Climate Change and the Great Lakes Gray Wolf - G-WOW
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Transcript Climate Change and the Great Lakes Gray Wolf - G-WOW
Climate Change and
the Great Lakes Gray
Wolf
Animal Bio 171 E.C
Shauna Holmes
Question
Does climate change have an affect on
Great Lakes Gray Wolf?
Hypothesis
Great Lakes Gray Wolf Is Migrating further
due to climate change.
Prediction
If climate change is changing rapidly, then
the Great Lakes Gray Wolf is migrating
further.
Great Lakes Gray Wolf (GLG Wolf)
Canis lupis (Gray Wolf)
Mainly lives in northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and
Michigan
Food: Moose, white tail deer, snowshoe hare
•Gray area, general GLG
wolf’s territory
•Black outline, Broad
range of GLG wolf
Figure 1:
http://joomla.wildlife.org/do
cuments/policy/great.lakes.
gray.wolf.pdf
Migration
Stays with pack until adulthood
Leaves pack for its own territory
Looks for good food source
Finds area for breeding where available
Most likely to travel up to 50 miles
Records
of traveling up to 1000 miles
Evidence of Unusual Migration
Two articles about GLG wolves found in Kansas
2013- Pratt, Kansas confirmed killing of full
blooded GLG wolf
Hunters
describe as “too big to be coyote”
Two other reports of wolves in KS
1905
(only one confirmed by Mike Miller of Kansas
Department of Wildlife and Parks, Records stated to be
possibly inaccurate )
1938/1939 (unconfirmed date, only source from NBC
article)
http://cjonline.com/news/2013-01-29/test-confirms-wolf-killed-kansas-last-month
http://www.pratttribune.com/article/20130209/News/130209077/?Start=2
Approx. Travel Distance
•Red Circle:
General area for
GLG wolves to
live
•Arrow points to
Pratt, Kansas
(last
sighting/killing of
GLG wolf
•From Ottawa NF
(about center of
territory) about
1050 miles “as
the crow flies”
Figure 2: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_map_-_states-ca.png
Migration in Early Records (1905)
1800’s and early 1900’s GLG wolf was recorded
being in lower MN, WI, and MI
Settlers moved in
Unregulated
hunting
Intentional extermination
Severely cut food source
Not proven, but a good point for migration
Connection to climate change unknown
Migration for Early Records
Figure 3:
(1938/1939)
http://www.epa.gov/g
reatlakes/lakesuperio
r/lake-superiorclimate-changeimpacts-report201401.pdf
•Severe drops in Lake Superior Water levels
•1st drop in 1926, 12 years before Kansas spotting
•2nd drop 2006, 7 years before Kansas killing
•Though drop wasn’t in same year, it could take time for drop in water level to effect
wolves
Migration for Early Records
(1938/1939) Con’t
Cant be proven that water level directly effected
GLG wolf
Low water levels mean severe drought
Water dropped 1.5ft at times of worst spike
Drought could have driven wolf’s food source
away, causing migration further for food
Warmer temperatures and changes in
precipitation are expected to alter forests in Lake
Superior region
http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/lakesuperior/lake-superior-climate-change-impactsreport-201401.pdf
Climate Change’s Effect on Prey
Primary food source
Moose
White tail
deer
Will focus on MN (best information found)
Data collected from radio interview with James
Forester (Assistant Professor in the Department
of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology
in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural
Resource Sciences at the University of
Minnesota)
, http://www.accessminnesotaonline.com/2014/07/09/saving-minnesotasvanishing-moose/
White Tail Deer
Climate change has caused deer to
migrate north, into moose territory
Compete
for food
Deer are known to carry worm parasite:
Parelaphostrongylus tenuis
Deer are normal carriers of P. tenuis
Able to pass parasite no issues
•The parasite will then lay
eggs in blood stream
• Which enter the lungs
•To mouth then swallowed
•Passed through waste that
will in turn fertilize new plants
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P
arelaphostrongylus_tenuis
Figure 4:
http://classconnection.s3.amazonaws.co
m/536/flashcards/108536/jpg/picture513
52403256153.jpg
P. tenuis Effect on Moose
Deer move into moose territory, expose moose
to P. tenuis
Moose eat slug, or plant fertilized from deer
waste
Parasite does not pass
Ends up in brain and burrows causing severe
side effects
Will eventually cause death
Climate Change Effect for P. tenuis
Short, mild winters favor the growth of
deer populations in moose habitat
Wetter conditions and longer snow-free
periods enhance the opportunity for
parasite transition from deer to moose
Moose Disappearing
1990’s were about 4000 moose in western part of MN
now is only about 100
About 6% of moose die a year
In 25-30 years, there will be less than 1000 moose in the
state at that rate.
