“... we observed consumption of 57 wolf-killed elk... ” (Abstract)

“We found that the percentage of a carcass consumed by wolves increases as snow depth decreases and the ratio of wolf pack size to prey size and distance to the road increases. In addition, wolf packs of intermediate size provide the most carrion to scavengers.” (Abstract)

“... Our results demonstrate that wolves increase the time period over which carrion is available, and change the variability in scavenge from a late winter pulse dependent primarily on abiotic environmental conditions to one that is relatively constant across the winter and primarily dependent on wolf demographics. Wolves also decrease the year-to-year and month-to-month variation in carrion availability.” (Abstract)

“By transferring the availability of carrion from the highly productive late winter, to the less productive early winter and from highly productive years to less productive ones, wolves provide a temporal subsidy to scavengers.” (Abstract)

“Prior to wolf reintroduction in [Yellowstone National Park], carrion availability was primarily a function of winter severity... Since wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone in 1995, however, scavenging occurs at wolf-kill sites on a year-round basis...” (910)

“Elk are the primary prey species of wolves... as well as the primary source of scavenge for many of the ecosystem’s meat-eating species... these include grizzly bear, black bear, golden eagle, bald eagle, coyote, fox, raven and magpie.” (910)

“Wolf packs of intermediate size provide the largest subsidies to the scavenger guild in [Yellowstone National Park]... When wolf packs are small, they may not consume much, but their kill rates are low. Conversely, when wolf packs are large, kill rates are high but they also consume a large percentage of their prey. Wolf packs of intermediate size, however, kill at a relatively high rate but consume only part of the carcass, thereby maximizing the subsidy to scavengers.” (915)

“Gese et al. (1996) found that 54% of the variation in the amount of carcass biomass available to scavengers was due to snow depth and interaction between snow depth and minimum temperature. Our results indicate that, with the reintroduction of wolves, the number of wolves present has become the primary factor determining carcass biomass availability to scavengers with environmental conditions (particularly snow depth) now a secondary factor... The amount of carrion available to scavengers has thus shifted from one dependent primarily on environmental stochasticity to one dependent primarily on wolf demographic stochasticity.” (915)

“When wolf packs are large or winters are mild, the carrion wolf subsidy will be small. This subsidy increases for wolf packs of intermediate size and as winters become more severe.” (915)