Population cycles and outbreaks of small rodents: ten essential questions we still need to solve

Harry P Andreassen¹, Janne Sundell², Fraucke Ecke³, Stefan Halle⁴, Marko Haapakoski⁵, Heikki Henttonen⁶, Otso Huitu⁶, Jens Jacob⁷, Kaja Johnsen¹, Esa Koskela⁸, Juan Jose Luque-Larena⁹, Nicolas Lecomte¹⁰, Herwig Leirs¹¹, Joachim Mariën¹¹, Magne Neby¹, Osmo Rätti¹², Thorbjörn Sievert⁵, Grant R Singleton^{13

14}, Joannes van Cann⁸, Bram Vanden Broecke¹¹, Hannu Ylönen¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Applied Ecology, Agricultural Sciences and Biotechnology, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Campus Evenstad, 2480, Koppang, Norway.
² Lammi Biological Station, University of Helsinki, Pääjärventie 320, 16900, Lammi, Finland.
³ Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skogsmarksgränd, 90183, Umeå, Sweden.
⁴ Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburger Str. 159, 07743, Jena, Germany.
⁵ Department of Biological and Environmental Science, Konnevesi Research Station, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, 40014, Jyväskylä, Finland.
⁶ Terrestrial Population Dynamics, Natural Resources Institute Finland, Latokartanonkaari 9, 00790, Helsinki, Finland.
⁷ Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Vertebrate Research, Julius Kühn-Institut, Toppheideweg 88, 48161, Münster, Germany.
⁸ Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, 40014, Jyväskylä, Finland.
⁹ Departamento de Ciencias Agroforestales, Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenierıas Agrarias, Universidad de Valladolid, Campus La Yutera, Avenida de Madrid 44, 34004, Palencia, Spain.
¹⁰ Canada Research Chair in Polar and Boreal Ecology and Centre D'Études Nordiques, Department of Biology, Université de Moncton, 18 Avenue Antonine-Maillet, Moncton, NB, E1A 3E9, Canada.
¹¹ Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitslain 1, 2610, Wilrijk, Belgium.
¹² Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, P.O. Box 122, 96101, Rovaniemi, Finland.
¹³ International Rice Research Institute, DAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, Philippines.
¹⁴ Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Chatham Marine, Kent, ME4 4TB, UK.
¹⁵ Department of Biological and Environmental Science, Konnevesi Research Station, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, 40014, Jyväskylä, Finland. hannu.j.ylonen@jyu.fi.

PMID: 33369695
PMCID: PMC7940343
DOI: 10.1007/s00442-020-04810-w

Review

Population cycles and outbreaks of small rodents: ten essential questions we still need to solve

Harry P Andreassen et al. Oecologia. 2021 Mar.

. 2021 Mar;195(3):601-622.

doi: 10.1007/s00442-020-04810-w. Epub 2020 Dec 28.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Applied Ecology, Agricultural Sciences and Biotechnology, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Campus Evenstad, 2480, Koppang, Norway.
² Lammi Biological Station, University of Helsinki, Pääjärventie 320, 16900, Lammi, Finland.
³ Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skogsmarksgränd, 90183, Umeå, Sweden.
⁴ Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburger Str. 159, 07743, Jena, Germany.
⁵ Department of Biological and Environmental Science, Konnevesi Research Station, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, 40014, Jyväskylä, Finland.
⁶ Terrestrial Population Dynamics, Natural Resources Institute Finland, Latokartanonkaari 9, 00790, Helsinki, Finland.
⁷ Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Vertebrate Research, Julius Kühn-Institut, Toppheideweg 88, 48161, Münster, Germany.
⁸ Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, 40014, Jyväskylä, Finland.
⁹ Departamento de Ciencias Agroforestales, Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenierıas Agrarias, Universidad de Valladolid, Campus La Yutera, Avenida de Madrid 44, 34004, Palencia, Spain.
¹⁰ Canada Research Chair in Polar and Boreal Ecology and Centre D'Études Nordiques, Department of Biology, Université de Moncton, 18 Avenue Antonine-Maillet, Moncton, NB, E1A 3E9, Canada.
¹¹ Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitslain 1, 2610, Wilrijk, Belgium.
¹² Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, P.O. Box 122, 96101, Rovaniemi, Finland.
¹³ International Rice Research Institute, DAPO Box 7777, Metro Manila, Philippines.
¹⁴ Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Chatham Marine, Kent, ME4 4TB, UK.
¹⁵ Department of Biological and Environmental Science, Konnevesi Research Station, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, 40014, Jyväskylä, Finland. hannu.j.ylonen@jyu.fi.

