Food Habits, Energetics, and the Population Biology of Mammals

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Abstract
A complex interaction probably occurs between the physiological parameters of mammals and the growth and fluctuation of their populations: The Malthusian parameter rm increases with rate of metabolism, which in turn varies with body size and food habits. It probably behooves all mammals to have as high a rate of metabolism as can be sustained by the quantity and quality of their food resources in space and time, because this adjustment will permit them to maximize their reproductive efforts. These interactions raise many questions, one of which concerns the temporal variation in reproductive strategies. The basal rate in the brown lemming (Lemmus trimucronatus) may be especially high during a winter in which the snow cover is reduced. Does a seasonal variation in the rate of metabolism have a significant influence onseasonal variation in reproduction and therefore in population size? Whatever the correct answer to this question may be, it is clear that the physiological and populational characteristics of mammals are more intimately related than suspected.