A beacon of dung: using lemming (Lemmus lemmus) winter nests and DNA analysis of faeces to further understand predator–prey dynamics in Northern Sweden
Abstract The hypothesis that predation is the cause of the regular small rodent population oscillations observed in boreal and Arctic regions has long been debated. Within this hypothesis, it is proposed that the most likely predators to cause these destabilizing effects are sedentary specialists, w...
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Springer Science and Business Media LLC
2021
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crspringernat:10.1007/s00300-021-02958-6 2023-05-15T15:11:32+02:00 A beacon of dung: using lemming (Lemmus lemmus) winter nests and DNA analysis of faeces to further understand predator–prey dynamics in Northern Sweden Vigués, Jan Menci, Silvia Wilkinson, Caitlin Le Vaillant, Maryline Angerbjörn, Anders Norén, Karin Stiftelsen Oscar och Lili Lamms Minne Naturvårdsverket Fjällräven International AB Naturkompaniet AB Stockholm University EcoClim Project Göran Gustafssons Stiftelse för Naturvetenskaplig och Medicinsk Forskning Stockholm University 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00300-021-02958-6 https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00300-021-02958-6.pdf https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00300-021-02958-6/fulltext.html en eng Springer Science and Business Media LLC https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 CC-BY Polar Biology volume 44, issue 12, page 2269-2276 ISSN 0722-4060 1432-2056 General Agricultural and Biological Sciences journal-article 2021 crspringernat https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-021-02958-6 2022-01-04T15:23:13Z Abstract The hypothesis that predation is the cause of the regular small rodent population oscillations observed in boreal and Arctic regions has long been debated. Within this hypothesis, it is proposed that the most likely predators to cause these destabilizing effects are sedentary specialists, with small mustelids being possible candidates. One such case would be the highly specialized least weasel ( Mustela nivalis ) driving the Norwegian lemming ( Lemmus lemmus ) cycle in Fennoscandia. These predators are often elusive and therefore distribution data can only be based on field signs, which is problematic when various mustelid species are sympatric, such as weasels and stoats ( Mustela erminea ). Here we present the results of using mustelid faeces in predated winter lemming nests to correctly identify the predator and thus discern which species exerts the strongest predation pressure on lemming winter populations. Samples were obtained during different phases in the lemming cycle, spanning 6 years, to account for different prey densities. Faecal mitochondrial DNA extraction and amplification of a 400-bp fragment was successful in 92/114 samples (81%); the sequencing of these samples proved that most predation occurrences (83%) could be attributed to the least weasel. These findings support the hypothesis that weasels in particular show high specificity in predation and could therefore be candidates to driving the lemming cycle in this area. We conclude that DNA analysis of faecal remains around predated nests can be a useful tool for further investigations concerning predator–prey interactions in the tundra. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Fennoscandia Least Lemmus lemmus Mustela erminea Mustela nivalis Northern Sweden Norwegian lemming Polar Biology Tundra Springer Nature (via Crossref) Arctic Polar Biology 44 12 2269 2276 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Springer Nature (via Crossref) |
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crspringernat |
language |
English |
topic |
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences |
spellingShingle |
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences Vigués, Jan Menci, Silvia Wilkinson, Caitlin Le Vaillant, Maryline Angerbjörn, Anders Norén, Karin A beacon of dung: using lemming (Lemmus lemmus) winter nests and DNA analysis of faeces to further understand predator–prey dynamics in Northern Sweden |
topic_facet |
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences |
description |
Abstract The hypothesis that predation is the cause of the regular small rodent population oscillations observed in boreal and Arctic regions has long been debated. Within this hypothesis, it is proposed that the most likely predators to cause these destabilizing effects are sedentary specialists, with small mustelids being possible candidates. One such case would be the highly specialized least weasel ( Mustela nivalis ) driving the Norwegian lemming ( Lemmus lemmus ) cycle in Fennoscandia. These predators are often elusive and therefore distribution data can only be based on field signs, which is problematic when various mustelid species are sympatric, such as weasels and stoats ( Mustela erminea ). Here we present the results of using mustelid faeces in predated winter lemming nests to correctly identify the predator and thus discern which species exerts the strongest predation pressure on lemming winter populations. Samples were obtained during different phases in the lemming cycle, spanning 6 years, to account for different prey densities. Faecal mitochondrial DNA extraction and amplification of a 400-bp fragment was successful in 92/114 samples (81%); the sequencing of these samples proved that most predation occurrences (83%) could be attributed to the least weasel. These findings support the hypothesis that weasels in particular show high specificity in predation and could therefore be candidates to driving the lemming cycle in this area. We conclude that DNA analysis of faecal remains around predated nests can be a useful tool for further investigations concerning predator–prey interactions in the tundra. |
author2 |
Stiftelsen Oscar och Lili Lamms Minne Naturvårdsverket Fjällräven International AB Naturkompaniet AB Stockholm University EcoClim Project Göran Gustafssons Stiftelse för Naturvetenskaplig och Medicinsk Forskning Stockholm University |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Vigués, Jan Menci, Silvia Wilkinson, Caitlin Le Vaillant, Maryline Angerbjörn, Anders Norén, Karin |
author_facet |
Vigués, Jan Menci, Silvia Wilkinson, Caitlin Le Vaillant, Maryline Angerbjörn, Anders Norén, Karin |
author_sort |
Vigués, Jan |
title |
A beacon of dung: using lemming (Lemmus lemmus) winter nests and DNA analysis of faeces to further understand predator–prey dynamics in Northern Sweden |
title_short |
A beacon of dung: using lemming (Lemmus lemmus) winter nests and DNA analysis of faeces to further understand predator–prey dynamics in Northern Sweden |
title_full |
A beacon of dung: using lemming (Lemmus lemmus) winter nests and DNA analysis of faeces to further understand predator–prey dynamics in Northern Sweden |
title_fullStr |
A beacon of dung: using lemming (Lemmus lemmus) winter nests and DNA analysis of faeces to further understand predator–prey dynamics in Northern Sweden |
title_full_unstemmed |
A beacon of dung: using lemming (Lemmus lemmus) winter nests and DNA analysis of faeces to further understand predator–prey dynamics in Northern Sweden |
title_sort |
beacon of dung: using lemming (lemmus lemmus) winter nests and dna analysis of faeces to further understand predator–prey dynamics in northern sweden |
publisher |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00300-021-02958-6 https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00300-021-02958-6.pdf https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00300-021-02958-6/fulltext.html |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Fennoscandia Least Lemmus lemmus Mustela erminea Mustela nivalis Northern Sweden Norwegian lemming Polar Biology Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Fennoscandia Least Lemmus lemmus Mustela erminea Mustela nivalis Northern Sweden Norwegian lemming Polar Biology Tundra |
op_source |
Polar Biology volume 44, issue 12, page 2269-2276 ISSN 0722-4060 1432-2056 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-021-02958-6 |
container_title |
Polar Biology |
container_volume |
44 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
2269 |
op_container_end_page |
2276 |
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1766342371955441664 |