Predation risk, elk, and aspen: tests of a behaviorally mediated trophic cascade in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Aspen in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem are hypothesized to be recovering from decades of heavy browsing by elk due to a behaviorally mediated trophic cascade (BMTC). Several authors have suggested that wolves interact with certain terrain features, creating places of high predation risk at fine...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology (Durham) 2012-12, Vol.93 (12), p.2600-2614
Main Author: Winnie, John A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Biological
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
aspen
behaviorally mediated trophic cascade (BMTC)
Biological and medical sciences
Browsing
Canis lupus
Cervus elaphus
Computer Simulation
Coniferous forests
Conservation of Natural Resources
Correlation analysis
Creels
Deer - physiology
Demecology
drainage
Ecology
ecosystems
Elk
Elks
Fences
Food Chain
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Landscape ecology
Models, Statistical
National parks
Plants and fungi
Populus - physiology
Predation
Predators
Predatory Behavior
Predisposing factors
recruitment
refuge habitats
Risk Factors
streams
Synecology
Terrestrial ecosystems
Time Factors
Trophic cascades
Wolves
Wolves - physiology
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
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Summary:Aspen in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem are hypothesized to be recovering from decades of heavy browsing by elk due to a behaviorally mediated trophic cascade (BMTC). Several authors have suggested that wolves interact with certain terrain features, creating places of high predation risk at fine spatial scales, and that elk avoid these places, which creates refugia for plants. This hypothesized BMTC could release aspen from elk browsing pressure, leading to a patchy recovery in places of high risk. I tested whether four specific, hypothesized fine-scale risk factors are correlated with changes in current elk browsing pressure on aspen, or with aspen recruitment since wolf reintroduction, in the Daly Creek drainage in Yellowstone National Park, and near two aspen enclosures outside of the park boundary. Aspen were not responding to hypothesized fine-scale risk factors in ways consistent with the current BMTC hypothesis.
ISSN:0012-9658
1939-9170
DOI:10.1890/11-1990.1