Influence of Linear Features and Snowmachine Activity on Resource Selection by Wolves.

Snowmachines and the alterations made to the landscape from their activity can have profound impacts on the dynamics of wolves (Canis lupus) and their prey. Snowmachine activity can displace animals and disrupt their activity and movement patterns conversely, the creation of trails can enable energy-efficient travel by wolves, thereby increasing the likelihood of encountering and successfully capturing prey. High hunting and trapping pressure could exacerbate these effects, particular during critical late-winter periods when animals are most stressed and anthropogenic activity is greatest. With its dense network of trails, the Nelchina Basin in south-central Alaska presented a unique opportunity to assess quantitatively the spatial and temporal relationships among wolves, human activity, prey resources, and snow characteristics. I monitored the movements of wolves telemetered with global positioning system (GPS) collars, quantified snowmachine activity using remote-sensing techniques and enumeration counters to delineate the timing and distribution of human use, defined relative moose (Alces alces) abundance using aerial surveys, and routinely measured snow depth and hardness to construct ecologically plausible resource selection models. The seasonal movements, distribution and use areas of wolves in the Nelchina Basin, Alaska, were not influenced consistently by snow or the distribution of prey. Nor did wolves exhibit a strong selection for or an avoidance of linear features (i.e. snowmachine trails, and seismic lines), potentially because responses were confounded by predator-management activities. Levels of recreational snowmachine activity were relatively low and followed predictable patterns by day, week, and season. Wolves appeared to respond to this pressure by using trails when snowmachine activity was least. Wolves travelled 3.7 times faster on trails than off trails, although the proportion of locations specifically on trails was low. Findings from this study suggest that for a heavily exploited wolf