6th International Conference on Dormice (Gliridae)
Siedlce (Poland), September 20 - 24, 2005
ABSTRACTS
Abstracts not presented during the Conference
Dormice (Gliridae) in the Landscape Parks of Wałbrzych Sudetes and Sowie Mountains (Central Sudetes) Bartmańska J.1, Moska M.2
1 University of Wrocław, Laboratory of the Evolutionary and Developmental Biology of Vertebrata, Zoological Institute, ul. Sienkiewicza 21, 50-335 Wrocław, Poland
2 Agricultural University, Department of Genetics and Animal Breeding, ul. Kożuchowska 7, 51-631 Wrocław, PolandKey words: Gliridae, fat dormouse, common dormouse, Sudety Mountains
In August-September 2004 the occurrence of dormice was studied in the Landscape Parks of the Wałbrzych Sudetes and of the Sowie Mountains (Central Sudetes). The two parks comprise large complexes of forests of the lower montane zone. The dominant species is spruce; with deciduous species including beech, oak, sycamore, linden and birch. A total of 185 bird nest boxes were checked for the presence of dormice. The boxes were distributed in various forest complexes in the two parks, covering a combined area of about 90 km2. Based on the observations of the animals and traces of their activity (feeding remains, faeces, nests), as well as interviewing foresters, hunters and local people, the occurrence of the fat dormouse Glis glis and common dormouse Muscardinus avellanarius was ascertained. The two species are rare and unevenly distributed. In the Landscape Park of the Wałbrzych Sudetes. Only one individual fat dormouse and a few common dormice were observed. Traces of the activity of dormice (nests, faeces, hair) were found in 10 out of 65 (about 15.5%) of the bird boxes checked, located mainly in climax mixed forests with a high proportion of deciduous trees, mainly beech and sycamore, in the southern part of the park, near Łomnica and Radosna. In the Landscape Park of the Sowie Mts single individuals and traces of activity of common dormouse and fat dormouse were found in 15 out of 120 (12.5%) boxes, mainly in the forest complexes between the Jugowska Pass, Kamionki village and the town of Bielawa, with one locality at the foot of mt. Mała Sowa. The fat dormouse was observed mainly in the beech and mixed forests, the common dormouse also occurred in spruce forests.
Protection of the two species requires preservation of mature tree stands with a high proportion of deciduous trees, such as beech, oak, sycamore, linden and hazel, whose presence increases the richness and diversity of food resources and the number of natural shelters. Canopy coverage, which facilitates dispersal, and contacts between local populations also has a favorable effect on their status.
Regularities of spatial distribution and structure of forest dormouse populations (Dryomys nitedula Pallas) in steppe forests of Ukraine
Bulakhov V.L., Pakhomov O.E., Reva O.A.
Dept. of Zoology and Ecology, Dnipropetrovsk National University, Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine
e-mail: zoolog@mail.dsu.dp.uaKey words: Dryomys nitedula, population, spatial distribiution
A characteristic example of a forest species which has penetrated into steppe forests is the rare forest dormouse (Dryomys nitedula Pallas). In conditions of a steppe zone it is practically absent, but it lives on the left bank of the Dnepr river, in the northern part of a steppe zone. The southern border of its distribution is the forest located in a valley of the Samara river.
Long-term study of the spatial distribution of the forest dormouse in steppe forests of Ukraine has established the following features. Optimum conditions for its settlement are observed in ravine oak groves. There they form tape border-mosaic types of population spatial structure.
The width of such tapes varies from 5 m up to 15 m. In different years there are 12-18 dormice /ha. They are next commonest in watershed oak groves. Numbers of the forest dormouse there changes range between 8 and 11 per ha. The type of spatial structure - tape, large tracery - is found on the top third of slopes. These two forest ecosystems are most preferred by forest dormice.
In woodland belt plantings, population density is only 4-9 specimens/ha. The spatial structure of populations is dynamic and changes depending on weather conditions. During drought periods the pulsing type of structure of populations is seen, but in wet years a mosaic one prevails. In artificial plantings on watersheds, having brushwood, dormice settle on the border of the forest and steppe and have a strongly pronounced narrow-band spatial structure. In similar watershed oak groves without brushwood, the forest dormouse is almost absent. In valley flood land, where there are oak groves and pine forests on sandy ground, the lowest number of the forest dormouse is found - 1-3 spec/ha. Spatial structure here is forest edge-ring.
