Foraging ecology of coyotes in the Alaska range ...

• Main Author: Prugh, Laura
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2009
• Subjects: alaska range; Alaska
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0092370; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0092370

Predation strongly affects the dynamics of northern vertebrate communities through direct and indirect pathways. Coyotes are one of the main predators of snowshoe hares, and hare populations are characterized by cyclic fluctuations with peaks every 8-11 years. Northern coyotes rely on hares as their primary food source, but they are also major predators of Dall sheep lambs. I examined the response of coyotes to the snowshoe hare population decline in the Alaska Range from 1999-2002 and evaluated the impact of coyote predation on other species in the vertebrate prey community. I first addressed these issues at the population level and then examined the foraging behavior of individual coyotes and social groups. Snowshoe hare abundance declined 10-fold and had a strong effect on coyote diet composition. The absolute biomass of hares was a good predictor of the amount of carrion, voles, porcupine, and hare in the diet, and coyotes were relatively insensitive to changes in the abundance of alternative prey. ...