LTREB: Evaluating population cycles and spatial synchrony using long-term demographic and genetic data on snowshoe hares

雪鞋兔提供了经典的教科书的例子，周期性，同步波动的人口规模。加拿大和阿拉斯加的野兔周期以其8-11年的规律性和峰值和低人口密度之间20- 50倍的振幅差异而闻名。同样值得注意的是，在这个范围的大部分时间里，人口波动是同步的。循环动力学和空间同步性似乎在野兔活动范围的南部地区被打破，那里的雪鞋野兔栖息地更加分散，种群之间的运动更加困难。造成人口同步和同步崩溃的因素仍然是推测性的。通过扩展一个独特的，空间上广泛的时间序列的野兔动态在continguous美国，PI米尔斯建议测试长期持有的假设占野兔动态的纬度梯度和人口的连接在产生这些地理格局的作用。九年的初步数据表明，南方人口表现出更大的时间波动比以前认识到的，这些人口是更独特的遗传比北方人口跨越类似的空间范围。了解野兔动态的模式和原因将推进对影响大规模人口过程的因素的基本理解，对保护和管理许多生态系统具有重要意义。种群周期和同步动态，虽然以雪鞋兔为例，但在许多分类群中都存在，包括各种昆虫，鱼类，橡树，病毒，松鸡和大型哺乳动物，包括驯鹿和麝牛。特别值得关注的是，种群的同步性和连通性可能直接影响一个物种的长期生存。这项研究在保护方面的另一个应用是因为加拿大猞猁几乎完全以雪鞋野兔为食，在阿拉斯加以外的美国受到联邦政府的威胁。PI已经建立了一个正式的本科生指导计划，并计划在这个领域的项目涉及研究生和本科生的主机。最后，收集的所有数据将在收集后的1.5年内向公众提供。

Snowshoe hares provide the classical textbook example of cyclical, synchronous fluctuations in population size. Hare cycles in Canada and Alaska are legendary for their 8-11 year regularity and their 20- to 50-fold amplitude difference between peak and low population densities. Equally as remarkable, population fluctuations are synchronized across much of this range. Cyclic dynamics and spatial synchrony appear to break down in the southern parts of the hare's range, where habitats for snowshoe hares are more fragmented and movements among populations more difficult. The factors responsible for population synchrony and for the breakdown of synchrony, remain speculative. By extending a unique, spatially extensive time series of hare dynamics in the continguous US, PI Mills proposes to test long-held hypotheses accounting for a latitudinal gradient in hare dynamics and the role of population connectivity in generating these geographic patterns. Nine years of preliminary data suggest that southern populations exhibit greater temporal fluctuations than previously recognized, and that these populations are more distinct genetically than are northern populations spanning a similar spatial extent. Understanding patterns and causes of hare dynamics will advance the basic understanding of factors that influence large-scale population processes, with implications for conserving and managing many ecological systems. Population cycles and synchronous dynamics, though famously exemplified by snowshoe hares, occur in many taxa, including various insects, fish, oaks, viruses, grouse, and large mammals including caribou and muskox. Of particular conservation concern is the possibility that population synchrony and connectivity may directly affect the long-term persistence of a species. An additional application of this research to conservation arises because Canada lynx, which feed almost exclusively on snowshoe hares, are federally threatened in the U.S. outside of Alaska. The PI has established a formal program for undergraduate mentoring, and plans to involve a host of graduate and undergraduate students in this field project. Finally, all data collected will be available to the general public within 1.5 years of their collection.