Dataset Information

Population fluctuations and spatial synchrony in an arboreal rodent.

ABSTRACT: Climatic conditions, trophic links between species and dispersal may induce spatial synchrony in population fluctuations. Spatial synchrony increases the extinction risk of populations and, thus, it is important to understand how synchrony-inducing mechanisms affect populations already threatened by habitat loss and climate change. For many species, it is unclear how population fluctuations vary over time and space, and what factors potentially drive this variation. In this study, we focus on factors determining population fluctuations and spatial synchrony in the Siberian flying squirrel, Pteromys volans, using long-term monitoring data from 16 Finnish populations located 2-400 km apart. We found an indication of synchronous population dynamics on a large scale in flying squirrels. However, the synchrony was not found to be clearly related to distance between study sites because the populations seemed to be strongly affected by small-scale local factors. The regularity of population fluctuations varied over time. The fluctuations were linked to changes in winter precipitation, which has previously been linked to the reproductive success of flying squirrels. Food abundance (tree mast) and predator abundance were not related to population fluctuations in this study. We conclude that spatial synchrony was not unequivocally related to distance in flying squirrels, as has been observed in earlier studies for more abundant rodent species. Our study also emphasises the role of climate in population fluctuations and the synchrony of the species.

SUBMITTER: Selonen V

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6853850 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Population fluctuations and spatial synchrony in an arboreal rodent.

Selonen Vesa V Remm Jaanus J Hanski Ilpo K IK Henttonen Heikki H Huitu Otso O Jokinen Maarit M Korpimäki Erkki E Mäkelä Antero A Sulkava Risto R Wistbacka Ralf R

Oecologia 20191030 4

Climatic conditions, trophic links between species and dispersal may induce spatial synchrony in population fluctuations. Spatial synchrony increases the extinction risk of populations and, thus, it is important to understand how synchrony-inducing mechanisms affect populations already threatened by habitat loss and climate change. For many species, it is unclear how population fluctuations vary over time and space, and what factors potentially drive this variation. In this study, we focus on fa ...[more]

PMID: 31667601

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Project description:Spatial synchrony is a common characteristic of spatio-temporal population dynamics across many taxa. While it is known that both dispersal and spatially autocorrelated environmental variation (i.e., the Moran effect) can synchronize populations, the relative contributions of each, and how they interact, are generally unknown. Distinguishing these mechanisms and their effects on synchrony can help us to better understand spatial population dynamics, design conservation and management strategies, and predict climate change impacts. Population genetic data can be used to tease apart these two processes as the spatio-temporal genetic patterns they create are expected to be different. A challenge, however, is that genetic data are often collected at a single point in time, which may introduce context-specific bias. Spatio-temporal sampling strategies can be used to reduce bias and to improve our characterization of the drivers of spatial synchrony. Using spatio-temporal analyses of genotypic data, our objective was to identify the relative support for these two mechanisms to the spatial synchrony in population dynamics of the irruptive forest insect pest, the spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana), in Quebec (Canada). AMOVA, cluster analysis, isolation by distance, and sPCA were used to characterize spatio-temporal genomic variation using 1,370 SBW larvae sampled over four years (2012-2015) and genotyped at 3,562 SNP loci. We found evidence of overall weak spatial genetic structure that decreased from 2012 to 2015 and a genetic diversity homogenization among the sites. We also found genetic evidence of a long-distance dispersal event over >140 km. These results indicate that dispersal is the key mechanism involved in driving population synchrony of the outbreak. Early intervention management strategies that aim to control source populations have the potential to be effective through limiting dispersal. However, the timing of such interventions relative to outbreak progression is likely to influence their probability of success.

Dataset Information

Population fluctuations and spatial synchrony in an arboreal rodent.

Publications

Population fluctuations and spatial synchrony in an arboreal rodent.

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