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Poirier M, Gauthier G, Domine F, Fauteux D. Lemming winter habitat: the quest for warm and soft snow. Oecologia 2023:10.1007/s00442-023-05385-y. [PMID: 37351629 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-023-05385-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2022] [Accepted: 05/08/2023] [Indexed: 06/24/2023]
Abstract
During the cold arctic winter, small mammals like lemmings seek refuge inside the snowpack to keep warm and they dig tunnels in the basal snow layer, usually formed of a soft depth hoar, to find vegetation on which they feed. The snowpack, however, is a heterogenous medium and lemmings should use habitats where snow properties favor their survival and winter reproduction. We determined the impact of snow physical properties on lemming habitat use and reproduction in winter by sampling their winter nests for 13 years and snow properties for 6 years across 4 different habitats (mesic, riparian, shrubland, and wetland) on Bylot Island in the Canadian High Arctic. We found that lemmings use riparian habitat most intensively because snow accumulates more rapidly, the snowpack is the deepest and temperature of the basal snow layer is the highest in this habitat. However, in the deepest snowpacks, the basal depth hoar layer was denser and less developed than in habitats with shallower snowpacks, and those conditions were negatively related to lemming reproduction in winter. Shrubland appeared a habitat of moderate quality for lemmings as it favored a soft basal snow layer and a deep snowpack compared with mesic and wetland, but snow conditions in this habitat critically depend on weather conditions at the beginning of the winter. With climate change, a hardening of the basal layer of the snowpack and a delay in snow accumulation are expected, which could negatively affect the winter habitat of lemmings and be detrimental to their populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathilde Poirier
- Centre d'Études Nordiques, Université Laval, Pavillon Abitibi-Price, 2405, rue de la Terrasse, Québec, QC, Canada.
- Department of Biology, Université Laval, 1045 av. de la Médecine, Québec, QC, Canada.
- Takuvik Joint International Laboratory, Université Laval (Canada) and CNRS-INSU (France), 1045 av. de la Médecine, Québec, QC, Canada.
| | - Gilles Gauthier
- Centre d'Études Nordiques, Université Laval, Pavillon Abitibi-Price, 2405, rue de la Terrasse, Québec, QC, Canada
- Department of Biology, Université Laval, 1045 av. de la Médecine, Québec, QC, Canada
| | - Florent Domine
- Centre d'Études Nordiques, Université Laval, Pavillon Abitibi-Price, 2405, rue de la Terrasse, Québec, QC, Canada
- Takuvik Joint International Laboratory, Université Laval (Canada) and CNRS-INSU (France), 1045 av. de la Médecine, Québec, QC, Canada
- Department of Chemistry, Université Laval, 1045 av. de la Médecine, Québec, QC, Canada
| | - Dominique Fauteux
- Centre d'Études Nordiques, Université Laval, Pavillon Abitibi-Price, 2405, rue de la Terrasse, Québec, QC, Canada
- Centre for Arctic Knowledge and Exploration, Canadian Museum of Nature, Station D, P.O. Box 3443, Ottawa, ON, Canada
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Vigués J, Norén K, Wilkinson C, Stoessel M, Angerbjörn A, Dalerum F. Abundance, predation, and habitat associations of lemming winter nests in northern Sweden. Ecosphere 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Jan Vigués
- Department of Zoology Stockholm University Stockholm Sweden
| | - Karin Norén
- Department of Zoology Stockholm University Stockholm Sweden
| | - Caitlin Wilkinson
- Department of Zoology Stockholm University Stockholm Sweden
- Department of Environmental Research and Monitoring Swedish Museum of Natural History Stockholm Sweden
| | - Marianne Stoessel
- Department of Physical Geography Stockholm University Stockholm Sweden
| | | | - Fredrik Dalerum
- Department of Zoology Stockholm University Stockholm Sweden
- Biodiversity Research Institute (IMIB, UO‐CSIC‐PA), Spanish National Research Council, Research Building, Mieres Campus Mieres Spain
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, Mammal Research Institute University of Pretoria Hatfield South Africa
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