Publications

assessment of prey vulnerability through analysis of wolf movements and kill sites.	within predator-prey systems behavior can heavily influence spatial dynamics, and accordingly, the theoretical study of how spatial dynamics relate to stability within these systems has a rich history. however, our understanding of these behaviors in large mammalian systems is poorly developed. to address the relationship between predator selection patterns, prey density, and prey vulnerability, we quantified selection patterns for two fine-scale behaviors of a recovering wolf (canis lupus) popu ...	2006	16705979
does interference competition with wolves limit the distribution and abundance of coyotes?	interference competition with wolves canis lupus is hypothesized to limit the distribution and abundance of coyotes canis latrans, and the extirpation of wolves is often invoked to explain the expansion in coyote range throughout much of north america. we used spatial, seasonal and temporal heterogeneity in wolf distribution and abundance to test the hypothesis that interference competition with wolves limits the distribution and abundance of coyotes. from august 2001 to august 2004, we gathered ...	2007	17922704
recolonizing wolves and mesopredator suppression of coyotes: impacts on pronghorn population dynamics.	food web theory predicts that the loss of large carnivores may contribute to elevated predation rates and, hence, declining prey populations, through the process of mesopredator release. however, opportunities to test predictions of the mesopredator release hypothesis are rare, and the extent to which changes in predation rates influence prey population dynamics may not be clear due to a lack of demographic information on the prey population of interest. we utilized spatial and seasonal heteroge ...	2008	18488620
echinococcus granulosus in gray wolves and ungulates in idaho and montana, usa.	we evaluated the small intestines of 123 gray wolves (canis lupus) that were collected from idaho, usa (n=63), and montana, usa (n=60), between 2006 and 2008 for the tapeworm echinococcus granulosus. the tapeworm was detected in 39 of 63 wolves (62%) in idaho, usa, and 38 of 60 wolves (63%) in montana, usa. the detection of thousands of tapeworms per wolf was a common finding. in idaho, usa, hydatid cysts, the intermediate form of e. granulosus, were detected in elk (cervus elaphus), mule deer ( ...	2009	19901399
sarcoptic mange found in wolves in the rocky mountains in western united states.	we documented sarcoptic mange caused by mites (sarcoptes scabiei) in 22 gray wolves (canis lupus) in the northern rocky mountain states of montana (n=16) and wyoming (n=6), from 2002 through 2008. to our knowledge, this is the first report of sarcoptic mange in wolves in montana or wyoming in recent times. in addition to confirming sarcoptic mange, we recorded field observations of 40 wolves in montana and 30 wolves in wyoming displaying clinical signs of mange (i.e., alopecia, hyperkeratosis, a ...	2010	20966263
restoration of genetic connectivity among northern rockies wolf populations.	probably no conservation genetics issue is currently more controversial than the question of whether grey wolves (canis lupus) in the northern rockies have recovered to genetically effective levels. following the dispersal-based recolonization of northwestern montana from canada, and reintroductions to yellowstone and central idaho, wolves have vastly exceeded population recovery goals of 300 wolves distributed in at least 10 breeding pairs in each of wyoming, idaho and montana. with >1700 wolve ...	2010	21040035
use of linkage mapping and centrality analysis across habitat gradients to conserve connectivity of gray wolf populations in western north america.	centrality metrics evaluate paths between all possible pairwise combinations of sites on a landscape to rank the contribution of each site to facilitating ecological flows across the network of sites. computational advances now allow application of centrality metrics to landscapes represented as continuous gradients of habitat quality. this avoids the binary classification of landscapes into patch and matrix required by patch-based graph analyses of connectivity. it also avoids the focus on deli ...	2012	22010832
ecosystem scale declines in elk recruitment and population growth with wolf colonization: a before-after-control-impact approach.	the reintroduction of wolves (canis lupus) to yellowstone provided the unusual opportunity for a quasi-experimental test of the effects of wolf predation on their primary prey (elk--cervus elaphus) in a system where top-down, bottom-up, and abiotic forces on prey population dynamics were closely and consistently monitored before and after reintroduction. here, we examined data from 33 years for 12 elk population segments spread across southwestern montana and northwestern wyoming in a large scal ...	2014	25028933