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Journal
Publications
Krebs, J. K., A.J. Kenney, S. Gilbert, K
Danell, A. Angerbjorn, S. Erlinge, R.G. Bromley, C. Shank and S. Carrière.
2002. Syncrony in lemming and vole populations in the Canadian Arctic.
Can. J. Zool. 80: 1323-1333.
Abstract:
Abstract: Population fluctuations may occur in synchrony
among several rodent species at a given site, and they may occur in
synchrony over large geographical areas. We summarize information on
synchrony in lemmings and voles from the Canadian Arctic for the past 20
years. The most detailed available information is from the central Canadian
Arctic, where snap-trap samples have been taken annually at several sites
for periods of up to 15 years. Geographical synchrony in the same species
among different sites was strong, especially for the central and eastern
Canadian Arctic. Synchrony among different species at a given site was also
generally high. When one species is at high density, densities of all
species at that site tend to be high. These results do not easily fit the
mobile-predator hypothesis proposed to explain regional synchrony, and are
more consistent with the weather hypothesis, which we suggest both entrains
synchrony among sites and enforces synchrony among species within a site. We
tentatively support the weather hypothesis for geographical synchrony in
lemmings, and recommend the establishment of a circumpolar program to
monitor lemming cycles and predator movements that would advance our
understanding of these large-scale patterns of cyclic synchrony. |
