ABSTRACT
Large carnivores have been reduced or removed from several ecosystems by habitat loss, eradication efforts, or other factors. Removing large carnivores removes their top-down influences. The widespread extirpation of the gray wolf from much of the Great Lakes Basin serves as a notable example. Wolves were once fairly ubiquitous throughout the Basin as a top predator of ungulates, including white-tailed deer and moose. By 1960, wolves were mostly exterminated through habitat change, poisoning, and bounty hunting. Wolves have naturally recolonized the northern forests of the Great Lakes states, which have high deer populations and prevalent coyotes. The aim of research were to determine if there is evidence for density- and/or behaviorally mediated effects of wolves on deer herbivory; evaluate if the wolf–deer interactions affect plant growth and diversity; document whether wolf presence simultaneously affects coyote and fox distribution; assess whether the wolf–coyote interactions cascade to the major prey of coyotes and foxes.
