Within mammalian systems predators are often depicted as causal agents influencing spatial patterns regulating prey abundance and mediating herbivory, –. For instance, intricate landscape patterns in predation are apparent for some insects, amphibians, and marine fish as a result of complicated life history strategies, such as individuals relying on different habitats during various stages of their life cycle (e.g.,, ). Landscape patterns of predation are also attributable to complex prey life histories. Such variation has been observed across a variety of spatial scales – and can result from climatic conditions, the effect of habitat heterogeneity on predation risk, and from anthropogenic habitat disturbance –. Spatial variation in predation pressure is a fundamental feature of predation ecology. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Ĭompeting interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Peterson was also supported by the Robbins Chair, Michigan Technological University. J6310110025 from Isle Royale National Park, National Park Service. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.įunding: This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship program and the National Science Foundation DEB-0918247 and CESU Task Agreement No. Received: AugAccepted: FebruPublished: March 12, 2014Ĭopyright: © 2014 Montgomery et al. ![]() PLoS ONE 9(3):Įditor: Antoni Margalida, University of Lleida, Spain Landscape patterns emerging from prey life history dynamics and habitat heterogeneity have been observed in the predation ecology of fish and insects, but this is the first mammalian system for which such observations have been made.Ĭitation: Montgomery RA, Vucetich JA, Roloff GJ, Bump JK, Peterson RO (2014) Where Wolves Kill Moose: The Influence of Prey Life History Dynamics on the Landscape Ecology of Predation. These differences can be attributed, at least in part, to senescent moose being more vulnerable to predation and making different risk-sensitive habitat decisions than prime moose. Moreover, the probability of kill occurrence for senescent moose, in comparison to prime moose, increased in high elevation habitat with patches of dense coniferous trees. Predation on senescent moose was clustered in one kill zone in the northeast portion of the island, whereas predation on prime moose was clustered in 13 separate kill zones distributed throughout the full extent of the island. We use pattern analysis and kernel density estimates of moose kill sites to demonstrate that moose in senescent condition and moose in prime condition tend to be wolf-killed in different regions of Isle Royale in winter. ![]() We demonstrate how life history dynamics of moose ( Alces alces) contribute to landscape patterns in predation by wolves ( Canis lupus) in Isle Royale National Park, Lake Superior, USA. Little attention has been given to how the influence of habitat heterogeneity on the landscape ecology of predation might be modulated by life history dynamics of prey in mammalian systems. ![]() The landscape ecology of predation is well studied and known to be influenced by habitat heterogeneity.
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