We are now starting a multi-year collaboration with the Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADF&G) to examine predator-prey relationships, primarily of fur bearers, across interior Alaska.The plan calls for applying stable isotope techniques to examine both temporal and geographical variation in species-specific stable isotope signatures to elucidate variation in prey base. For some species, such as marten, we wish to use this information to help explain changes in reproductive patterns. The data base will be derived from carcass collections carried out by ADF&G. The first stage of this collaborative project is to analyze archived tissue samples of fur bearers going back over 10 years.

We will focus our sample collections from 4 areas in interior Alaska: McGrath (western interior), Fort Yukon (northern interior), Tok (eastern interior) and Fairbanks (central interior).The majority of the sample analyses will be conducted on muscle tissue, with additional measurements on fur from major prey species such as redback voles, snowshoe hares, and moose.

In parallel to this project, ADF&G will initiate small mammal monitoring at several locations in the interior (e.g., Tok and McGrath), that would compliment monitoring efforts of microtines in Denali Park and Preserve and snowshoe hares in Bonaza Creek Experimental Forest currently in place.