On the spatial distribution of forest dormouse strong influence render biogeocenotic features of a steppe forest. Primary factors causing their spatial distribution are:Thus, distribution of the forest dormouse in steppe forests depends upon type of forest stand, light architecture of tree crowns, presence of brushwood and degree of cover by ground vegetation. According to various combinations of these factors, different types of spatial structure of forest dormouse populations are found, as an adaptive reaction to the availability of ecological resources such as food and refugia.
- type of a tree stand. Optimum conditions for their settlement are formed in elm-oak, ash-forest -oak and Tatarian maple- oak groves, especially where berry bearing bushes are present.
- type of light structure, architecture of tree crowns. Maximal concentration of settlements is marked in semi-tracery crown and semi-dense crown forest stands. In tracery crown and dense crown trees, population density of the dormouse decreases. Frequently in dense crown forest stands the dormouse is absent;
- presence of brushwood, covering 60-70 % of an area. Reduction or increase in a degree of covering leads to reduction of population density;
- degree of a cover by herbage. Optimum conditions for populations to develop in areas with 70-90 % grassy covering of the area;
- other ecological factors do not have an appreciable influence on settlements of the forest dormouse.
Phylogeography and chromosomal races of the garden dormouse (genus Eliomys)
Libois R.1, Ramalhinho, M.G.2, Filippucci M.G.3 , Michaux J.1
1University of Liege, Unité de recherches zoogéographiques, Bât. B22 B 4000 SART TILMAN (LIEGE)
2 Museu Nacional de Historia Natural, rua da Escola politecnica, 58 P1269-02 LISBOA
3 University Tor Vergata, dipartimento di Biologia, Via O. Raimondo, I-00173 ROMAKey words: phylogeography, garden dormouse, karyotype, mitochondrial DNA
The aim of this project was to study the genetic relationships among the five karyological races of Eliomys quercinus. For this purpose, expeditions to Portugal, Spain, France and Belgium were made. Parts of Italy were also visited, namely in the borders of the Pyrenees and Alps, as well as in some Mediterranean islands (Formentera, Corsica and Sardinia). Samples from Museum collections were obtained. Specimens from previous field sampling by M. G. Filippucci and previously used in karyological analyses, were available and allowed us to extend the study to central and southern Italy, Germany, Croatia, Israel and. Morocco.
The karyotype of every live captured specimen was analysed. Moreover, 700bp of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene was sequenced using specific primers. Previous results of karyotype analyses already published by M.G.F. were also used.
A NJ-tree was obtained revealing a clear phylogeographic pattern. The North African and Israeli garden dormice are completely isolated from European dormice and the genetic divergence level between these two main clades is quite significant, leading to the conclusion that they have been separated for a long time, and that they comprise two different species, Eliomys quercinus in Europe and E. melanurus in Israel and north-Africa. In Europe, three main clades were obtained corresponding to karyological/geographical groups. Iberian dormice, including a Balearic one, are clumped together with a part of the 2N=48 dormice from south western France. Another group is composed by the 2N=50 animals from Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France and Germany. This group includes also French dormice with 2N=48, which were caught in a region where a hybrid dormouse with 2N=49 has been trapped, indicating that hybridisation occurs between the 2N=50 race and the Iberian one. Finally, the other dormice (2N=50 from Sardinia, 2N= 54, 2N= 52 and the Italian 2N=48 ones, including individuals from Corsica) aggregate into a third group. This shows that the Iberian and the Italian 48 chromosomes races are genetically well separated and that the southern part of France, at least, has been recolonised by Iberian strains of animals. Moreover, it appears that the 52 and 54 races are closely related to the Italian 48 one. As far as the 50 race is concerned, more information is needed to draw a firm conclusion about its relatedness to any of the other groups. The bootstrap values are too low and the level of genetic divergence between them and the Iberian animals, on the one hand, and with the Italian ones, on the other hand, is the same. Unfortunately, DNA information on the eastern populations of the garden dormouse is still lacking.Dormice (Gliridae) of the Bialskie Mountains (East Sudety, Poland)
