Hypotheses Of The Effects Of Wolf Predation

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Term Paper Title	Hypotheses Of The Effects Of Wolf Predation
# of Words	1748
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	6.99

Hypotheses of the Effects of Wolf Predation

Hypotheses of the Effects of Wolf Predation

John Feldersnatch
December 1st, 1995

Abstract: This paper discusses four hypotheses to explain the effects of wolf
predation on prey populations of large ungulates. The four proposed hypotheses
examined are the predation limiting hypothesis, the predation regulating
hypothesis, the predator pit hypothesis, and the stable limit cycle hypothesis.
There is much research literature that discusses how these hypotheses can be
used to interpret various data sets obtained from field studies. It was
concluded that the predation limiting hypothesis fit most study cases, but that
more research is necessary to account for multiple predator - multiple prey
relationships.

The effects of predation can have an enormous impact on the ecological
organization and structure of communities. The processes of predation affect
virtually every species to some degree or another. Predation can be defined as
when members of one species eat (and/or kill) those of another species. The
specific type of predation between wolves and large ungulates involves
carnivores preying on herbivores. Predation can have many possible effects on
the interrelations of populations. To draw any correlations between the effects
of these predator-prey interactions 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 population dynamics and attempt to determine if one of the
four hypotheses is a better model of the effects of wolf predation on ungulate
population densities.

The predation lim...

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