The role of the lynx–hare cycle in boreal forest community dynamics

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511615757.015

14 - The role of the lynx–hare cycle in boreal forest community dynamics

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 December 2009

Stan Boutin ,

Charles J. Krebs ,

Rudy Boonstra and

Anthony R. E. Sinclair

Edited by

Cynthia J. Zabel and

Robert G. Anthony

Show author details

Stan Boutin: Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E9
Charles J. Krebs: Affiliation:
University of British Columbia, Department of Zoology, 6270 University Blvd, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z4
Rudy Boonstra: Affiliation:
University of Toronto at Scarborough, Division of Life Sciences, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada M1C 1A4
Anthony R. E. Sinclair: Affiliation:
University of British Columbia, Centre for Biodiversity Research, 6270 University Blvd, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z4
Cynthia J. Zabel: Affiliation:
Pacific Southwest Research Station
Robert G. Anthony: Affiliation:
Oregon State University

Book contents

Get access

Summary

Snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) and lynx (Lynx canadensis) populations show 9- to 11-year cycles throughout the boreal coniferous forests of Canada and Alaska. Lynx cycles, recorded in Hudson Bay trapping records covering many decades, have been analyzed by population ecologists interested in understanding the mechanisms underlying the cycle (Royama 1992, Ranta et al. 1997). Long-term records of hare cycles are less common but there have been two major field programs that have measured demographic changes over at least one full cycle. This includes the work based at Rochester, Alberta by Lloyd Keith and co-workers (Keith et al. 1984, Keith 1990) and our work based at Kluane, Yukon (Krebs et al. 1986, Sinclair et al. 1988, Krebs et al. 1995). These field studies have established the demographic mechanisms that drive changes in hare numbers and have tested mechanistic hypotheses about factors that stop population increase and cause the hare population decline (Keith 1990, Krebs et al. 2001b).

It is clear that the lynx and hare are tightly linked (Royama 1992, Stenseth et al. 1998). Lynx show strong functional and numerical responses to changes in hare density (Keith et al. 1977, O'Donoghue et al. 1998). In turn, the dominant proximate cause of hare mortality is predation (Keith et al. 1984, Boutin et al. 1986) with lynx being one of a suite of hare predators.

Type: Chapter
Information: Mammal Community Dynamics
Management and Conservation in the Coniferous Forests of Western North America
, pp. 487 - 509

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511615757.015 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Benndorf, J. and W. Horn. 1985. Theoretical considerations on the relative importance of food limitation and predation in structuring zooplankton communities. Pages 383–396 in W. Lampert, editor. Food Limitation and the Structure of Zooplankton Communities. E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart, Germany

Boag, D. A. and , M. A. Schroeder. 1987. Population fluctuations in spruce grouse: what determines their number in spring?Canadian Journal of Zoology 65:2430–2435CrossRef Google Scholar

Boag, D. A. and M. A. Schroeder. 1992. Spruce grouse (Dendragapus canadensis). In A. Poole, P. Stettenheim and F. Gill, editors. The Birds of North America. The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, The American Ornithologists' Union, No. 5. Washington DC, USA

Boonstra, R., S. Boutin, A. Byrom, T. Karels, A. Hubbs, K. Stuart-Smith, M. Blower, and S. Antpoehler. 2001a. The role of red squirrels and Arctic ground squirrels. Pages 179–214 in C. J. Krebs, S. Boutin, and R. Boonstra, editors. Vertebrate Community Dynamics in the Kluane Boreal Forest. Oxford University Press, New York, New York, USA

Boonstra, R., C. J. Krebs, S. Gilbert, and S. Schweiger. 2001b. Voles and mice. Pages 215–239 in C. J. Krebs, S. Boutin, and R. Boonstra, editors. Vertebrate Community Dynamics in the Kluane Boreal Forest. Oxford University Press, New York, New York, USA

Boutin, S., , C. J. Krebs, , A. R. E. Sinclair, and , J. N. M. Smith. 1986. Proximate causes of losses in a snowshoe hare population. Canadian Journal of Zoology 64:606–610CrossRef Google Scholar

