Seasonal patterns in habitat use by the harvest mouse (Micromys minutus) and other small mammals

Occhiuto, Francesca; Mohallal, Eman; Gilfillan, Geoffrey D.; Lowe, Andrew; Reader, Tom

Abstract

The ecology of the harvest mouse (Micromys minutus) is poorly understood, partly because it is a difficult species to monitor. It is commonly associated with reedbeds, where evidence suggests that it experiences strong seasonal fluctuations in abundance. However, it is unknown whether these fluctuations are caused by real changes in population size, or by movement between habitats. This study investigated seasonal changes in population size and habitat use by harvest mice, and other small mammal species, by trapping the reedbed and three associated habitat types: woodland, pasture and arable land. A sampling effort of 9887 trap bouts across nine months, resulted in 70 captures of harvest mice, as well as wood mice (N = 1022), bank voles (N = 252), field voles (N = 9), common shrews (N = 86) and pygmy shrews (N = 7). The reedbed was the habitat with the most captures and highest diversity. Harvest mice were caught exclusively in the reedbed at the beginning of autumn. Wood mice and bank voles experienced fluctuations in population numbers and wood mice also showed seasonal variation in habitat use. Our study supports the idea that harvest mice undergo extreme seasonal fluctuations in abundance in reedbeds, but these do not appear to be related to changes in habitat use.

Citation

Occhiuto, F., Mohallal, E., Gilfillan, G. D., Lowe, A., & Reader, T. (2021). Seasonal patterns in habitat use by the harvest mouse (Micromys minutus) and other small mammals. Mammalia, 85(4), 325-335. https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2020-0095

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 2, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Mar 25, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021-07
• Deposit Date: Sep 13, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 26, 2022
• Journal: Mammalia
• Print ISSN: 0025-1461
• Electronic ISSN: 1864-1547
• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 85
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 325-335
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2020-0095
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5481169
• Publisher URL: https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/mammalia-2020-0095/html
• Additional Information: The final publication is available at www.degruyter.com