Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs Summary

We looked first at the relationship between the wolf population and the moose population. From about 1960 to 1970, the wolf population remained fairly consistent at about 20 to 25 wolves. During this time, the moose population grew steadily from 500 to over 1200. The next 10 years saw a doubling of the wolf population to 50. This same 10 years saw a decrease of the moose population from over 1200 to over 800. Then in 1980 began a two year drastic decline in the moose population, which was brought down to 15. For the rest of the decade, the moose population remained quite low at numbers near 20. During the 1980s, the moose population doubled again from around 800 to

study was done after the United States Parks Services brought wolfs back into the parks after 70

Have you ever wanted to be a prairie dog in western North Dakota? If so, these past years have not exactly been prairie dog attainment years. If you were to look, the prairie dog population has been precipitously decreasing in western North Dakota. And of course, other places with multiple livestock ranches, but today we will be chiefly talking about western North Dakota. You might ask, “Why is the prairie dog population decreasing?” A prairie dog’s diet consists of small seeds and grasses, which are usually plentiful in pastures. Also, these pastures are taking up prairie land, giving the prairie dogs no choice but to inhabit the pastures in North Dakota. While the prairie dogs

Species within food webs are interconnected in many complex ways that may not be visible to those who are not actively studying these relationships. As a result, modifying one level of the food web can cause unintended consequences when the entire food web is into taken account. Hoping to protect their crops, the ranchers were justified in their actions: their motive to remove prairie dogs from the area was driven by their need to yield a greater amount of crops, not by a malice to eradicate a species.

The article “Kinship and Social Bonds in Female Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)” is a research article in which was written based off of studies of many social mammals. There is a lot of research that has been conducted on female mammals that live in groups, which makes it reasonable to believe that kinship is something that influences the growth and continuation of social bonds. The objective of this study was to prove if kinship has an influence on social bonding for female chimpanzees that live in groups. The idea of this is to conclude if female chimpanzees develop sturdy communal relations with unrelated mammals of the equivalent gender. To do this the study observes multiple different characteristics of female chimpanzees from the same area. Observations were conducted on both physical and behavioral aspects of the chimps. The population that the investigators intend to refer their findings to is the Ngogo community of chimpanzees living in Kibale National Park, Uganda. Previous studies of males from the same group allowed the study to compare females to males that expressed powerful social ties amongst other members.

The purpose of this lab is to scientifically expose the most efficient method to maintain heterozygosity within a population that has experienced genetic drift. Two forms of breeding were preformed on a founding group; Random breeding and planned breeding. The methods were repeated over 8 generations to observe the long term effects each had on a

The Grey Wolf (Canis Lupus) is a widely distributed species throughout parts of the world, from the Arctic regions to dry deserts (Bohman. 2005). In British Columbia alone, the estimated population of this species is around 8,000 (Musiani. Paquet. 2004). Since the Grey wolf is such a widespread mammal, it is inevitable that you’d find diversity within a closely related species, which is a key concept of evolution. A variety in pelt melanin due to geographical factors is an example of a documented variation. When comparing British Columbian Coastal Wolves to mainland Grey Wolves, this theory is proved. Coastal wolves generally have grey pelts with a dark undercoat. In contrast, a white colour is predominantly present in Alaskan Grey Wolves. This suggests that colouration may play a vital role in the overall success of Coastal Wolves, as well as migration and maintaining genetic diversity.

Wyoming, meaning that these little guys can also live in the high desert. The grassland

Michener and Murie (1983) argued that black-tailed prairie dogs do not show a diluted parental load or an increased annual reproductive success from an increase in helpers (Hoogland 1983). Annual reproductive success is the number of offspring produced yearly that survive into the next year. Ironically, Hoogland’s 1981 work supports Michener and Murie’s case because he found a negative correlation between female annual birth rate survivals and the number of helpers (Hoogland 1983). Nevertheless, Hoogland predicted that an increase in the number of helpers increases a female’s long-term reproductive success, implying that prairie dogs are cooperative breeders (Hoogland 1983). Hoogland’s argument lacks support because there no data on black-tailed prairie dogs having increased long-term success by having additional helpers. No one has attempted to test the hypothesis that an increase in the number of helpers has a positive effect on long-term reproductive

For isolated black bear populations, heterozygosity is below 0.50 (Boersen et Al. 2003). While in areas of large continuous habitat with ample genetic exchange heterozygosity is around 0.8 (Paetkau and Strobeck 1998). Specifically in their study, through monitoring of the bear locations there was a great deal of gene flow between the two areas due to observations of several male black bears using a forest habitat corridor (Drewry, Van Manen and Ruth 2013). A similar study conducted in Canada concludes in a grizzly bear population the populations were genetically connected via the migration of males from populations. The females did not use habitat corridors as frequently as males, but the movement of individuals was the main way to promote genetic connectivity (Proctor et

As a result of habitat fragmentation and extensive hunting pressure, gray wolf (Canis lupus) populations have declined dramatically in Europe and elsewhere during recent centuries. The natural history of European populations of grey wolf (Canis lupus) has been characterized by a dramatic decline in numbers during the past few hundred years (Boitani 2003). Small and fragmented populations have persisted, but often only in the presence of large numbers of dogs, which increase the potential for hybridization and introgression to deleteriously affect wolf populations.

If you were to take a midnight stroll through New Zealand wilderness, you would more than likely run into a brushtail possum. This Australian marsupial has large pointed ears, grey fur, and a bushy tail, hence its name. Though appearing cute and fluffy, be forewarned, for this little critter is one of the most voracious predators in all of New Zealand. Today, many New Zealanders consider possums to be public enemy #1. Now nearing a population of 30 million in a country similar in size of the state of Colorado, possums munch on extensive regions of forest, massacre millions of birds and chicks a year, and spread diseases such as the bovine tuberculosis to cows and other livestock (Groves, 2005).

Zebra Finches, like most Canadians, want to find that one special partner they can spend the rest of their lives with and raise their kids together. A team of researchers led by Malika Ihle, Bart Kempenaers and Wolfgang Forstmeier at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen, Germany, sought to discover if an arranged marriage situation would affect the relative fitness of the zebra finch, versus choosing their companion. To do this the team designed an experiment where they took 160 wild zebra finches and set aside a group of 20 females and 20 males to mate freely. Half of the females were paired with a male that was not of their own choosing. The team then took pairs from both groups and put them into individual enclosures to

is not too prescriptive regarding the choice of species. The choice is most often dogs through long tradition.

The Tiv people realize the importance of hunting so they utilize dogs to make their hunting more efficient. However the people south of the Tiv eat the dogs and mistreat them (Bohannan & Bohannan. 1969). The Tiv take great care of their hunting dogs, the hunting dogs are all male dogs. The female dogs are left at the compound and aren't treat as well as the male dogs. The male dogs are fed and trained well, so they can hunt animals without struggling. Young men are usually are the people to train, care, and give expense necessary to train hunting dogs. The hunting dogs are forced to turn into vegetarian, they are taught to like yam porridge so they don't have to eat meat. A great sign of the perfect hunting dog is that he goes hunting alone