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The role of dispersal in cyclic rodent populations

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Animal Dispersal

Abstract

The hypothesis that dispersal causes the cyclic fluctuations of small mammals is perhaps the oldest hypothesis in small mammal ecology, dating from the last century. If lemmings really do march to the sea to drown, we have a perfect form of altruistic population control through dispersal-caused mortality. Unfortunately, neither lemmings nor other voles do such dramatic things, and thus very early in research on cyclic small mammals the dispersal hypothesis was rejected (Elton, 1942).

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Authors
  1. C. J. Krebs
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Oslo, Norway

    Nils Chr. Stenseth

  2. Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, USA

    William Z. Lidicker Jr

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© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Krebs, C.J. (1992). The role of dispersal in cyclic rodent populations. In: Stenseth, N.C., Lidicker, W.Z. (eds) Animal Dispersal. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-2338-9_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-2338-9_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-5033-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-2338-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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