Field and Laboratory Experiments on the Social Behaviour and Population Dynamics of the Wood Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus)

Multiple captures as an indicator of social relations in the wood mouse and the bank vole

“…Many investigations indicate that intraspecific relations between individuals of populations of the wood mouse, Apodemus sylvaticus (Linnaeus, 1758), and the bank vole, Clethrionomys glareolus (Schreber, 1780), can play an essential role in the dynamics and the structure of their populations (Watts, 1969 ;Bujalska, 1970Bujalska, , 1971Flowerdew, 1974 ;Flowerdew & Gardner, 1978 ;Gurnell, 1978 ;Gipps & Jewell, 1979 ;Green, 1979). However, data from field observations are very difficult to obtain and therefore scanty.…”

Juvenile dispersal in relation to adult densities in wood mice Apodemus sylvaticus

“…Among the studies which are often quoted in support of the Adult Aggression Hypothesis, some are removal experiments (Flowerdew 1971), others involve behavioural encounters in cages (Flowerdew 1974, Gurnell 1977 or observations at bait stations in the wild (Garson 1975, Lambin 1988. Flowerdew (1971) studied the effect on wood mouse densities of increased food availability and decreased density of adult males.…”

“…A juvenile confined in a cage with a strange adult male or with an adult male and adult female usually loses weight, escapes or dies (Flowerdew 1974). Ths does not necessarily mean that the same would happen to un-confined juveniles living within their parents' home range.…”

“…Phenomena such as the disproportionately slow increase in juvenile densities observed at the beginning of the breeding season in, for example, the wood mouse Apodemus sylvaticus (Linnaeus, 1758) have been attributed to the effects of adult aggression (especially that of males) being particularly high at this time of the year and resulting in either death or expulsion of the juveniles (Watts 1969, Flowerdew 1974, Gurnell 1978, Montgomery and Gurnell 1985. This hypothesis, which will hereafter be called the Adult Aggression Hypothesis, corresponds largely to the Resident Fitness Hypothesis while dealing exclusively with juvenile dispersal.…”

The initiation and maintenance of a colony of coccidia-free wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus)

“…The volume of published data on A. sylvaticus is considerable (Judes, 1982), but in the few published laboratory studies (Jewell, 1964;Cox, 1965;Bovet, 1972a, b;Ferns & Adams, 1974;Flowerdew, 1974;Gurnell, 1975Gurnell, , 1977Schenk, 1975;Richard-Yris, 1979;Eriksson, 1980;Clarke et al, 1981) very little information has been given on maintenance under laboratory conditions and none has been concerned with parasite-free animals. As part of a study of coccidian parasites (Eimeria) infecting A. sylvaticus, second and subsequent generations of coccidia-free hosts were required (Higgs, 1985).…”