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Seasonal forcing on the dynamics ofClethrionomys rufocanus: Modeling geographic gradients in population dynamics

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Researches on Population Ecology

Abstract

We interpret gradients in population dynamics of the gray-sided vole from the southwestern part of the island of Hokkaido to its northeastern part within the framework of a phenomenological model involving the relative length of summer and winter. In Hokkaido, as in other northern regions, both spring and fall is considered as short transition periods between the two main seasons — summer (the primary breeding season) and winter (the non-reproductive or secondary breeding season). We show that the geographic transition in dynamics may be understood as the combined consequence of different patterns of density-dependence during summer and winter, and geographically varying season lengths. Differences are shown to exist between summer and winter with respect to strength of density-dependence. Direct density-dependence, in particular, is stronger during winter than during summer. A model is presented to show how relative lengths of seasons can induce both stable and periodically fluctuating population dynamics. The results are compared and contrasted with what is otherwise known about the gradient in rodent dynamics in Fennoscandia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Zoology, Department of Biology, University of Oslo, Blindern, P.O. Box 1050, N-0316, Oslo, Norway

    Nils Chr Stenseth & Ottar N. Bjørnstad

  2. Center of Advanced Studies, Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, Drammensvein 78, N-0271, Oslo, Norway

    Nils Chr Stenseth & Takashi Saitoh

  3. Hokkaido Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, 062-8516, Sapporo, Japan

    Takashi Saitoh

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  1. Nils Chr Stenseth
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  2. Ottar N. Bjørnstad
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  3. Takashi Saitoh
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Correspondence to Nils Chr Stenseth.

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Stenseth, N.C., Bjørnstad, O.N. & Saitoh, T. Seasonal forcing on the dynamics ofClethrionomys rufocanus: Modeling geographic gradients in population dynamics. Res Popul Ecol 40, 85–95 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02765224

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