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56 3. ECOLOGY OF M. AVELLANARIUS Physiological characteristics of hiber- nation include the reduction of body tem- perature to near the ambient temperature, a markedly reduced metabolic rate and irregu- lar spontaneous arousals by activation of the major …
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three cases, the hibernation nest and imme- diate surroundings were covered uniformly with snow, and it is possible that M. avel- lanarius partly moved on the surface of the snow. A marked male occupied eight differ- ent nests during November-March, …
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58 3. ECOLOGY OF M. AVELLANARIUS ous reproduction throughout the year, but with seasonal peaks, the second occurring in November—December (Sara et al. 2001). The average body weight was relatively stable during the year, and the phase of weight in- crease …
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of M. avellanarius to the nest during the night were very infrequent in all seasons (recorded in only six of 183 dormouse-nights; Bright et al. 1996c). Laufens (1975) described tempo- rary returns to nestboxes as frequent in au- tumn, but absent or very …
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60 3. ECOLOGY OF M. AVELLANARIUS 80 60; 40 20 Percentage of torpid adult dormice April May June July 10 Mean air temperature, °C as eer! es LO August September October Fig. 31. Proportion of torpid adult M. avellanarius recorded (columns) and mean air …
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3.4. ACTIVITY PATTERNS 61 a) April — May 25 20 eae $C GS = g eg A = aoe © 00 #00#00.0 © 15 bei as Or 56° 2 2 BOSaaS ; oon E ei e ry) @00 @ r Ce +e0e0e0e0+ @ 00+: Sos Ol heecans e ee C@ce3eee+e © 00 00000. - c +0¢4+" @ 0 00 © : EO) a Onn @ 0CV@ee ee Ce ke …
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62 3. ECOLOGY OF M. AVELLANARIUS the definition by Wilz & Heldmaier (2000), such duration of torpor cannot be regarded as “daily torpor”, because it lasted more than 24 hours. In Lithuania, torpor was more frequent among adult males than females. In …
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found torpid when ambient temperature was < 14—15°C. This coincides closely with the re- sults of Eisentraut (1956), who established that the critical temperature for M. avellanarius to fall into dormancy was about 15-16°C. At night, M. avellanarius were …
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64 3. ECOLOGY OF M. AVELLANARIUS Although torpor is considered an ani- mal’s adaptation to save energy, cases when torpid M. avellanarius were found in the open air cannot be considered adaptive. In Lithuania, five cases have been registered when people …
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3.5. BREEDING Table 5. Timing of birth in M. avellanarius in different regions (except Mediterranean region) Tula region, Russia 16 May 1-2 September Likhachey 1966a Moscow region, Russia 30 May 8-9 September Likhachev 1966a The Alps, Germany 1“ half of …
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3. ECOLOGY OF M. AVELLANARIUS Table 6. Litter size and number of litters per season in M. avellanarius in different regions The Alps 3.9 (2-7) 4] 1 Kahmann & Frisch 1950 The foothills of the Alps 2.9 (2-4) 10 1 Wachtendorf 1951 Kampinos forest, Poland …
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20 7 Percentage 0 + May-2 May-3 Jun-1 Jun-2 Jun-3 Jul-1 3.5. BREEDING Jul-2 Jul-3 Aug-1 Aug-2 Aug-3 Sep-1 Sep-2 Sep-3 Fig. 33. Birth time of young in M. avellanarius (n = 758) in ten-day periods in Lithuania (site A in 1981— 1989, 1997-2013 and site B in …
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68 3. ECOLOGY OF M. AVELLANARIUS (Bird et al. 2012). Meanwhile in Lithuania, breeding by young-of-the-year females was a rather frequent occurrence and it comprised 18.6% of all breeding cases (n = 939) regis- tered during 1981-2013. Lithuanian data on …
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The mean litter size also depended on the mother’s age (Table 7). Litter size increased from young-of-the-year to two-year-old fe- males, but declined in 3-4-year-old females (Juskaitis 2008a). The first litters of marked females, which had two litters …
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70 3. ECOLOGY OF M. AVELLANARIUS the year, but with seasonal peaks (Sara et al. 2001). November and December were the main months for breeding (50% of 34 litters found), followed by May and June (20.6%). Litters born in spring were smaller than those …
