Population cycles: generalities, exceptions and remaining mysteries

Population cycles are one of nature's great mysteries. For almost a hundred years, innumerable studies have probed the causes of cyclic dynamics in snowshoe hares, voles and lemmings, forest Lepidoptera and grouse. Even though cyclic species have very different life histories, similarities in m...

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Published inProceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Vol. 285; no. 1875; p. 20172841
Main Author Myers, Judith H.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England The Royal Society 28.03.2018
The Royal Society Publishing
EditionRoyal Society (Great Britain)
Subjects
Dispersal
Forest Lepidoptera
Lemmings
Maternal Effects
Mortality
Outbreaks
Parasitoids
Periodic variations
Periodicity
Pest outbreaks
Population genetics
Populations
Predators
Red Grouse
Reproduction
Review
Review Articles
Snowshoe Hares
Voles
voles
red grouse
snowshoe hares
forest Lepidoptera
maternal effects
lemmings
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Summary:Population cycles are one of nature's great mysteries. For almost a hundred years, innumerable studies have probed the causes of cyclic dynamics in snowshoe hares, voles and lemmings, forest Lepidoptera and grouse. Even though cyclic species have very different life histories, similarities in mechanisms related to their dynamics are apparent. In addition to high reproductive rates and density-related mortality from predators, pathogens or parasitoids, other characteristics include transgenerational reduced reproduction and dispersal with increasing-peak densities, and genetic similarity among populations. Experiments to stop cyclic dynamics and comparisons of cyclic and noncyclic populations provide some understanding but both reproduction and mortality must be considered. What determines variation in amplitude and periodicity of population outbreaks remains a mystery.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-3
content type line 23
ObjectType-Review-1
Invited review by the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution former President.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2017.2841