Boutin, S., , C. J. Krebs, , R. Boonstra, , M. R. T. Dale, , J. Hannon, , K. Martin, , A. R. E. Sinclair, , J. N. M. Smith, , R. Turkington, , M. Blower, , A. Byrom, , F. I. Doyle, , C. Doyle, , D. Hik, , L. Hofer, , A. Hubbs, , T. Karels, , D. L. Murray, , V. O. Nams, , M. O'Donoghue, , C. Rohner, and , S. Schweiger. 1995. Population changes of the vertebrate community during a snowshoe hare cycle in Canada's boreal forest. Oikos 74:69–80CrossRef Google Scholar

Gasaway, W. C., , R. D. Boertje, , D. V. Grangaard, , D. G. Kelleyhouse, , R. O. Stephenson, and , D. G. Larsen. 1992. The role of predation in limiting moose at low densities in Alaska and Yukon and implications for conservation. Wildlife Monographs 120:1–59Google Scholar

Hairston, N. G., , F. E. Smith, and , L. B. Slobodkin. 1960. Community structure, population control and competition. American Naturalist 94:421–425CrossRef Google Scholar

Hik, D. S. 1995. Does risk of predation influence population dynamics? Evidence from the cyclic decline of snowshoe hares. Wildlife Research 22:115–129CrossRef Google Scholar

Hodges, K. E. 2000. Ecology of snowshoe hares in southern boreal and montane forests. Pages 163–206 in L. F. Ruggiero, K. B. Aubry, S. W. Buskirk, G. M. Koehler, C. J. Krebs, K. S. McKelvey, and J. R. Squires, editors. Ecology and Conservation of Lynx in the United States. University Press of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA

Hodges, K. E., C. J. Krebs, D. S. Hik, C. I. Stefan, E. A. Gillis, and C. E. Doyle. 2001. Snowshoe hare demography. Pages 141–178 in C. J. Krebs, S. Boutin, and R. Boonstra, editors. Vertebrate Community Dynamics in the Kluane Boreal Forest. Oxford University Press, New York, New York, USA

Houston, D. B. 1982. The Northern Yellowstone Elk: Ecology and Management. MacMillan, London, United Kingdom

Hubbs, A. H. and , R. Boonstra. 1997. Population limitation in Arctic ground squirrels: effects of food and predation. Journal of Animal Ecology 66:527–541CrossRef Google Scholar

Jedrzejewska, B. and W. Jedrzejewski. 1998. Predation in vertebrate communities: the Białowieża primeval forest as a case study. Ecological Studies. Volume 135. Springer Verlag, Berlin, Germany

John, E. and , R. Turkington. 1995. Herbaceous vegetation in the understory of the boreal forest: does nutrient supply or snowshoe hare herbivory regulate species composition and abundance?Journal of Ecology 83:581–590CrossRef Google Scholar

Keith, L. B. 1990. Dynamics of snowshoe hare populations. Pages 119–195 in H. H. Genoways, editor. Current Mammalogy. Plenum Press, New York, New York, USA

Keith, L. B. and , S. E. M. Bloomer. 1993. Differential mortality of sympatric snowshoe hares and cottontail rabbits in central Wisconsin. Canadian Journal of Zoology 71:1694–1697CrossRef Google Scholar

Keith, L. B., , A. W. Todd, , C. J. Brand, , R. S. Adamcik, and , D. H. Rusch. 1977. An analysis of predation during a cyclic fluctuation of snowshoe hares. Proceedings of the International Congress of Game Biologists 13:151–175Google Scholar

Keith, L. B., , J. R. Cary, , O. J. Rongstad, and , M. C. Brittingham. 1984. Demography and ecology of a declining snowshoe hare population. Wildlife Monographs 90:1–43Google Scholar

Keith, L. B., , S. E. M. Bloomer, and , T. Willebrand. 1993. Dynamics of a snowshoe hare population in fragmented habitat. Canadian Journal of Zoology 71:1385–1392CrossRef Google Scholar

Krebs, C. J., , B. S. Gilbert, , S. Boutin, , A. R. E. Sinclair, and , J. N. M. Smith. 1986. Population biology of snowshoe hares. I. Demography of food-supplemented populations in the southern Yukon, 1976–84. Journal of Animal Ecology 55:963–982CrossRef Google Scholar

Krebs, C. J., , S. Boutin, , R. Boonstra, , A. R. E. Sinclair, , J. N. M. Smith, and , M. R. T. Dale, , K. Martin, and , R. Turkington. 1995. Impact of food and predation on the snowshoe hare cycle. Science 269:1112–1115CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Krebs, C. J., , R. Boonstra, , S. Boutin, and , A. R. E. Sinclair. 2001a. What drives the 10-year cycle of snowshoe hares?BioScience 51(1):25–35CrossRef Google Scholar