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ern parts of the distributional range and by the rather frequent breeding by young-of- the-year females. In other European dor- mouse species - E. quercinus, D. nitedula and G. glis — two litters per season are re- 3.6. Feeding by M. avellanarius 3.6.1. …
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72 3. ECOLOGY OF M. AVELLANARIUS 100 80 Percentage 20 0 Apr-| Apr-ll May-! May-Il Jun-! Jun-ll G@ Animal origin M& Inflorescences Jul-l O Vegetative parts Jul-Il_ Aug-| Aug-ll Sep-l Sep-ll Oct-I B Soft mast OH Hard mast Oct-ll Fig. 36. Dynamics of …
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FEEDING 73 Fig. 37. Main vegetable food sources of M. avellanarius in Lithuania during the activity season: a) catkins of willow; b) strobiles of Norway spruce; c) inflorescences of pedunculate oak; d) berries of dwarf honeysuckle; e) raspberries; f) …
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74 3. ECOLOGY OF M. AVELLANARIUS Table 8. Vegetable food preferences of M. avellanarius under conditions of captivity in Lithuania (I-b. - leaf-buds; f-b., fl., infl. — flower-buds, flowers, inflorescences; |., sp. — leaves, sprouts; fr., sd. — fruits, …
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Fig. 38. Yellow droppings of M. avellanarius contai- ning pollen of Norway spruce inside a nestbox. In faecal samples collected in Britain during May, about half of the items recorded were plant epidermis, predominantly from honeysuckle leaves (Richards …
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76 3. ECOLOGY OF M. AVELLANARIUS diet (Richards et al. 1984). Plant foods eaten by M. avellanarius in early summer included flowers of honeysuckle (only the proximal 5-10 mm of flower corolla tubes) and bram- ble (Bright & Morris 1993, 2005). In …
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European tree seeds that constitute potential food for small mammals (Grodzinski & Saw- icka-Kapusta 1970). However, M. avellanarius also live in habitats without hazel or in habi- tats where the importance of hazel as a food source for these animals is …
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78 3. ECOLOGY OF M. AVELLANARIUS Table 9. Food preferences of M. avellanarius in different seasons (according to the sources indicated in chapter 3.6.1 of the present book; except in the Mediterranean region) Spring (April-May) Flowers of hawthorn, …
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Eden & Eden (2001) however presented many examples of M. avellanarius feeding on insects in captivity and suggested that insects are an essential part of M. avellanarius diet, because very few habitats, including most woods where dormice occur, can …
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80 3. ECOLOGY OF M. AVELLANARIUS ing by M. avellanarius in Mediterranean mixed forest. According to White (2007), supplementary sources of animal protein may be important for seed-eating rodents to improve their breeding. Feeding by M. avellanarius on …
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ing tree fruits, but only stones of bird cherry fruits. Captive dormice did not eat the endo- derm of berry seeds and utilized only the flesh; many faecal samples contained whole bramble seeds (Richards et al. 1984). Seeds of raspberries were detected in …
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82 3. ECOLOGY OF M. AVELLANARIUS females, with more than 90% of all dormice detected in nestboxes in April being adult males. Emerging from hibernation, the weight of the males is comparatively high, the average weight of males in nestboxes in the first …
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of many young females born in the previous year resulted in lower average weights com- pared to males during April-May. Increases in the weight dynamics curve of adult fe- males during June-August were related to two main factors: 1) breeding females, not …
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84 3. ECOLOGY OF M. AVELLANARIUS Weight dynamics curves during the year and average weights of M. avellanarius in May-July (about 17-19 g) are rather similar in all investigated parts of the distributional range, including Lithuania (Juskaitis 2001c), …
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3.8. INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER ANIMALS 40 4 35 4 30 4 25 4 20 5 > _ Lim | wel Aug-| Aug-!l (1 juv-08 i juv-06 [J adult females MJ adult males Sep-l Sep-ll Oct-I Fig. 41. Comparison of weights (mean + 2SD) in separate demographic groups of M. avellanarius in …