The phenomenon of cyclic population fluctuation in small rodents, and specifically lemmings, has been a major issue in ecology for decades. A number of questions, both truly scientific and also of popular mythology,surround the biology of these animals. Although a tremendous amount of research has been carried out on lemmings, much remains to be resolved. And while the story of the suicidal rodent is now understood as myth, the facts behind the population behavior of lemmings require further study. In this book well-known ecologists Stenseth and Ims have brought together a number of leading experts from both North America and Europe to review our current understanding of the taxonomy, population biology, feeding, and community ecology of lemmings.The authors put this current, but rather fragmentary, understanding of lemming biology into a general population biological context."In many ways we see lemmings as an important model species within population biology,"Stenseth acknowledges in the preface. Starting with the 16th Century, the book's introduction overviews the history of lemming research. The chapters are grouped into theme sections, each prefaced by an introductory review by the editors. The overall result is the most comprehensive and coherent overview of the subject to date.Finally, six appendices give detailed advice on how to study lemmings, which will provide an invaluable reference for research in the future. Contains never-before published material on the Norwegian lemming Lemmus lemmus Includes papers presented at a meeting on lemming biology at the biological station of Konnevesi at the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland Edited and authored by experts in the field