Skip to main content
Advanced Search

Filters: Types: Citation (X) > partyWithName: Krebs, Charles J. (X)

193 results (8ms)   

View Results as: JSON ATOM CSV
Residual effects of nutrient additions were sustained in shrubs 4-8 years after fertilization stopped in a northern boreal forest in Yukon, Canada. We measured the growth rate of grey willow (Salix glauca L.) and bog birch (Betula glandulosa Michx.) twigs during the growing seasons of 1998, 2001, and 2002, 4-8 years after NPK fertilization from 1987 to 1994 had ceased. We also measured the nitrogen concentration of the 1998 growth tissue. Willow twigs had significantly higher growth rates in previously fertilized shrubs than control shrubs in these 3 years, even greater than differences observed during fertilization. Willow also had higher N concentration in fertilized twigs than control twigs. Birch growth was...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation; Tags: M1-Ecosystems, M1-Flora
thumbnail
Two population oscillations dominate terrestrial community dynamics in northern Canada. In the boreal forest, the snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) fluctuates in cycles with an 8–10 year periodicity and in tundra regions lemmings typically fluctuate in cycles with a 3–4 year periodicity. I review 60 years of research that has uncovered many of the causes of these population cycles, outline areas of controversy that remain and suggest key questions to address. Lemmings are keystone herbivores in tundra ecosystems because they are a key food resource for many avian and mammalian predators and are a major consumer of plant production. There remains much controversy over the role of predation, food shortage and social...
thumbnail
The boreal forests of North America are undergoing major changes because of the direct effects of global warming and increased CO sub(2) levels. Plant production in the boreal forest is nutrient limited, and we examined how long-term fertilization affected growth of white spruce Picea glauca in the face of these major changes. We conducted a large-scale experiment by fertilizing two 1 km super(2) stands of white spruce in the southwestern Yukon with commercial NPK fertilizer from 1987 to 1994. Tree growth was measured by the width of annual increments in 60 trees from each of 2 control and of 2 matched fertilized 1 km super(2) sites for the period from 1977 to 1997 in a before, during, and after experimental design....
thumbnail
The classic 10-year population cycle of snowshoe hares ( Lepus americanus, Erxleben 1777) and Canada lynx ( Lynx canadensis, Kerr 1792) in the boreal forests of North America has drawn much attention from both population and community ecologists worldwide; however, the ecological mechanisms driving the 10-year cyclic dynamic pattern are not fully revealed yet. In this study, by the use of historic fur harvest data, we constructed a series of generalized additive models to study the effects of density dependence, predation, and climate (both global climate indices of North Atlantic Oscillation index ( NAO), Southern Oscillation index ( SOI) and northern hemispheric temperature ( NHT) and local weather data including...
Residual effects of nutrient additions were sustained in shrubs 4-8 years after fertilization stopped in a northern boreal forest in Yukon, Canada. We measured the growth rate of grey willow (Salix glauca L.) and bog birch (Betula glandulosa Michx.) twigs during the growing seasons of 1998, 2001, and 2002, 4-8 years after NPK fertilization from 1987 to 1994 had ceased. We also measured the nitrogen concentration of the 1998 growth tissue. Willow twigs had significantly higher growth rates in previously fertilized shrubs than control shrubs in these 3 years, even greater than differences observed during fertilization. Willow also had higher N concentration in fertilized twigs than control twigs. Birch growth was...
Categories: Publication; Types: Citation; Tags: M1-Ecosystems, M1-Flora
Body condition of animals influences the likelihood of surviving harsh environmental conditions, successfully reproducing, and resisting disease. The sum of these individual components of fitness, in turn, have consequences for the growth and persistence of wildlife populations. Here we compared the body mass and condition of adult female arctic ground squirrels ( Urocitellus parryii plesius (Osgood, 1900)), an obligate hibernator, in source and sink habitats. We tested the hypothesis that adult females would be in poorer condition in the boreal forest than in adjacent meadows. We found that, during spring, postpartum females in forests weighed less (405 ± 7 vs. 437 ± 11 g; mean ± SE) and were in poorer condition...
