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Wolf population regulation revisited: again

July 15, 2014

The long-accepted conclusion that wolf density is regulated by nutrition was recently challenged, and the conclusion was reached that, at greater levels of prey biomass, social factors such as intraspecific strife and territoriality tend to regulate wolf density. We reanalyzed the data used in that study for 2 reasons: 1) we disputed the use of 2 data points, and 2) because of recognized heteroscedasticity, we used weighted-regression analysis instead of the unweighted regressions used in the original study. We concluded that the data do not support the hypothesis that wolf densities are regulated by social factors.

Publication Year 2014
Title Wolf population regulation revisited: again
DOI 10.1002/jwmg.744
Authors Ronald E. McRoberts, L. David Mech
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Journal of Wildlife Management
Index ID 70116679
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center