Video Experimental Relacionado
Updated: May 12, 2026
10:20
Linking Predation Risk, Herbivore Physiological Stress and Microbial Decomposition of Plant Litter
Published on: March 12, 2013
La amortiguación en toda Europa de los ciclos de población en los herbívoros clave
Thomas Cornulier1, Nigel G Yoccoz, Vincent Bretagnolle
1School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Zoology Building, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen AB24 2TZ, UK. cornulier@abdn.ac.uk
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|April 6, 2013
Resumen
Las pequeñas poblaciones de herbívoros, como los ratones, muestran ciclos de población amortiguados debido a la reducción del crecimiento invernal, lo que sugiere que el cambio climático afecta las funciones del ecosistema. Estos cambios pueden afectar a las redes alimentarias en toda Europa.
Área de la Ciencia:
- Ecología Ecología Ecología.
- Dinámica de las poblaciones.
- Impactos del cambio climático Impactos del cambio climático
Sus antecedentes:
- Existen preocupaciones con respecto al colapso de los ciclos de pequeños herbívoros desde la década de 1980.
- Las causas potenciales incluyen cambios ambientales extrínsecos o estocasticidad intrínseca.
- La pérdida de estos ciclos amenaza las funciones esenciales del ecosistema.
Objetivo del estudio:
- Para investigar la generalidad de la reducción del ciclo de los pequeños herbívoros.
- Para determinar si los cambios ambientales o los factores intrínsecos impulsan estos fenómenos.
- Para identificar las causas subyacentes y predecir tendencias futuras.
Principales métodos:
- Análisis de una gran compilación de datos de series temporales sobre la abundancia de aves.
- Evaluación de las tasas de crecimiento de la población, especialmente durante el invierno.
- Examen de los procesos regulatorios responsables de la ciclicidad.
Principales resultados:
- Se observó una amortiguación constante de las amplitudes de los ciclos de vole.
- La reducción del crecimiento de la población en invierno está fuertemente asociada con esta disminución.
- Los procesos regulatorios que impulsan la ciclicidad permanecen intactos.
- Un conductor climático común es sugerido por los cambios generalizados en toda Europa y las especies de vole.
Conclusiones:
- Las pequeñas poblaciones de herbívoros exhiben amplitudes de ciclo reducidas, vinculadas a una disminución del crecimiento de la población en invierno.
- Los cambios observados sugieren un factor climático común que afecta a los ecosistemas europeos.
- Las predicciones futuras indican períodos más largos de fluctuaciones de baja amplitud, lo que podría afectar a las redes tróficas.
Videos de Conceptos Relacionados
02:07Conservation of Declining Populations
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.
00:57Population Growth
Population size is dynamic, increasing with birth rates and immigration, and decreasing with death rates and emigration. In ideal conditions with unlimited resources, populations can increase exponentially, which plots as a J-shaped growth rate curve of population size against time. This type of curve is characteristic of newly-introduced invasive species, or populations that have suffered catastrophic declines and are rebounding.
02:39Predator-Prey Interactions
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.
01:39Keystone Species
Measures of species biodiversity, such as richness (i.e., the number of species present) and evenness (i.e., their relative abundance), describe an ecological community’s structure. Many factors affect community structure, including abiotic factors (e.g., sunlight and nutrients), disturbances (e.g., fire or flood), species interactions (e.g., predation or competition), and chance events (e.g., foreign species invasion). Certain species—such as keystone species—also play a pivotal role in the...
01:50Threats to Biodiversity
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...
02:04Conservation of Small Populations
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 likely to...