<p>Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Univ., härtill 6 uppsatser.</p> / digitalisering@umu

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of computer instruction on the near transfer and far transfer of a means-end analysis problem solving strategy.

Tableau d'honneur de la Faculté des études supérieures et postdoctorales, 2016-2017 / Les populations caractérisées par des fluctuations cycliques ont fasciné et continuent de générer un grand intérêt chez la communauté scientifique en raison de la complexité des facteurs de régulation qui en sont responsables. Plusieurs hypothèses ont été proposées pour expliquer ces fluctuations cycliques mais aucun consensus n’a encore été atteint malgré près de 100 ans de recherche. La disponibilité de la nourriture et les effets sociaux (e.g. interactions compétitives) ont été proposés comme facteurs responsables de cycles de certaines espèces. Toutefois, la prédation est probablement le facteur le plus susceptible de causer des fluctuations cycliques chez les populations fauniques en raison de son effet dépendant de la densité avec délai. Un tandem circulaire de raréfaction et densification des prédateurs et des proies par des effets directs (i.e. mortalités) seraient à l’origine des cycles d’abondance. De plus, de récentes études montrent que les effets indirects (comme le stress) de la prédation pourraient être aussi importants que les effets directs pour générer les fluctuations cycliques. Cette thèse vise à identifier les effets directs et indirects de la prédation qui affectent la population de lemmings bruns de l’Île Bylot, Nunavut, caractérisée par des cycles d’abondance de 3-4 ans. Pour ce faire, nous avons d’abord comparé la plausibilité de l’hypothèse de la limitation par nourriture vis-à-vis l’hypothèse de la prédation en déterminant la chronologie saisonnière des cycles des lemmings. Ensuite, nous avons construit en 2012-2013 une clôture de 9 ha coiffée d’un filet anti-prédateur aviaire dans lequel nous avons piégé les lemmings de 2013 à 2015. Une deuxième grille de trappage sans clôture a été utilisée à des fins de comparaisons. Ces deux grilles étaient actives dès 2008, ce qui nous a permis d’avoir un contrôle pré-expérimental pour les données démographiques (effets directs). En 2014 et 2015, nous avons récolté les fèces des lemmings dans les deux grilles de trappage afin de quantifier les métabolites d’hormones de stress. Une validation de la mesure des métabolites fécales des glucocorticoïdes (i.e. hormones de stress) a été menée afin de mesurer le stress des lemmings de façon non-invasive. Les résultats sont clairs : (1) le déclin des lemmings se produit à la fin de l’été alors que les prédateurs sont au plus fort de leur abondance et pas à la fin de l’hiver, supportant ainsi l’hypothèse de la limitation par la prédation. Nos résultats suggèrent aussi (2) que les lemmings à l’intérieur de la clôture avaient une survie plus élevée qu’à l’extérieur, favorisant ainsi une croissance plus forte de la population. Ensuite, (3) les lemmings ont montré des niveaux de stress plus faibles sans prédation sans toutefois que cela ait un impact sur leur reproduction. À la lumière des résultats de cette thèse et en les comparant avec deux autres études ayant aussi réduit expérimentalement l’abondance des prédateurs dans la toundra arctique, nous pouvons conclure que la prédation est la force trophique dominante de régulation de l’abondance des lemmings. Cette étude montre également que le stress induit par la prédation est insuffisant pour avoir un impact sur la dynamique des lemmings en été, soit pendant la saison où la prédation est maximale. Il est possible que cette absence d’effet soit une réponse adaptative des lemmings pour maintenir une reproduction élevée face à une prédation élevée, et ainsi maximiser leur aptitude phénotypique. / Populations characterised by cyclic fluctuations have fascinated and continue to generate a great interest among the scientific community because of the complexity of the regulating factors. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain these cyclical fluctuations but no consensus has yet been reached despite nearly 100 years of research. The availability of food and social effects (e.g. competitive interactions) has been proposed as factors responsible for cycles in certain species. However, predation is probably the factor most likely to cause cyclical fluctuations in wildlife populations due to its delayed density-dependence. A circular tandem of rarefaction and densification of predators and prey caused by direct effects (i.e. mortalities) can cause cycles of abundance. Moreover, recent studies show that indirect effects of predation such as stress could be as important as direct effects in generating cycles. This thesis aims to identify direct and indirect effects of predation that affect the cyclic brown lemming populations of Bylot Island, Nunavut, which is characterized by 3-4 yr cycles. To do this, we first compared the plausibility of the food limitation hypothesis vs. the predation limitation hypothesis by determining the seasonal timing of lemming cycles. We then we built a 9-ha fence in 2012-2013 covered by an anti-avian predator net in which we trapped lemmings from 2013 to 2015. A second control trapping grid was used for comparisons. These two grids were active since 2008, allowing us to have a pre-experimental control for demographic parameters (direct effects). In 2014 and 2015, we collected lemming feces in the two trapping grids to quantify stress hormone metabolites. A validation of the measurement of fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (i.e. stress hormones) was conducted to measure stress non-invasively. The results are clear: (1) the decline of lemmings occurs in late summer when predators are at their peak abundance and not in late winter, thereby supporting the predator-limitation hypothesis. Our results also suggest (2) that lemmings within the fence had higher survival than outside, thus promoting a higher growth of the population. Then, (3) even though lemmings had lower stress levels without predation, stress had no impact on their reproduction. In light of the results of this thesis and according to two other studies during which predator abundance was also reduced experimentally in the Arctic tundra, I conclude that predation is the dominant trophic force that regulates the abundance of lemmings. This study also shows that the stress induced by predation is insufficient to affect the dynamics of lemmings in summer, when predation is maximum. It is possible that this lack of an effect is an adaptive response by lemmings to maintain high reproductive rate despite high predation, and thus maximize their fitness.

