Raincoast Conservation Foundation » Wolf Papers

Would you like worms with that?

Raincoast — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 03:08:04 +0000

Raincoast researchers publish paper on unexpected discovery.

Conservation research can lead to unexpected findings. Sometimes these surprises relate to our core questions while other times they belong in a science fiction film. One of these findings occurred while we were studying diseases that might harm wildlife in coastal BC. Though not what we set out to study, these types of discoveries are part of what makes science fun.

Internal parasites of black-tailed deer are found in wolf scat.

Many of us have probably felt a moment of panic at the sight of a little garden slug on a forkful of fresh salad en route to our mouths. Raincoast scientists together with researchers from the Universities of Saskatchewan and Uppsala have found that wolves may have a similar experience while dining on deer. The research team first noticed the unusual worm larvae in wolf scat during a survey of parasites in wolves. Genetic analysis identified the microscopic worms as a parasite common to deer, but not wolves. The likely explanation for its presence in wolf scat is that the worms were consumed by a wolf feasting on an infected deer and then passed through the wolf’s digestive tract into the faeces.

This result, which has been published in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases, highlights the value of using genetic techniques to improve identification of parasites in scat.

Download the paper

Harvest-related trait changes in an increasingly variable world

Raincoast — Mon, 11 May 2009 01:46:37 +0000

Darimont, C.T., S.M. Carlson, M.T. Kinnison, P.C. Paquet, T.E. Reimchen, and C.C. Wilmers. 2009. Reply to Koons: Harvest-related trait changes in an increasingly variable world. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (On-line Letters).

Human predators outpace other agents of trait change

Raincoast — Mon, 11 May 2009 01:14:54 +0000

Darimont, C.T., S.M. Carlson, M.T. Kinnison, P.C. Paquet, T.E. Reimchen, and C.C. Wilmers. 2009. Human predators outpace other agents of trait change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106: 952-954.

Human Predators in pdf

Landscape heterogeneity and marine subsidy generate extensive niche variation in a terrestrial carnivore

Raincoast — Mon, 11 May 2009 00:59:48 +0000

Darimont, C.T., P.C. Paquet, and T.E. Reimchen. 2009. Landscape heterogeneity and marine subsidy generate extensive niche variation in a terrestrial carnivore. Journal of Animal Ecology 79: 126-133

Diversity in wolves pdf

Ecological factors drive genetic differentiation in British Columbia gray wolves

Raincoast — Mon, 11 May 2009 00:57:00 +0000

Muñoz-Fuentes, V., C.T. Darimont, R.K. Wayne, P.C. Paquet, and J.A. Leonard. 2009. Ecological factors drive genetic differentiation in British Columbia gray wolves. Journal of Biogeography.

Munoz et al 2009.pdf

The genetic legacy of extirpation and re-colonization in Vancouver Island wolves

Raincoast — Mon, 11 May 2009 00:39:05 +0000

Muñoz-Fuentes, V., C.T. Darimont, R.K. Wayne, P.C. Paquet, and J.A. Leonard. 2009. The genetic legacy of extirpation and re-colonization in Vancouver Island wolves. Conservation Genetics.

Conservation Genetics 2009 pdf

Faecal-centric approaches to wildlife ecology and conservation

Raincoast — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 01:15:39 +0000

Darimont, C.T., T.E. Reimchen, H. Bryan, and P.C. Paquet. 2008. Faecal-centric approaches to wildlife ecology and conservation; methods, data and ethics. Wildlife Biology in Practice 4: 73-87.

Faecal-centric approaches in pdf

Spawning salmon disrupt tight trophic coupling between wolves and ungulate prey in coastal British Columbia

Raincoast — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 04:12:57 +0000

Darimont, C.T., P.C. Paquet, and T.E. Reimchen. 2008. Spawning salmon disrupt tight trophic coupling between wolves and ungulate prey in coastal British Columbia. BMC Ecology 8:14

Salmon and Wolves in pdf

Stable isotopic niche predicts fitness of prey in a wolf-deer system

Raincoast — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 08:40:33 +0000

Darimont, C.T., P.C. Paquet and T.E. Reimchen. 2007. Stable isotopic niche predicts fitness in a wolf-deer system. Biological Journal of the Linnaean Society. 90:125-137

Isotope niche predicts fitness. pdf

The influence of natural landscape fragmentation and resource availability on connectivity and distribution of marine gray wolf (Canis lupus) populations on the Central Coast, British Columbia, Canada

Raincoast — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 08:50:48 +0000

Paquet, P.C., S.M. Alexander, P.L. Swan, and C.T. Darimont. 2006. The influence of natural landscape fragmentation and resource availability on connectivity and distribution of marine gray wolf (Canis lupus) populations on the Central Coast, British Columbia, Canada. In Crooks, K. and M.A. Sanjayan (Eds.) Connectivity Conservation. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, UK.

landscape fragmentation & wolves.pdf

Early ontogenetic diet of wolves

Raincoast — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 09:01:34 +0000

Bryan, J., CT Darimont, T.E. Reimchen, and P.C. Paquet. 2006. Early ontogenetic diet of wolves. Canadian Field-Naturalist. 20:61-66

Wolf diet in pdf

Facts from faeces: Prey remains in Wolf, Canis lupus, faeces revise occurrence records for mammals of British Columbia’s coastal archipelago.

Raincoast — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 09:01:19 +0000

Price, M.H.H., C.T. Darimont, N.N. Winchester, and P.C. Paquet. 2005. Facts from Faeces: Prey Remains in Wolf, Canis lupus, Faeces Revise Occurrence Records for Mammals of British Columbia’s Coastal Archipelago. The Canadian Field Naturalist 119(2): 192-196.

Facts from faeces.pdf

Modelling Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) Distribution and Habitat in Coastal Temperate Rainforests of British Columbia, Canada

Raincoast — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 09:01:15 +0000

Swan, P.L. 2005. Modelling Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) Distribution and Habitat in Coastal Temperate Rainforests of British Columbia, Canada. MSc. Thesis. University of Calgary. Department of Geography.

Connectivity where the land meets the sea

Raincoast — Thu, 01 Jan 2004 09:01:06 +0000

Paquet, P.C., C.T. Darimont, F. M. Moola, and C. Genovali. 2005. Connectivity where the land meets the sea – preserving the last of the best. Wild Earth 14: 21-25 (Peer edited).

View the paper in .PDF

Predators in natural fragments: foraging ecology of wolves in British Columbia’s central and North Coast archipelago

Raincoast — Thu, 01 Jan 2004 08:30:28 +0000

Darimont, C.T., M.H.H. Price, N.N. Winchester, J. Gordon-Walker, and P.C. Paquet. 2004. Predators in natural fragments: foraging ecology of wolves of British Columbia’s central and north coast archipelago. Journal of Biogeography 31: 1867-1877.

View the paper in .PDF