Environmental and anthropogenic landscape-level alterations are forcing predators, prey, livestock, and humans to share space in novel ways that increase the potential for conflict. Following their broad-scale extirpation, wolves in California are returning to novel, human-use landscapes that are being increasingly affected by environmental disturbances. Herein, we analyzed habitat selection by wolves (n = 15) in four packs between 2017-2025 to understand the environmental drivers of wolf space use and response to disturbance. We modeled seasonal resource selection functions to analyze preference for habitat types and individual variation in pack and wolf behavior related to prey density, wildfire intensity, and rangelands. Our preliminary findings indicate that wolves selected for areas of higher prey densities, but responded differently to native and domestic prey. We also found that wolves had variable responses to both environmental and anthropogenic landscape alterations and response to disturbance was mediated by prey density. With the largest human population in the US and livestock consistently intermixed with native prey, wolves are returning to a very different California than they once may have known. Our results provide insight into how California wolves might respond to landscape alterations and thus, predict future patterns of recolonization.

Christina is a wildlife biologist and Masters student studying wolf ecology and conservation on working lands in California in the Middleton and Brashares lab at UC Berkeley and is the field lead for the California Wolf Project (CAWP). Prior to joining CAWP, Christina worked with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife on large carnivores and mesocarnivores, and was engaged on a wide range of projects around the state. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Gonzaga University, and gained diverse experience ranging from camera trapping for jaguars in Belize and Panama to studying fisher movement in California.