The Role of Red Squirrels and Arctic Ground Squirrels

Abstract A consistent feature throughout the boreal forest of North America is the rattle call of the red squirrel, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, as it advertises its whereabouts to con­ specifics. Like the snowshoe hare, the red squirrel’s distribution encompasses the entire boreal forest (see figure 2....

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Main Authors: Boonstra, Rudy, Boutin, Stan, Byrom, Andrea, Karels, Tim, Hubbs, Anne, Stuart-Smith, Kari, Blower, Michael, Antpoehler, Susan
Format: Book Part
Language:English
Published: Oxford University PressNew York, NY 2001
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195133936.003.0009
https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/52510912/isbn-9780195133936-book-part-9.pdf
id croxfordunivpr:10.1093/oso/9780195133936.003.0009
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spelling croxfordunivpr:10.1093/oso/9780195133936.003.0009 2024-09-15T17:52:40+00:00 The Role of Red Squirrels and Arctic Ground Squirrels Boonstra, Rudy Boutin, Stan Byrom, Andrea Karels, Tim Hubbs, Anne Stuart-Smith, Kari Blower, Michael Antpoehler, Susan 2001 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195133936.003.0009 https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/52510912/isbn-9780195133936-book-part-9.pdf en eng Oxford University PressNew York, NY Ecosystem Dynamics Of The Boreal Forest page 179-214 ISBN 9780195133936 9780197700808 book-chapter 2001 croxfordunivpr https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195133936.003.0009 2024-08-05T04:32:59Z Abstract A consistent feature throughout the boreal forest of North America is the rattle call of the red squirrel, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, as it advertises its whereabouts to con­ specifics. Like the snowshoe hare, the red squirrel’s distribution encompasses the entire boreal forest (see figure 2.7). The “keek keek” call of a second squirrel species, the arctic ground squirrel (Spermophilus parryii, the siksik of the Inuit), is also heard in the boreal forests of northwestern North America (Banfield 1974). In terms of biomass of herbivores in these forests, these two squirrels are the second and third most important, respectively, after snowshoe hares (see figure 1.2). Both squirrel species could serve as alternate food sources for the many predators who eat primarily snowshoe hares. However, before our study, no one had investigated experimentally the possible linkages between populations of these squirrels and the snowshoe hare population cycle. The conventional wisdom is that any link would be a secondary one, as predators switch from hares to squirrels during the hare decline. Though both squirrels are active during the summer and thus potentially available to predators, only red squirrels remain active during the long boreal winter and are one of the few alternate prey available to hare predators. Book Part Arctic ground squirrel inuit Oxford University Press 179 214
institution Open Polar
collection Oxford University Press
op_collection_id croxfordunivpr
language English
description Abstract A consistent feature throughout the boreal forest of North America is the rattle call of the red squirrel, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, as it advertises its whereabouts to con­ specifics. Like the snowshoe hare, the red squirrel’s distribution encompasses the entire boreal forest (see figure 2.7). The “keek keek” call of a second squirrel species, the arctic ground squirrel (Spermophilus parryii, the siksik of the Inuit), is also heard in the boreal forests of northwestern North America (Banfield 1974). In terms of biomass of herbivores in these forests, these two squirrels are the second and third most important, respectively, after snowshoe hares (see figure 1.2). Both squirrel species could serve as alternate food sources for the many predators who eat primarily snowshoe hares. However, before our study, no one had investigated experimentally the possible linkages between populations of these squirrels and the snowshoe hare population cycle. The conventional wisdom is that any link would be a secondary one, as predators switch from hares to squirrels during the hare decline. Though both squirrels are active during the summer and thus potentially available to predators, only red squirrels remain active during the long boreal winter and are one of the few alternate prey available to hare predators.
format Book Part
author Boonstra, Rudy
Boutin, Stan
Byrom, Andrea
Karels, Tim
Hubbs, Anne
Stuart-Smith, Kari
Blower, Michael
Antpoehler, Susan
spellingShingle Boonstra, Rudy
Boutin, Stan
Byrom, Andrea
Karels, Tim
Hubbs, Anne
Stuart-Smith, Kari
Blower, Michael
Antpoehler, Susan
The Role of Red Squirrels and Arctic Ground Squirrels
author_facet Boonstra, Rudy
Boutin, Stan
Byrom, Andrea
Karels, Tim
Hubbs, Anne
Stuart-Smith, Kari
Blower, Michael
Antpoehler, Susan
author_sort Boonstra, Rudy
title The Role of Red Squirrels and Arctic Ground Squirrels
title_short The Role of Red Squirrels and Arctic Ground Squirrels
title_full The Role of Red Squirrels and Arctic Ground Squirrels
title_fullStr The Role of Red Squirrels and Arctic Ground Squirrels
title_full_unstemmed The Role of Red Squirrels and Arctic Ground Squirrels
title_sort role of red squirrels and arctic ground squirrels
publisher Oxford University PressNew York, NY
publishDate 2001
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195133936.003.0009
https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/52510912/isbn-9780195133936-book-part-9.pdf
genre Arctic ground squirrel
inuit
genre_facet Arctic ground squirrel
inuit
op_source Ecosystem Dynamics Of The Boreal Forest
page 179-214
ISBN 9780195133936 9780197700808
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195133936.003.0009
container_start_page 179
op_container_end_page 214
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