Isle Royal is an island surrounded by the cool Lake Superior. Wolf and Moose are the two largest species on the island, and the wolf and moose interaction is the longest running large mammal predator-prey study on earth (USNPS, 2014). The two populations were once said to exhibit some kind of “balance of nature,” now that is not believed to be the case (Vucetich, 2012).
Isle Royal is located fifty-six miles north of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. It is the largest wilderness area in Michigan (USNPS, 2014). The island is surrounded by Lake Superior, which creates a cooler temperature. This results in arctic plant species growth on the island. There are only eighteen mammal species present on the island because most mammals cannot make the trip across the frozen great lake (USNPS, 2014). The need for an ice bridge is not the only environmental factor that is stopping the migration of animals; there is also the severe cold, and also wind and fog (Vucetich, 2012). Some species such as caribou and coyote have found the island to be too intense and have gone extinct (Vucetich, 2012). Due to the harsh weather and isolation of the island, humans have never regularly lived on the island (Vucetich, 2012). Some of species that are present such as the red squirrel are becoming their own subspecies due to its separation from the mainland (USNPS, 2014). The isolation of Isle Royal is what makes it a great place to conduct research, it has very low human interaction and the species that are on the island will have been and continue to be isolated from the mainland.
The gray wolf, Canis lupus, on Isle Royal is a small ever fluctuating population. On the endangered species list since 1978, the gray wolf has recently been taken off the endangere...
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Unites States. National Park Service. 2014 . Print. .
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U.S Fish and Wildlife Services. Gray Wolf(Canis Lupus). , 2014. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. .
National Geographic. N.p., 2014. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
Keller, Lucus, and Donald Waller. "Inbreeding effects in wild populations." Elsevier Science 17.5 (2002): 230-41. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. <>.
In this research paper, I will address the changes that occurred within the ecosystem of Yellowstone National Park since the reintroduction of the grey wolves. The paper will consist of four sections; the first section will include the history behind the extirpation and subsequent reintroduction of the gray wolf in Northern America. The second section will explore the political controversy that surrounds the reintroduction of the gray wolf in Yellowstone. The third section will contain discuss the gray wolf and its impact on the ecosystem of Yellowstone. I will conclude my essay by explaining how the gray wolves act as climate change buffers in Yellowstone amidst global warming.
Mammals of Florida. Miami, Florida: Windward Publishing. 3. Land, Darrell, and Sharon K. Taylor. 1998.
U.S. Department of the interior, National Park Service. (2013). Endangered Species. Retrieved from website: http://www.nature.nps.gov/biology/endangeredspecies/index.cfm
Maughan, Ralph. "Overview and history of the central Idaho wolf reintroduction." September 25, 1999. visted: October 4, 1999. http://www.poky.srv.net/~jjmrm/wpages/idaho-o.htm
Hundreds of islands — as massive as Baffin Island and as minute as Garnet Island — give this area a special character. Calcareous soils and bedrock along with the dry, gelid climate can amalgamate to engender very rigorous and desert-like conditions in some areas. This greatly limits plant magnification and, in turn, habitat for animals. In felicitously, the desert-like areas are where many of the main communities (e.g., Resolute, Cambridge Bay and Arctic Bay) are located. Beyond the desert-like sections there are wetland oases and other productive
During 70 years of absence from the Rockies, the Grey Wolf had been protected under the Endangered Species Act that was passed in 1973. Since the wolf is under the protection of Endangered Species Act a person could be punished with up to a $100,000 fine and up to 1 year in jail for killing a wolf. Back in the 1850's there was a major population increase of the wolves in America, this was due to settlers moving west. These settlers killed more than 80 million bison, the wolves started to scavenge on the carcasses left behind.
The "White-Tailed Deer." Ccontario.org. Cornell University, 2001. http://www.cnu.edu/item/cnu Web. The Web.
The wolves beat the hunters in the recent, and highly contested, wolf and coyote derby in Salmon, ID. Wolves eluded the participants for the entire two-day hunt, but 21 coyotes were not so fortunate. The absence of any wolf kills, however, has not lessened the intensity of the controversy, nor the temperature of the debates. Wolves are a touchy subject, no matter the stance; as with most hotly contested issues, there is an abundance of information, but not all of it is correct.
Not many people know about the arctic wolf, it is the snowy white version of a wolf. They have a really big appite when it comes to eating. They most only eat one meal a day and eat up to 20 pounds in that one meal. They are mostly carnivores; they mainly eat big animals like the caribou and the musk ox so they can feed themselves and the whole pack (Arctic/Antarctic: The Arctic Wolf). People eat up to three meals a day, but wolves can go up to days with out eating a single thing (Arctic/Antarctic: The Arctic Wolf). When wolves are hunting they have to be able to have a plan to catch their food. Wolves would get all the pack members that are hunting to surround the animal, and pounces on them. One bit to the neck and the animal would be dead. When they are eating they will eat everything, like the meat, shin, fur and bone (Arctic/Antarctic: The Arctic Wolf). Also Arctic wolves can live up to 20 years in captivity, while they can only live 7- 15 years in the wild (Arctic/Antarctic: The Arctic Wolf). Arctic wolves are one of the most prettiest and unique types of wolf. When Arctic wolves are pups t...
One example that shows that the wolf and moose population on Isle Royale are not stable are the constant temporary disturbances that cause the populations to fluctuate. The graph in Case Study Update #2 shows the wolf population at its peak in 1980 with 50 wolves on the island. However, in the same year a wolf disease was introduced to the island accidentally by humans, canine parvovirus, causing the population to drop and reach 14 wolves in 1982. Then in Case Study #3 another disturbance took an effect on the wolf population. In 1998, a new wolf that wandered from an ice bridge to Isle Royale was introduced to the local wolves. The new wolf, no.93, made itself at home and started breeding with other wolves resulting in many births and increased the population to 29 wolves. Unfortunately, the lack of food caused the population to drop down again to 17 in 2003. With these constant disturbances a few years after another, the wolf population does not look stab...
United States. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 2010. Web. .
National Parks are the cornerstone of every country because it preserves the rich cultural and natural resources of a nation, such as Yellowstone in the United States of America. Yellowstone National Park is the World’s First National Park which brings millions of attraction each year, it is larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combine and have over a thousand species of plants and animal (Yellowstone Media). However, a very important type of species has been missing in Yellowstone National Park for a very long time. Wolves, which got reintroduce back into Yellowstone National Park, should stay there because without them the ecosystem would be out of balance.
Works Cited Bates, D. (1957, December 17). Letter from Roy Wilkins. Little Rock, Arkansas, United States of America. Beals, M. P. (1994). The Species of the World.
Both the snow leopard and the green turtle are classified as endangered under the IUCN red list with decreasing population trends. Both live in very different habita...
Sikes, Roberts. and William L. Gannon. "Guidelines of the American Society of Mammalogists for the Use of Wild Mammals in Research." Journal of Mammalogy 92.1 (Feb. 2011): 235-253. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 5 Oct. 2011.