PMID: 33369695
PMCID: PMC7940343
DOI: 10.1007/s00442-020-04810-w

Erratum in

Correction to: Population cycles and outbreaks of small rodents: ten essential questions we still need to solve.
Andreassen HP, Sundell J, Ecke F, Halle S, Haapakoski M, Henttonen H, Huitu O, Jacob J, Johnsen K, Koskela E, Luque-Larena JJ, Lecomte N, Leirs H, Mariën J, Neby M, Rätti O, Sievert T, Singleton GR, van Cann J, Vanden Broecke B, Ylönen H. Andreassen HP, et al. Oecologia. 2021 Mar;195(3):623. doi: 10.1007/s00442-021-04856-4. Oecologia. 2021. PMID: 33515297 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

Abstract

Most small rodent populations in the world have fascinating population dynamics. In the northern hemisphere, voles and lemmings tend to show population cycles with regular fluctuations in numbers. In the southern hemisphere, small rodents tend to have large amplitude outbreaks with less regular intervals. In the light of vast research and debate over almost a century, we here discuss the driving forces of these different rodent population dynamics. We highlight ten questions directly related to the various characteristics of relevant populations and ecosystems that still need to be answered. This overview is not intended as a complete list of questions but rather focuses on the most important issues that are essential for understanding the generality of small rodent population dynamics.

Keywords: Density dependence; Lemmings; Mice; Phase dependence; Voles.

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Figures

**Fig. 1**
Small rodent population dynamics examples from representative long-term time series in different regions of the world: collared lemmings *Dicrostonyx torquatus* and brown lemmings *Lemmus trimucronatus* from northern Canada (top left; data sent by C.J. Krebs; Krebs 2011), two common vole species the bank vole (*Myodes glareolus*) = black line, and the field vole (*Microtus agrestis*) = grey line, from northern Finland (top centre) and Germany (below left), Great gerbils (*Rhombomys opimus*) in Kazakhstan (below right), Multi-mammate rat (*Mastomys natalensis*) in Tanzania, and house mouse (*Mus musculus*) in Australian grain-growing region. Discussion of the different population dynamics and references are found in the main text

**Fig. 2**
Characteristics of vole population cycles in the northern hemisphere (a) and mice outbreaks in the southern hemisphere (b). Seasonality connected to reproductive and non-reproductive periods. Winter is the non-reproductive season in the northern hemisphere and the dry season in the south

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

1. Aars J, Ims RA. Intrinsic and climatic determinants of population demography: the winter dynamics of tundra voles. Ecology. 2002;83:3449–3456. doi: 10.1890/0012-9658(2002)083[3449:IACDOP]2.0.CO;2. - DOI
1. Altizer S, Ostfeld RS, Johnson PTJ, et al. Climate change and infectious diseases: from evidence to a predictive framework. Science. 2013;341:514–519. - PubMed
1. Andersson M, Erlinge S. Influence of predation on rodent populations. Oikos. 1977;29:591–597. doi: 10.2307/3543597. - DOI
1. Andreassen H, Bondrup-Nielsen S. A comparison of the effects of a moss diet and a varied diet on the growth of juvenile Wood lemmings, Myopus schisticolor (Lilljeb.) Zeitschrift für Säugetierkd. 1991;56:378–379.
1. Andreassen HP, Gundersen G. Male turnover reduces population growth: an enclosure experiment on voles. Ecology. 2006;87:88–94. doi: 10.1890/04-1574. - DOI - PubMed

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Population cycles and outbreaks of small rodents: ten essential questions we still need to solve

Affiliations

Population cycles and outbreaks of small rodents: ten essential questions we still need to solve

Authors

Affiliations

Erratum in

Abstract

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References

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