Coyote Lab Case Study

Part I: In the plains of West Texas, there is a whole community full of grasses, rodents,
mesopredators and coyotes. In this area coyotes are such great problem that people have been
killing them to protect their livestock and protect themselves. Through previous studies, it has
been indicated that removing coyotes can be different depending on what the community is like.
In this experiment we intend to monitor the changes in mesopredators and rodents.

Part II: In this experiment we will have four 5,000 hectare areas, two control and two
treatment. All coyotes will be removed from the treatment site and will have a 5 kilometer
border on the outside. If the coyotes are removed, then the amount of mesopredators will
increase and the amount of rodents will decrease. Since there are no coyotes there to eat the
mesopredators they will increase in size eating more and more rodents.

Part III: After three years you can notice that the amount of mesopredators keep increasing in
the treatment sites . It goes all the way too reach an abundance of 250 mesopredators. After a
while you ca see that it start decreasing little by little showing that the mesopredators have
reached their limit capacity. In the control site it is very different. After the treatment there was
almost no mesopredators. As a result of these changes in the mesopredators the rodent
poulation might decrease since there will be more predators than there used to be.

Part IV: The rodent population did change as expeceted at one point. After a few months the
rodent population kept increasing up to a biomass of 3500 rodents per hectare. From this you
can notice that maybe the coyotes were also eating rodents keeping the number low. After a
while with more and more mesopredators the rodent population started to decrease. I think the
primary factor to control rodent population growth is the amount of coyotes and mesopredators
in the community. I expect the rodent population to start decreasing even more after they reach
their limit capacity and there arent enough resources to sustain all of them.

Part V: With no coyotes in the treatment area the succes of the Ord Kangaroo rat does well.
With one less species to hunt them, they are able to survive more increasing their population. In
this case the coyote can be identified as a keystone, removing just that one specie, can affect the
whole community in the ecosystem. The decline in rodent diversity can be due to the increase in
mesopredators and the lack of resources to support all the different kinds of rodents.

Conclusion:
5225 Panda rd.
San Diego, CA. 12345
9/26/2015

Geramiah Profeta
1234 jorgeiscool st.
San Diego, CA, 12345
Dear Mr. Geramiah Profeta

I have done an experiment on the effects of removing coyotes from an area. We monitored the
changes in popultion of mesopredators, and rodents. Through the data we have collected we
have noticed that the amount of mesopredators and rodents have increased over time and soon
end up decreasing. I believe that the coyotes should be left alone, and have more protection for
the people that live in the area. The data shows an increase in mesopredators and rodents which
can disrupt the whole community. Coyotes are a keystone species that should be messed with.
Sincerely
Jorge Perez