Moose dying off means food source for wolves
drastically changes
Wolves not believed to be apart of these falling numbers
Climate stress on Moose, Winter -5F/Summer 70F
Cause for moose dying off still under investigation
Climate believed to play a part
Isle Royal
Great example of moose/wolf interaction
Famous for moose/wolf population
Only way off island is ice bridge in winter months (if one
forms)
Dermacentor albipictus, the moose tick
Warmer climate could promote tick breeding
Ticks suck blood from moose making them weak and
vulnerable to wolf attacks or death from exhaustion
2002-2007 devastating moose decrease due to ticks
(Michigan Technical University, 2007)
D. Albipictus
The moose tick
• In summer, winter ticks are unhatched eggs in soil
• In autumn the ticks hatch, crawl to the tops of grasses and latch to moose
walking by
• Each winter, 80,000 ticks, may live a single moose
• Feed on gallons of blood
• Ticks can cause a heavily-infested moose to die
• Ticks weaken moose and make them vulnerable to starvation and wolf predation
• Warm springs, warm summers, and warm falls are likely to favor ticks
Figure 5,6, and 7, and information from
http://www.isleroyalewolf.org/node/44
Historical Examples of Extreme
Migration
Early 1700’s eastern U.S was heavy in forests
and wolf populations
When 1st settlers arrived, they pushed out
wolves
Cutting down forests
Taking food source
Killing wolves (traps,
poison, and hunting)
Pushed wolves up to Canada
Settled into unoccupied territory- Algonquin Park
(Northern Ontario)
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/meet-the-coywolf/full-episode/8605/
Beginning to Adapt
Because of shortage of wolves, they began to mate with
coyotes
Coywolf-Hybrid
Scientist believe Coywolf most adaptable animal in world
Can survive off all size food source
Lives in forests and cities alike
Can move virtually undetected in heavily urban areas
Able to breed to maximize area
Allowed to be hunted year round, no bag limit, still
thrives
Coywolf vs Climate Change
Coywolf perfect example of outcome of GLG
being pushed out of an area
Settlers destroying home like climate change
could destroy home
Figure 8: http://paulmirocha.com/projects/33/
Chances of Coywolf
•Coywolf requires Eastern
Wolf (GLG wolf) and
coyote
•With hybrid, migration
can go as south as
Tennessee and westward
as Kansas
•Red-Eastern wolf range
•Blue-Coyote range
•Green-Possible Coywolf
range
•Very possible outcome
Figure 9: http://www.coywolf.org/coywolf-basic-info
Emissions Effect
•Based on summer temperatures
related to emissions
•Climate relatable to southern
states
•If image above is accurate Wolves
could be more adapted to move
south
• In current climate status, (purple)
Hypothetically GLG Wolf is more
adapted for southern climate
Figure 10 and info:
http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/lakesup
erior/lake-superior-climate-changeimpacts-report-201401.pdf
Conclusion
Great Lakes Gray wolf will be effected by climate
change through
Food
source migration
Main food dying off
Destruction of habitat
Could migrate either north or south
Northern
migration more probable
Coywolf could change wolf habits and travel in
all directions and do very well
Hypothesis
Great Lakes Gray Wolf Is Migrating further due
to climate change
ACCEPT
Not necessarily south, but migrating further is highly
likely
Work Cited
Figure 1: Retrieved from
http://joomla.wildlife.org/documents/policy/great.lakes.gray.wolf.pdf.
Paul Mirocha Illustration (2014) Retrieved from http://paulmirocha.com/projects/33/
(Figure 8)
Figure 2: Retrieved from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_map_-_statesca.png
Figure 4: Retrieved from
http://classconnection.s3.amazonaws.com/536/flashcards/108536/jpg/picture5
1352403256153.jpg
Dr. Hackett, Maureen. "About Gray Wolf." www.howlingforwolves.org. 1 Jan. 2014.
Web.
http://www.howlingforwolves.org/about-gray-wolf,and http://www.howlingforwolves.org/hfw-blog.
Forester, James (Assistant Professor in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and
Conservation Biology in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource
Sciences at the University of Minnesota). Interview with Jim du Bois. Saving
Minnesota’s Vanishing Moose. Access Minnesota Online. Minneapolis, MN. 9
July. 2014. Retrieved from
http://www.accessminnesotaonline.com/2014/07/09/saving-minnesotasvanishing-moose/
"Gray Wolf Biology: Questions and Answers." www.fws.gov. U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, 1 Jan. 2012. Web.
http://www.fws.gov/midwest/wolf/aboutwolves/wolfbiology.htm.
"Lake Superior Climate Change Impact Report." www.epa.gov. 1 Jan. 2014. Web.
http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/lakesuperior/lake-superior-climate-changeimpacts-report-201401.pdf . (Figure 3)
Meet the Coywolf. Pbs.org, 2014. Film.
Miller, Mike: Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (Personal communication) (8
Sept. 2014)
“Parelaphostrongylus Tenuis" Wikipedia. 2014. Web.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parelaphostrongylus_tenuis.
Rose, Gale. "Large Animals Migrating to Kansas." Pratt Tribune. 9 Feb
2013. Web.
http://www.pratttribune.com/article/20130209/News/130209077/?Start
=2.
"Test Confirm Wolf Killed in Kansas Last Month." The Topeka CapitalJournal. The Associated Press. Web. http://cjonline.com/news/201301-29/test-confirms-wolf-killed-kansas-last-month.
Vucetich, John A. "Small Creature, Big Influence." 1 Jan. 2012. Web.
Viegas, J. "Coyote Wolf = New Breed of Predator." NBC News 1 Jan. 2009.
Web. 1 Jan. 2014.
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/32976657/ns/technology_and_sciencescience/t/coyote-wolf-new-breed-predator/ . The Wildlife Society’s
Human-Wildlife Conflict (2011 October) WESTERN GREAT LAKES
GRAY WOLF.
Way, Jon. "Coywolf Basic Info." Coywolf.org. 1 Sept. 2013. Web.
http://www.isleroyalewolf.org/node/44. (Figure 5,6, and 7)
http://www.coywolf.org/coywolf-basic-info . (Figure 9)
"Western Great Lakes Gray Wolf." Wildlife.org. The Wildlife Society’s
Human-Wildlife Conflict. Web.