IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Ripple, W.J.; Wirsing, A.J.; Beschta, R.L.; Buskirk, S.W. | |
| Can Restoring Wolves Aid in Lynx Recovery? | |
| 2011 Wildlife Society Bulletin (35): 514-518 | |
Herein, we examine the hypothesis that relatively low densities of snowshoe hares (_Lepus americanus_) and the imperiled status of lynx (_Lynx canadensis_) may be partially due to an ecological cascade caused by the extirpation of gray wolves (_Canis lupus_) in most of te conterminous United States decades ago. This hypothesis focuses on 2 plausible mechanisms, one involving "mesopredator release" of the coyote (_C.latrans_), which expanded its ditribution and abundance continentally following the ecological extinction of wolves over the temperate portion of their geographic range. In the absence of wolves, coyotes may have affected lyns via increased predation on snowshoe hares, on which the lynx specializes, and/or by direct killing of lynx. The second mechanism involves increased browsing pressure by native and domestic ungulates following the declines in wolves. A recovery of long-absent wolf populations could potentially set off a chain of events triggering a long-term decrease in coyotes and ungulates, improved plant communities, and implications for the lynx may be dependent upon whether wolves are allowed to achieve ecologically effective populations where they recolonize in lynx habitat. We emphasize the importance of little-considered trophic and competitive interactions when attempting to recover an endangered carnivore such as the lynx. |
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