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布泛食性肉食动物，但在育幼季，其活动会集中于出生巢穴（natal den）位点，幼崽的存活依赖于所属狼群成员投喂食物。由于猎物可获得性受家域（home range）内栖息地质量的影响，我们在阿拉斯加东南部的威尔士王子岛（Prince of Wales Island, POW）上，探究了猎物物种对成体灰狼与幼崽的相对重要性，并进一步分析了栖息地特征、灰狼食性与窝仔数（litter size）之间的关联。2012至2020年间，我们在9个灰狼群体的家域内共记录到13处活跃巢穴位点。我们通过运动检测相机（motion-detecting cameras）与非侵入性样本（毛发样本量n=322、粪便样本量n=227）得到的个体基因型估算了最小幼崽数量，并利用粪便DNA宏条形码测序（fecal DNA metabarcoding，n=538）量化了灰狼的食性组成。我们还基于灰狼GPS项圈数据估算的育幼季与年度家域，评估了其内的栖息地组成、配置与连通性。与预期相反，灰狼在育幼季（4月15日—7月31日）的食性更为狭窄；且在此期间，幼崽的饮食生态位更为专一（物种丰富度S=4），更偏向捕食鹿类（相对出现频率O/I=0.924），而成体灰狼的物种丰富度S=15，鹿类相对出现频率为0.591。窝仔数与灰狼种群食谱中鹿类的相对出现频率呈正相关关系。灰狼对鹿类的捕食量与育幼季及年度家域内的幼龄林（≤25年生）占比呈正相关。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可提升鹿类对灰狼的可获得性。本研究结果与此前认为灰狼幼崽食谱中替代猎物（如河狸）占比高于成体的研究结论相悖，并强调了鹿类对威尔士王子岛灰狼种群生存的重要性，尤其是在育幼季。