Learn how tritrophic population dynamics affect boreal forests!
This simulator models the effect of reintroduction of snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) and/or predators in Canadian boreal forests via a tritrophic population dynamics model.
Quantitative differences in parameter values can cause qualitative differences in behavior because of the nonlinear character of the ecological dynamics.
Population cycles of browse, hares and predators can be observed. The period of these cycles is not exact but it is pretty regular and appears unrelated to external causes (for instance sunspot cycles or meteorological oscillations). The ten years cycle is a northern phenomenon that affects in a more or less synchronous way to wide geographic zones.
