Isabella C. Evavold, Thomas D. Gable, Austin T. Homkes, Joseph K. Bump
{"title":"Wolves foraging on berries is likely a widespread behavior in southern boreal ecosystems","authors":"Isabella C. Evavold, Thomas D. Gable, Austin T. Homkes, Joseph K. Bump","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70035","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Wolves are opportunistic generalists that can respond quickly to new and unique food sources. Wolves in some ecosystems will consume berries and other fruits when they are abundant and available; however, many aspects of this behavior remain unknown. In the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem (GVE), Minnesota, USA, wolves consistently consume berries, particularly blueberries, when they are available. We deployed remote cameras in blueberry patches to record wolves foraging on berries over several years. We captured footage of wolves of all age classes, social statuses, and sex foraging on blueberries alone or with other wolves. Our observations indicate berry consumption by wolves is a widespread behavior in the GVE and likely in similar southern boreal ecosystems. We hope our work spurs researchers across wolf range to examine whether berry consumption by wolves is a widespread and ubiquitous behavior for wolves.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70035","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ecosphere","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.70035","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ECOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Wolves are opportunistic generalists that can respond quickly to new and unique food sources. Wolves in some ecosystems will consume berries and other fruits when they are abundant and available; however, many aspects of this behavior remain unknown. In the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem (GVE), Minnesota, USA, wolves consistently consume berries, particularly blueberries, when they are available. We deployed remote cameras in blueberry patches to record wolves foraging on berries over several years. We captured footage of wolves of all age classes, social statuses, and sex foraging on blueberries alone or with other wolves. Our observations indicate berry consumption by wolves is a widespread behavior in the GVE and likely in similar southern boreal ecosystems. We hope our work spurs researchers across wolf range to examine whether berry consumption by wolves is a widespread and ubiquitous behavior for wolves.
期刊介绍:
The scope of Ecosphere is as broad as the science of ecology itself. The journal welcomes submissions from all sub-disciplines of ecological science, as well as interdisciplinary studies relating to ecology. The journal''s goal is to provide a rapid-publication, online-only, open-access alternative to ESA''s other journals, while maintaining the rigorous standards of peer review for which ESA publications are renowned.