The boreal forests of North America are undergoing major changes because of the direct effects of global warming and increased CO sub(2) levels. Plant production in the boreal forest is nutrient limited, and we examined how long-term fertilization affected growth of white spruce Picea glauca in the face of these major changes. We conducted a large-scale experiment by fertilizing two 1 km super(2) stands of white spruce in the southwestern Yukon with commercial NPK fertilizer from 1987 to 1994. Tree growth was measured by the width of annual increments in 60 trees from each of 2 control and of 2 matched fertilized 1 km super(2) sites for the period from 1977 to 1997 in a before, during, and after experimental design....
Predation is a central organizing process affecting populations and communities. Traditionally, ecologists have focused on the direct effects of predation--the killing of prey. However, predators also have significant sublethal effects on prey populations. We investigated how fluctuating predation risk affected the stress physiology of a cyclic population of snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) in the Yukon, finding that they are extremely sensitive to the fluctuating risk of predation. In years of high predator numbers, hares had greater plasma cortisol levels at capture, greater fecal cortisol metabolite levels, a greater plasma cortisol response to a hormone challenge, a greater ability to mobilize energy and poorer...
Small mammals in boreal forest ecosystems fluctuate dramatically in abundance and 1 possible mechanism to explain these changes is the bottom-up hypothesis of variation in food supplies. Here we ask if variation in berry crops produced by 6 major species of dwarf shrubs and herbs, epigeous mushroom crops, and white spruce seeds allow us to predict changes in the abundance of the red-backed vole (Myodes [= Clethrionomys] rutilus), the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus), and field voles (Microtus oeconomus and M. pennsylvanicus combined) over 13 years (1997-2009) in the Kluane Lake region of the southwestern Yukon, Canada. M. rutilus is the dominant rodent in these forests, comprising 64% of the catch. Overwinter...
Snow cover is a key environmental component for tundra wildlife that will be affected by climate change. Change to the snow cover may affect the population dynamics of high-latitude small mammals, which are active throughout the winter and reproduce under the snow. We experimentally tested the hypotheses that a deeper snow cover would enhance the densities and winter reproductive rates of small mammals, but that predation by mustelids could be higher in areas of increased small mammal density. We enhanced snow cover by setting out snow fences at three sites in the Canadian Arctic (Bylot Island, Nunavut, and Herschel Island and Komakuk Beach, Yukon) over periods ranging from one to four years. Densities of winter...
map background search result map search result map Linking climate change to population cycles of hares and lynx Population limitation of the northern red-backed vole in the boreal forests of northern Canada Of lemmings and snowshoe hares: the ecology of northern Canada Climate and nutrient influences on the growth of white spruce trees in the boreal forests of the Yukon Cyclic dynamics of snowshoe hares on a small island in the Yukon Estimating snowshoe hare population density from pellet plots: a further evaluation Experimental design and practical problems of implementation Herbivores - Forest grouse and ptarmigan Is the relationship between predator and prey abundances related to climate for lynx and snowshoe hares? Arctic ground squirrel population collapse in the boreal forests of the Southern Yukon Ecosystem Dynamics of the Boreal Forest: the Kluane Project Why Do the Boreal Forest Ecosystems of Northwestern Europe Differ from Those of Western North America? Cyclic dynamics of snowshoe hares on a small island in the Yukon Why Do the Boreal Forest Ecosystems of Northwestern Europe Differ from Those of Western North America? Climate and nutrient influences on the growth of white spruce trees in the boreal forests of the Yukon Herbivores - Forest grouse and ptarmigan Is the relationship between predator and prey abundances related to climate for lynx and snowshoe hares? Experimental design and practical problems of implementation Arctic ground squirrel population collapse in the boreal forests of the Southern Yukon Estimating snowshoe hare population density from pellet plots: a further evaluation Ecosystem Dynamics of the Boreal Forest: the Kluane Project Linking climate change to population cycles of hares and lynx Population limitation of the northern red-backed vole in the boreal forests of northern Canada Of lemmings and snowshoe hares: the ecology of northern Canada