L'objectif principal de ce mémoire était d'approfondir nos connaissances sur la dynamique des populations de deux espèces sympatriques de lemming, le lemming brun (Lemmus sibericus) et le lemming variable {Dicrostonyx groenlandicus) à l'Ile By lot, Nunavut, Canada. Une première analyse a permis de caractériser les fluctuations interannuelles d'abondance des deux espèces sur une période de 13 ans. Cette analyse a montré que la cyclicité des deux espèces diffère, malgré une période équivalente de 3-4 ans. Les variations d'amplitude chez le lemming brun, l'espèce la plus abondante, étaient plus importantes que chez le lemming variable, mais synchrones entre les deux espèces. Nous avons aussi analysé la démographie des deux espèces au cours de deux années consécutives, une de pic d'abondance et une de déclin. Nos résultats suggèrent une plus grande variation interannuelle de la démographie et de la densité pour le lemming brun par rapport au lemming variable. On n'a noté aucune différence dans les variations saisonnières entre les deux espèces. De façon générale, la taille de la population adulte diminuait durant l'été alors que le taux de reproduction et l'abondance des jeunes augmentaient. / The main objective of this thesis was to improve our knowledge on the population dynamic of two sympatric lemming species, the brown lemming (Lemmus sibericus) and the collared lemming (Dicrostonyx groenlandicus) on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada. In a first analysis, we characterised inter-annual fluctuations in abundance of both species over a 13-year period. The cyclicity differed between the two species but periodicity was the same (3-4 years). Fluctuations were of greater amplitude in the brown lemming, the most abundant species, than in the collared lemming but nonetheless synchronous between species. We also analysed the demography in both species during two consecutive years, a peak and a declining year of abundance. Our results suggest that the demography and density of brown lemmings was more variable than those of collared lemmings. We found no differences between the two species in seasonal variations. Generally, adult population size decreased during the summer and the reproductive rate and abundance of juveniles increased.

