06-13-2006, 04:41 PM
uh, wasn't arguing the percentages math scholar, besides the fact that those percentages represent winter kills, not yearly percentages. I agree that calves being taken out does affect the population, as I stated earlier, but not necessarily in a negative way. Large numbers of animals do not equal the overall health of an animal population. The carrying capacity of every ecosystem cannot be exceeded or there will be a crash in the population. The survival of healthy cow elk is the main component, not calves. Reread the quote that you copied below.
"For all these predators, elk calves are a major dietary component. Thus, in a very real sense, the abundance and survival of cow elk, through their annual production of young, support major links in the Yellowstone food web and will determine the trajectory of the elk population in the future."
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"For all these predators, elk calves are a major dietary component. Thus, in a very real sense, the abundance and survival of cow elk, through their annual production of young, support major links in the Yellowstone food web and will determine the trajectory of the elk population in the future."
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