Abstract
The common dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) is a species included in Annex IV of the Habitat Directive and red-listed in many European countries. Monitoring of M. avellanarius is implemented in several countries using different methods. In Lithuania, regular control of standard bird nestboxes and marking of all dormice caught were used during 1984–1990 and 1999–2007. Nestboxes were spaced in a grid system at 50 m intervals in an area of 60 ha. Monitoring of the M. avellanarius population was carried out in a managed forest with varying levels of human activity occurring in most parts of the forest (felling of all understorey, selective felling of trees, clear felling, etc.). During the entire study period, the average density of the population was comparatively low (about 1 ind./ha in spring and 3 ind./ha in autumn), but stable and without substantial fluctuations in spite of considerable human activity. The forestry management operations that were used in different parts of the forest over different years had only temporary and localised negative effects on the abundance of M. avellanarius, and did not influence the whole population substantially. The spacing of nestboxes in a grid system in a large forest area increased the level of accuracy with which the monitoring scheme reflected the population status. This enabled both the state of the entire population of M. avellanarius and temporary changes in abundance in selected smaller plots to be tracked.
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Acknowledgements
This paper is a result of the EuMon project (http://eumon.ckff.si), funded by the European Commission (contract number 6463). An anonymous reviewer made valuable comments on earlier versions of the manuscript, and David Price revised the English. Forestry officer Jonas Gvildys supported dormouse monitoring in the Gelgaudiškis forestry district during all the study period.
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Fig. S1
Scheme of the study site (area 60 ha) where monitoring of M. avellanarius population was carried out in Lithuania during 1984–1990 and 1999–2007. Plots with different forest management activities are grey-shaded: 1) plot UF-99 (area ~12 ha)—all hazel dominated understorey was felled in 1999; 2) plot UF-00 (area ~8 ha)—all hazel dominated understorey was felled in 2000; 3) plot CF-02 (area ~2.5 ha)—clear felled in winter 2001/2002, leaving only young spruce trees. Foresters planted additional young spruce and oak trees in 2004 and thinned the re-growth in 2007; 4) plot T-04 (area ~5 ha)—clear-felled in 1991, thinning of re-growth in 1997 and 2004. A young birch dominated stand was consequently formed; 5) plot SF-04 (area ~5 ha)—selective felling of mature trees and some hazels in autumn 2004. To assist removal of timber, clear-felled belts were formed every 20 m. 1—nestbox, 2—forest edge, 3—forest road (EPS 4649 kb)
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Juškaitis, R. Long-term common dormouse monitoring: effects of forest management on abundance. Biodivers Conserv 17, 3559–3565 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-008-9470-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-008-9470-9