Linked Life Data

10850713

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/10850713

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
6786
pubmed:dateCreated
2000-6-21
pubmed:abstractText
Large oscillations in the populations of Norwegian lemmings have mystified both professional ecologists and lay public. Ecologists suspect that these oscillations are driven by a trophic mechanism: either an interaction between lemmings and their food supply, or an interaction between lemmings and their predators. If lemming cycles are indeed driven by a trophic interaction, can we tell whether lemmings act as the resource ('prey') or the consumer ('predator')? In trophic interaction models, peaks of resource density generally have a blunt, rounded shape, whereas peaks of consumer density are sharp and angular. Here we have applied several statistical tests to three lemming datasets and contrasted them with comparable data for cyclic voles. We find that vole peaks are blunt, consistent with their cycles being driven by the interaction with predators. In contrast, the shape of lemming peaks is consistent with the hypothesis that lemmings are functional predators, that is, their cycles are driven by their interaction with food plants. Our findings suggest that a single mechanism, such as interaction between rodents and predators, is unlikely to provide the 'universal' explanation of all cyclic rodent dynamics.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jun
pubmed:issn
0028-0836
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
1
pubmed:volume
405
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
562-5
pubmed:dateRevised
2005-11-17
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2000
pubmed:articleTitle
Are lemmings prey or predators?
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs 06269, USA. Peter.Turchin@UConn.edu
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article