The Northern Range (NR) of Yellowstone National
Park (YNP) hosts a higher prey biomass density in the form of elk
(Cervus elaphus L., 1758) than any other system of gray wolves (Canis
lupus L., 1758) and prey reported. Therefore, it is important to
determine whether that wolf–prey system fits a long-standing model
relating wolf density to prey biomass. Using data from 2005 to 2012
after elk population fluctuations dampened 10 years subsequent to wolf
reintroduction, we found that NR prey biomass predicted wolf density.
This finding and the trajectory of the regression extend the validity of
the model to prey densities 19% higher than previous data and suggest
that the model would apply to wolf–prey systems of even higher prey
biomass.
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