TABLE 2.
Hypotheses explaining the drivers of wolf (Canis lupus) occurrence frequency in central Alberta's Rocky Mountains and foothills regions in 2014, with the corresponding candidate models, model structure, Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC) values, ∆AIC scores, and AIC weights for each model.
| Wolf occurrence is influenced by… | Model number | Variables | Rank | AIC | ∆AIC | AIC weight | k‐Fold adjusted delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natural land cover | CM | NATURAL | 528.1 | ||||
| Industrial features | 1 | LINEAR | 11 | 522.78 | 18.50 | 0.00 | 0.025 |
| 2 | BLOCK | 6 | 512.12 | 7.84 | 0.01 | 0.022 | |
| 3 | LINEAR + BLOCK | 5 | 511.87 | 7.59 | 0.01 | 0.023 | |
| Prey species occurrence | 4 | WHITE‐TAILED DEER | 18 | 529.05 | 24.77 | 0.00 | 0.026 |
| 5 | MULE DEER | 21 | 529.64 | 25.36 | 0.00 | 0.026 | |
| 6 | MOOSE | 20 | 529.42 | 25.14 | 0.00 | 0.026 | |
| 7 | ELK | 22 | 529.93 | 25.65 | 0.00 | 0.026 | |
| Industrial features mediated by prey species occurrence | 8 | WHITE‐TAILED DEER + LINEAR + WTD*LINEAR | 16 | 525.18 | 20.90 | 0.00 | 0.028 |
| 9 | WHITE‐TAILED DEER + BLOCK + WTD*BLOCK | 4 | 510.32 | 6.05 | 0.03 | 0.024 | |
| 10 | MULE DEER + LINEAR + MD*LINEAR | 3 | 509.45 | 5.17 | 0.04 | 0.025 | |
| 11 | MULE DEER + BLOCK + MD*BLOCK | 2 | 505.02 | 0.74 | 0.37 | 0.022 | |
| 12 | MOOSE + LINEAR + MOOSE*LINEAR | 19 | 529.25 | 24.97 | 0.00 | 0.027 | |
| 13 | MOOSE + BLOCK + MOOSE*BLOCK | 8 | 516.35 | 12.08 | 0.00 | 0.023 | |
| 14 | ELK + LINEAR + ELK*LINEAR | 7 | 514.37 | 10.09 | 0.00 | 0.027 | |
| 15 | ELK + BLOCK + ELK*BLOCK | 1 | 504.28 | 0.00 | 0.54 | 0.022 | |
| Human activity | 16 | MOTORIZED | 17 | 527.64 | 23.37 | 0.00 | 0.026 |
| 17 | NON‐MOTORIZED | 9 | 521.19 | 16.91 | 0.00 | 0.026 | |
| 18 | MOTORIZED + NON‐MOTORIZED | 10 | 522.19 | 17.91 | 0.00 | 0.026 | |
| Prey species occurrence mediated by human activity | 19 | WHITE‐TAILED DEER + MOTORIZED + NON‐MOTORIZED | 12 | 523.95 | 19.67 | 0.00 | 0.027 |
| 20 | MULE DEER + MOTORIZED + NON‐MOTORIZED | 15 | 524.19 | 19.91 | 0.00 | 0.027 | |
| 21 | MOOSE + MOTORIZED + NON‐MOTORIZED | 13 | 524.13 | 19.85 | 0.00 | 0.026 | |
| 22 | ELK + MOTORIZED + NON‐MOTORIZED | 14 | 524.17 | 19.89 | 0.00 | 0.027 |
Note: The core model (CM) was included in every candidate model to account for baseline occurrence of wolves in relation to natural land cover. NATURAL = Proportion of natural landscape features; LINEAR = Density of linear features; BLOCK = proportion of block features (well sites and cutblocks); WHITE‐TAILED DEER or WTD = White‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) occurrence frequency; MULE DEER or MD = Mule deer (O. hemionus) occurrence frequency; MOOSE = moose (Alces alces) occurrence frequency; ELK = Elk (Cervus canadensis) occurrence frequency; MOTORIZED = Motorized human activity (quad, vehicle, motorbike, snowmobile) occurrence frequency; NON‐MOTORIZED = Non‐motorized (biker, hiker, horse rider, snowshoer, runner) occurrence frequency. * denotes an interaction between variables.