Ecological and social drivers of Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) home range patterns across spatiotemporal scales

• Main Author: Lichwa, Evelyn M
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Digital Commons @ Cal Poly Humboldt 2021
• Subjects: Canis lupus baileyi; Brownian bridge movement model; Generalized linear mixed effect models; Home range; Mexican wolf; Ranging patterns; Spatial ecology; Animal Sciences; Animal Studies; Canis lupus; gray wolf
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/526; https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1576&context=etd

Elucidating factors influencing home range size are fundamental relationships that can be described for any wildlife species, particularly those of conservation concern. The Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) is an endangered sub-species of the gray wolf whose home range patterns have not yet been studied. I estimated home range sizes for 22 Mexican wolf packs using Brownian Bridge Movement Models (95% UD). Generalized linear mixed effect models were used to evaluate environmental and social variables across four timeframes. Annual home range size was inversely related to human density and tree cover. During the denning period, home range was inversely related to litter size and increased with pack size. Post denning home range was inversely related to ungulate biomass and positively related to pack size. During the non-denning season, home range was inversely correlated with snow depth. Results found herein both confirm as well as deviate from results found in other wolf populations, notably, the inverse correlation with pack size at the annual scale, but positive correlation at seasonal timeframes. The opposite relationships with home range and pack size, and the significance of ungulate biomass at the seasonal scale but not the annual scale demonstrates the importance of evaluating factors influencing home range using a multiscale approach as home range size may be differentially influenced by the same variable across timescales. Thus, future home range studies should use a multiscale approach to discern relevant factors for species across timeframes of interest.