The Activity of Free-Ranging Wood Mice Apodemus sylvaticus

Wolton, Robert J.

doi:10.2307/4453

Cited by 51 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Consequently we suggest that this activity may be necessary for foraging, to compensate for an energy deficit incurred during the night, due to time allocated to reproductive activity. Further, Wolton (1983) reported that two lactating females regularly spent 2-4 h actively foraging in the middle of the day. Lactation is an energetically demanding period for rodents (Innes and Millar 1981;Weiner 1987;) and so further supports the idea that diurnal activity may be required to obtain energy in a situation where foraging time at night may be limited and energy demands elevated.…”

Section: Activity Patternmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…sylvaticus or A. flavicollis: Halle 1988;Wolton 1983). Why should a predominantly nocturnal species exhibit diurnality?…”

Section: Activity Patternmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…These have involved a wide range of techniques, including the use of radio-isotopes (Karulin et al 1976;Nikitina et al 1977), tracking boards (Brown 1969), passagecounters (Halle 1988), direct observations at baited sites (Greenwood 1978) in conjunction with the use of red light (Garson 1975) and video-equipment (Lambin 1988), regular trap inspections (Kikkawa 1964;Crawley 1969;Canova et al 1994) and chemiluminescent collars for visual observation (Benhamou 1990). Over the last decade the miniaturization of radio-transmitters has led to the extensive use of radio-telemetry (Wolton 1983;Tew 1992;Wilson et al 1992; Rogers and Gorman in press). The majority of these studies have considered either activity patterns or aspects of the home range i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Ranging behaviour and time budgets of male wood mice Apodemus sylvaticus in different habitats and seasons

1997

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Radiotelemetry was used to measure the range areas, activity patterns and time budgets of 21 adult male wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) between May 1991 and August 1992. The study investigated variation in range, total distance travelled, speed of movement and time budgets between wood mice in the nonbreeding and breeding seasons in a deciduous woodland (n = 8 and 6 respectively). We also examined habitat differences by estimating these same parameters for wood mice inhabiting maritime sand-dunes in the breeding season (n = 7). Insufficient males of an appropriate mass for radiotracking were captured to study the sand-dune mice in the nonbreeding season. Significant variation was found across both season and site. In the breeding season, in woodland, range areas were 5 times larger than during the nonbreeding season. Wood mice on the sand-dunes exploited ranges 28 times greater than their woodland counterparts. The pattern of variation in range area was parallelled by significant differences in total distances and average speeds travelled per night. Diurnal activity, c. 60 min day, was frequently recorded, at both sites, but only, in the breeding season, which was attributed to the need to forage in order to maintain energy balance. The comparatively lower availability of food on the sand-dunes was considered the main factor explaining the greater range area, total distance moved, speed travelled and level of activity of animals at this site.

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Section: Activity Patternmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…sylvaticus or A. flavicollis: Halle 1988;Wolton 1983). Why should a predominantly nocturnal species exhibit diurnality?…”

Section: Activity Patternmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Ranging behaviour and time budgets of male wood mice Apodemus sylvaticus in different habitats and seasons

1997

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“…Each video recording lasted 30 s. Experiments took place for 4 months, from May 2009 to August 2009. We used this period outside autumn (when the acorn drop period occurs) to avoid natural acorn availability interfering in the removal and selection behaviour of rodents (Pons & Pausas 2007a) and outside winter because wood mice activity in this period is mostly driven by temperature (when below 2-4°C) rather than moonlight (Wolton 1983). Each month had two trials, one at full moon and one at new moon.…”

Section: Seed Removal Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moonlight and shelter cause differential seed selection and removal by rodents

2011

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foraging ecology predation risk Queráis scatter hoarding seed size wood mouse Various environmental factors may influence the foraging behaviour of seed dispersers which could ultimately affect the seed dispersal process. We examined whether moonlight levels and the presence or absence of rodent shelter affect rodent seed removal (rate, handling time and time of removal) and seed selection (size and species) among seven oak species. The presence or absence of safe microhabitats was found to be more important than moonlight levels in the removal of seeds. Bright moonlight caused a different temporal distribution of seed removal throughout the night but only affected the overall removal rates in open microhabitats. Seeds were removed more rapidly in open microhabitat (regardless of the moon phase), decreasing the time allocated to seed discrimination and translocation. Only in open microhabitats did increasing levels of moonlight decrease the time allocated to selection and removal of seeds. As a result, a more precise seed selection was made under shelter, owing to lower levels of predation risk. Rodent ranking preference for species was identical between full/new moon in shelter but not in open microhabitats. For all treatments, species selection by rodents was much stronger than size selection. Nevertheless, heavy seeds, which require more energy and time to be transported, were preferentially removed under shelter, where there is no time restriction to move the seeds. Our findings reveal that seed selection is safety dependent and, therefore, microhabitats in which seeds are located (sheltered versus exposed) and moonlight levels in open areas should be taken into account in rodent food selection studies.

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“…A dominant male is likely to chase off yonnger, subordinate animals which tend to flee at such encounters (Gurnell 1978, Lambin 1988) but this would be expected of an animal asserting its dominance and need not result in any suffering or permanent displacement on the part of the juvenile. Furthermore, the home ranges of breeding males are known to overlap extensively with those of other males as well as with those of females (Wolton 1983, Tew 1989, Tew and Macdonald 1993.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Jensen¹

1996

Acta Theriol.

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Plesner Jensen S. 1996. Juvenile dispersal in relation to adult densities in wood mice Apodemus sylvaticus. Acta Theriologica 41: 177-186.Two alternative hypotheses explaining low densities of juvenile wood mice Apodemus sylvaticus (Linnaeus, 1758) early in the breeding season were compared: the Adult Aggression Hypothesis and the Habitat Saturation Hypothesis. They predict different ratios between adult and juvenile densities, which were tested using trapping data from mixed deciduous woodland and from lowland arable field margins. According to the Adult Aggression Hypothesis, juveniles have a poor persistence rate early in the breeding season as a result of aggressive behaviour shown by the adults. As the breeding season progresses, a drop in adult aggression levels results in increased juvenile persistence, which, in turn, leads to increased densities. The Habitat Saturation Hypothesis proposes that juveniles disperse from their parents' territories until the surrounding habitats are saturated and that this gradual saturation results in increased densities as the breeding season progresses. The observed correlations between adult and juvenile densities both in woodland and on field margins were consistent with the predictions of the Habitat Saturation Hypothesis.

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The Activity of Free-Ranging Wood Mice Apodemus sylvaticus

Cited by 51 publications

References 20 publications

Ranging behaviour and time budgets of male wood mice Apodemus sylvaticus in different habitats and seasons

Ranging behaviour and time budgets of male wood mice Apodemus sylvaticus in different habitats and seasons

Moonlight and shelter cause differential seed selection and removal by rodents

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

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