Long - Term Trophic Interactions of Wolves and Moose on Isle Royale

皇家岛国家公园是北美上级湖的一个岛屿，面积544平方公里。自1959年以来，人们一直在对该公园的狼和驼鹿进行研究，这是世界上时间最长的捕食者-猎物研究。皇家岛的地理（偏远岛屿）和管理（没有狩猎或诱捕野生动物，没有森林管理）是重要的独特之处。在其45年的历史中，这项研究为种群生态学的基本方面提供了有价值的见解。 在未来的五年中，狼，驼鹿和植被的动态和相互作用将继续成为研究的主要焦点，以下三个重点：在这个相当简单的生态系统中营养水平之间的生态关系，在这个小的，孤立的种群中，狼之间的近亲繁殖衰退的意义，以及狼和驼鹿寄生虫对它们的动态平衡的影响。灰狼和人类从人类诞生之初到现在一直在争夺家养和野生猎物，这导致了整个北方半球过度热情但成功的运动，以消除这种重要的食肉动物。在20世纪50年代达到历史最低点后，灰狼通过美国政府的自然恢复和引进计划扩大了规模，因此它将很快从联邦保护的濒危物种名单中删除。狼的恢复将显著影响人类经济以及几十年甚至几个世纪以来一直没有狼的生态系统。在皇家岛对这一物种及其猎物的长期研究有助于扩大对狼行为和生态的了解，对公众舆论产生了很大的影响。皇家岛提供了一个关键地点，实际上是唯一的地点，在那里，狼在整个生态系统中的生态作用可以在没有重大人类影响的情况下展开，从而提供了一个有用的自然生态动态基线。

ABSTRACTThe wolves and moose of Isle Royale National Park, an island (544 km 2 ) in Lake Superior (North America), have been under study since 1959, in the longest predator-prey study of such intensity in the world. Isle Royale's biogeography (remote island) and management (no hunting or trapping of wildlife, no forest management) are important unique features. During its 45-year history, this research has contributed valuable insights to fundamental aspects of population ecology. In the next five years the dynamics and interactions of wolves, moose, and vegetation will continue to be the primary focus for research, with the following three emphases: ecological relationships between trophic levels in this rather simple ecosystem, significance of inbreeding depression among wolves in this small, isolated population, and effects of wolf and moose parasites on their dynamic equilibrium. Gray wolves and humans have competed over domestic and wild prey from the dawn of humanity to the present, which led to overzealous but successful campaigns throughout the Northern Hemisphere to eliminate this important carnivore. After reaching a historic low point in the 1950s, the gray wolf has expanded through natural recovery and introduction programs by the U.S. government such that it will soon be removed from the list of federally-protected Endangered Species. Wolf recovery will significantly affect human economies as well as ecosystems that have been wolf-free for decades, even centuries. Long-term research on this species and its prey at Isle Royale has contributed to expanded knowledge of wolf behavior and ecology, with a large impact on public opinion. Isle Royale provides a key site, indeed the only site, where the ecological role of the wolf in an entire ecosystem can unfold without significant human influence, thereby providing a useful baseline of natural ecological dynamics.