Question

case study - the wolves of isle royale
for about a week in february of 2018, an ice bridge formed between isle royale and the nearby ontario mainland. scientists crossed their fingers and hoped it would hold long enough for some wayward wolves to meander out onto the island and stay, the first to do so in decades.
a decade ago, there were 24 wolves living on the island, having crossed an ice bridge. in 2018, only two wolves remained on the island. the island is also home to moose and other small mammals. the island is a boreal forest, similar to canadas mainland. trees include spruce and ash, with smaller shrubs like juniper and prickly rose. the isle also has flowering plants and grasses that feed insects, birds, and small mammals.
question: what effects do declining wolf populations have on the island community?
biogeography
moose likely came to isle royale, an island about 580 square kilometers in lake superior, in the early 1900s by swimming from the mainland. without any predators around, the population shot up and then crashed in 1934 as the moose depleted the food available to them on the island.
a wolf population was established on the island in the late 1940s, probably after crossing an \ice bridge\ from the mainland. in 1958, scientists started monitoring the cyclical rise and fall of moose and wolf numbers, with one population influencing the other, but also responding to other factors, such as disease, tick outbreaks, severe winters, and immigrant wolves. the wolf population grew to as many as 50 individuals in 1980, and 24 wolves lived on the island as recently as 2009.
with warming climates, ice bridges to the island do not regularly occur, so it is unlikely mainland wolves will repopulate the island.
the national park service (nps) must make a decision: should they repopulate the island with wolves from other locations, or allow the wolf population on the island to naturally die off?

Explanation:

1. The text mentions that wolves likely came to Isle Royale in the late 1940s by crossing an "ice bridge" from the mainland.
2. The community of Isle Royale is made up of moose, wolves, small mammals, insects, birds, spruce, ash, juniper, prickly rose, flowering plants, and grasses.
3. A food web would show the relationships between producers (plants like spruce, ash, juniper, prickly rose, flowering plants, and grasses) and consumers (moose, wolves, small mammals, insects, birds). For example, moose eat plants, wolves eat moose, insects eat plants, birds may eat insects, and small mammals may eat plants or insects.
4. If there are no more wolves, the moose population may increase (as there are fewer predators), which could lead to over - grazing of plants. This could then affect other species that depend on those plants (such as insects, birds, and small mammals).

Answer:

1. Wolves likely came to Isle Royale in the late 1940s by crossing an "ice bridge" from the mainland.
2. The community of Isle Royale is made up of moose, wolves, small mammals, insects, birds, spruce, ash, juniper, prickly rose, flowering plants, and grasses.
3. A food web would show the relationships between producers (plants like spruce, ash, juniper, prickly rose, flowering plants, and grasses) and consumers (moose, wolves, small mammals, insects, birds). For example, moose eat plants, wolves eat moose, insects eat plants, birds may eat insects, and small mammals may eat plants or insects.
4. If there are no more wolves, the moose population may increase (as there are fewer predators), which could lead to over - grazing of plants. This could then affect other species that depend on those plants (such as insects, birds, and small mammals).