Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
A mink is on a slippery slope, serving as both predator and prey in the boreal ecosystem.
In summer, moose—one of the iconic animals of the northern forest— spend up to fourteen hours a day
grazing on aquatic plants and browsing hardwood species such as willow, poplar, alder, and birch, whereas in
winter they have been observed in Quebec to switch from birch to mountain maple. As omnivores, black bears
vary their diet by consuming 70 percent green vegetation— leaves, berries, nuts, and seeds—and making up
the balance with carrion and fish. Smaller mammals such as mink and weasel are important species in the
northern food web because they are both predator and prey. Weasels depend on mice and voles for half of their
food, and even more than that in winter. Mink prey on a wide variety of animals, including muskrat and hares.
In turn, hawks, owls, foxes, and likely wolves and lynx, prey on weasels and mink.
