Animal Ecology
Soay Sheep: Dynamics and Selection in an Island Population
T. H. Clutton-Brock (Editor), J. M. Pemberton
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Overview
Soay Sheep synthesises the results of a unique study of population dynamics, selection and adaptation in a naturally regulated population of mammals. Soay sheep were first introduced to the St Kilda archipelago in the Bronze age, and to the island of Hirta in 1932, where their numbers are naturally regulated by the availability of resources. Unlike most other large mammals, their numbers show persistent fluctuations, sometimes increasing or declining by more than 60 per cent in a year. Soay Sheep explores the causes of these fluctuations and their consequences for selection on genetic and phenotypic variation within the population, drawing on nearly twenty years' study of the life-histories and reproductive careers of many individuals. The study provides important insights into the regulation of other herbivore populations and the effects of environmental change on selection and adaptation. It will be essential reading for vertebrate ecologists, demographers, evolutionary biologists and behavioural ecologists.Book Details
Published
January 1, 2004
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Pages
396
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780521529907