The objective of this thesis was to investigate the effects of mammalian grazers, such as microtine rodents and reindeer, (top-down effects) and nutrient availability (bottom- up effects) on the plant community of a tundra heath. I conducted a large-scale fertilization experiment and studied the impact of grazers using exclosures. I measured the effects of fertilization and grazing on soil microbial activity and nutrient cycling. I investigated the responses to fertilization of the invertebrate community, I studied the effects on the quality of bilberry as food for mammalian herbivores, and I looked at how concentrations of nutrients and carbon-based secondary defences against herbivory fluctuated between seasons in unfertilized and fertilized treatments. The results of my thesis show that the plant community investigated is exposed to a strong top-down control by mammalian herbivores. On the fertilized and grazed areas the aboveground biomass of the vascular plant community did not increase compared to unfertilized areas. However, the productivity of the plant community was clearly nutrient- limited. During the eight years of the experiment, on the fertilized areas plant biomass was significantly increased inside the herbivore exclosures In my study mammalian herbivores at comparatively low densities and grazing outside the growing season were sufficient to control the biomass of a heterogeneous plant community. Microtine rodents (Norwegian lemmings and grey-sided voles) preferred the fertilized areas for overwintering. The food plant quality of bilberry for grey-sided voles was improved on the fertilized areas throughout the year. Grazing decreased the nitrogen storage in the aboveground plant biomass. Reindeer and rodents had also important indirect effects on the plant community by decelerating soil nutrient cycling and soil microbial activity. This effect may be accelerated by the impact of herbivore on plant species composition. Graminoids, which contained the highest nitrogen concentrations in their tissues, increased rapidly on the fertilized areas, but their abundance was significantly lower on grazed fertilized areas. The invertebrate community was detritus-based and received their energy indirectly from the litter via soil microbes and detritivores. Fertilization increased the biomass of invertebrate carnivores, but had no effect on the biomass of invertebrate herbivores. Apparent competition between detritivores and invertebrate herbivores, mediated by carnivorous invertebrates predating on both of them, is supposed to keep the densities and grazing pressure of invertebrate herbivores low. Grazing damage by invertebrates was very low and only 0.021 % of the total vascular plant biomass was removed. / <p>Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Umeå universitet, 2001, härtill 6 uppsstser.</p> / digitalisering@umu

The object of this thesis was to study plant community structure, especially in relation to vertebrate herbivory, in an altitudinal gradient in the Fennoscandian mountain chain. A sowing experiment in a high alpine Ranunculus glacialis population showed that seeds germinated better in cleared microsites than under established individuals. This is contrasted with a hypothesis that predicts positive plant-plant interactions in high alpine environments. It was concluded that plant-plant interactions in die studied population varied from neutral to negative, whereas no indications for positive interactions were found. An exclosure experiment in a snow-bed showed that a lemming population consumed 33 % of the available graminoids and 66 % of the mosses from August to June during a population peak. The results shows that grazing needs to be considered as a structuring factor in snow-bed vegetation. The vegetation in exclosures in another snow-bed changed from a graminoid-dominated to a herb-dominated plant community during a long-term (six years) experiment No changes of the same magnitude were seen in a tall herb meadow on a lower altitude. Survival of transplanted adult shoots from the tall herb meadow was equally high in the snow-bed as on the meadow, and germination was also high on bare ground in the snow-bed. Grazing seemed to be a more important structuring factor in the snow-bed than in the more productive tall herb meadow. Raising the grazing pressure during one growing season by introducing microtine rodents into enclosures did not cause any large short-term effects on plant community structure in a tall hob meadow or in a snow-bed. Marked shoots showed that some preferred plant species had a high shoot mortality, but biomass for pooled categories of plants was not significantly affected. It was predicted that the tall herb meadow would be more grazing sensitive than die snow-bed, but productivity on the meadow seemed to be sufficiently high for the plants to compensate for the grazing during the growing season. A greenhouse experiment showed that voles, when grazing freely, have the potential to deplete productive field layer vegetation contrary to predictions from plant defence theories. A nitrogen-based defence did not prevent heavy shoot mortality for toxic tall herbs. / <p>Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Umeå universitet, 1993, härtill 5 uppsatser.</p> / digitalisering@umu.se