The Isle Royale Wolf-Moose Project (1958-present) and the Wonder of Long-Term Ecological Research

Endeavour

Volumn 35, Issue 1, 2011, Pages 31-39

  Nelson, Michael P ^a   Vucetich, John A ^b   Peterson, Rolf O ^b   Vucetich, Leah M ^b  

^a MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ANIMAL; DEER; ECOLOGY; ECOSYSTEM; ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING; NORTH AMERICA; ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT; PREDATION; SHORT SURVEY; WILDERNESS; WOLF;

ANIMALS; DEER; ECOLOGY; ECOSYSTEM; ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING; NORTH AMERICA; PREDATORY BEHAVIOR; WILDERNESS; WOLVES;

EID: 79952067463     PISSN: 01609327     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.endeavour.2010.09.002     Document Type: Short Survey

References (40)

1. Wayne et al. used mtDNA to suggest the ISRO wolf population had been founded by a single female wolf, see Robert Wayne, N. Lehman, D. Girman, P. J. P. Gogan, D. A. Gilbert, K. Hanson, R. O. Peterson, U. S. Seal, A. Eisenhawer, L. D. Mech, and R. J. Krumenaker. (1991) Conservation Genetics of the Endangered Isle Royale Gray Wolf, Conservation Biology 5, pp. 41-51. Adams et al. used microsatellite DNA to suggest the population had been founded by a single female and at least 2 males, see Jennifer Adams, Leah Vucetich, Phil Hedrick, Rolf Peterson, and John Vucetich. Genetic Rescue of the Wolves of Isle Royale, in review.
2. The general details of the project are well documented in L. David Mech. (2002, originally published in 1966) The Wolves of Isle Royale. University Press of the Pacific, (Honolulu); Rolf O. Peterson. (1977) Wolf Ecology and Prey Relationships on Isle Royale. National Park Service scientific monograph; no. 11 (Washington, D.C.); Rolf O. Peterson. (2007, originally published in 1995) The Wolves of Isle Royale: A Broken Balance. University of Michigan Press (Ann Arbor); Durward L. Allen. (1994, originally published in 1979) Wolves of Minong: Isle Royale's Wild Community. University of Michigan Press (Ann Arbor); John A. Vucetich and Rolf O. Peterson. (2004) Long-Term Population and Predation Dynamics of Wolves on Isle Royale. Biology and Conservation of Wild Canids, edited by D. Macdonald and C. Sillero-Zubiri. Oxford University Press (Oxford), pp. 281-292; John A. Vucetich and Rolf O. Peterson. (2004) The Influence of Top-Down, Bottom-Up, and Abiotic Factors on the Moose (Alces alces) Population of Isle Royale. Proceeding Royal Society of London, B 271, pp. 183-189; and John A. Vucetich, Rolf O. Peterson, and Michael P. Nelson. (2010) Will the Future of Isle Royale Wolves and Moose Always Differ From Our Sense of Their Past? The World of Wolves: New Perspectives on Ecology, Behaviour and Management, edited by M. Musiani, L. Boitani, and P.C. Paquet. University of Calgary Press (Calgary), pp. 123-154. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established Isle Royale as a National Park on April 3, 1940. It was designated a Wilderness Area in 1976 and in 1980 was made an International Biosphere Reserve.
3. In 1929, famed wildlife ecologist Adolph Murie was commissioned by the State of Michigan, through the University of Michigan's Museum of Zoology to study the mammals of Isle Royale, with a special focus on the island's moose population. "The moose," Murie writes in his follow up report, "present something of a problem on the island." "There is little opportunity for the animals to leave, and as there is apparently little check on their increase, it becomes obvious that sooner or later many plant species will be over-browsed to the extent that it will require years for a return to normal, and some extinction is possible". In addition to considering hunting, professional culling, and relocation, Murie makes a suggestion to "introduce an effective predator" to the island. Interestingly, he suggests "bear, cougar, or timber wolf" but admits a limiting factor is our lack of knowledge "if and to what extent our larger predators...prey on moose". From Adolph Murie. (1934) The Moose of Isle Royale. University of Michigan Press (Ann Arbor), pp. 7 and 42.
4. Durward L. Allen. (1994, originally published in 1979) Wolves of Minong: Isle Royale's Wild Community. p. xix.
