Pumas as ecosystem engineers: ungulate carcasses support beetle assemblages in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Ecosystem engineers create physical changes in abiotic and biotic material, and through this process control the availability of resources for other species. Predators that abandon large portions of their prey may be ecosystem engineers that create habitat for carrion-dependent invertebrates that utilize carcasses during critical life-history periods. Between 04-May-2016 and 04-Oct-2016, we sampled beetle assemblages at 18 carcasses of prey killed by pumas and matching control sites in the southern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, USA, to measure the extent to which beetle families utilized these carcass "habitats".

The association between continual, year-round hunting and bellowing rate of bison bulls during the rut.

The impact of hunting (selective harvest, trophy hunting) on the demography of mammals is well documented. However, despite continual year-round hunting of bison in some populations, little is known about how the behavior of survivors may be altered. Therefore, in this initial study, we used focal-animal observations in adjacent populations of continually hunted and protected Plains bison () in western South Dakota, to examine the potential impact of hunting on bellowing rate-an important behavior that serves to intimidate rival bulls and potentially influences mate choice by females.