The introduction, increase, and crash of reindeer on St. Matthew Island.
The introduction, increase, and crash of reindeer on St. Matthew Island.
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圣马修岛上驯鹿的引入、增加和灭绝。
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发表时间：
1968
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影响因子：
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通讯作者：
D. Klein
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
D. Klein
驯鹿（Rangifer tarandus）于1944年引入圣马修岛，从当时的29头增加到1963年夏天的6，000头，并在第二个冬天经历了不到50头的死亡。1957年，驯鹿的体重被发现超过驯鹿在国内畜群中的2453%，在男性中的4661%。由于岛上饲料的高质量和数量，人口也因高出生率和低死亡率而迅速增加。到1963年，岛上驯鹿的密度达到每平方英里46.9头，小鹿和一岁鹿与成年母牛的比例分别从1957年的75%和45%下降到1963年的60%和26%。成年雌性驯鹿的平均体重比1957年下降了38%，成年雄性驯鹿的平均体重下降了43%，与家养驯鹿的体重相当。地衣作为冬季饮食的重要组成部分已经完全消失。莎草和草正在向以前被地衣占据的地方扩张。在1963 - 64年的冬末，由于积雪严重，几乎所有6，000头驯鹿都饿死了。除了一个已知的例外，所有幸存的驯鹿（1966年为42头）都是雌性。圣马修岛驯鹿种群增长和死亡的模式在其他引入动物的岛屿上也观察到，据信是生态系统发展有限以及岛屿上潜在种群调节因素缺乏的产物。食物供应通过与气候因素的相互作用，是圣马修岛驯鹿种群的主要调节机制。圣马修岛，面积128平方英里，位于白令海中北部的白令海野生动物保护区（图1），支持一个发育不良的陆地动物群。本地陆地哺乳动物仅限于田鼠（Microtus martatus）和北极狐（Alopex lagopus），尽管近代存在北极熊（Thalarctos maritimus）的居民种群（Elliot 1882）。圣马修岛上的驯鹿是1944年8月20日美国政府释放的24只雌性和5只雄性驯鹿的结果。S.海岸警卫队（Klein 1959）。不久之后，岛上的海岸警卫队罗兰站被废弃，该岛从此无人居住。用于研究目的的标本和海岸警卫队人员作为娱乐活动拍摄的标本是牛群的唯一收获。除了1966年的10只外，这些都是在1957-63年期间拍摄的，总共105只动物。本文报道了从引进到1966年7月，这个岛屿驯鹿群从迅速增加到崩溃死亡的人口动态和范围内的相互关系。我感谢同事们的实地合作。Fay，Dr.弗农L.哈姆斯、杰克·曼利和格里·科万，以及詹姆斯·维森亨特和德特勒夫·科菲尔德博士的协助。Dr. Reynfeld还对驯鹿卵巢材料进行了分析，并通过讨论为数据的解释提供了有用的建议。山姆·哈博在数据的统计处理方面提供了建议。
Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), introduced to St. Matthew Island in 1944, increased from 29 animals at that time to 6,000 in the summer of 1963 and underwent a crash die-off the following winter to less than 50 animals. In 1957, the body weight of the reindeer was found to exceed that of reindeer in domestic herds by 24 53 percent among females and 46 61 percent among males. The population also responded to the high quality and quantity of the forage on the island by increasing rapidly due to a high birth rate and low mortality. By 1963, the density of the reindeer on the island had reached 46.9 per square mile and ratios of fawns and yearlings to adult cows had dropped from 75 and 45 percent respectively, in 1957 to 60 and 26 percent in 1963. Average body weights had decreased from 1957 by 38 percent for adult females and 43 percent for adult males and were comparable to weights of reindeer in domestic herds. Lichens had been completely eliminated as a significant component of the winter diet. Sedges and grasses were expanding into sites previously occupied by lichens. In the late winter of 196364, in association with extreme snow accumulation, virtually the entire population of 6,000 reindeer died of starvation. With one known exception, all of the surviving reindeer (42 in 1966) were females. The pattern of reindeer population growth and die-off on St. Matthew Island has been observed on other island situations with introduced animals and is believed to be a product of the limited development of ecosystems and the associated deficiency of potential populationregulating factors on islands. Food supply, through its interaction with climatic factors, was the dominant population regulating mechanism for reindeer on St. Matthew Island. St. Matthew Island, 128 square miles in area and located in the Bering Sea Wildlife Refuge in the north central Bering Sea (Fig. 1), supports a poorly developed land fauna. Native land mammals are restricted to a vole (Microtus abbreviatus) and the arctic fox ( Alopex lagopus ), although a resident population of polar bears (Thalarctos maritimus) existed there in Recent times (Elliot 1882). The reindeer on St. Matthew Island were the result of the release of 24 females and 5 males on August 20, 1944, by the U. S. Coast Guard (Klein 1959). Shortly afterwards, the Coast Guard loran station on the island was abandoned and the island has been uninhabited since then. Specimens taken for study purposes and those shot by Coast Guard personnel as a recreational pursuit have been the only harvest from the herd. With the exception of 10 in 1966, these were all taken during 1957-63 and totaled 105 animals. This paper reports on the population dynamics and range interrelationships of this island reindeer herd from the time of introduction through its rapid increase and crash die-off until July, 1966. I appreciate the field cooperation of colleagues Dr. Francis H. Fay, Dr. Vernon L. Harms, Jack Manley, and Gerry Cowan and the assistance of James Whisenhant and Dr. Detlef Eisfeld. Dr. Eisfeld also did the analyses of the reindeer ovarian material and, through discussion, provided useful suggestions for the interpretation of the data. Sam Harbo provided advice in the statistical treatment of data.