Wolves Protecting Pronghorn

By josh donlan on April 7, 2008.

A new study published this month in the journal Ecology elucidates an ecological dance between wolves, coyotes, and pronghorn. Wildlife Conservation Society ecologist Kim Berger and colleagues analyzed wolf distribution data from the Yellowstone Ecosystem to evaluate the whether the observed increase in coyotes, resulting from the extirpation of wolves, accounted for high rates of coyote predation on pronghorn fawns. Take home message: wolves beat up on coyotes, and when wolves are not around - it's open season on baby pronghorn for coyotes. In areas where wolves are abundant, pronghorn fawn survivorship is four times higher than areas where wolves are absent.

Dr. Berger reveals yet another reason that apex predators, such as wolves, are critical to the health of ecosystems.

More like this

Cristina Eisenberg's The Wolf's Tooth: Keystone Predators, Trophic Cascades and Biodiversity

The interconnectedness of ecosystems and their components is, today, a familiar concept. Top predators eat herbivores, herbivores eat plants, and top predators keep so-called meso-predators in check too. But perhaps it isn't appreciated enough just how interconnected things can be. Cristina…

A New Meaning of "Human Shields"

I'm referring to moose, of course. From an interview with biologist Joel Berger in the New York Times: Q. O.K., why did the moose go down to the road? A. If she's a native of the greater Yellowstone ecosystem and she's pregnant, she may have done it because she wanted to give birth in a place…

Using an eagle to catch and kill a wolf

No time for anything new (err, just a tad busy at the moment), so here's something else from the Tet Zoo archives. This article originally appeared on ver 1 in April 2006 and appears here in slightly modified form. In previous articles we've looked at the ability of large eagles - the Golden…

New and Exciting in PLoS ONE

There are 23 awesome new articles in PLoS ONE today. As always, you should rate the articles, post notes and comments and send trackbacks when you blog about the papers. You can now also easily place articles on various social services (CiteULike, Mendeley, Connotea, Stumbleupon, Facebook and…

woowww very nice white

Advertisment

Donate

ScienceBlogs is where scientists communicate directly with the public. We are part of Science 2.0, a science education nonprofit operating under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Please make a tax-deductible donation if you value independent science communication, collaboration, participation, and open access.

You can also shop using Amazon Smile and though you pay nothing more we get a tiny something.

Science 2.0

Science Codex

More by this author

A Lame Duck Screwing The Environment

November 5, 2008

During Clinton's 11th hour, he initiated a number of policies that protected the environment; some of those regulations have remained in force, including the protection of almost 60 million acres of roadless areas. According to an article in Nature this week (and the OMB Watch, a Washington DC-…

Barcelona Blues

October 22, 2008

I just returned from the World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, where 8,000 of conservation's "best and brightest" (along with plenty of the "most important") gathered to discuss, talk, and work toward a more diverse and sustainable world. I wish I had good news to report - but it is mostly…

The "Best Of" Some Good Reading

October 18, 2008

Every year Houghton-Mifflin puts out a edited volume entitled "The Best American Science and Nature Writing". The latest volume looks like some delightful bedtime reading (although I may be biased because I was chosen as one of the authors). It includes works by Freeman Dyson, Edward Hoagland,…

World Conservation Forum

October 1, 2008

I am hastily heading to the World Conservation Forum in Barcelona, which starts next week. Here, more than 8,000 of the world's leading decision makers in sustainable development will convene: from governments, NGOs, business, the UN and academia. Together in one place for 10 days, they will to…

Where The Auroxen Roam

September 26, 2008

In this month's issue of Wired Magazine, Andrew Curry writes about rewilding projects around the world. In particular, he describes the wonderful efforts going on in the Netherlands.