Grey Wolfs

Grey Wolves Rough Transcript/ Answering Questions

Found in the Northern hemisphere there is an animal that rules the supreme, this hunter patrols most of North America’s landscape. Their camouflaged fur allows them to blend in with the background, for a hunter this is essential.

 Canis Lupis, more commonly known as grey wolves are mammals that are the largest member canidae or dog family and can be found in a wide range of habitats in the Northern Hemisphere (RedList, 02/2015). While they are commonly found in North America and the frozen arctic of Siberia they are not uncommon in the deserts of Israel (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 11/2006).

They have many adaptive features that allow them to live in such diverse conditions, starting with their thick coats that provide insulation and a waterproof barrier (Bonnie, E 2002). They also have large paws and claws which help them when running through the snow by creating a level of traction (Bonnie, E 2002). Their hearing and smell is also much more advanced than humans and their reflective retinas enhance their night vision greatly (Bonnie, E 2002).

Grey wolves are extremely versatile and can be found in nearly any habitat, including prairie, forest, mountains and wetlands. This species have been found to live in a wider variety of places than any other mammals, excluding humans (ScienceKids). Even though they have the potential to adapt extremely well, the ideal habitat for grey wolves is wooded mountain areas that are cold all year round, having short summers and long winters such as a taiga biome (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 11/2006). Taiga is the Russian word for forest and is the largest biome in the world (Blue Planet Biomes, 2015). The taiga is the biome of the needle leaf forest. Living in the taiga is cold and lonely. Coldness and food shortages make things very difficult, mostly in the winter. Some of the animals in the taiga hibernate in the winter, while some just cooperate with the environment like grey wolves (Blue Planet Biomes, 2015). There are not a lot of species of plants in the taiga because of the harsh conditions (Blue Planet Biomes, 2015). Not many plants can survive the extreme cold of the taiga winter (Blue Planet Biomes, 2015). The average temperature is below freezing for six months out of the year (Blue Planet Biomes, 2015). The winter temperature range is -54° to -1°. Temperature range in the summer gets at -7° C to 21° C (Blue Planet Biomes, 2015). The total precipitation in a year is 30 - 85 cm.  The forms the precipitation comes in are rain, snow and dew (Blue Planet Biomes, 2015). Most of the precipitation in the taiga falls as rain in the summer (Blue Planet Biomes, 2015).

Biotic factors that wolves face are prey populations. Wolves prefer large ungulates for example deer, ^[a]elk, caribou and moose, but wolves are opportunistic feeders, and will pray on smaller species found in the taiga biome for example a hare or carrion, even result to cannibalism.  With floral biomass, the greater the quality of the plant matter the more animal life can be supported within the biome or ecosystem. Greater animal populations support larger grey wolf populations. There are interspecific predator populations, of brown and black bears, cougars, coyotes and many other taiga carnivores or omnivore species can reduce the grey wolf populations. However smaller carnivores, such as foxes are wolf prey and may have little or no impact the wolf population. Along with these biotic factors come four main abiotic factors, these being temperature, precipitation, sunlight and pH levels of soil and water  

Amelia: Temperature is important as wolves are better accustomed to live in cold climates, and with their double fur layer they can survive in temperatures as low as -40 degrees Celsius (ScienceKids). The precipitation plays a hugely important role as the amount of rain and snowfall can have a large impact on the behavior of grey wolves, their predators and their prey.

Maddy: Sunlight again not only affects the grey wolves but their predators and prey as well. Some animals associated with grey wolves can be most active either during the day or night, meaning they rely on the sunlight to gauge the time as well as strong sunlight can cause snow to melt, which again affects the behavior of many animals (Maddy’s written notes).

Amelia: Grey wolves are a top predator and a vital part of the ecosystem (>>>). They help regulate the populations of their prey, and keep the species strong by clearing out the weak; leaving only the strong and healthy animals to breed. The results of an experiment of decreasing the grey wolf population were recorded and their findings about the impact on the ecosystem were quite interesting.

Maddy: The experiment took place in Yellowstone Park, where wolves were exterminated, and the elk population then exploded, without their major predator to thin their numbers. Soon there were so many that they overgrazed, and caused soil erosion in their environment, damaging it for all creatures and leaving themselves without enough food. This then left the elk and other herbivores to starve. When the wolves were reintroduced studies show that the imbalance of plants and trees was starting to disappear (SLA, 2008). ^[b]