Hypotheses Of The Effects Of Wolf Predation

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requires studies of a long duration, and
statistical analysis of large data sets representative of the populations as a
whole. Predation could limit the prey distribution and decrease abundance. Such
limitation may be desirable in the case of pest species, or undesirable to some
individuals as with game animals or endangered species. Predation may also act
as a major selective force. The effects of predator prey coevolution can explain
many evolutionary adaptations in both predator and prey species.

The effects of wolf predation on species of large ungulates have proven to be
controversial and elusive. There have been many different models proposed to
describe the processes operating on populations influenced by wolf predation.
Some of the proposed mechanisms include the predation limiting hypothesis, the
predation regulating hypothesis, the predator pit hypothesis, and the stable
limit cycle hypothesis (Boutin 1992). The purpose of this paper is to assess the
empirical data on ...

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found that high wolf predation on
caribou in the Quesnel Lake area resulted in a decline in the population, while
low wolf predation in the Wells Gray Provincial Park resulted in a slowly
increasing population. Wolf predation at the Quesnel Lake area remained high
despite a fifty percent decline in the caribou population, indicating that
mortality due to predation was not density-dependent within this range of
population densities. Dale et al. (1994), in their study of wolves and caribou
in Gates National Park and Preserve, showed that wolf predation can be an
important limiting factor at low caribou population densities, and may have an
anti-regulatory effect. They also state that ...

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