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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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 |
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Open Polar |
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Oxford University Press |
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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 |
_version_ |
1810294714688077824 |