5. Sources relaying our history with wolves include Rick McIntyre, ed. (1995) War Against the Wolf: America's Campaign to Exterminate the Wolf. Voyageur Press (Stillwater), and Jon T. Coleman. (2004) Vicious: Wolves and Men in America. Yale University Press (New Haven).
6. Ibid, Coleman, p. 2.
7. Durward L. Allen. (1954) Our Wildlife Legacy. Funk and Wagnalls Co. (New York), p. 232.
8. Les Line. (2008) The Long View. Audubon, March-April, on line at http://audubonmagazine.org/features0803/wildlife.html.
9. These are on display at the project's website www.isleroyalewolf.org.
10. Aldo Leopold. (1949) A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There. Oxford University Press (New York), p. 149.
11. See, most recently, Justin S. Brashares. (2010) Filtering Wildlife, Science 259329, pp. 402-03, who argues that in regard to the protection of endangered species, "A critical first step is a renewed commitment to wildlife monitoring in protected areas....Intensive, long-term monitoring is essential to gaining empirical knowledge of synergies among threats, the role of indirect effects, and other questions critical to minimizing species loss in protected areas" (emphasis added).
12. This bit of contemporary "common wisdom" was the product of Rolf Peterson's Ph.D. work, subsequently published as Peterson (1977) Wolf Ecology and Prey Relationships on Isle Royale.
13. Rolf O. Peterson and Durward L. Allen. (1974) Snow Conditions as a Parameter in Moose-Wolf Relationships, Naturaliste canadienne 101, pp. 481-492; E. Post, R. O. Peterson, N. C. Stenseth, and B. E. McLaren. (1999) Ecosystem Consequences of Wolf Behavioral Response to Climate, Nature 401, pp. 905-907; E. Post, N. C. Stenseth, R. O. Peterson, J. A. Vucetich, and A. M. Ellis. (2002) Phase Dependence and Population Cycles in a Large-Mammal Predator-Prey System, Ecology 83, pp. 2997-3002; John A. Vucetich, Rolf O. Peterson, and C. L. Schaefer. (2002) The Effect of Prey and Predator Densities on Wolf Predation, Ecology 83, pp. 3003-3013.
14. John A. Vucetich and Rolf O. Peterson. (2004) The Influence of Prey Consumption and Demographic Stochasticity on Population Growth Rate of Isle Royale Wolves (Canis lupus), Oikos 107, pp. 309-320.
15. Brian McLaren and Rolf O. Peterson. (1994) Wolves, Moose, and Tree Rings on Isle Royale, Science 266, pp. 1555-1558.
16. Vucetich and Peterson. (2004) The Influence of Prey Consumption and Demographic Stochasticity on Population Growth Rate of Isle Royale Wolves (Canis lupus).
17. John A. Vucetich and Rolf O. Peterson. (2009) Wolf and Moose Dynamics on Isle Royale, Recovery of Gray Wolves in the Great Lakes Region of the United States: an Endangered Species Success Story, edited by A. P. Wydeven, T.R. Van Deelen, and E.J. Heske. Springer-Verlag (New York), pp. 35-48.
18. John A. Vucetich, Rolf O. Peterson, and Thomas A. Waite. (2004) Raven Scavenging Favours Group Foraging in Wolves, Animal Behaviour 67, pp. 1117-1126.
19. Vucetich, Peterson, and Nelson. (2010) Will the Future of Isle Royale Wolves and Moose Always Differ From Our Sense of Their Past?
20. D. Strayer, J. S. Glitzenstein, C. G. Jones, J. Kolasa, G. E. Likens, M. J. McDonnell, G. G. Parker, and S. T. A. Pickett. (1986) Long-Term Ecological Studies: an Illustrated Account of Their Design, Operation, and Importance to Ecology, Occasional Publication of the Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Number 2 (Millbrook, NY), 38 pp.
21. Doug W. Smith, Rolf O. Peterson, and D. B. Houston. (2003) Yellowstone After Wolves, BioScience 53, pp. 330-340.
22. Arnett would resign from this post on November 23, 1984 citing "a strong desire to pursue business and conservation initiatives that have opened to me in this area [presumably in Washington DC] and in California." Arnett would then go on to become the Executive Vice President of the National Rifle Association in 1985 (though in 1986 he would be dismissed for, among other things, "personnel decisions on the basis of his personal interest rather than the interests of the Association"). For an interesting glimpse of Arnett as Assistant Secretary see F. Golden. (1984) A Sharpshooter at Interior, Time magazine, Monday, April 16. On line at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,954259-1,00.html.
