Abstract

Multiannual fluctuations in population density ("cycles") of small rodents have been known since antiquity (Elton 1942). Numerous hypotheses have been proposed to explain this phenomenon (for reviews see Finerty 1980, Taitt and Krebs 1985). However, none of these hypotheses, alone or in combination, has been able to explain the causality of cycles, although recently removal of parasites was shown to prevent population cycles in the red grouse, Lagopus lagopus scoticus (Hudson et al. 1998). The objectives of this long-term study are to determine whether environmental variables, possibly acting through reproductive responses, contribute to the multiannual fluctuations of the montane vole, Microtus montanus.

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