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I Caribou

Figure 2-1. A diagram showing the main trophic (i.e. feeding) relationships between the various terrestrial mammals recorded as present on Prince Edward Island in British period records, including their interaction with the livestock and poultry rearing systems of the European settlers. (The wolf and the caribou had been extirpated before the British period.)

The arrows indicate the trophic relationships, with the broad arrows indicating specialist predator—prey relationships where the predator is likely to have concentrated on one type of prey. Those arrows marked by an aster/sque are based on information from the contemporary records for the island (an *F indicates a French period record). Otherwise the relationships shown are based on information from various general sources. Where a predator is recorded as taking livestock or poultry, this is indicated by an ’L’ or ’P’ respectively above each predator box.

The above diagram is a simplification — it shows only the main predator-prey relationships. In reality it is likely that every predator would have fed at some time or other on all of the herbivores (with the possible exception of the caribou), and many are also likely to have fed on occasion on plant materials, especially on fruits, nuts and berries. Also, except for the ruffed grouse and the passenger pigeon, all of the birds have been omitted. There is

also likely to have been a greater interaction than is shown in the figure, between aquatic and terrestrial food-chains, due to the terrestrial predators feeding along the shore and/or on shore and aquatic birds.