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Isle Royale National Park

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The wolves and moose also are isolated from other predator prey relationships, ... The research fluctuated from the wolves and moose to general ecology for 10 years. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Isle Royale National Park


1
Isle Royale National Park
2
The Island
  • Isle Royale is a small island on the edge of
    lake superior. 45 miles long and 9 miles wide,
    it covers 210 square miles, 90 of which is
    federally designated wilderness.
  • As a national park and an international
    biosphere preserve, Isle Royale is home to some
    of the most pristine wilderness and wildlife.

3
People and Isle Royale
  • As a federally designated wilderness, Isle
    Royale is strictly out of bounds for development
    and industry. There are 2 small harbors on either
    end of the island, but they are the only major
    sites on the island with power and running water.
    During the winter, the island is abandoned and
    there are no residents.
  • As a national park, the island is protected by
    strict Leave No Trace guidelines. As such,
    hikers and campers must pack out all trash and
    waste. Fires are only allowed in specially
    designated fire pits and may only be fueled by
    dead wood. There are no pets allowed on the
    island and feeding the local wildlife is
    prohibited.

4
The History of Isle Royale
  • For hundreds of years Isle Royale has been the
    center of attention for many early trades. This
    includes copper mining and beaver trapping. The
    French Voyageurs were some of the most famous of
    Isle Royales inhabitants. These rugged
    frontiersmen made the great lakes famous and Isle
    Royale was one of the centers of fur trade, an
    important stop near Grand Portage, Minnesota.
    Native Americans and later the American Fur
    company mined the island for copper, but met
    little success.

5
The Flora and Fauna
6
The Science of Isle Royale
  • Because of its pristine nature, Isle Royale is
    a sought after place to conduct research. The
    islands wolf packs have been the subject of many
    studies, and Isle Royale has been the setting for
    the longest predator-prey relationship study The
    wolf and moose study.
  • While most research lasts a year or two, the
    study that has been conducted on Isle Royale has
    been in progress for several decades and is
    continuing today. The isolation of the island
    from other ecosystems allows scientists and
    researchers to observe the effects the wolves and
    moose have on each other as well as their
    surrounding eco system.
  • The wolves and moose also are isolated from other
    predator prey relationships, as the moose are the
    wolves primary food (about 90) and the wolves
    are the mooses only predator. The topographical
    isolation gives researchers the ability to track
    individual wolves.

7
Before the wolves
  • In 1929 and 1930, a researcher named Alphred
    Murie discovered a teeming moose population,
    about 2-3 thousand Moose total. He predicted a
    substantial decline within a few years. In 1935,
    another researcher discovered that the population
    had crashed to about 500 moose total. After 10
    years, areas of the island rejuvenated by forest
    fire were densely repopulated with moose.
  • The extreme population fluctuations had been a
    trend for several decades and continued as until
    the wolves populated the island sometime between
    1948 and 1951. The lack of predators allowed the
    moose populations to grow unchecked until the
    population density grew critical. This in turn
    caused heavy starvation and population crashes.

8
The Moose and Wolf Study
  • Beginning in 1959, Durwood Allen and several
    graduate students began to study the wolf-moose
    relationship directly.
  • The research fluctuated from the wolves and moose
    to general ecology for 10 years. In 1970, the
    focus was shifted to wolves and moose permanently
    and the leadership shifted to Rolf Peterson in
    1975. In 1990 John Vucetich began working on the
    project, and became a co-investigator on the
    project. In the summer of 2005 I was present at
    a presentation John Vucetich gave regarding the
    current results of his research.

9
Isle Royale and Me
  • During the past 4 years I have taken 2 trips to
    Isle Royale. The first was only a family
    vacation, but this past summer I spent a week on
    the island volunteering as a trail maintainer. I
    spent 5 days with a sierra club volunteer work
    crew chopping down brush, digging drainage
    ditches and clearing trails along the Minong
    ridge.

10
Isle Royale and You
  • As the least visited national parks in the
    United States, Isle Royales 210 square miles are
    more than enough to provide a quality experience
    for anyone who likes to camp, hike, explore, or
    just get away from civilization. Though it is
    the least visited of all of the United States
    national parks, it has the most return visits.
  • Isle Royale is also a great place to volunteer
    or work. Programs are available through the
    National Park Service, Sierra Club and various
    other groups.
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