Research overview: alternative prey and the snowshoe hare cycle

A survey of the role that secondary prey such as red squirrels, grouse and microtine rodents play in the dynamics of the snowshoe hare cycle and its lynx predators. When hares are abundant, predators concentrate on them; when hares decline, the availability and dynamics of alternative prey influence how steeply predators switch and how their numbers respond. This overview examines whether alternative prey stabilizes or destabilizes the cycle, the concept of shared predation linking prey species through common predators, and how the alternative-prey base differs across the boreal range. It connects functional and numerical responses to community context and considers how changes in alternative prey, driven by climate or habitat, might alter the amplitude and synchrony of the classic lynx-hare oscillation.