Teacher Quotes. NGSS. Build Plane In The Air. Scientific Practices. Isle Royale Wolf & Moose Research - TechTube - Michigan Technological University. Silent summer: No wolf pup yips heard on Isle Royale. On the largest island in Lake Superior, scientists gather year after year to study the dynamics between wolves and moose.
For forty years, the scientists have come to take part in this iconic predator-prey study, and for forty years the sound of high-pitched yips have greeted their ears, heralding a new generation of wolf pups. That is, until last summer. It was a summer without yips. Aerial surveys supported the implications of that silent summer—the wolves of Isle Royale did not produce pups.
As the wolf population has declined to eight individuals, all closely related, their ability to survive and reproduce has declined as well in a phenomenon known as inbreeding depression. Physical abnormalities had already been witnessed in the wolves. The situation has left conservation biologists to ponder whether or not they should intervene. Silent summer.docx - Dropbox. Decision time for Isle Royale, only 8 wolves left. You can listen to today's Environment Report here or read an expanded version of the story below.
Wolves and moose fight for survival on Michigan's Isle Royale National Park. For more than 50 years, researchers have been closely watching them in the world’s longest-running study of predators and prey. The number of predators on the island has been sinking fast. The Park is a dedicated wilderness area, so managers do their best to keep it as untouched by humans as possible. But people might need to step in. Phyllis Green is the park's superintendent. There are just eight wolves left on Isle Royale. In our special series last year, we reported that Michigan Tech research professor Rolf Peterson said there could be a few reasons why the wolf population has been sinking: The wolves are highly inbred, and Peterson says it’s unlikely that new wolves will come here on their own, because fewer ice bridges are forming in our warmer climate.
Let the current population go extinct, and do nothing. The Wolves and Moose of Isle Royale. Lessons from Isle Royale's Wolves and Moose. For some, the magic of Isle Royale doesn't necessarily reside in the boat trip to the island.
Two days before Rebecca Williams and I left on our reporting trip, a friend and I were having lunch together. "You're not riding on the 'Barf Barge' are you?! " "The boat from Copper Harbor? " "Yeah, I took that trip. We were on Isle Royale for a week. On her trip, as the ship pulled out of Copper Harbor, the captain came on the loudspeaker. "O.k., folks," the captain started. The snack bar was not open on that crossing.
But the snack bar was open for our trip. The seas got a little rough (I saw a few eight footers roll by). Emergency cups and plastic grocery bags were deployed by some, but their "green-around-the-gills" condition didn't spread throughout the cabin. The Wolves and Moose of Isle Royale. Details about how to earn university credit will be available here by July 2012.
Also, these lectures will be available soon through iTunes U. Accessible to everyoneModerately technicalTechnical About the Videos Twelve presentations on the life history, population ecology, and ecosystem Influences of wolves and moose on Isle Royale. The contributions Isle Royale has made to these areas in ecology are also presented in a very broad context with a focus on the big picture. NOTICE: If you have problems viewing the videos with Firefox, try a different browser (e.g., Safari or Chrome or Explorer).
Presentation #1: The natural history of wolves and moose (60 mins) What is the life of a wolf or moose like, from their perspective? Presentation #2: The ecology of wolves, part 1 (74 mins) An accessible, but slightly more technical, account of the ecology and life history of wolves - patterns of mortality and reproduction, social lives, dietary habits, and more. Presentation #4: Winter Study (46 mins) The Wolves and Moose of Isle Royale. Isle Royale is a remote wilderness island, isolated by the frigid waters of Lake Superior, and home to populations of wolves and moose.
As predator and prey, their lives and deaths are linked in a drama that is timeless and historic. Their lives are historic because we have been documenting their lives for more than five decades. This research project is the longest continuous study of any predator-prey system in the world. The first 5 yearsAfter observing relatively constant abundances for five years, it seemed that the wolves and moose of Isle Royale had struck some kind of a balance of nature.After 14 yearsOver time wolf abundance fluctuated a bit. But, after a series of mild winters moose abundance doubled. The purposes of this project are to better understand the ecology of predation and what that knowledge can teach us about our relationship with nature.
Researchers began annual observations of wolves and moose on Isle Royale in 1958. ScienceFlipRubrics_July11.pptx - Dropbox. DOL EQuIP FinalScience.docx - Dropbox. Online Stopwatch.