Industrial development alters wolf spatial distribution mediated by prey availability

Abstract

Increasing resource extraction and human activity are reshaping species' spatial distributions in human‐altered landscape and consequently shaping the dynamics of interspecific interactions, such as between predators and prey. To evaluate the effects of industrial features and human activity on the occurrence of wolves (Canis lupus), we used wildlife detection data collected in 2014 from an array of 122 remote wildlife camera traps in Alberta's Rocky Mountains and foothills near Hinton, Canada. Using generalized linear models, we compared the occurrence frequency of wolves at camera sites to natural land cover, industrial disturbance (forestry and oil/gas exploration), human activity (motorized and non‐motorized), and prey availability (moose, Alces alces; elk, Cervus elaphus; mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus; and white‐tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus). Industrial block features (well sites and cutblocks) and prey (elk or mule deer) availability interacted to influence wolf occurrence, but models including motorized and non‐motorized human activity were not strongly supported. Wolves occurred infrequently at sites with high densities of well sites and cutblocks, except when elk or mule deer were frequently detected. Our results suggest that wolves risk using industrial block features when prey occur frequently to increase predation opportunities, but otherwise avoid them due to risk of human encounters. Effective management of wolves in anthropogenically altered landscapes thus requires the simultaneous consideration of industrial block features and populations of elk and mule deer.