How climate impacts the composition of wolf killed-elk in northern Yellowstone National Park
Christopher Wilmers, Matthew Metz, Daniel Stahler, Michel Kohl, Chris Geremia & Douglas Smith
1. While the functional response of predators is commonly measured, recent work has revealed that the age and sex composition of prey killed is often a better predictor of prey population dynamics because the reproductive value of adult females is usually higher than that of males or juveniles. 2. Climate is often an important mediating factor in determining the composition of predator kills, but we currently lack a mechanistic understanding of how the multiple facets...