Rodent pest explosions actually stem from plant-community derangement

Evidence

When prairie dogs, ground squirrels, or mice increase to pest levels we poison them, but we do not look beyond the animal to find the cause of the irruption. We assume that animal troubles must have animal causes. The latest scientific evidence points to derangements of the plant community as the real seat of rodent irruptions, but few explorations of this clue are being made. — Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, 691

Categorization

• QUESTION: Leopold cites ‘latest scientific evidence’ for plant-community causation of rodent irruptions — worth tracing what that evidence was.
• XREF: connects to: Ecological invaders succeed one another in chains driven by land-use change — Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac: With Other…, 546; Species extinction and pest irruption signal sickness in the land organism — Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac: With Other…, 689; Disturbance triggers insect outbreaks once populations cross a regulatory threshold — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 1547 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Disturbance triggers insect outbreaks once populations cross a regulatory threshold #expands (0.80) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 1547
• Species damage arises from ecosystem loss, not individual animal harm #corroborates (0.72) — David Schlosberg, Defining Environmental Justice, 497