A-B / C-D / E-F / G-H / I-J / K-L / M-N / O-P / Q-R / S-T / U-V / W-X / Y-Z
C-D
Cache
A hiding place used for storing food if there is an abundance of meat from a kill; v. to store or hide.
International Wolf Center Glossary
Nelson ME, Mech LD. Wolves, Canis lupus, carry and cache the collars of radio-collared White-tailed Deer, Odocoileus virginianus, they killed. The Canadian Field-Naturalist. 2011
Bugnyar T, Schwab C, Schloegl C, Kotrschal K, Heinrich B. Ravens judge competitors through experience with play caching. Current biology. 2007 Oct
Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA)
Includes all of the 94 major and 36,469 minor islands lying to the north of the Canadian continental mainland in the Arctic Sea (excluding Greenland). Comprising most of Nunavut and part of the Northwest Territories.
Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis (CCCma), a section of the Climate Research Division, develops and applies computer models of the climate system to simulate global and Canadian climate, and to predict changes on seasonal to centennial timescales. Analysis of these simulations, together with observations, is used to provide science-based quantitative information to inform climate change adaptation and mitigation in Canada and internationally, and to improve our understanding of the climate system.
Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI) System
The Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI) System consists of six components that account for the effects of fuel moisture and wind on fire behavior.
The first three components, the fuel moisture codes, are numeric ratings of the moisture content of litter and other fine fuels, the average moisture content of loosely compacted organic layers of moderate depth, and the average moisture content of deep, compact organic layers.
The remaining three components are fire behavior indices, which represent the rate of fire spread, the fuel available for combustion, and the frontal fire intensity; their values rise as the fire danger increases.
Captive Breeding
Breeding animals in such places as zoos. Captive breeding is a tool to save critically endangered species such as the Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus balleyi) and the red wolf (Canis rufus). These captive populations may be used for reintroduction in designated areas.
International Wolf Center Glossary
Ramirez O, Altet L, Ensenat C, Vilà C, Sanchez A, Ruiz A. Genetic assessment of the Iberian wolf Canis lupus signatus captive breeding program. Conservation Genetics. 2006 Dec
Carrying Capacity
The total number of a species that a given area of a habitat can support at any given time; the ability of a given area to supply water, food and shelter to a species.
Fredrickson RJ, Hedrick PW. Dynamics of hybridization and introgression in red wolves and coyotes. Conservation Biology. 2006 Aug
Jensen AL, Miller DH. Modeling emigration of wolves from a wilderness area into adjacent agricultural regions. Ecological modelling. 2004 Jul
catkin or ament
A slim, cylindrical flower cluster (a spike), with inconspicuous or no petals, usually wind-pollinated (anemophilous) but sometimes insect-pollinated.
Central-Place Foraging Theory (CPFT)
“Optimal foraging theory establishes how organisms maximize the rate of food delivery or energetic efficiency (i.e.,mass or energy per unit of time or energy gained per unitof energy expended, respectively) according to the costs of transport, manipulation, and discovery, among others (Mac-Arthur and Pianka 1966; Pyke et al. 1977). One extension ofthis theory, the central-place foraging theory (CPFT), considers animals that forage in a patch at some distance and then return resources to a central place (Orians and Pear-son 1979). The classical theory predicts the relationship be-tween the size of a food item taken and the travel distance fora variety of taxa, … . Although CPFT has been foundational for behavioral ecology, many ecological and environmental factors that affect foraging behaviors, such as predation, social interaction, and temperature, have been overlooked, driving a wedge between empirical data and theoretical predictions (Rozen-Rechels et al. 2015).”
A breath of fresh air in foraging theory: The importance of wind for food size selection in a central-place forager. Alma AM, Farji-Brener AG, Elizalde L. The American Naturalist. 2017 Sep
Crepuscular
Active primarily during twilight (that is, the periods of dawn and dusk).
Smithsonian Glossary
CEWP – Central European Wolf Population
Wolves in Germany and the western half of Poland (west of the 18° 08’ meridian) belong to the Central European Lowland population (KACZENSKY et al. 2013). With the inclusion of Czech Republic, Denmark and Netherlands.
Standards for the monitoring of the Central European wolf population in Germany and Poland. Reinhardt I, Kluth G, Pierużek-Nowak S, Mysłajek RW. BfN Federal Agency for Nature Conservation; 2015.
Cervid
Any member of the deer family, Cervidae, comprising deer, caribou, Elk, and moose, characterized by the bearing of antlers in the male or in both sexes.
The Climate and Cryosphere (CliC) project is one of the core projects of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), serving as the focal point for climate science related to the cryosphere, its variability and change, and interaction with the broader climate system.
The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ)
“A ~ 4300 km2 area in Belarus and Ukraine that remains heavily contaminated with radiation from the nuclear accident of 1986. Long standing controversy persists on the fate of wildlife within the CEZ following human abandonment of the area. Human residency remains extremely sparse, and the CEZ has become a refuge for some populations of wildlife, including gray wolves (Canis lupus).”
Evidence of long-distance dispersal of a gray wolf from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Byrne ME, Webster SC, Lance SL, Love CN, Hinton TG, Shamovich D, Beasley JC. European journal of wildlife research. 2018 Aug
Climate Forcing or Radiative Forcing
The difference between the sunlight absorbed by the planet and the energy radiated back into space.
