Abstract
Predation of wildlife and livestock by large carnivores takes place within many ecological and institutional settings. In this paper, moose predation by wolves is studied within a Norwegian institutional setting where the landowners obtain the moose harvesting value and where the wolf population is strictly controlled by the wildlife authorities. An age-structured model consisting of four categories of the moose population (calves, yearlings and adult females and males) is formulated, and both maximum yield (MY) and maximum economic yield (MEY) harvesting are studied. We find that the direct effect of higher predation pressure on an age-sex category works in the direction of higher harvesting pressure of that group. However, this direct effect is accompanied by indirect effects working through the stock abundance of all age-sex groups, and the net effect is ambiguous. In the numerical analysis, it is shown that harvest of the adult categories typically will be the optimal strategy, irrespective of the fact that calves are the main target of the wolves.
Highlights
Studying biomass predator – prey relationships has a long tradition within bioeconomic analysis. Hannesson (1983) is a well-known study analyzing the optimal exploitation of fish stocks, where it was demon strated that the prey value loss versus the predation value gain was a crucial factor determining optimal management
Due to the strong degree of linearity in the model, together with density-dependent regulating through the recruitment function, we find that the dynamics share similarities with the Most Rapid Approach Path (MRAP)
In a Norwegian institutional setting where the hunting value of the moose belongs to the landowners and where the size of the wolf popu lation affects the moose population growth, but not vice versa, we have analyzed how wolf predation influences optimal moose hunting man agement
Summary
Studying biomass predator – prey relationships has a long tradition within bioeconomic analysis. Hannesson (1983) is a well-known study analyzing the optimal exploitation of fish stocks, where it was demon strated that the prey value loss versus the predation value gain was a crucial factor determining optimal management. Because the wolf population is strictly controlled by the wildlife authorities, it is assumed the wolf population does not respond numer ically to changes in moose density This reduced form model is a simplification of the more general predator – prey problem but repre sents a step in obtaining a better understanding of how various economic and biological factors, together with predation pressure, affect optimal harvest in an age-structured population model exposed to predation. Another study from Sweden is Wikenros et al (2015), who considered areas with detailed moose hunting data five years before and five years after wolf recolonization, as well as areas with wolves present continuously during the whole 10-year period They docu mented how wildlife managers and hunters adjusted their harvest stra tegies to predation, and where wolf establishment lead to an instant reduction in harvest and a reduction in the number of females hunted.
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