Effects of breeder turnover and harvest on group composition and recruitment in a social carnivore

1. Breeder turnover can influence population growth in social carnivores through changes to group size, composition, and recruitment.
2. Studies that possess detailed group composition data that can provide insights about the effects of breeder turnover on groups have generally been conducted on species that are not subject to recurrent annual human harvest. We wanted to know how breeder turnover affects group composition and how harvest, in turn, affects breeder turnover in cooperatively breeding gray wolves (Canis lupus Linnaeus 1758).
3. We used noninvasive genetic sampling at wolf rendezvous sites to construct pedigrees and estimate recruitment in groups of wolves before and after harvest in Idaho, USA.
4. Turnover of breeding females increased polygamy and potential recruits per group by providing breeding opportunities for subordinates although resultant group size was unaffected one year after the turnover. Breeder turnover had no effect on the number of nonbreeding helpers pe...