Are bears apex predators12/25/2023 As they spread eastward, they came into contact with eastern wolves, gray wolves, and feral domestic dogs intermixing with each species, which may mean they are on a trajectory to become their own (NPS). One population moved across the north and another through the south where they met and interbred with other canid species, which is where the “coydog” and “coywolf” moniker comes from (NPS). They were able to move out of the prairie and into urban settings with the fist sightings happening in the 1940s. This allowed these coyotes able to find their own niche within these newly developed areas. Wolves, large cats, and other predatory species were pushed out and extirpated, meaning the species has gone extinct in a specific area. In fact, they have been so successful at adapting to us that they have been able to thrive and move into every state within the continental United States (NPS).Īs industrial/ agricultural areas expanded the land that other predatory animals shrank. However, as humans developed once remote areas into agricultural and urban landscapes this species has changed and adapted to new environments and new areas. The eastern coyote began as the coyote from the prairies in the west and was mostly confined there since other predators outcompeted it in forested environments. Many people know it as the “coywolf” or the “coydog” but what this canid actually is is something very indicative of the modern human – carnivore interaction. Polar bears in the Arctic have come further south into Canada and have met and hybridized with grizzly bears, producing what is popularly called the grolar bear (Line, 2008).Īnother example, which hits closer to home, is the eastern coyote. This fragmentation cuts the size of the gene pool and pushes species into new areas causing them to meet species they have never historically met. Not only do humans actively hunt these animals, but habitat loss of their native ranges cuts areas into smaller and smaller pieces, fragmenting populations. These days these large predators are facing many pressures themselves and the largest one, amongst many others, are humans. This regulation then inadvertently affects plants species, and all other associated organisms, in what’s called a trophic cascade, taking off some of the pressure the herbivores put on plants by eating them. In the context of ecological population dynamics, large predators regulate the population of many herbivorous species like deer and small rodents. They are at the proverbial “top of the food chain” and usually have few to zero predators that prey on them. Apex predators, like wolves, bears, and large cats provide a crucial role in their environment, they act as a “top down” control mechanism keeping prey species in check (Openstax, 2021).
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