Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Conservation of Small Populations02:04

Conservation of Small Populations

14.7K
Small population sizes put a species at extreme risk of extinction due to a lack of variation, and a consequent decrease in adaptability. This weakens the chances of survival under pressures such as climate change, competition from other species, or new diseases. Large populations are more likely to survive pressures such as these, as such populations are more likely to harbor individuals that have genetic variants that are adaptive under new stresses. Small populations are much less...
14.7K
Conservation of Declining Populations02:07

Conservation of Declining Populations

10.7K
Conservation of declining population focuses on ways of detecting, diagnosing, and halting a population decline. The approach uses methods to prevent populations from going extinct.
10.7K
Genetic Drift03:33

Genetic Drift

41.5K
Natural selection—probably the most well-known evolutionary mechanism—increases the prevalence of traits that enhance survival and reproduction. However, evolution does not merely propagate favorable traits, nor does it always benefit populations.
41.5K
Global Climate Change01:50

Global Climate Change

25.7K
Throughout its ~4.5 billion year history, the Earth has experienced periods of warming and cooling. However, the current drastic increase in global temperatures is well outside of the Earth’s cyclic norms, and evidence for human-caused global climate change is compelling. Paleoclimatology, the study of ancient climate conditions, provides ample evidence for human-caused global climate change by comparing recent conditions with those in the past.
25.7K
Predator-Prey Interactions02:39

Predator-Prey Interactions

19.6K
Predators consume prey for energy. Predators that acquire prey and prey that avoid predation both increase their chances of survival and reproduction (i.e., fitness). Routine predator-prey interactions elicit mutual adaptations that improve predator offenses, such as claws, teeth, and speed, as well as prey defenses, including crypsis, aposematism, and mimicry. Thus, predator-prey interactions resemble an evolutionary arms race.
19.6K
Threats to Biodiversity01:50

Threats to Biodiversity

24.0K
There have been five major extinction events throughout geological history, resulting in the elimination of biodiversity, followed by a rebound of species that adapted to the new conditions. In the current geological epoch, the Holocene, there is a sixth extinction event in progress. This mass extinction has been attributed to human activities and is thus provisionally called the Anthropocene. In 2019 the human population reached 7.7 billion people and is projected to comprise 10 billion by...
24.0K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Contrasting patterns of alpine biodiversity across mountains and taxa worldwide.

Nature communications·2026
Same author

An integrated population modeling workflow for supporting mesopredator management.

Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America·2026
Same author

Whole genomes reveal subpopulations and isolation-by-distance patterns in the Norwegian lemming.

BMC biology·2026
Same author

Biodiversity changes in Arctic coastal ecosystems under borealization.

PNAS nexus·2026
Same author

Changes in phenology mediate vertebrate population responses to temperature globally.

Nature communications·2026
Same author

What does drive temporal variation in population size in mammalian species?

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 20, 2025

Simulating Impacts of Ice Storms on Forest Ecosystems
06:27

Simulating Impacts of Ice Storms on Forest Ecosystems

Published on: June 30, 2020

7.1K

Climate variability and density-dependent population dynamics: Lessons from a simple High Arctic ecosystem.

Dominique Fauteux1, Audun Stien2, Nigel G Yoccoz2

  • 1Canadian Museum of Nature, Centre for Arctic Knowledge and Exploration, Gatineau, QC, Canada, J9J 3N7; dfauteux@nature.ca.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|September 10, 2021
PubMed
Summary

Small mammal population cycles are diverse. In a simple Arctic food web, winter density dependence drove vole population crashes, while weather stochasticity increased fluctuations, contrasting with typical longer cycles.

Keywords:
bottom-up regulationpopulation fluctuationsseasonalitytrophic interactionstundra ecosystem

More Related Videos

Removal of Exogenous Materials from the Outer Portion of Frozen Cores to Investigate the Ancient Biological Communities Harbored Inside
09:06

Removal of Exogenous Materials from the Outer Portion of Frozen Cores to Investigate the Ancient Biological Communities Harbored Inside

Published on: July 3, 2016

8.2K
Incremental Temperature Changes for Maximal Breeding and Spawning in Astyanax mexicanus
06:36

Incremental Temperature Changes for Maximal Breeding and Spawning in Astyanax mexicanus

Published on: February 14, 2021

4.2K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Oct 20, 2025

Simulating Impacts of Ice Storms on Forest Ecosystems
06:27

Simulating Impacts of Ice Storms on Forest Ecosystems

Published on: June 30, 2020

7.1K
Removal of Exogenous Materials from the Outer Portion of Frozen Cores to Investigate the Ancient Biological Communities Harbored Inside
09:06

Removal of Exogenous Materials from the Outer Portion of Frozen Cores to Investigate the Ancient Biological Communities Harbored Inside

Published on: July 3, 2016

8.2K
Incremental Temperature Changes for Maximal Breeding and Spawning in Astyanax mexicanus
06:36

Incremental Temperature Changes for Maximal Breeding and Spawning in Astyanax mexicanus

Published on: February 14, 2021

4.2K

Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Population Dynamics
  • Arctic Mammal Research

Background:

  • Ecologists observe varied population dynamics in herbivorous small mammals, from stable to cyclical patterns.
  • Theory suggests climate, weather, and food web interactions drive these dynamics, with bottom-up and top-down forces implicated in boreal/arctic cycles.
  • Studying these factors is challenging due to complex food webs.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze the population dynamics of a graminivorous vole in a simplified High Arctic food web.
  • To investigate the roles of density dependence and environmental stochasticity in the absence of top-down regulation.
  • To understand the drivers of high-amplitude, noncyclic fluctuations in this specific population.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of a uniquely simple High Arctic food web.
  • Focus on a graminivorous vole population lacking top-down regulation.
  • Model simulations to explore deterministic and stochastic effects on population cycles.

Main Results:

  • The vole population exhibited high-amplitude, noncyclic fluctuations, influenced by weather stochasticity.
  • Overcompensatory winter density dependence was the primary driver, causing frequent population crashes.
  • Model simulations predicted regular 2-year cycles without stochasticity, but stochasticity disrupted cycles and increased amplitude.

Conclusions:

  • Bottom-up regulation and winter density dependence can drive rapid population cycles in simple food webs.
  • Environmental stochasticity disrupts regular cycles and increases population fluctuations.
  • The absence of top-down regulation in this system leads to dynamics different from typical longer cycles observed in more complex food webs.