‘Landscape of Fear’: Yellowstone Not So Scary After All

A radio-collared deer. — The researchers revisited data from 27 GPS radio-collared elk that had been collected in the early years after the reintroduction. (Image: via Michel Kohl)

After wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in the mid-1990s, some scientists thought the large predator reestablished a “landscape of fear” that caused elk, the wolf’s main prey, to avoid risky places where wolves killed them. This fueled the emerging idea that predators affect prey populations and ecosystems by eating prey animals and scaring them.

Wolves in Yellowstone spend much of the day and night resting, and elk use these times to safely forage in habitats where wolves might catch them. Utah State University scientists report findings in an Early View online article of "Ecological Monographs." (Photo credit: Daniel Stahler/NPS) — Wolves in Yellowstone spend much of the day and night resting, and elk use these times to safely forage in habitats where wolves might catch them. Utah State University scientists report findings in an Early View online article of ‘Ecological Monographs.’ (Image Stahler via NPS)

However, according to findings from Utah State University ecologists Michel Kohl and Dan MacNulty, Yellowstone’s “landscape of fear” is not as scary as first thought. Kohl, who completed a doctoral degree at USU in 2018 and is the lead author of the paper, said:

“Contrary to popular belief, the wolf is not a round-the-clock threat to elk; it mostly hunts at dawn and dusk, and this allows elk to safely access risky places during nightly lulls in wolf activity.

“Despite their Hollywood portrayal as nighttime prowlers, wolves tend to hunker down at night because their vision is not optimized for nocturnal hunting.”

The findings were published in an online article in Ecological Monographs and will appear in a future print edition of the Ecological Society of America publication. Kohl, the lead author, along with MacNulty, conducted the research, supported in part by the National Science Foundation, with colleagues Daniel Stahler, Douglas Smith, and P.J. White of the U.S. National Park Service, Matthew Metz of the University of Montana, James Forester of the University of Minnesota, Matthew Kauffman of the University of Wyoming, and Nathan Varley of the University of Alberta.

Utah State University scientists say Yellowstone wolves hunt mostly during morning and evening, allowing elk relief from predation at night and mid-day. In an Early View online article of "Ecological Monographs," the researchers discuss how elk use these lulls in wolf hunting activity to maintain access to important habitats. (Photo credit: Daniel Stahler/NPS) — Utah State University scientists say Yellowstone wolves hunt primarily during the morning and evening, allowing elk relief from predation at night and midday. In an Early View online article of ‘Ecological Monographs,’ the researchers discuss how elk use these lulls in wolf hunting activity to maintain access to critical habitats. (Image: Daniel Stahler via NPS)

The researchers revisited data from 27 GPS radio-collared elk collected in the early years after the reintroduction, 2001-2004, but never thoroughly analyzed. These collars recorded the location of each elk every 4-6 hours. This was the first time GPS technology had been used to track Yellowstone elk, and no one imagined that elk might sync their habitat use to the wolf’s 24-hour schedule.

Utah State University scientists have shown that a 'landscape of fear' does not keep Yellowstone elk from using risky habitats where wolves kill them. In an Early View online article of "Ecological Monographs," the researchers discuss how elk use nightly lulls in wolf activity to safely access dangerous areas. (Photo credit: Chad Wildermuth) — Utah State University scientists have shown that a ‘landscape of fear’ does not keep Yellowstone elk from using risky habitats where wolves kill them. In an Early View online article of ‘Ecological Monographs,’ the researchers discuss how elk use nightly lulls in wolf activity to access dangerous areas safely. (Image: via Chad Wildermuth)

Yellowstone wolves

Little was known about this schedule until researchers first equipped wolves with GPS collars in 2004. MacNulty, a veteran Yellowstone wolf researcher and associate professor in USU’s Department of Wildland Resources and the USU Ecology Center, said:

“In the days before GPS, when we tracked wolves by sight and with VHF radio-telemetry, we knew they hunted mainly in the morning and evening, but we didn’t know much about what they did at night.

“GPS data showed that wolves were about as inactive in the middle of the night as they were in the middle of the day.”

Kohl used the GPS data to quantify the 24-hour schedule of wolves, and he compared how elk use of risky places — sites where wolves killed elk — differed between periods of high and low wolf activity. He said:

“Elk avoided the riskiest places when wolves were most active, but they had no problem using these same places when wolves were least active.

“An elk’s perception of a place as dangerous or safe, its landscape of fear, was highly dynamic, with ‘peaks’ and ‘valleys’ that alternated across the 24-hr cycle in response to the ups and downs of wolf activity.”

Elk feed on willow plants during a lull in wolf activity in northern Yellowstone National Park. In an Early View online article of "Ecological Monographs," Utah State University scientists report that elk maintain access to risky habitats by using them at night when wolves are resting. (Photo credit: Michel Kohl) — Elk feed on willow plants during a lull in wolf activity in northern Yellowstone National Park. In an Early View online article of ‘Ecological Monographs,’ Utah State University scientists report that elk maintain access to risky habitats by using them at night when wolves are resting. (Image: via Michel Kohl)

The ability of elk to regularly use risky places during wolf downtimes has implications for understanding the impact of wolves on elk and the ecosystem at large> MacNulty said:

“Our results can explain why many other studies found no clear-cut effect of wolf predation risk on elk stress levels, body condition, pregnancy, or herbivory.

“If our results reflect typical elk behavior, then actual killing rather than fear probably drives most, if not all, of the effect of wolves on elk and any cascading effect on the plants that elk eat, such as aspen and willow.”

This conclusion runs counter to popular views about the ecological importance of fear in Yellowstone and elsewhere. Kohl said:

“Although our study is the first to show how a prey animal uses predator downtime to flatten its landscape of fear, I suspect other examples will emerge as more researchers examine the intersection between prey habitat use and predator activity rhythms.”

Provided by: Utah State University [Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.]

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Troy Oakes

Troy was born and raised in Australia and has always wanted to know why and how things work, which led him to his love for science. He is a professional photographer and enjoys taking pictures of Australia's beautiful landscapes. He is also a professional storm chaser where he currently lives in Hervey Bay, Australia.

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