Long-term monitoring in the boreal forest reveals high spatio-temporal variability among primary ecosystem constituents

A long-term monitoring study spanning nearly five decades in the Yukon boreal forest reveals significant spatio-temporal variability among primary ecosystem constituents, including white spruce cone crops, berry production, mushroom abundance, and populations of small mammals, red squirrels, snowshoe hares, and carnivores. Despite this variability, keystone species like the snowshoe hare and Canada lynx exhibit remarkably synchronized population trends across multiple sites, with hares showing 9–10-year cyclic fluctuations and lynx populations lagging by 1–2 years. The study highlights the complex dynamics of boreal ecosystems under anthropogenic stressors, particularly climate change, while emphasizing the challenges in predicting long-term changes due to site-specific variability and species-specific responses.

Krebs, C. J., Boutin, S., Boonstra, R., Murray, D. L., Jung, T. S., O’Donoghue, M., Gilbert, B. S., Kukka, P. M., Taylor, S. D., Morgan, T., Drummond, R., Sinclair, A. R. E., & Kenney, A. J. (2023). Long-term monitoring in the boreal forest reveals high spatio-temporal variability among primary ecosystem constituents. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1187222