Small rodent population cycles and plants – after 70 years, where do we go?
Small rodent population cycles characterise northern ecosystems, and the cause of these cycles has been a long-lastingcentral topic in ecology, with trophic interactions currently considered the most plausible cause. While some researchershave rejected plant–herbivore interactions as a cause of rode...
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fthsinnlandet:oai:brage.inn.no:11250/3112821 2024-03-03T08:49:15+00:00 Small rodent population cycles and plants – after 70 years, where do we go? Soininen, Eeva M Neby, Magne 2023 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3112821 https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.13021 eng eng Biological Reviews. 2023, . urn:issn:1464-7931 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3112821 https://doi.org/doi.org/10.1111/brv.13021 cristin:2189164 Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no © 2023 The Authors. 30 Biological Reviews plant–herbivore interaction arvicoline population dynamics vole lemming herbivore bottom-up top-down rodent population cycle VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488 Peer reviewed Journal article 2023 fthsinnlandet https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.13021 2024-02-02T12:42:12Z Small rodent population cycles characterise northern ecosystems, and the cause of these cycles has been a long-lastingcentral topic in ecology, with trophic interactions currently considered the most plausible cause. While some researchershave rejected plant–herbivore interactions as a cause of rodent cycles, others have continued to research their potentialroles. Here, we present an overview of whether plants can cause rodent population cycles, dividing this idea into fourdifferent hypotheses with different pathways of plant impacts and related assumptions. Our systematic review of theexisting literature identified 238 studies from 150 publications. This evidence base covered studies from the temperatebiome to the tundra, but the studies were scattered across study systems and only a few specific topics were addressedin a replicated manner. Quantitative effects of rodents on vegetation was the best studied topic, and our evidence basesuggests such that such effects may be most pronounced in winter. However, the regrowth of vegetation appears to takeplace too rapidly to maintain low rodent population densities over several years. The lack of studies prevented assessmentof time lags in the qualitative responses of vegetation to rodent herbivory. We conclude that the literature is currentlyinsufficient to discard with confidence any of the four potential hypotheses for plant–rodent cycles discussed herein.While new methods allow analyses of plant quality across more herbivore-relevant spatial scales than previously possible,we argue that the best way forward to rejecting any of the rodent–plant hypotheses is testing specific predictions of dietaryvariation. Indeed, all identified hypotheses make explicit assumptions on how rodent diet taxonomic composition andquality will change across the cycle. Passing this bottleneck could help pinpoint where, when, and how plant–herbivoreinteractions have–or do not have–plausible effects on rodent population dynamics. publishedVersion Article in Journal/Newspaper Tundra Høgskolen i Innlandet: Brage INN Biological Reviews 99 1 265 294 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Høgskolen i Innlandet: Brage INN |
op_collection_id |
fthsinnlandet |
language |
English |
topic |
plant–herbivore interaction arvicoline population dynamics vole lemming herbivore bottom-up top-down rodent population cycle VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488 |
spellingShingle |
plant–herbivore interaction arvicoline population dynamics vole lemming herbivore bottom-up top-down rodent population cycle VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488 Soininen, Eeva M Neby, Magne Small rodent population cycles and plants – after 70 years, where do we go? |
topic_facet |
plant–herbivore interaction arvicoline population dynamics vole lemming herbivore bottom-up top-down rodent population cycle VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488 |
description |
Small rodent population cycles characterise northern ecosystems, and the cause of these cycles has been a long-lastingcentral topic in ecology, with trophic interactions currently considered the most plausible cause. While some researchershave rejected plant–herbivore interactions as a cause of rodent cycles, others have continued to research their potentialroles. Here, we present an overview of whether plants can cause rodent population cycles, dividing this idea into fourdifferent hypotheses with different pathways of plant impacts and related assumptions. Our systematic review of theexisting literature identified 238 studies from 150 publications. This evidence base covered studies from the temperatebiome to the tundra, but the studies were scattered across study systems and only a few specific topics were addressedin a replicated manner. Quantitative effects of rodents on vegetation was the best studied topic, and our evidence basesuggests such that such effects may be most pronounced in winter. However, the regrowth of vegetation appears to takeplace too rapidly to maintain low rodent population densities over several years. The lack of studies prevented assessmentof time lags in the qualitative responses of vegetation to rodent herbivory. We conclude that the literature is currentlyinsufficient to discard with confidence any of the four potential hypotheses for plant–rodent cycles discussed herein.While new methods allow analyses of plant quality across more herbivore-relevant spatial scales than previously possible,we argue that the best way forward to rejecting any of the rodent–plant hypotheses is testing specific predictions of dietaryvariation. Indeed, all identified hypotheses make explicit assumptions on how rodent diet taxonomic composition andquality will change across the cycle. Passing this bottleneck could help pinpoint where, when, and how plant–herbivoreinteractions have–or do not have–plausible effects on rodent population dynamics. publishedVersion |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Soininen, Eeva M Neby, Magne |
author_facet |
Soininen, Eeva M Neby, Magne |
author_sort |
Soininen, Eeva M |
title |
Small rodent population cycles and plants – after 70 years, where do we go? |
title_short |
Small rodent population cycles and plants – after 70 years, where do we go? |
title_full |
Small rodent population cycles and plants – after 70 years, where do we go? |
title_fullStr |
Small rodent population cycles and plants – after 70 years, where do we go? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Small rodent population cycles and plants – after 70 years, where do we go? |
title_sort |
small rodent population cycles and plants – after 70 years, where do we go? |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3112821 https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.13021 |
genre |
Tundra |
genre_facet |
Tundra |
op_source |
30 Biological Reviews |
op_relation |
Biological Reviews. 2023, . urn:issn:1464-7931 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3112821 https://doi.org/doi.org/10.1111/brv.13021 cristin:2189164 |
op_rights |
Navngivelse 4.0 Internasjonal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.no © 2023 The Authors. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.13021 |
container_title |
Biological Reviews |
container_volume |
99 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
265 |
op_container_end_page |
294 |
_version_ |
1792506427379548160 |