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The wolves of Isle Royale display scale‐invariant satiation and ratio‐dependent predation on moose
Author(s) -
JOST CHRISTIAN,
DEVULDER GREGORY,
VUCETICH JOHN A.,
PETERSON ROLF O.,
ARDITI ROGER
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of animal ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.134
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1365-2656
pISSN - 0021-8790
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2005.00977.x
Subject(s) - predation , functional response , predator , scale (ratio) , national park , ecology , spatial ecology , geography , biology , cartography
Summary1 The importance of two features of the predator functional response (satiation and predator dependence) is investigated in the wolf–moose interaction on Isle Royale National Park (Michigan, USA). This is done by fitting and comparing nine different functional response models to the observed kill rates. 2 Three different observational scales (the whole island, the wolf packs, or a ‘mixed’ scale) are used to assess the sensitivity of the detected properties with respect to these spatial scales. 3 Independently of the observational scale and of statistical assumptions on data structure, strong predator dependence and satiation of the wolf functional response are found. The ‘mixed’ scale gives the most consistent results, suggesting that predation should be measured for each pack, but that packs share all moose on the island. On this scale, the functional response is clearly ratio‐dependent.