Abstract

Although loss of genetic fitness is known to be severely detrimental to the viability of populations, little is known about how changes in the genetic fitness of keystone species can impact the functioning of communities and ecosystems. Here we assessed how changes in the genetic fitness of a keystone predator, grey wolves, impacted the ecosystem of Isle Royale National Park over 2-decades. The decline and subsequent resurgence of inbreeding in the wolf population led to a rise and then fall in predation rates on moose, the primary prey of wolves and dominant mammalian herbivore in this system. Those changes in predation rate led to large fluctuations in moose abundance which in turn impacted browse rates on balsam fir, the dominant forage for moose during winter and an important species in the forest. Thus, forest dynamics can be traced back to changes in the genetic health of a predator population.