23. Strayer et al. point out how critical the focus of the scientist (and ultimately string of scientists) is: "S.C. Kendeigh's 27-year-long studies of bird populations...ended when he retired in 1976, and Francis Evans believes that no one will take over studies of the Evans old-field when his work ends" D. Strayer, et al. (1986) Long-Term Ecological Studies: an Illustrated Account of Their Design, Operation, and Importance to Ecology, p. 5. According to Earl Werner, current Director of the George Reserve (the site of the old-field), "Indeed, Francis' fear did come true. While others have worked on the old-field site nobody has followed up with the sort of data collection that Francis was doing." Earl Werner. (2008) Personal communication with M. P. N., 18 May 2008. Evans' fifty-year study lasted from 1948-1997, Evans died in 2002.
24. D. Strayer et al. (1986), p. 13.
25. See, for example, William J. Ripple and Robert L. Beschta. (2005) Linking Wolves and Plants: Aldo Leopold on Trophic Cascades, BioScience 55, pp. 613-621; Mark Hebblewhite, C. A. White, C. Nietvelt, J. M. McKenzie, T. E. Hurd, J. M. Fryxell, S. Bayley, P. C. Paquet. (2005) Human Activity Mediates a Trophic Cascade Caused by Wolves, Ecology 86, pp. 2135-2144; and Christina Eisenberg. (2010) The Wolf's Tooth: Keystone Predators, Trophic Cascades, and Biodiversity. Island Press (Washington, DC).
26. See, for example, Aldo Leopold (1949), pp. 129-133.
27. See, for example, Bron R. Taylor, ed. (2005) The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, two volumes. Thoemmes Continuum (London).
28. See, for example, J. Baird Callicott and Michael P. Nelson, eds. (1998) The Great New Wilderness Debate. The University of Georgia Press (Athens); Michael P. Nelson and J. Baird Callicott, eds. (2008) The Wilderness Debate Rages On: Continuing the Great New Wilderness Debate. The University of Georgia Press (Athens).
29. For good examples of such accounts see Michael E. Fraidenburg. (2007) Intelligent Courage: Natural Resource Careers that Make a Difference. Krieger Publishing Company (Malabar).
30. Information from the personal personnel files of J. A. V.
31. D. O. Brown and M. S. Dantzker (producers). (2009) Signals of Survival: animal communication through the lives of Great Black-backed Gulls and Herring Gulls. Film from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Shoals Marine Laboratory.
32. D. Strayer et al. (1986), p. 21. It is interesting to compare ISRO research with findings and benefits from other long-term ecological studies, see for example Anne E. Pusey, Lilian Pintea, Michael L. Wilson, Shadrack Kamenya, and Jane Goodall (2007) The Contribution of Long-Term Research at Gombe National Park to Chimpanzee Conservation, Conservation Biology 21, pp. 623-634; Richard Wrangham and Elizabeth Ross (editors). (2008) Science and Conservation in African Forests: the Benefits of Long-Term Research. Cambridge University Press (New York); and essays in Felix Müller, Cornelia Baessler, Hendrik Schubert, and Stefan Klotz. (2010) Long-Term Ecological Research: Between Theory and Application. Springer (New York).
33. Upper Great Lakes states and provinces eliminated their wolf bounty programs in 1957 (Wisconsin), 1960 (Michigan), 1965 (Minnesota), and 1972 (Ontario).
34. See Lynn White, Jr. (1967) The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis, Science 155, pp. 1203-07.
35. See the growing literature on the No Child Left Inside movement, first articulated in Richard Louv. (2005) Last Child in The Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder. Workman Publishing (New York).
36. See Keith Thomas. (1984) Man and the Natural World: Changing Attitudes in England, 1500-1800. Penguin Books (London), who speaks of protected areas as "fantasies which enshrine the values by which society as a whole cannot afford to live."
37. This seems a reasonable extrapolation from Frederick Jackson Turner. (1920) The Frontier in American History. Henry Holt and Company (New York).
38. On this point see R. F. Keeling. (2008) Recording Earth's Vital Signs, Science 319, pp. 1771-1772.
39. Rolf O. Peterson. (1981) Long-Term Research: an Answer to "When are You Going to Quit?", The George Wright Forum 1, pp. 35-38.
40. Aldo Leopold. (1949), p. 203.