wildlife Biology volume 1, issue 3, page 165-175 ISSN 1903-220X 1903-220X |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.2981/wlb.1995.021 |
container_title |
Wildlife Biology |
container_volume |
1 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
165 |
op_container_end_page |
175 |
_version_ |
1810438462549000192 |