Does lemming winter grazing impact vegetation in the Canadian Arctic?

Bilodeau, Frédéric; Gauthier, Gilles; Fauteux, Dominique; Berteaux, Dominique

doi:10.1007/s00300-014-1486-x

Cited by 17 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Previous studies at our study site also found little impact of lemming grazing on plant biomass, even in peak years (Bilodeau et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…and some mosses (such a Polytrichum swartzii ) (Bilodeau et al. ). In contrast, sedges ( Eriophorum spp., Carex aquatilis ), grasses ( Dupontia fisheri ) and brown mosses (such as Limprichtia cossonii and Campylium stellatum ) dominate in the wet tundra.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…, Bilodeau et al. ), our manipulation focused on predation. Our study is the first to assess experimentally the effects of predation on brown lemming population dynamics in the High Arctic.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Top‐down limitation of lemmings revealed by experimental reduction of predators

Fauteux

Gauthier

Berteaux

2016

Ecology

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It is generally recognized that delayed density-dependence is responsible for cyclic population dynamics. However, it is still uncertain whether a single factor can explain why some rodent populations fluctuate according to a 3-4 yr periodicity. There is increasing evidence that predation may play a role in lemming population cycles, although this effect may vary seasonally. To address this issue, we conducted an experiment where we built a large exclosure (9 ha) to protect brown lemmings (Lemmus trimucronatus) from avian and terrestrial predators. We tested the hypothesis that predation is a limiting factor for lemmings by measuring the demographic consequences of a predator reduction during the growth and peak phases of the cycle. We assessed summer (capture-mark-recapture methods) and winter (winter nest sampling) lemming demography on two grids located on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada from 2008 to 2015. The predator exclosure became fully effective in July 2013, allowing us to compare demography between the control and experimental grids before and during the treatment. Lemming abundance, survival and proportion of juveniles were similar between the two grids before the treatment. During the predator-reduction period, summer densities were on average 1.9× higher inside the experimental grid than the control and this effect was greatest for adult females and juveniles (densities 2.4× and 3.4× higher, respectively). Summer survival was 1.6× higher on the experimental grid than the control whereas body mass and proportion of juveniles were also slightly higher. Winter nest densities remained high inside the predator reduction grid following high summer abundance, but declined on the control grid. These results confirm that predation limits lemming population growth during the summer due to its negative impact on survival. However, it is possible that in winter, predation may interact with other factors affecting reproduction and ultimately population cycles.

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“…Previous studies at our study site also found little impact of lemming grazing on plant biomass, even in peak years (Bilodeau et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Top‐down limitation of lemmings revealed by experimental reduction of predators

Fauteux

Gauthier

Berteaux

2016

Ecology

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“…A study using experimental exclosures found that winter grazing by collared lemmings and brown lemmings had no discernible effect on the biomass of vascular plants or moss in the Canadian Arctic (Bilodeau et al. ). There has been no consistent evidence that overgrazing affects food quality, that overgrazing adversely influences rodent reproduction, or that overgrazing necessarily reduces rodent abundance.…”

Section: Hypotheses and Empirical Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

Population cycles in voles and lemmings: state of the science and future directions

Oli

2019

Mammal Review

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Despite nearly a century of research, the causes of population cycles in Arvicoline rodents (voles and lemmings) in northern latitudes are not yet fully understood. Theory tells us that delayed density‐dependent feedback mechanisms are essential for rodent population cycles, suggesting vegetation–rodent, rodent–parasite or rodent–predator interactions as the most likely drivers of population cycles. However, food provisioning, carried out either indirectly through fertilisation treatments of the habitat or directly through food supplementation, has failed to alter population cycles substantially, suggesting that variation in food supply by itself is not necessary or sufficient to cause cyclic fluctuations in abundance. Predator exclusion experiments conducted in Fennoscandia have succeeded in slowing population crashes and increasing autumn densities, implicating predation as the most likely cause of rodent cycles in this region. However, experimental removal of specialist predators in northern England had no discernible effect on a cyclic vole population, casting doubt on the notion that predation is a necessary explanation of rodent population cycles. Population cycle research has contributed substantially to our current understanding of the dynamics, regulation and persistence of biological populations, but we do not yet know with certainty what factors or processes cause multiannual population fluctuations or if population cycles are driven by the same mechanisms everywhere. Recent theoretical and empirical studies suggest that extrinsic factors (primarily food supply and predator abundance) may interact with population intrinsic processes (e.g. dispersal, social behaviour, stress response) to cause multiannual population fluctuations and to explain biological attributes of rodent population cycles. Solving the enigma of population cycles may necessitate identifying factors and processes that cause phase‐specific demographic changes and performing conclusive experiments to ascertain the mechanisms that generate multiannual density fluctuations.

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“…The intensity of rodent herbivory on tundra vegetation is also expected to vary in space due to landscape heterogeneity in the composition of plant, rodent and predator communities. For example, weak rodent impacts on arctic vegetation have been documented in areas where predation forces were strongest, probably caused by three‐level trophic cascades (Aunapuu et al ), even in years of high rodent abundance (Bilodeau et al , Hoset et al ).…”

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confidence: 99%

Predator–rodent–plant interactions along a coast–inland gradient in Fennoscandian tundra

et al. 2015

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13Spatial variation in the strength of trophic cascades in arctic tundra has been related to flows of 14 subsidies across ecosystem boundaries. Here, we ask whether the relative strength of rodent-plant 15 interactions would change from coastal tundra, where predators have access to marine subsidies, to 16 non-subsidized inland tundra areas of northern Fennoscandia. We present a detailed evaluation of

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Does lemming winter grazing impact vegetation in the Canadian Arctic?

Cited by 17 publications

References 59 publications

Top‐down limitation of lemmings revealed by experimental reduction of predators

Top‐down limitation of lemmings revealed by experimental reduction of predators

Population cycles in voles and lemmings: state of the science and future directions

Predator–rodent–plant interactions along a coast–inland gradient in Fennoscandian tundra

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