Apr. 21 : Contrary to popular belief, lemmings or small rodents, usually found in or near the Arctic do not commit mass suicide by leaping off of cliffs into the sea.

In fact, the biggest threat to them is climate change, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

In a study, WCS Canada researcher Dr.Don Reid, said: “The ability of lemmings to adapt to these changes will have a significant impact on the entire food web, so we need to understand more about lemming ecology within the context of climate change.”

Lemmings serve as an important prey species for a number of predators, including arctic foxes, red foxes, rough-legged hawks, peregrine falcons, snowy and short-eared owls, jaegers, gulls, weasels, wolverines, and grizzly bears.

In fact, the population of many predators fluctuates in response to dips in lemming numbers. One of the key ingredients for lemming abundance and productivity is snow. Sufficient snow depth insulates the rodents from frigid temperatures, allowing them to devote more energy to breeding and less to avoiding predators.

Later arrival of autumn snows, and earlier spring melts, could subject lemmings to longer periods of sub-freezing temperatures.

Lemming predators also have to adapt to these changes. Predators that specialize on eating lemmings, such as snowy owls and arctic foxes, may suffer if lemmings are no longer so productive. Other predators may benefit.

The study, due to begin next month, will be one component of a large Canadian International Polar Year (IPY) project called the Arctic Wildlife Observatories Linking Vulnerable Ecosystems (ArcticWOLVES), based at Laval University in Quebec.

Funded by the Canadian IPY program, this project will involve a number of academic, government, and non-governmental players in an effort to assess the status of food webs across Arctic ecosystems.

The project will undertake detailed studies on lemmings and their predators at several sites through the Arctic, including the northern Yukon and Bylot Island, Nunavut, and will run until 2010. (ANI)