Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 8, 2026

Predicting the Effectiveness of Population Replacement Strategy Using Mathematical Modeling
Published on: July 4, 2007
Collapsing population cycles
Rolf A Ims1, John-André Henden, Siw T Killengreen
1Department of Biology, University of Tromsø, NO-9037 Tromsø, Norway. rolf.ims@ib.uit.no
Abstract:
During the past two decades population cycles in voles, grouse and insects have been fading out in Europe. Here, we discuss the cause and implication of these changes. Several lines of evidence now point to climate forcing as the general underlying cause. However, how climate interacts with demography to induce regime shifts in population dynamics is likely to differ among species and ecosystems. Herbivores with high-amplitude population cycles, such as voles, lemmings, snowshoe hares and forest Lepidoptera, form the heart of terrestrial food web dynamics. Thus, collapses of these cycles are also expected to imply collapses of important ecosystem functions, such as the pulsed flows of resources and disturbances.
Related Concept Videos
Conservation of Declining Populations
Population Growth
Modeling with Differential Equations
Exponential Equations for Modeling Growth
Life Histories
Conservation of Small Populations

