Trophic cascades among wolves, elk and aspen on Yellowstone National Park’s northern range Original Research Article

Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) biomass has declined in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) in the past century. We installed permanent belt transects (plots) for long-term monitoring of aspen stands both within and outside of established wolf pack territories on YNP’s northern range to determine if reintroduced wolves are influencing elk browsing patterns and aspen regeneration through a trophic cascades interaction. Wolves may have an indirect effect on aspen regeneration by altering elk movements, browsing patterns, and foraging behavior (predation risk effects). Elk pellet groups, aspen sucker heights, and the percentage of browsed suckers were the variables used to measure differences in aspen stands in high and low wolf-use areas of the northern range. The aspen stands in the high wolf-use areas had significantly lower counts of elk pellet groups in the mesic upland steppe and the combined mesic upland steppe and riparian/wet meadow habitat types. Based on our pellet group results, it appears that elk foraging behaviors may have been altered by the increased risk of predation due to the reintroduction of the wolf. In the riparian/wet meadow habitat type, mean aspen sucker heights were significantly higher in the high wolf-use areas than in the low wolf-use areas. The percentage of browsed suckers in high and low wolf-use areas showed no significant differences in any of the habitat types. Considering the high browsing pressure in YNP aspen stands, it is uncertain whether the taller aspen suckers measured in the high wolf-use areas will eventually join the aspen overstory. These permanent plots represent a valuable baseline data set to assess any current and future aspen regeneration responses to the reintroduction of wolves in YNP.