Geometric theory on large-scale and local determination of density dependence of a recovering large carnivore population ...

• Main Authors: Shen, Yunyi, Olson, Erik R., Van Deelen, Timothy R.
• Format: Report
• Language: unknown
• Published: arXiv 2023
• Subjects: Populations and Evolution q-bio.PE; FOS Biological sciences; Canis lupus
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2311.14815; https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.14815

Density-dependent population growth is a feature of large carnivores like wolves ($\textit{Canis lupus}$), with mechanisms typically attributed to resource (e.g. prey) limitation. Such mechanisms are local phenomena and rely on individuals having access to information, such as prey availability at their location. Using over four decades of wolf population and range expansion data from Wisconsin (USA) wolves, we found that the population not only exhibited density dependence locally but also at landscape scale. Superficially, one may consider space as yet another limiting resource to explain landscape-scale density dependence. However, this view poses an information puzzle: most individuals do not have access to global information such as range-wide habitat availability as they would for local prey availability. How would the population "know" when to slow their range expansion? To understand observed large-scale spatial density dependence, we propose a reaction-diffusion model, first introduced by Fisher and ...