Cyclic dynamics of a boreal southern red-backed vole population in northwestern Quebec

• Published in: Journal of Mammalogy
• Main Authors: Fauteux, Dominique, Cheveau, Marianne, Imbeau, Louis, Drapeau, Pierre
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 2015
• Subjects: Feature Article; Canada; Fennoscandia
• Online Access: http://jmammal.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/96/3/573; https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyv062

In Fennoscandia, red-backed vole populations ( Myodes spp.) often show regular fluctuations of abundance of 3- to 5-year periods. In contrast, only a few populations show evidence of cyclic fluctuations in North America. From 2001 to 2009, we livetrapped southern red-backed voles ( Myodes gapperi ) in 3 mature jack pine and 3 mature black spruce forest stands in the Muskuchii hills region, Quebec, Canada. We found that their density fluctuated (up to 41-fold) with a cyclical pattern and 4-year periods. Our study is the first to demonstrate cyclic dynamics in a southern red-backed vole population found in the boreal forest of North America. Regular pulse of food or heavy predation may be responsible for the fluctuations of southern red-backed voles. Furthermore, vole cycles may help elucidate the factors driving the irruptions of owls in the boreal forest.