LTREB RENEWAL: The population ecology of wolves and moose on Isle Royale

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。密歇根州皇家岛国家公园的狼和驼鹿已经被研究了50年，是世界上最长的捕食者-猎物研究。该项目的目标是解决所有生态学中三个最基本的问题：(i)动物种群（在本例中是狼和驼鹿的种群）如何以及为什么会这样波动？（ii）捕食者如何影响猎物？（三）气候如何影响人口波动？该项目的基本方法包括通过固定翼飞机取样，量化狼和驼鹿的数量，以及每年冬天狼杀死驼鹿的速度。通过收集在皇家岛上死亡的驼鹿中约35%的骨骼残骸，对驼鹿进行了进一步分析。该项目还对驼鹿的食物条件和相关的气候条件进行了采样。皇家岛项目采用多种非常有创意的方式向公众传授生态学、种群周期和物种相互作用，就像狼和驼鹿很容易抓住公众的想象力一样。在过去的5年里，超过100人参与了为期一周的地球观察研究考察，超过15,000人通过pi的演讲参与了这个项目；超过3000人通过项目研究人员的介绍；数千人通过一部长篇纪录片、博物馆展览和艺术作品；数万人通过一个网页；还有成千上万的人通过专业新闻和通俗书籍。该项目的广泛影响是突出的，因为它们还包括为管理和保护决策提供信息。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).The wolves and moose of Isle Royale National Park, Michigan, have been studied for 50 years and represent the longest predator-prey study in the world. The project's objectives address three of the most fundamental questions in all of ecology: (i) how and why do animal populations (in this case populations of wolves and moose) fluctuate the way they do?, (ii) how do predators affect their prey?, and (iii) how does climate affect population fluctuations? The essential methods of the project include quantifying the abundance of wolves and moose and the rate at which wolves kill moose each winter by sampling from a fixed-wing aircraft. The moose are further analyzed by collecting skeletal remains of ~35% of all the moose that die on Isle Royale. The project also samples food conditions of moose and relevant climatic conditions.The Isle Royale project uses diverse and very creative ways to teach the general public about ecology, population cycles and species interactions, as wolves and moose easily capture the public's imagination. In the past 5 years, the project reached over 100 people though their participation in week-long Earthwatch research expeditions, more than 15,000 individuals through presentations by the PIs; over 3,000 individuals through presentations by the project's research associates; thousands through a feature-length documentary film, museum exhibits, and art; tens of thousands through a webpage; and hundreds of thousands of people through professional journalism and popular books. The broader impacts of this project are outstanding, as they also include informing management and conservation decisions.