Krebs, C. J., S. Boutin, and R. Boonstra, editors. 2001b. Vertebrate Community Dynamics in the Kluane Boreal Forest. Oxford University Press, New York, New York, USA

Krebs, C. J., M. R. T. Dale, V. O. Nams, A. R. E. Sinclair, and M. O'Donoghue. 2001c. Shrubs. Pages 92–115 in C. J. Krebs, S. Boutin, and R. Boonstra, editors. Vertebrate Community Dynamics in the Kluane Boreal Forest. Oxford University Press, New York, New York, USA

Martin, K., C. Doyle, S. Hannon, and F. Mueller. 2001. Forest grouse and ptarmigan. Pages 240–260 in C. J. Krebs, S. Boutin, and R. Boonstra, editors. Vertebrate Community Dynamics in the Kluane Boreal Forest. Oxford University Press, New York, New York, USA

Menge, B. A. and , J. P. Sutherland. 1976. Species diversity gradients: synthesis of the roles of predation, competition and temporal heterogeneity. American Naturalist 110:351–369CrossRef Google Scholar

Mills, S. L., , M. E. Soulé, and , D. F. Doak. 1993. The keystone-species concept in ecology and conservation. BioScience 43(4):219–224CrossRef Google Scholar

Mowat, G., K. G. Poole, and M. O'Donoghue. 2000. Ecology of lynx in northern Canada and Alaska. Pages 265–306 in L. F. Ruggiero, K. B. Aubry, S. W. Buskirk, G. M. Koehler, C. J. Krebs, K. S. McKelvey, and J. R. Squires, editors. Ecology and Conservation of Lynx in the United States. University Press of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA

O'Donoghue, M. 1994. Early survival of juvenile snowshoe hares. Ecology 75:1582–1592CrossRef Google Scholar

O'Donoghue, M., , S. Boutin, , C. J. Krebs, and , E. J. Hofer. 1997. Numerical responses of coyotes and lynx to the snowshoe hare cycle. Oikos 80:150–162CrossRef Google Scholar

O'Donoghue, M., , S. Boutin, , C. J. Krebs, , G. Zuleta, , D. L. Murray, and , E. J. Hofer. 1998. Functional responses of coyotes and lynx to the snowshoe hare cycle. Ecology 79:1193–1208CrossRef Google Scholar

O'Donoghue, M., S. Boutin, D. L. Murray, C. J. Krebs, E. J. Hofer, U. Breitenmoser, C. Breitenmoser-Wuersten, G. Zuleta, C. Doyle, and V. O. Nams. 2001. Coyotes and lynx. Pages 275–323 in C. J. Krebs, S. Boutin, and R. Boonstra, editors. Vertebrate Community Dynamics in the Kluane Boreal Forest. Oxford University Press, New York, New York, USA

Pease, J. L., , R. H. Vowles, and , L. B. Keith. 1979. Interaction of snowshoe hares and woody vegetation. Journal of Wildlife Management 43:43–60CrossRef Google Scholar

Polis, G. A. and , D. R. Strong. 1997. Food web complexity and community dynamics. American Naturalist 147:813–846CrossRef Google Scholar

Poole, K. G. 1994. Characteristics of an unharvested lynx population during a snowshoe hare decline. Journal of Wildlife Management 58:608–618CrossRef Google Scholar

Power, M. E. 1984. Depth distributions of armoured catfish: predator-induced resource avoidance?Ecology 65:523–528CrossRef Google Scholar

Ranta, E., , V. Kaitala, and , J. Lindstrom. 1997. Dynamics of Canadian lynx populations in space and time. Ecography 20:454–460CrossRef Google Scholar

Rohner, C., F. I. Doyle, and J. N. M. Smith. 2001. Great horned owls. Pages 339–376 in C. J. Krebs, S. Boutin, and R. Boonstra, editors. Vertebrate Community Dynamics in the Kluane Boreal Forest. Oxford University Press, New York, New York, USA

