Comment: Regulation of moose populations by wolf predation

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Abstract
We discuss regulation of moose (Alces alces) populations by wolves (Canis lupus) in the context of a recent article by Eberhardt (L.L. Eberhardt. 1997. Can. J. Zool. 75: 1940-1944), who contended that the killing rate of moose by wolves was constant. Further, he argued that wolf population size was proportional to prey density, and that wolf predation exerted a regulatory effect on ungulate-prey numbers. We argue that this combination of functional and numerical responses results in density-independent predation that cannot regulate prey numbers. We discuss the present understanding of wolf-moose interactions and conclude that there is evidence suggesting density dependence in both functional and numerical responses. Further, we conclude that predation by wolves is density-dependent, at least at low moose densities, and therefore can act as a regulatory factor.

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