International Planning Visit: Linking Physiology and Dispersal to Population Cycles in Norwegian Lemmings; a New Look at the Charnov-Finerty Hypothesis

University Of Nebraska At Omaha, Omaha NE

Investigators

Abstract

Through this planning visit James A. Wilson of the University of Nebraska-Omaha will initiate cooperative research activities with his Norwegian counterpart from the University of Oslo, Nils C. Stenseth, an established expert on lemming biology and population cycles. Norwegian lemmings are one of several rodent species that show regular cycles in population density. Little is known about why these drastic population cycles occur. Dr. Wilson and two U.S. undergraduate students will visit Dr. Stenseth at the Norwegian Center for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis in Oslo to plan a collaborative study designed to test assumptions of the Charnov-Finerty hypothesis linking population cycling with physiologic factors, like body condition, hormone levels and immune function. The team's overall goal is to establish a useful model for studying the physiologic factors involved with lemming population cycling. Findings should improve our fundamental understanding of the regulation of lemmings and similar alpine and arctic species whose biologic systems face pressures from changing global climate conditions. Field study sites, test methodologies, and detailed plans for an interactive U.S.-Norwegian research project will be determined following visits to Oslo, the Norwegian Alpine Research Center, in Finse, and the Landscape Ecological Field Station, in Evanstad. The envisioned partnership should benefit from the U.S. principal investigator's knowledge of physiology, immune function, and dispersal and from Norwegian expertise in modeling population dynamics. If successful, longer-term cooperative research will strengthen our ability to measure and account for physiologic and immune parameters in population cycles. This U.S.-Norwegian collaborative activity fulfills the program objective of advancing scientific knowledge by enabling experts in the United States and Europe to combine complementary talents and share research resources in areas of strong mutual interest and competence. Broader impacts include early career introduction of U.S. undergraduate students to international field research in Norway and to a professional network of European researchers.