Maternal effects mechanism of population cycling: a formidable competitor to the traditional predator–prey view

Abstract

In the language of mathematics, one needs minimally two interacting variables (two dimensions) to describe repeatable periodic behaviour, and in the language of density dependence, one needs delayed, not immediate, density dependence to produce cyclicity. Neither language specifies the causal mechanism. There are two major potential mechanisms: exogenous mechanisms involving species interactions as in predator-prey or host-parasite, and endogenous mechanisms such as maternal effects where population growth results from the cross-generational transmission of individual quality. The species interactions view stemming from a major observation of Elton and a simultaneous independent theory by Lotka and Volterra is currently dominant. Most ecologists, when faced with cyclic phenomena, automatically look for an interacting species one step below or above in a food chain in order to find an explanation. Maternal effects hypothesis, verbally suggested in the 1950s, had only found its theoretical implementation in the 1990s. In a relatively short time, the degree of acceptance of this view grew to the level of a 'minority opinion' as evidenced by the widely used textbook of Begon et al. This short review attempts to describe the arguments for and against this internal two-dimensional approach.

Population cycles: generalities, exceptions and remaining mysteries

“…However changes in reproduction, possibly related to social stress of crowding (voles and lemmings), sublethal effects of predator avoidance (hares), or infection or food limitation following defoliation (forest Lepidoptera) are also relevant. Carryover of these influences to subsequent generations through maternal influences can provide delayed density-dependent effects and cyclic dynamics as shown in several models [42,56,57,61].…”

The influence of parental effects on transcriptomic landscape during early development in brook charr (Salvelinus fontinalis, Mitchill)

“…These mechanisms have been reported to influence many traits in several animal and plant species and may have ecological and evolutionary implications by affecting offspring fitness (Mousseau and Fox, 1998;Badyaev and Uller, 2009;Donelson et al, 2009;Inchausti and Ginzburg, 2009;Wolf and Wade, 2009). Parental effects are also exploited in both aquaculture and agronomy to improve the performance of production stocks in terms of growth and disease resistance, among other traits (Green, 2008).…”

O' mother where wert thou? Maternal strategies in the southern elephant seal: a stable isotope investigation

“…Acknowledging the occurrence of maternal effects sheds a new light on some classic ecological phenomena such as population cycles [2] or life-history trade-offs [3]. In mammalian species, females alone usually support their offspring.…”