Wolf influx on Isle Royale only temporarily affects mesocarnivores
From the Wildlife Society:
Wolf recolonization curtails mescocarnivore numbers on an island in the Great Lakes—but the effect doesn’t last.
“The return of wolves created this really strong effect initially,” said Mauriel Rodriguez Curras, now a postdoctoral researcher in environmental science at the University of California-Berkeley.
The small population of wolves (Canis lupus) on Isle Royale in Michigan may be among the most studied canids in North America. Researchers’ interest is partly due to the unique conditions the island presents—it’s a relatively closed system, with only the occasional animal coming across the lake during years when it completely freezes over. Since this doesn’t happen often, Isle Royale acts like a natural laboratory for a closed ecosystem, where researchers can track the large animals that they reintroduce or that occasionally cross over naturally.
