Climatic Factors, Reproductive Success and Population Dynamics in the Montane Vole, Microtus montanus

Abstract

Multiannual fluctuations in population density ("cycles") of small rodents are well known (Elton 1942). Numerous hypotheses have been proposed to explain this phenomenon (for reviews see Krebs and Myers 1974, Finerty 1980, Taitt and Krebs 1985). However, none of these hypotheses, alone or in combination, have been able to explain the causality of cycles.