Relating the 4-year lemming ( Lemmusspp. and Dicrostonyxspp.) population cycle to a 3.8-year lunar cycle and ENSO
Reported peak years of lemming (Lemmus spp. and Dicrostonyx spp.) and Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus (Linnaeus, 1758)) abundance were compiled from the literature for 12 locations spanning 127 years. The mean period of the 34 reported lemming and Arctic fox cycles from 1868 to 1994 was 3.8 years, sugges...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2018-0266 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2018-0266 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2018-0266 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/cjz-2018-0266 2024-06-23T07:48:58+00:00 Relating the 4-year lemming ( Lemmusspp. and Dicrostonyxspp.) population cycle to a 3.8-year lunar cycle and ENSO Archibald, H.L. 2019 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2018-0266 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2018-0266 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2018-0266 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 97, issue 11, page 1054-1063 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 journal-article 2019 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2018-0266 2024-05-24T13:05:53Z Reported peak years of lemming (Lemmus spp. and Dicrostonyx spp.) and Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus (Linnaeus, 1758)) abundance were compiled from the literature for 12 locations spanning 127 years. The mean period of the 34 reported lemming and Arctic fox cycles from 1868 to 1994 was 3.8 years, suggesting that the period of the 4-year cycle is actually 3.8 years. Peak population years were predicted using a simple model based on a 3.8-year lunar cycle. For nearly 130 years, reported years of peak abundance of lemmings and Arctic foxes were significantly correlated with and have persistently stayed in phase with predicted peak years of abundance. Over the same period, predicted peak years of lemming abundance have been closely aligned with peak (i.e., La Niña) years of the January–March Southern Oscillation Index (SOI). From 1952 to 1995, peak flowering in Norway tended to occur close to trough June–August SOI (El Niño) years. The hypothesis proposed is that the 3.8-year lunar cycle governs the timing of the lemming cycle, but it does not cause the population cycling itself. If this hypothesis is true, then the heretofore unexplained source of the persistent periodicity and quasi-metronomic regularity of the lemming cycle is identified. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Fox Arctic Vulpes lagopus Canadian Science Publishing Arctic Norway Soi ENVELOPE(30.704,30.704,66.481,66.481) Canadian Journal of Zoology 97 11 1054 1063 |
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Open Polar |
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Canadian Science Publishing |
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crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
Reported peak years of lemming (Lemmus spp. and Dicrostonyx spp.) and Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus (Linnaeus, 1758)) abundance were compiled from the literature for 12 locations spanning 127 years. The mean period of the 34 reported lemming and Arctic fox cycles from 1868 to 1994 was 3.8 years, suggesting that the period of the 4-year cycle is actually 3.8 years. Peak population years were predicted using a simple model based on a 3.8-year lunar cycle. For nearly 130 years, reported years of peak abundance of lemmings and Arctic foxes were significantly correlated with and have persistently stayed in phase with predicted peak years of abundance. Over the same period, predicted peak years of lemming abundance have been closely aligned with peak (i.e., La Niña) years of the January–March Southern Oscillation Index (SOI). From 1952 to 1995, peak flowering in Norway tended to occur close to trough June–August SOI (El Niño) years. The hypothesis proposed is that the 3.8-year lunar cycle governs the timing of the lemming cycle, but it does not cause the population cycling itself. If this hypothesis is true, then the heretofore unexplained source of the persistent periodicity and quasi-metronomic regularity of the lemming cycle is identified. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Archibald, H.L. |
spellingShingle |
Archibald, H.L. Relating the 4-year lemming ( Lemmusspp. and Dicrostonyxspp.) population cycle to a 3.8-year lunar cycle and ENSO |
author_facet |
Archibald, H.L. |
author_sort |
Archibald, H.L. |
title |
Relating the 4-year lemming ( Lemmusspp. and Dicrostonyxspp.) population cycle to a 3.8-year lunar cycle and ENSO |
title_short |
Relating the 4-year lemming ( Lemmusspp. and Dicrostonyxspp.) population cycle to a 3.8-year lunar cycle and ENSO |
title_full |
Relating the 4-year lemming ( Lemmusspp. and Dicrostonyxspp.) population cycle to a 3.8-year lunar cycle and ENSO |
title_fullStr |
Relating the 4-year lemming ( Lemmusspp. and Dicrostonyxspp.) population cycle to a 3.8-year lunar cycle and ENSO |
title_full_unstemmed |
Relating the 4-year lemming ( Lemmusspp. and Dicrostonyxspp.) population cycle to a 3.8-year lunar cycle and ENSO |
title_sort |
relating the 4-year lemming ( lemmusspp. and dicrostonyxspp.) population cycle to a 3.8-year lunar cycle and enso |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2018-0266 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2018-0266 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2018-0266 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(30.704,30.704,66.481,66.481) |
geographic |
Arctic Norway Soi |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Norway Soi |
genre |
Arctic Fox Arctic Vulpes lagopus |
genre_facet |
Arctic Fox Arctic Vulpes lagopus |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 97, issue 11, page 1054-1063 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2018-0266 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
97 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
1054 |
op_container_end_page |
1063 |
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1802639270729482240 |