Seasonal role of a specialist predator in rodent cycles: Ermine-lemming interactions in the High Arctic.

ABSTRACT: The exact mechanisms behind population cycles remain elusive. An ongoing debate centers on whether predation by small mustelids is necessary and sufficient to generate rodent cycles, as stipulated by the specialist predator hypothesis (SPH). Specifically, the SPH predicts that the predator should respond numerically to the abundance of its prey with a delay of approximately one year, leading to delayed density-dependence in the dynamics of the prey population. Here, we analyze the numerical response of a small mustelid, the seasonality of its interaction with rodents, and its impact on population cycles using long-term seasonal data on ermines and cyclic lemmings in the High Arctic. Our results show that the numerical response of ermines to lemming fluctuations was delayed by one year and

SUBMITTER: Bolduc D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11751380 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature