Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1098/rspb.2020.2653
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Impacts of predator-mediated interactions along a climatic gradient on the population dynamics of an alpine bird
Author Bowler, D.E.; Kvasnes, M.A.J.; Pedersen, H.C.; Sandercock, B.K.; Nilsen, E.B.
Source Titel Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences
Year 2020
Department iDiv; ESS
Volume 287
Issue 1941
Page From art. 20202653
Language englisch
Data and Software links https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.tx95x69w9
Supplements https://ndownloader.figstatic.com/files/25693264
Keywords boreal ecosystems; climate change; indirect interactions; population cycles; predator-prey interactions
Abstract According to classic theory, species' population dynamics and distributions are less influenced by species interactions under harsh climatic conditions compared to under more benign climatic conditions. In alpine and boreal ecosystems in Fennoscandia, the cyclic dynamics of rodents strongly affect many other species, including ground-nesting birds such as ptarmigan. According to the ‘alternative prey hypothesis’ (APH), the densities of ground-nesting birds and rodents are positively associated due to predator–prey dynamics and prey-switching. However, it remains unclear how the strength of these predator-mediated interactions change along a climatic harshness gradient in comparison with the effects of climatic variation. We built a hierarchical Bayesian model to estimate the sensitivity of ptarmigan populations to interannual variation in climate and rodent occurrence across Norway during 2007–2017. Ptarmigan abundance was positively linked with rodent occurrence, consistent with the APH. Moreover, we found that the link between ptarmigan abundance and rodent dynamics was strongest in colder regions. Our study highlights how species interactions play an important role in population dynamics of species at high latitudes and suggests that they can become even more important in the most climatically harsh regions.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=24147
Bowler, D.E., Kvasnes, M.A.J., Pedersen, H.C., Sandercock, B.K., Nilsen, E.B. (2020):
Impacts of predator-mediated interactions along a climatic gradient on the population dynamics of an alpine bird
Proc. R. Soc. B-Biol. Sci. 287 (1941), art. 20202653 10.1098/rspb.2020.2653