WLF 448: Fish & Wildlife Population Ecology
Lecture Note Supplement, Fall 1996
TABLE 1: A List of Various Species of Large Terrestrial Mammals for Which There Is Evidence of Density Dependencea,b
Species Common Name Birth rate Age at first reproduction Juvenile survival Adult survival
Phacochoerus acthiopicus Wart hogs . . * .
Odocoileus virginianus White-tailed deer * * +   .
O. hemionus Mule deer   . +   .   .
Cervus canadensis Elk * * * *
C. elephusc Red deer   .   . . .
Bison bison Bison *   .   .  .
Bos tarus Longhorn cattle *   .   . .
Alces alces Moose * *   . .
Ovis canadensis Bighorn sheep * + * .
O. dalli Dall sheep *   . + . 
O. aries Soay sheep   .   . * *
Capra aegagous Ibex +   .   . .
Syncerus caffer African buffalo +   . * *
Chonochaetes taurinus Wildebeeste   . + + .
Hemitragus jemlachicus Himalayan tahr   . * + +
Loxodonta africana African elephants * * + .
Hippopotamus amphibius Hippos   . +   . .
Canis latrans Coyotes + . . .
C. lupus Wolves   .   . * .
Panthera leo Lion +   . + .
Urusus arctos Grizzly bears *  . * . 
Homo sapiens Humans   . .    . *

a See Fowler et al. (1980a) and Fowler (1980d, 1981) for details.
bA star indicates statistically significant evidence and a plus sign indicates anecdotal evidence.
c Red deer are represented by evidence for recruitment as a combination of the factors identified individually for the other species. 

 

TABLE 2. A list of cases used to test for nonlinearity of density dependence in large mammals. See text for details.
Species Reference Factor which changed Data points Evidence*
Humans (Homo sapiens)
. Paulus et al (1979) survival 9 +
Deer (Odocoileus virginianus and O. hemionus)
. Teer et al. (1965) ova per adult doe
embryos per yearling doe		 5
6		 +
+
. Hesselton et al. (1965) embryos per adult doe
embryos per yearling doe		 5
5		 -
-
. O'Roke and Hamerstrom (1948) fawns per doe 13 +
Swank (1958) corpora lutea per doe 4 +
Elk (Cervus canadensis)
. Gross (1969) calves per cow 10 +
. Fowler and Barmore (1979) portion pregnant 2-yr-olds
juvenile survival		 8
10		 +
-
Bison (Bison bison)
. Gjross et al. (1973) young per female 19 +
Longhorn cattle (Box taurus) 
. Gross et al. (1973) young per female 18 +
Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis)
. Geist (1971) lambs per ewe 11 +
. Woodgerd (1964) lambs per ewe 8 +
Soay sheep  (Ovis aries)
. Grubb (1964) juvenile survival
adult survival		 8
7 		+
+
African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) 
. Sinclair (1974) adult survival 7 +
Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos)
. McCullough (in press) cubs per female 12 +
Wolves (Canis lupus) 
. Walters et al. (in press) juvenile survival 5 +
Harp seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus) 
. Lett et al. (in press) portion giving birth
age at reproductive maturity
juvenile survival		 9
4
6		 +
-
+
Northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) 
. Elberhardt (in press) juvenile survival 19 +
Gray seals (Halichoerus grypus) 
. Coulson and Hickling (1964) juvenile survival 8 +
Blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) 
. Gambell (1975) pregnancy rate 6 +
Fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) 
. Gambell (1975) pregnancy rate 8 +
Sei whales (Balaenoptera borealis) 
. Gambell (1975) pregnancy rate 6 +

* + = support of the hypothesis that large mammal populations tend to show nonlinearity in density dependence, with change most pronounced at high population levels; - = support of null hypothesis.

Revised: 10 June 1998