Rj. Small et al., SYNCHRONOUS AND NONSYNCHRONOUS POPULATION FLUCTUATIONS OF SOME PREDATORS AND THEIR PREY IN CENTRAL SWEDEN, Ecography, 16(4), 1993, pp. 360-364
To test the alternative prey hypothesis (APH), we examined 29-yr time
series of bank voles (indexed by snap-trapping) and 6 game species (in
dexed by bag records) from Gavleborg county, central Sweden, for the o
ccurrence of synchronous population fluctuations. Only voles and the 3
grouse species exhibited cyclic fluctuations; grouse fluctuations wer
e highly synchronous, and positively correlated with vole fluctuations
. Although hares were positively correlated with grouse, they were neg
atively correlated with voles. Fox were positively correlated with vol
es and grouse; however, a strong negative relationship was observed be
tween fox and hares. During a sharp decline in fox numbers during the
early 1980's due to sarcoptic mange, both grouse and hares exhibited a
strong positive numerical response, but, not in synchrony. In additio
n, grouse exhibited large fluctuations during the fox decrease whereas
hares did not. Due to the contradictory predator-prey interactions ob
served, these results provide only partial support for APH.