Climate variability and density-dependent population dynamics: Lessons from a simple High Arctic ecosystem.

ABSTRACT: Ecologists are still puzzled by the diverse population dynamics of herbivorous small mammals that range from high-amplitude, multiannual cycles to stable dynamics. Theory predicts that this diversity results from combinations of climatic seasonality, weather stochasticity, and density-dependent food web interactions. The almost ubiquitous 3- to 5-y cycles in boreal and arctic climates may theoretically result from bottom-up (plant-herbivore) and top-down (predator-prey) interactions. Assessing, empirically, the roles of such interactions and how they are influenced by environmental stochasticity has been hampered by food web complexity. Here, we take advantage of a uniquely simple High Arctic food web, which allowed us to analyze the dynamics of a graminivorous vole population not subjecte

SUBMITTER: Fauteux D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8449336 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature