Competition with other predators

Regarding large carnivores, competition between species is of conservation and management interest. For instance, inter-specific competition can reduce the population size of an endangered carnivore, and can affect populations of other species at lower trophic levels. Competition may occur in different ways. Carnivores may avoid each other spatially, which can result in reduced foraging opportunities. Exploitative competition occurs when predators share the same food resources. Competition may also involve food stealing, and kleptoparasitism can increase the time risks of hunting to capture additional food lost to competitors. Carnivores can kill each other, sometimes limiting population sizes of one of the species. The effects of interspecific competition can even influence the evolution of species as they adapt to avoid competition. This may result in the exclusion of a species in the habitat, niche separation, and local extinction. It is therefore of great interest to study the interactions between wolves and other large carnivores and their prey in Scandinavia. This is one of the research areas of SKANDULV at the moment.

Wolves and Bears

The study of interactions between wolves, large carnivores, and their prey in Scandinavia is a key area of research. This is one of the research areas within the SKANDULV project. We are currently investigating interactions between wolves and brown bears in collaboration with the Scandinavian Brown Bear Research Project. Specifically, we are examining whether wolf habitat selection is influenced by bear habitat selection and vice versa, whether wolves and bears compete for prey and/or access to carcasses, and the implications of these interactions for ecosystem processes.

Wolves and lynx

Previous research has focused on interactions between wolves and lynx. By studying the geographical distribution of lynx family groups (females with pups) over several years in relation to the presence of wolf territories, we have been able to show that lynx do not avoid areas with wolves. We compared the survival of radio-collared lynx pups living inside and outside wolf territories and found that survival rates were equally high for both groups. Additionally, we did not encounter any wolf-killed lynx, either through snow tracking or scat analysis. There was no evidence of changes in breeding site selection among radio-collared lynx females in areas where wolves established territories during the study. Similarly, lynx did not alter their size or home range in response to the presence of wolves. Wolves also did not prey on roe deer killed by lynx. Our study shows that wolves and lynx can live in the same area without the larger dominant species (the wolf) necessarily having a negative impact on the distribution and survival of the smaller species (the lynx). One explanation for the absence of negative interaction between lynx and wolves in Sweden may be that the wolves' range is still relatively rich in prey. The main prey for the wolf is also moose, while lynxes specialize in roe deer.