Data for: Wolves in the borderland – changes in population and wolf diet in Romincka Forest, along the Polish-Russian-Lithuanian state borders ...

• Main Authors: Nowak, Sabina, Szewczyk, Maciej, Stępniak, Kinga M., Kwiatkowska, Iga, Kurek, Korneliusz, Mysłajek, Robert W.
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2024
• Subjects: FOS Biological sciences; Canis lupus; transboundary areas; Population density; food preferences; Castor fiber
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qfttdz0qn; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.qfttdz0qn

We assessed changes in the population size, density, and diet composition of wolves inhabiting the Romincka Forest (RF), an area of 480 km2 situated along the state border between Poland, Russian Federation (Kaliningrad), and Lithuania. We compared the results of our research in 2020-2021 with data from other projects conducted since 1999. We found that both packs living in RF had transboundary territories. The number of packs was stable over 21 years, the average pack size almost doubled (from 4-4.5 to 7.5-8 wolves per pack), the total wolf number increased 1.8 times, reaching 15-16 wolves, the density increased 1.5 times up to 3.1-3.3 wolves/100 km2 in winter 2020/2021. Our analyses of 165 scats revealed that beavers Castor fiber made up 45.6% of food biomass in the wolf diet in 2020, which was 3.4 times more than in 1999-2004 (n=84 scats, 13.4%). Wild ungulates constituted 44.8% of the wolf food biomass in 2020, 1.6 times less than before (71.1%). In our study, among wild ungulates, wolves primarily ... : Tracking. We tracked wolves by foot or by car, using the regular and dense network of dirt roads, routes, and other linear structures, and the plowed strip of soil along the borderline, across the whole Polish portion of RF, that wolves used for traveling and scent-marking. In snow-free seasons, we found tracks on mud or sand and followed them as far as were visible, usually at distances of 100-300 m, while in winter, snow cover allowed us to follow wolf tracks up to 10 km. Species identification was based on the shape and size of tracks and evidence of animal behavior during scent-marking. Additionally, track identification was verified with genetic analysis of scat and urine samples collected during tracking. In winter, we estimated the number of wolves in the tracked group on snow by counting the number of individual trails when wolves split, which usually happened on road junctions and was associated with intense scent-marking. We measured the length of the footprint of the front paw with claws and the ...