Royama, T. 1992. Analytical Population Dynamics. Chapman & Hall, London

Schwartz, M. K., , L. S. Mills, , K. S. McKelvey, , L. F. Ruggiero, and , F. W. Allendorf. 2002. DNA reveals high dispersal synchronizing the population dynamics of Canada lynx. Nature 415:520–522CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Sinclair, A. R. E. and P. Arcese, editors. 1995. Serengeti II: Dynamics, Management and Conservation of an Ecosystem. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Sinclair, A. R. E., , C. J. Krebs, , J. N. M. Smith, and , S. Boutin. 1988. Population biology of snowshoe hares. III. Nutrition, plant secondary compounds and food limitation. Journal of Animal Ecology 57:787–806CrossRef Google Scholar

Sinclair, A. R. E., , C. J. Krebs, , J. M. Fryxel, , R. Turkington, , S. Boutin, , R. Boonstra, , P. Seccombe-Hett, , P. Lundberg, and , L. Oksanen. 2000. Testing hypotheses of trophic level interactions: a boreal forest ecosystem. Oikos 89(2):313–328CrossRef Google Scholar

Sinclair, A. R. E., C. J. Krebs, R. Boonstra, S. Boutin, and R. Turkington. 2001. Testing hypotheses of community organization for the Kluane ecosystem. Pages 407–436 in C. J. Krebs, S. Boutin, and R. Boonstra, editors. Vertebrate Community Dynamics in the Kluane Boreal Forest. Oxford University Press, New York, New York, USA

Slough, B. G. and , G. Mowat. 1996. Lynx population dynamics in an untrapped refugium. Journal of Wildlife Management 60:946–961CrossRef Google Scholar

Smith, J. N. M., , C. J. Krebs, , A. R. E. Sinclair, and , R. Boonstra. 1988. Population biology of snowshoe hares. II. Interactions with winter food plants. Journal of Animal Ecology 57:269–286CrossRef Google Scholar

Stefan, C. I. 1998. Reproduction and pre-weaning juvenile survival in a cyclic population of snowshoe hares. MSc Thesis. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Stenseth, N. C., , W. Falck, , O. N. BjΦrnstad, and , C. J. Krebs. 1997. Population regulation in snowshoe hare and Canadian lynx: asymmetric food web configurations between hare and lynx. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 94:5147–5152CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Stenseth, N. C., , W. Falck, , K. S. Chan, , O. N. BjΦrnstad, , M. O'Donoghue, , H. Tong, , R. Boonstra, , S. Boutin, , C. J. Krebs, and , N. G. Yoccoz. 1998. From patterns to processes: phase and density dependencies in the Canadian lynx cycle. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 95:15430–15435CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Stuart-Smith, A. K. and , S. Boutin. 1995. Predation on red squirrels during a snowshoe hare decline. Canadian Journal of Zoology 73:713–722CrossRef Google Scholar

Thiel, R. P. 1987. The status of Canada lynx in Wisconsin, 1865–1980. Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters 75:90–96Google Scholar

Todd, A. W. and , L. B. Keith. 1983. Coyote demography during a snowshoe hare decline in Alberta. Journal of Wildlife Management 47:394–404CrossRef Google Scholar

Todd, A. W., , L. B. Keith, and , C. A. Fischer. 1981. Population ecology of coyotes during a fluctuation of snowshoe hares. Journal of Wildlife Management 45:629–640CrossRef Google Scholar

Turkington, R., , E. John, , C. J. Krebs, , M. R. T. Dale, , V. O. Nams, , R. Boonstra, , S. Boutin, , K. Martin, , A. R. E. Sinclair, and , J. N. M. Smith. 1998. The effects of NPK fertilization for nine years on boreal forest vegetation in northwest Canada. Journal of Vegetation Science 9:333–346CrossRef Google Scholar

Turkington, R., E. John, and M. R. Dale. 2001. Herbs and grasses. Pages 69–91 in C. J. Krebs, S. Boutin, and R. Boonstra, editors. Vertebrate Community Dynamics in the Kluane Boreal Forest. Oxford University Press, New York, New York, USA

Ward, R. M. P. and , C. J. Krebs. 1985. Behavioural responses of lynx to declining snowshoe hare abundance. Canadian Journal of Zoology 63:2817–2824CrossRef Google Scholar

White, T. C. R. 1978. The importance of a relative shortage of food in animal ecology. Oecologia 3:71–86CrossRef Google Scholar

White, T. C. R. 1984. The abundance of invertebrate herbivores in relation to the availability of nitrogen in stressed food plants. Oecologia 63:90–105CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed