Daniel Dupont

Abstract Animals behave "optimally" when they minimize their costs while maximizing their energetic gain. Optimal foraging theory predicts that with decreasing resource abundance, animals will increase 1) niche breadth, 2) territory size and movement distance, and 3) time spent at resource patches. We test these predictions by investigating clusters from GPS collared wolves (Canis lupus) in two predator populations with marked differences in their prey composition and abundance.

Abstract Anthropogenic linear features are often linked to alterations in wildlife behaviour and movement. Landscape features such as habitat can have important mediating effects on wildlife response to disturbance and yet are rarely incorporated as interactions with other features. This study tests the effects of habitat variation on the space-use responses of GPS-collared wolves to linear features in eastern Manitoba.