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By Allison Mills
Director of Research News
Michigan Tech
Climate change and predator-prey dynamics with wolves make for smaller moose.
For the booming moose population of Isle Royale, a key species in the world’s longest running predator-prey study on the island, skulls have shrunk by about 16 percent over a 40-year period. A team of Michigan Tech ecologists had their results published recently in Global Change Biology.
Skull measurements reveal information about body size, physiology and the conditions of a moose’s early life. Put together, measurements through time reveal the health of a population and even changes in their environment. In addition to smaller skull sizes, the researchers observed that moose experiencing a warm first winter tended to be smaller as adults and live shorter lives.
