Of lemmings and snowshoe hares: the ecology of northern Canada
Two population oscillations dominate terrestrial community dynamics in northern Canada. In the boreal forest, the snowshoe hare ( Lepus americanus ) fluctuates in cycles with an 8–10 year periodicity and in tundra regions lemmings typically fluctuate in cycles with a 3–4 year periodicity. I review 6...
Published in: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
---|---|
Main Author: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
The Royal Society
2010
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.1992 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2010.1992 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2010.1992 |
id |
crroyalsociety:10.1098/rspb.2010.1992 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crroyalsociety:10.1098/rspb.2010.1992 2024-09-15T18:39:43+00:00 Of lemmings and snowshoe hares: the ecology of northern Canada Krebs, Charles J. 2010 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.1992 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2010.1992 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2010.1992 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 278, issue 1705, page 481-489 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 journal-article 2010 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.1992 2024-08-19T04:24:52Z Two population oscillations dominate terrestrial community dynamics in northern Canada. In the boreal forest, the snowshoe hare ( Lepus americanus ) fluctuates in cycles with an 8–10 year periodicity and in tundra regions lemmings typically fluctuate in cycles with a 3–4 year periodicity. I review 60 years of research that has uncovered many of the causes of these population cycles, outline areas of controversy that remain and suggest key questions to address. Lemmings are keystone herbivores in tundra ecosystems because they are a key food resource for many avian and mammalian predators and are a major consumer of plant production. There remains much controversy over the role of predation, food shortage and social interactions in causing lemming cycles. Predation is well documented as a significant mortality factor limiting numbers. Food shortage is less likely to be a major limiting factor on population growth in lemmings. Social interactions might play a critical role in reducing the rate of population growth as lemming density rises. Snowshoe hares across the boreal forest are a key food for many predators and their cycles have been the subject of large-scale field experiments that have pinpointed predation as the key limiting factor causing these fluctuations. Predators kill hares directly and indirectly stress them by unsuccessful pursuits. Stress reduces the reproductive rate of female hares and is transmitted to their offspring who also suffer reduced reproductive rates. The maternal effects produced by predation risk induce a time lag in the response of hare reproductive rate to density, aiding the cyclic dynamics. Article in Journal/Newspaper Tundra The Royal Society Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 278 1705 481 489 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
The Royal Society |
op_collection_id |
crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
Two population oscillations dominate terrestrial community dynamics in northern Canada. In the boreal forest, the snowshoe hare ( Lepus americanus ) fluctuates in cycles with an 8–10 year periodicity and in tundra regions lemmings typically fluctuate in cycles with a 3–4 year periodicity. I review 60 years of research that has uncovered many of the causes of these population cycles, outline areas of controversy that remain and suggest key questions to address. Lemmings are keystone herbivores in tundra ecosystems because they are a key food resource for many avian and mammalian predators and are a major consumer of plant production. There remains much controversy over the role of predation, food shortage and social interactions in causing lemming cycles. Predation is well documented as a significant mortality factor limiting numbers. Food shortage is less likely to be a major limiting factor on population growth in lemmings. Social interactions might play a critical role in reducing the rate of population growth as lemming density rises. Snowshoe hares across the boreal forest are a key food for many predators and their cycles have been the subject of large-scale field experiments that have pinpointed predation as the key limiting factor causing these fluctuations. Predators kill hares directly and indirectly stress them by unsuccessful pursuits. Stress reduces the reproductive rate of female hares and is transmitted to their offspring who also suffer reduced reproductive rates. The maternal effects produced by predation risk induce a time lag in the response of hare reproductive rate to density, aiding the cyclic dynamics. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Krebs, Charles J. |
spellingShingle |
Krebs, Charles J. Of lemmings and snowshoe hares: the ecology of northern Canada |
author_facet |
Krebs, Charles J. |
author_sort |
Krebs, Charles J. |
title |
Of lemmings and snowshoe hares: the ecology of northern Canada |
title_short |
Of lemmings and snowshoe hares: the ecology of northern Canada |
title_full |
Of lemmings and snowshoe hares: the ecology of northern Canada |
title_fullStr |
Of lemmings and snowshoe hares: the ecology of northern Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Of lemmings and snowshoe hares: the ecology of northern Canada |
title_sort |
of lemmings and snowshoe hares: the ecology of northern canada |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.1992 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2010.1992 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2010.1992 |
genre |
Tundra |
genre_facet |
Tundra |
op_source |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 278, issue 1705, page 481-489 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.1992 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
278 |
container_issue |
1705 |
container_start_page |
481 |
op_container_end_page |
489 |
_version_ |
1810484072304082944 |