Canis lupus fecal metabarcoding dataset

Although wolves are wide-ranging generalist carnivores throughout their life cycle, during the pup-rearing season wolf activity is focused on natal den sites where pup survival depends upon pack members provisioning food. Because prey availability is influenced by habitat quality within the home range, we investigated the relative importance of prey species for adults and pups and further examined the relationship between habitat characteristics, wolf diet, and litter size on Prince of Wales Island (POW) in Southeast Alaska. During 2012–2020, we detected 13 active den sites within the home ranges of 9 wolf packs. We estimated minimum pup counts using motion-detecting cameras and individual genotypes from noninvasive samples (hair: n = 322; scat: n = 227), and quantified wolf diet composition using fecal DNA metabarcoding (n = 538). We assessed habitat composition, configuration, and connectivity within denning and annual home ranges estimated using wolf GPS-collar data. Contrary to expectations, wolves had a more constricted diet during denning season (April 15–July 31), and, within this season, pups had a narrower dietary niche (species richness [S] = 4) focused more on deer (relative frequency of occurrence [O/I] = 0.924) than adults (S = 15; deer O/I = 0.591). Litter size had a positive relationship with the relative frequency of deer in a wolf pack’s diet. Wolf consumption of deer was positively associated with the proportion of young-growth forest (≤25 years old) within denning and annual home ranges. High levels of vegetation patch interspersion and the density of closed logging roads were also important predictors, suggesting these habitat qualities were influential for increasing the availability of deer to wolves. Our results contrast with previous research indicating wolf pup diets included more alternate prey (i.e., beaver) than adults, and emphasize the importance of deer to wolf viability on POW, especially during denning season.尽管灰狼在整个生命周期中均为广域分布的广食性肉食动物，但在育幼季，其活动会集中于产仔巢穴，幼崽的存活依赖种群成员投喂食物。鉴于猎物可获得性受家域内栖息地质量的影响，本研究以阿拉斯加东南部的威尔士王子岛（Prince of Wales Island, POW）为研究区域，探究了不同猎物物种对成年灰狼与幼崽的相对重要性，并进一步分析了栖息地特征、灰狼食谱与窝仔数之间的关联。2012年至2020年间，我们在9个灰狼种群的家域内共记录到13处活跃巢穴。本研究利用红外触发相机（motion-detecting cameras）与非侵入性样本（毛发样本：n=322；粪便样本：n=227）获取的个体基因型估算了最低幼崽数量，并通过粪便DNA宏条形码技术（fecal DNA metabarcoding，n=538）量化了灰狼的食谱组成。同时基于灰狼GPS项圈（GPS-collar）数据估算的育幼期家域与年度家域，我们对栖息地的组成、构型与连通性进行了评估。与预期相悖的是，灰狼在育幼季（4月15日至7月31日）的食谱更为狭窄；且在此期间，幼崽的食谱生态位更窄（物种丰富度[S]=4），更依赖鹿类（相对出现频率[O/I]=0.924），而成狼的物种丰富度为15，鹿类相对出现频率为0.591。种群窝仔数与灰狼食谱中鹿类的相对出现频率呈正相关关系。灰狼对鹿类的取食量与育幼期及年度家域内幼龄林（树龄≤25年）的占比呈正相关。较高的植被斑块镶嵌度与封闭伐木道路密度同样为重要预测因子，表明这些栖息地特征有助于提升灰狼可获取的鹿类资源量。本研究结果与此前认为灰狼幼崽食谱中替代性猎物（如河狸）占比高于成狼的研究结论相悖，并强调了鹿类对威尔士王子岛灰狼种群存续的重要性，尤其在育幼季更为突出。