“Change in energy flux caused by natural or anthropogenic drivers of climate change.”
Shindell, Drew (2013). “Radiative Forcing in the AR5” (PDF). Retrieved 15 September 2016.
Concomitant – naturally accompanying
Color Phase
The color of an animal’s pelage (fur), which is determined by genetics and may vary within a population.
Jolicoeur P. Multivariate geographical variation in the wolf Canis lupus L. Evolution. 1959 Sep
Cull, Culling
Culling is used reduce the population of (a wild animal) by selective slaughter or indiscriminate killing.
Chapron G, Treves A. Blood does not buy goodwill: allowing culling increases poaching of a large carnivore. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2016 May
Cursorial
An animal specifically adapted to run long distance at a high speed.
Cratering (ungulates)
Digging through the snow for food. Example: caribou digging strokes through snow to obtain lichen.
Fancy SG, White RG. Energy expenditures by caribou while cratering in snow. The Journal of wildlife management. 1985
Den
A shelter, often a small cave or hole dug out of the ground, to protect the breeding female and her young pups from weather and other animals. In a normal den, the birthing chamber lies at the end of a tunnel that may be up to 15 feet long in soft soil. The den is often slightly elevated above the rest of the tunnel, and no den-lining material is used. … Sometimes wolves will use abandoned dens of other animals, such as bear dens or a beaver dam.
[PDF] Tolerance by denning wolves, Canis lupus, to human disturbance; RP Thiel, S Merrill, LD Mech – Canadian Field Naturalist, 1998 – wolf.org
Depredation
The confirmed killing or maiming of lawfully present domestic livestock on federal, state, tribal, or other public lands, or private lands by one or more wolves or other predators.
Clark PE, Chigbrow J, Johnson DE, Larson LL, Nielson RM, Louhaichi M, Roland T, Williams J. Predicting Spatial Risk of Wolf-Cattle Encounters and Depredation. Rangeland Ecology & Management. 2020 Jan
Dispersal
Unless wolves or a wolf becomes a breeder in its natal pack, most will leave their natal packs and territories to establish their own territories and packs.
Geffen EL, Anderson MJ, Wayne RK. Climate and habitat barriers to dispersal in the highly mobile grey wolf. Molecular Ecology. 2004 Aug;
Distinct Population Segment (DPS)
A term created in the 1978 amendments to the Endangered species Act (ESA) allowing vertebrate species to be divided into distinct groups based on geography and genetic distinction. This controversial amendment to the ESA allows the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to adopt different management practices, including the level of protection, for different populations according to their need. The current DPSs are Northern Rocky Mountain, Western Great Lakes, Southwestern and Eastern.
International Wolf Center Glossary
Distant-dispersers;
Wolves that chance finding or founding new populations.
Distributary Channels
Distributary channel is a stream that carries water away from the main river channel and distributes it to other area. Distributary channel has bifurcating channels that persists relatively independent of the parent stream. However, they may rejoin the parent channel or each other. Distributary channels are a common feature of river deltas. Distributaries are usually formed as a stream nears the lake or the ocean, but they can occur inland as well. In some cases, a minor distributary can take so much water from the main channel that it can become the main route. The opposite of a distributary is a tributary.
Chaudhary A. (2011) Distributary Channels. In: Singh V.P., Singh P., Haritashya U.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Snow, Ice and Glaciers. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht.
Disturance (Ecological)
In ecology, a disturbance is a temporary change in environmental conditions that causes a pronounced change in an ecosystem. Disturbances often act quickly and with great effect, to alter the physical structure or arrangement of biotic and abiotic elements. Disturbance can also occur over a long period of time and can impact the biodiversity within an ecosystem. Major ecological disturbances may include fires, flooding, storms, insect outbreaks and trampling. Earthquakes, various types of volcanic eruptions, tsunami, firestorms, impact events, climate change, and the devastating effects of human impact on the environment (anthropogenic disturbances) such as clearcutting, forest clearing and the introduction of invasive species [cite].
Newman EA. Disturbance ecology in the Anthropocene. Front. Ecol. Evol. 7: 147. doi: 10.3389/fevo. 2019 May
disturbance‐mediated apparent competition (DMAC)
“With DMAC, natural and anthropogenic disturbances that increase the abundance of deciduous‐browsing cervids (e.g., moose [Alces alces], deer [Odocoileus spp.]) are thought to promote predator (especially wolf [Canis lupus]) numbers, which heightens predation risk to caribou. ”
Disturbance‐Mediated Apparent Competition Decouples in a Northern Boreal Caribou Range. Neufeld BT, Superbie C, Greuel RJ, Perry T, Tomchuk PA, Fortin D, McLoughlin PD. The Journal of Wildlife Management. 2020
Dominance Hierarchy
A linear “chain of command” concept describing rank within a wolf pack established through competition and conflict. According to this model, the strongest male and female are the “alphas,” and the second in rank are the “betas.” The “omega” wolf is the lowest ranking wolf, often having to beg food and always losing fights. While this status hierarchy may exist in captive packs comprised of unrelated individuals, natural wolf packs usually consist of parents and their offspring of various years. In a free-ranging wolf family, each wolf seems to know its standing and communicates it to the others. The parents are in charge, with the older siblings next in order of dominance followed by the pups of the current year.
International Wolf Center Glossary