Decline and Recovery of a High Arctic Wolf-Prey System

• Main Author: Mech, L. David
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 2005
• Subjects: arctic hares; Canis lupus; climate change; Ellesmere Island; High Arctic; Lepus arcticus; muskoxen; Ovibos moschatus; wolves. lièvres arctiques; changement climatique; île d’Ellesmere; Extrême-Arctique; boeuf musqué; loups; Animal Sciences; Behavior and Ethology; Biodiversity; Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Environmental Policy; Life Sciences; Recreation; Parks and Tourism Administration; Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology; Arctic; Arctique*; Climate change; muskox; ovibos moschatus
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsnpwrc/387; https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/usgsnpwrc/article/1385/viewcontent/Mech_ARCTIC_2005_Decline_and_Recovery.pdf

A long-existing system of wolves (Canis lupus), muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus), and arctic hares (Lepus arcticus) in a 2600 km2 area of Canada’s High Arctic (80° N latitude) began collapsing in 1997 because of unusual adverse summer weather but recovered to a level at which all three species were reproducing by 2004. Recovery of wolf presence and reproduction appeared to be more dependent on muskox increase than on hare increase. Un vieux système biologique composé de loups (Canis lupus), de boeufs musqués (Ovibos moschatus) et de lièvres arctiques (Lepus arcticus), occupant 2600 km2 de l’Extrême-Arctique canadien (80° de latit. N.), a commencé à s’effondrer en 1997 en raison d’intempéries estivales anormales, mais il s’est rétabli à un niveau qui permettait aux trois espèces de se reproduire en 2004. Le rétablissement de la présence et de la reproduction du loup semble plus dépendre de l’augmentation du boeuf musqué que de celle du lièvre.