Chapter 25 Contrasting Wolf–Ungulate Interactions in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Abstract

Theme Considerable research attention has focused on large herbivore population dynamics in protected natural areas to better understand the roles of resource limitation (a “bottom–up” process) and predation (a “top–down” process). This emphasis on landscapes with minimal human impact is particularly true for investigations of wolf–elk dynamics in the Rocky mountain states, where the vast majority of research occurs within the national park system. Although such studies largely avoid the confounding effects of humans, Andersen et al. (2006) argued that evaluation of large herbivore dynamics on multiple-use landscapes, where human influence is typically pervasive, is also needed. Initial investigations of this kind (Garrott et al. 2005) indicated that the effects of wolves ( Canis lupus ) on elk ( Cervus elaphus ) dynamics could vary considerably within the same river drainage system and distances less than 40 km apart, making generalizations strictly from protected areas equivocal. Here, we expand this landscape approach to compare population dynamics among seven elk populations in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, all with winter ranges within 115 km of each other and whose summer ranges partially overlap. Land ownership, land use, vegetation communities, large predator densities and management, and local landscape and environmental conditions vary considerably across this area. Similarly, elk harvest management strategies also vary and reflect different migratory patterns, harvest availabilities, and habitats of the elk populations. Our use of data collected extensively for management purposes, rather than intensively for research, was necessarily more descriptive compared to presentation of data collected intensively on one area. However, we believe information collected across multiple-use landscapes allows insights and conclusions not possible from one or a few intensively studied protected areas.