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-lasting central topic in ecology, with trophic interactions currently considered the most plausible cause. While some researchers have rejected plant–herbivore interactions as a cause of ro...
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10037/31653 https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.13021 |
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ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/31653 2023-11-12T04:27:38+01:00 Small rodent population cycles and plants – after 70 years, where do we go? Soininen, Eeva M Neby, Magne 2023-10-12 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/31653 https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.13021 eng eng Wiley Biological Reviews Soininen EM, Neby MN. Small rodent population cycles and plants – after 70 years, where do we go?. Biological Reviews. 2023 FRIDAID 2189164 https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.13021 1464-7931 1469-185X https://hdl.handle.net/10037/31653 Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) openAccess Copyright 2023 The Author(s) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 Journal article Tidsskriftartikkel Peer reviewed publishedVersion 2023 ftunivtroemsoe https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.13021 2023-11-02T00:08:03Z Small rodent population cycles characterise northern ecosystems, and the cause of these cycles has been a long-lasting central topic in ecology, with trophic interactions currently considered the most plausible cause. While some researchers have rejected plant–herbivore interactions as a cause of rodent cycles, others have continued to research their potential roles. Here, we present an overview of whether plants can cause rodent population cycles, dividing this idea into four different hypotheses with different pathways of plant impacts and related assumptions. Our systematic review of the existing literature identified 238 studies from 150 publications. This evidence base covered studies from the temperate biome to the tundra, but the studies were scattered across study systems and only a few specific topics were addressed in a replicated manner. Quantitative effects of rodents on vegetation was the best studied topic, and our evidence base suggests such that such effects may be most pronounced in winter. However, the regrowth of vegetation appears to take place too rapidly to maintain low rodent population densities over several years. The lack of studies prevented assessment of time lags in the qualitative responses of vegetation to rodent herbivory. We conclude that the literature is currently insufficient 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 dietary variation. Indeed, all identified hypotheses make explicit assumptions on how rodent diet taxonomic composition and quality will change across the cycle. Passing this bottleneck could help pinpoint where, when, and how plant–herbivore interactions have – or do not have – plausible effects on rodent population dynamics. Article in Journal/Newspaper Tundra University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive Biological Reviews |
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Open Polar |
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University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive |
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ftunivtroemsoe |
language |
English |
description |
Small rodent population cycles characterise northern ecosystems, and the cause of these cycles has been a long-lasting central topic in ecology, with trophic interactions currently considered the most plausible cause. While some researchers have rejected plant–herbivore interactions as a cause of rodent cycles, others have continued to research their potential roles. Here, we present an overview of whether plants can cause rodent population cycles, dividing this idea into four different hypotheses with different pathways of plant impacts and related assumptions. Our systematic review of the existing literature identified 238 studies from 150 publications. This evidence base covered studies from the temperate biome to the tundra, but the studies were scattered across study systems and only a few specific topics were addressed in a replicated manner. Quantitative effects of rodents on vegetation was the best studied topic, and our evidence base suggests such that such effects may be most pronounced in winter. However, the regrowth of vegetation appears to take place too rapidly to maintain low rodent population densities over several years. The lack of studies prevented assessment of time lags in the qualitative responses of vegetation to rodent herbivory. We conclude that the literature is currently insufficient 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 dietary variation. Indeed, all identified hypotheses make explicit assumptions on how rodent diet taxonomic composition and quality will change across the cycle. Passing this bottleneck could help pinpoint where, when, and how plant–herbivore interactions have – or do not have – plausible effects on rodent population dynamics. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Soininen, Eeva M Neby, Magne |
spellingShingle |
Soininen, Eeva M Neby, Magne Small rodent population cycles and plants – after 70 years, where do we go? |
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? |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/31653 https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.13021 |
genre |
Tundra |
genre_facet |
Tundra |
op_relation |
Biological Reviews Soininen EM, Neby MN. Small rodent population cycles and plants – after 70 years, where do we go?. Biological Reviews. 2023 FRIDAID 2189164 https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.13021 1464-7931 1469-185X https://hdl.handle.net/10037/31653 |
op_rights |
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) openAccess Copyright 2023 The Author(s) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.13021 |
container_title |
Biological Reviews |
_version_ |
1782341165569277952 |