Following 80 years of absence, wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park (YNP) in 1995. The basic approach to studying YNP wolves has entailed ground and aerial tracking of radio-collared wolves. For the past ten years, all wolf packs on Yellowstone's Northern Range have been monitored intensively for 30-day periods beginning 15 November and 1 March. During these two periods abundance, pack size dynamics, kill rates, vital rates, and aspects of intra- and interspecific behavior have been determined. These observations contribute to a better understanding of wolf population dynamics and of how wolf populations affect and are affected by elk populations. The current project represents a continuation of what has already been a 10-year study.
The topic of this research - predation - is one of the fundamental ecological relationships. The subject of the study - wolves and their predation on elk - is of great interest to the general public and managers. Because it links an important scientific concept with a popular pair of species, this research is directly associated with broad public educational outreach that takes many forms, from field classes and books to major TV documentaries. In recent years, this research has also been closely linked to that of over a dozen scientific collaborators and has provided research foci for 12 graduate students. It has also provided full-time, season-long opportunities to participate in field research to ~50 volunteers (40% female), most of whom are expecting to pursue a career in science.
This award directly supported a post-doctoral researcher (who has published seven papers and is now an assistant professor of Wildland Resources at Utah State University), a masters student (who completed a Masters of Science degree, has published two papers and is currently employed by the Yellowstone Wolf Project) and a PhD student (who is preparing three papers for publication and will defend her PhD in fall 2012). All of these researchers began as volunteers for the Yellowstone Wolf Project and were advised in their work by Dr. John Vucetich (Michigan Technological University), Dr. Doug Smith (Yellowstone Wolf Project) and Dr. Rolf Peterson (Michigan Technological University). Smith has coauthored 31 papers on Yellowstone research. Vucetich has coauthored five papers with wolf project staff. Peterson has coauthored three papers with wolf project staff. Contributions of researchers supported by this funding have been vital to the mission of the Yellowstone Wolf Project to monitor and research wolves. Wolf Project public outreach includes hundreds of talks and interviews every year. Talks are at both scientific conferences and to general audiences. Interviews are to all forms of media. Wolf Projec Staff members manage wolf viewing areas in Slough Creek and Lamar Valley and other hot spots where wolves are frequently sighted. This facilitates thousands of people observing wolves and talking with Wolf Project staff. Research findings are used by Yellowstone National Park and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for wolf management within and outside Yellowstone National Park. The website [www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/wolves.htm] provides an overview of the research, wolf recovery information, population counts, updated and past annual reports, pack territory maps, technical publications. Additional information on wolves in Yellowstone is available at: www.nps.gov/yell/naturescience/wolfrest.htm www.greateryellowstonescience.org/topics/biological/mammals/wolves www.greateryellowstonescience.org www.westerngraywolf.fws.gov
