Abstract
From 1987 to 1989 we monitored population changes during summer of the collared lemming (Dicrostonyx groenlandicus) and the tundra vole (Microtus oeconomus) at Pearce Point, Northwest Territories, Canada (69° 48′ N, 122° 40′ W). Populations on four study areas did not cycle but remained at low density (<3/ha) each year and continued at low numbers for the following 3 years (Reid et al. 1995). Lemming numbers often declined throghout the summer in spite of continous reproduction, and population recovery occurred overwinter. Heavy predation losses of radio-collared lemmings occurred each summer and this lemming population may be trapped in a predator-pit. Collared lemmings breed in winter and only because of winter population growth do these populations persist. Tundra vole numbers increased rapidly in most summers but usually declined overwinter. Tundra voles do not seem able to sustain winter reproduction in this extreme environment and this prevents them from reaching high density because of the short summer. Population growth in both these rodents could be prevented by poor food or by predation losses, and landscape patchiness may also help to prevent population growth. For lemmings we do not think that a shortage of shelter or intrinsic limitations could be restricting population increase at Pearce Point. This is the first detailed study of a non-cyclic collared lemming population.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Batzli GO, White RG, MacLean SF, Pitelka FA, Collier BD (1980) The herbivore-based trophic system. In: Brown J, Miller PC, Tiezen LL, and Bunnell FL (eds) An Arctic ecosystem. Dowden Hutchinson and Ross, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, pp 335–410
Boonstra R, Krebs CJ, Kanter M (1990) Arctic ground squirrel predation on collared lemmings. Can J Zool 68:757–760
Boonstra R, Kanter M, Krebs CJ (1992) A tracking technique to locate small mammals at low densities. J Mammal 73:683–685
Boutin S (1992) Predation and moose population dynamics: a critique. J Wildlife Manage 56:116–127
Charnov EL, Finerty JT (1980) Vole population cycles: a case for kin selection? Oecologia 45:1–2
Chitty D (1960) Population processes in the vole and their relevance to general theory. Can J Zool 38:99–113
Chitty D, Nicholson M (1942) Canadian Arctic wildlife enquiry, 1940–41. J Anim Ecol 11:270–287
Chitty H (1950) Canadian Arctic wildlife enquiry, 1943–49: with a summary of results since 1933. J Anim Ecol 19:180–193
Chitty H, Chitty D (1962) Body weight in relation to population phase in Microtus agrestis. Symp Theriol Brno: 77–86
Fuller WA, Martell AM, Smith RFC, Speller SW (1975a) High arctic lemmings (Dicrostonyx groenlandicus). I. Natural history observations. Can Field Nat 89:223–233
Fuller WA, Martell AM, Smith RFC, Speller SW (1975b) High arctic lemmings (Dicrostonyx groenlandicus). II. Demography. Can J Zool 53:867–878
Jolly GM, Dickson JM (1983) The problem of unequal catchability in mark-recapture estimation of small mammal populations. Can J Zool 61:922–927
Krebs CJ (1964) The lemming cycle at Baker Lake, Northwest Territories, during 1959–62. Arct Inst N Am Techn Pap 15:1–104
Krebs CJ (1966) Demographic changes in fluctuating population of Microtus californicus. Ecol Monogr 36:239–273
Krebs CJ (1985) Do changes in spacing behaviour drive population cycles in small mammals: Symp Br Ecol Soc 25:295–312
Krebs CJ (1989) Ecological methodology. Harper and Row, New York
Krebs CJ, Myers JH (1974) Population cycles in small mammals. Adv Ecol Res 8:267–399
Lambin X, Krebs CJ (1991) Can changes in female relatedness influence microtine population dynamics? Oikos 61:126–132
Lambin X, Krebs CJ, Scott B (1992) Spacing system of the tundra vole (Microtus oeconomus) during the breeding season in Canada's western arctic. Can J Zool 70:2068–2072
Leslie PH, Perry JS, Watson JS (1945) The determination of the median body-weight at which female rats reach sexual maturity. Proc Zool Soc Lond 115:473–488
Malcom JP, Brooks RJ (1993) Cyclic variation in skull-body regressions of collared lemmings: differential representation of seasonal cohorts. In: Stenseth NC, Ims RA (eds) The biology of lemmings. Academic Press, London, pp 135–155
Mallory FF, Brooks RJ (1978) Infanticide and other reproductive strategies in the collared lemming, Dicrostonyx groenlandicus. Nature 273:144–146
Mallory FF, Brooks RJ (1980) Infanticide and pregnancy failure: reproductive strategies in the female collared lemming (Dicrostonyx groenlandicus). Biol Reprod 22:192–196
Mallory FF, Ellioot JR, Brooks RJ (1981) Changes in body size in fluctuating populations of the collared lemming: age and photoperiod influences. Can J Zool 59:174–182
McNamara JM, Houston AI (1987) Starvation and predation as factors limiting population size. Ecology 68:1515–1519
Nelson RJ (1987) Photoperiod-nonresponsive morphs: a possible variable in microtine population-density fluctuations. Am Nat 130:350–369
Pollock KH, Winterstein SR, Bunck CM, Curtis PD (1989) Survival analysis in telemetry studies: the staggered entry design. J Wildlife Manage 53:7–15
Reid DG, Krebs CJ, Kenney AJ (1995) Limitation of collared lemming population growth at low densities by predation mortality. Oikos 73 (in press)
Rodgers AR, Lewis MC (1986) Diet selection in arctic lemmings (Lemmus sibiricus and Dicrostonyx groenlandicus): demography, home range, and habitat use. Can J Zool 64:2717–2727
Shelford VE (1943) Abundance of the collared lemming in the Churchill area, 1929–1940. Ecology 24:472–484
Sinclair ARE (1989) Population regulation in animals. In: Cherrett JM (ed) Ecological concepts. Blckwell, Oxford, pp 197–241
Stenseth NC, Ims RA (1993) The biology of lemmings. Academic Press, London
Stenseth NC, Lomnicki A (1990) On the Charnov-Finerty hypothesis: the unproblematic transition from docile to aggressive and the problematic transition from aggressive to docile. Oikos 58:234–238
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Krebs, C.J., Boonstra, R. & Kenney, A.J. Population dynamics of the collared lemming and the tundra vole at Pearce Point, Northwest Territories, Canada. Oecologia 103, 481–489 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00328687
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00328687