Demography of snowshoe hare population cycles
Cyclic fluctuations in abundance exhibited by some mammalian populations in northern habitats (“population cycles”) are key processes in the functioning of many boreal and tundra ecosystems. Understanding population cycles, essentially demographic processes, necessitates discerning the demographic m...
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2020
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Online Access: | https://researchprofiles.canberra.edu.au/en/publications/05e0cb0c-465b-48fe-8394-4ba00eb32a59 https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2969 https://researchsystem.canberra.edu.au/ws/files/57578563/Ecology_2020_Oli_Demography_of_snowshoe_hare_population_cycles.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85078896720&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
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ftcanberrauncris:oai:pure.atira.dk:publications/05e0cb0c-465b-48fe-8394-4ba00eb32a59 2024-10-06T13:53:15+00:00 Demography of snowshoe hare population cycles Oli, Madan K. Krebs, Charles J. Kenney, Alice J. Boonstra, Rudy Boutin, Stan Hines, James E. 2020-03-01 application/pdf https://researchprofiles.canberra.edu.au/en/publications/05e0cb0c-465b-48fe-8394-4ba00eb32a59 https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2969 https://researchsystem.canberra.edu.au/ws/files/57578563/Ecology_2020_Oli_Demography_of_snowshoe_hare_population_cycles.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85078896720&partnerID=8YFLogxK eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess Oli , M K , Krebs , C J , Kenney , A J , Boonstra , R , Boutin , S & Hines , J E 2020 , ' Demography of snowshoe hare population cycles ' , Ecology , vol. 101 , no. 3 , e02969 , pp. 1-15 . https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2969 article 2020 ftcanberrauncris https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2969 2024-09-11T23:37:07Z Cyclic fluctuations in abundance exhibited by some mammalian populations in northern habitats (“population cycles”) are key processes in the functioning of many boreal and tundra ecosystems. Understanding population cycles, essentially demographic processes, necessitates discerning the demographic mechanisms that underlie numerical changes. Using mark–recapture data spanning five population cycles (1977–2017), we examined demographic mechanisms underlying the 9–10-yr cycles exhibited by snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus Erxleben) in southwestern Yukon, Canada. Snowshoe hare populations always decreased during winter and increased during summer; the balance between winter declines and summer increases characterized the four, multiyear cyclic phases: increase, peak, decline, and low. Little or no recruitment occurred during winter, but summer recruitment varied markedly across the four phases with the highest and lowest recruitment observed during the increase and decline phase, respectively. Population crashes during the decline were triggered by a substantial decline in winter survival and by a lack of subsequent summer recruitment. In contrast, initiation of the increase phase was triggered by a twofold increase in summer recruitment abetted secondarily by improvements in subsequent winter survival. We show that differences in peak density across cycles are explained by differences in overall population growth rate, amount of time available for population growth to occur, and starting population density. Demographic mechanisms underlying snowshoe hare population cycles were consistent across cycles in our study site but we do not yet know if similar demographic processes underlie population cycles in other northern snowshoe hare populations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Tundra Yukon University of Canberra Research Portal Yukon Canada Ecology 101 3 |
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Open Polar |
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University of Canberra Research Portal |
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ftcanberrauncris |
language |
English |
description |
Cyclic fluctuations in abundance exhibited by some mammalian populations in northern habitats (“population cycles”) are key processes in the functioning of many boreal and tundra ecosystems. Understanding population cycles, essentially demographic processes, necessitates discerning the demographic mechanisms that underlie numerical changes. Using mark–recapture data spanning five population cycles (1977–2017), we examined demographic mechanisms underlying the 9–10-yr cycles exhibited by snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus Erxleben) in southwestern Yukon, Canada. Snowshoe hare populations always decreased during winter and increased during summer; the balance between winter declines and summer increases characterized the four, multiyear cyclic phases: increase, peak, decline, and low. Little or no recruitment occurred during winter, but summer recruitment varied markedly across the four phases with the highest and lowest recruitment observed during the increase and decline phase, respectively. Population crashes during the decline were triggered by a substantial decline in winter survival and by a lack of subsequent summer recruitment. In contrast, initiation of the increase phase was triggered by a twofold increase in summer recruitment abetted secondarily by improvements in subsequent winter survival. We show that differences in peak density across cycles are explained by differences in overall population growth rate, amount of time available for population growth to occur, and starting population density. Demographic mechanisms underlying snowshoe hare population cycles were consistent across cycles in our study site but we do not yet know if similar demographic processes underlie population cycles in other northern snowshoe hare populations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Oli, Madan K. Krebs, Charles J. Kenney, Alice J. Boonstra, Rudy Boutin, Stan Hines, James E. |
spellingShingle |
Oli, Madan K. Krebs, Charles J. Kenney, Alice J. Boonstra, Rudy Boutin, Stan Hines, James E. Demography of snowshoe hare population cycles |
author_facet |
Oli, Madan K. Krebs, Charles J. Kenney, Alice J. Boonstra, Rudy Boutin, Stan Hines, James E. |
author_sort |
Oli, Madan K. |
title |
Demography of snowshoe hare population cycles |
title_short |
Demography of snowshoe hare population cycles |
title_full |
Demography of snowshoe hare population cycles |
title_fullStr |
Demography of snowshoe hare population cycles |
title_full_unstemmed |
Demography of snowshoe hare population cycles |
title_sort |
demography of snowshoe hare population cycles |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://researchprofiles.canberra.edu.au/en/publications/05e0cb0c-465b-48fe-8394-4ba00eb32a59 https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2969 https://researchsystem.canberra.edu.au/ws/files/57578563/Ecology_2020_Oli_Demography_of_snowshoe_hare_population_cycles.pdf http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85078896720&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
geographic |
Yukon Canada |
geographic_facet |
Yukon Canada |
genre |
Tundra Yukon |
genre_facet |
Tundra Yukon |
op_source |
Oli , M K , Krebs , C J , Kenney , A J , Boonstra , R , Boutin , S & Hines , J E 2020 , ' Demography of snowshoe hare population cycles ' , Ecology , vol. 101 , no. 3 , e02969 , pp. 1-15 . https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2969 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2969 |
container_title |
Ecology |
container_volume |
101 |
container_issue |
3 |
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1812181936657924096 |