Introduction:

1. Wolverine (Gulo gulo) Zachary Andrews, Emily Brown, Courtney Comer, Paul Schiller, Donamae So’oto • Introduction: • Wolverines (Gulo gulo) are large, terrestrial mustelids with a circumpolar distribution.11 • Wolverines are facultative carnivores, but consume little vegetation.12 • Wolverines in the contiguous United States are currently being considered for listing as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.19 • Wolverines are trapped in the United States in Alaska and Montana7and in British Columbia, Canada.12 Their pelts are prized for durability and resistance to frost accumulation.18 • Wolverines serve as an indicator species for climate change.3 • Human Relationships: • Trapping is the main cause of mortality in trapped populations.9, 18 • Wolverine harvest affects population demographics.6 • Timber harvesting, skiing and snowmobiling, hunting and trapping, and frequent use of back country roads negatively affect the habitat and behavior of wolverines.15 • Habitat fragmentation by urban and agricultural development prevents wolverine dispersal.1 • Climate change is causing a decrease in the spring snow pack that wolverines need.4, 12, 16, 21 Figure 2. Wolverine (Gulo gulo)23 • Future Research Needs: • Predatory behavior 14 • Climate change • The upper thermal limits of wolverines.3 • Influence of human activities • Trapping mortality • Determine size of un-trapped refugia for sustainable harvest.9 • Stronger evaluation of population sources and sinks. • Improve accuracy of home range and population trend estimates.5 • Evaluate wolverine reintroduction into the contiguous United States to improve genetic diversity in source populations. • Population Ecology: • In North America, wolverines occur in northern boreal forest, taiga and tundra from Labrador to Alaska and in the western mountains from Yukon to Wyoming.9 • In North America, wolverines have lost 36% of their historical range.10 • Wolverines prefer higher elevation habitats from 2,200 to 2,600m.2 • Female wolverines prefer snow depth greater than 1m for reproductive dens.13 • Male wolverines have an estimated home range of 797km2 and females have an estimated home range of 303km2.8 Figure 1. Map of current and historical home range of Wolverine.20 • Literature Cited: • 1.) Aubry, K.B., K.S. McKelvey, and J.P. Copeland. 2007. Distribution and broadscale habitat relations of the wolverine in the contiguous United States. Journal of Wildlife Management 71: 2147-2158. • 2.) Copeland, J.P., J.M. Peek, C.R. Groves, W.E. Melquist, K.S. McKelvey, G.W. McDaniel, C.D. Long, and C. E. Harris. 2007. Seasonal habitat associations of the wolverine in central Idaho. Journal of Wildlife Management 71: 2201-2212. • 3.) Copeland, J.P., K.S. McKelvey, K.B. Aubry, A. Landa, J. Persson, R.M. Inman, J. Krebs, E. Lofroth, H. Golden, J.R. Squires, A. Magoun, M.K. Schwartz, J. Wilmont, C.L. Copeland, R.E. Yates, I. Kojola, and R. May. 2010. The bioclimatic envelope of the wolverine (Gulo gulo): do climatic constraints limit its geographic distribution?. Canadian Journal of Zoology. 88: 233-246. • 4.) Dijk, J., T. Andersen, R. May, R. (Reidar) Andersen, R. (Roy) Andersen, and A. Landa. 2008. Foraging strategies of wolverines within a predator guild. Canadian Journal of Zoology 86: 966-975. • 5.) Ellis, M.M., J.S. Ivan, and M.K. Schwartz. 2013. Spatially explicit power analyses for the occupancy-based monitoring of wolverine in the U.S Rocky Mountains. Conservation Biology 28: 52-62. • 6.) Ericsson, Goran, Jens Persson and Peter Segerstrom. Human Caused Mortality in the Endangered Scandinavian Wolverine Population. Biological Conservation 2009: 1-7. • 7.)Golden, H.N., A.M, Christ, and E. K. Solomon. 2007. Spatiotemporal analysis of wolverine Gulo guloharvest in Alaska. Wildlife Biology 13: 68-75. • 8.) Inman, Robert M., et al. "The Wolverine's Niche: Linking Reproductive Chronology, Caching, Competition, and Climate." Journal of Mammalogy (2012): 93, (3), 1-12. • 9.) Krebs, J., E. Lofroth, J. Copeland, V. Banci, D. Cooley, H. Golden, A. Magoun, R. Mulders, and B. Shults. 2004. Journal of Wildlife Management 68: 493-502. • 10.) Laliberte, A.S., and W.J. Rippel. 2004. Range contractions of North American carnivores and ungulates. BioScience 54: 123-138. • 11.) Landa, A, M. Lindén, and I. Kojola. 2000. Action Plan for the conservation of Wolverines (Gulo gulo) in Europe. Nature and Environment 115:1-45. • 12.) Lofroth, E.C., and P.K. Ott. 2007. Assessment of the sustainability of wolverine harvest in British Columbia, Canada. Journal of Wildlife Management 71: 2193-2200. • 13.) Magoun, A.J. and J.P. Copeland. 1998. Characteristics of wolverine reproductive den sites. Journal of Wildlife Management 62: 1313-1320. • 14.) Persson, Jens. "Population Ecology of Scandinavian Wolverines." Department of Animal Ecology 2003: 7-30. <http://pub.epsilon.slu.se/205/1/JPthesis.pdf>. Accessed 2 Apr 2014. • 15.) Ruggiero, LF., Mckelvey, KS., Aubry, KB,. Copeland, JP,. Pletscher, DH,. Hornocker, IG,. 2007. Wolverine conservation and management. Journal of Wildlife Management. 71:7 2145-2146 • 16.) Schwartz, MK., Aubry, KB., Mckelvey, KS., Pilgrim, KL., Copeland, JP., Squires, JR., Inman, RM., Wisely, SM., Ruggiero, LF. 2007. Inferring geographic isolation of wolverines in California using historical DNA. Journal of Wildlife Management. 71:7 2170-2179 • 17.) Slough, B.G. 2007. Status of the wolverine Gulo guloin Canada. Wildlife Biology 13: 76-82. • 18.) Squires, J.R., J.P. Copeland, T.J. Ulizio, M.K. Schwartz, and L.F. Ruggiero. 2007. Sources and patterns of wolverine mortality in western Montana. Journal of Wildlife Management 71: 2213-2220. • 19.) U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [USFWS]. 2014. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Endangered species mountain-prairie region: wolverine. <http://www.fws.gov/mountainprairie/species/mammals/wolverine/>. Accessed 1 Apr 2014. • 20.) U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [USFWS]. 2013. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Wolverine questions and answers. <http://www.fws.gov/idaho/Wolverine/WolverineFAQS031113.pdf>. Accessed 1 Apr 2014. • 21.) USGCRP. 2009. Regional Climate Change Impacts: Northwest. Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States, New York, New York, U.S.A. • 22.) Wolverine (Gulo gulo) (2014). In National Geographic. <http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/wolverine/>. Accessed 22 Apr 2014. • 23.) Wolverine (Gulo gulo) Biogeography (2000). In San Francisco State University Department of Geography. <http://online.sfsu.edu/bholzman/courses/Fall00Projects/wolverine.html>. Accessed 23 Apr 2014.