Moska M.1, Bartmańska J.2
1 Agricultural University, Dep. of Genetics and Animal Breeding, ul. Kożuchowska 7, 51-631 Wrocław, Poland
2 University of Wrocław, Laboratory of the Evolutionary and Developmental Biology of Vertebrata, Zoological Institute, ul. Sienkiewicza 21, 50-335 Wrocław, PolandKey words: Gliridae, fat dormouse, common dormouse, forest dormouse, Bialskie Mountains
Dormice (Gliridae) are mammals whose exact distribution in Poland is still unknown. Because they are small, active at night and they spend a lot of time high in the trees, people very often do not notice them. In Poland dormice are more frequent in the south part of the country. There is some information about the occurrence of dormice in East Sudety (¦nieżnik Massif and Złote Mountains). Until now, there was no information about the occurrence of Gliridae in the Bialskie Mountains. In 2003 we carried out our studies including checking of bird nest boxes, hunter’s look-outs and forest parking places, listening to the night calls of dormice, and searching for traces of their activities. During the study we found three species of Gliridae in the Bialskie Mountains: the fat dormouse (Glis glis), the common dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) and the forest dormouse (Dryomys nitedula). In spite of the fact that the edible dormouse is one of the rarest mammals in the Polish Sudety Mountains we found that the species is much more numerous than the other two dormice in the study area. We observed the fat dormouse in 9 localities (near the villages of Bielice, Młynowiec, Bolesławów and Stary Gierałtów). The common dormouse occurred in 3 localities, near the villages Bielice, Młynowiec and Bolesławów. We found the forest dormouse only in one place, near Bielice village.
Dormice (Gliridae) in the Stołowe Mts National Park
Pikulska B.1, Mikusek R.2
1 Ul. Rogowska 158 m 27, 54-440 Wrocław
2 Park Narodowy Gór Stołowych, ul. Słoneczna 31, 57-350 Kudowa ZdrójKey words: Gliridae, Muscardinus avellanarius, Glis glis, Dryomys nitedula, Stołowe Mts
Between 1995-2000 the occurrence, distribution and some aspects of the biology of dormice were studied in the Stołowe Mountains National Park. This is situated in the central part of the Sudetes, near the Czech border (16°16'-16°27' E and 50°25'-50°30' N ). In respect of its area (ca. 64 km-2), it is medium-sized among the Polish parks. It includes the most valuable parts of the Stołowe Mts, the only mountains in Poland of plate structure, built of sandstones and marls. The Park is entirely within the lower montane forest zone (400 - 900 m a.s.l.) with 90% wooded areas. The forests are mostly spruce plantation, while natural forests, such as rich and acid montane beech forests or mixed forests with fir, have been preserved only in few places.
The following methods were used in the studies: 1) checking bird nest boxes for the presence of dormice, 2) searching for remains of dormice in pellets of owls: Bubo bubo, Strix aluco and Glaucidium passerinum - analysis of bone remains and hair, 3 ) direct observation in the field including monitoring of nocturnal vocal activity.
Three species of dormice occur in the Park: common dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius), fat dormouse (Glis glis) and forest dormouse (Dryomys nitedula). The common dormouse is the most frequent; its traces were found in 27 (4 %) of 682 bird boxes checked in 1995 and 1996. It also builds nests in natural tree holes (e.g. a nest was found in the scar remaining after a branch fell from a dry birch tree). It was frequent among prey of the pygmy owl and formed a food component at all five breeding sites of the owl located in the area. On average, it formed 0, 57% of the prey taken. The common dormouse localities are scattered in various parts of the Park, in beech forests, mixed forests and coniferous plantations.
The fat dormouse visited 24 (3,5 %) of the bird boxes. On a few occasions it was caught in a live trap on a farm adjoining a forest, and a dead specimen killed by a car was found on a road. Preliminary estimates of its abundance in August 1998 in a beech forest, along a transect of 0.5 km, revealed the presence of 5-6 foraging individuals. It is a frequent prey of Bubo bubo, and on four occasions it was found in its pellets collected at four different sites in the Park. It is also preyed upon by Strix aluco (it was found, next to remains of some other prey items, in a tree hole breeding site). In the Stołowe Mts it most often inhabits beech forests, but was also regularly found in mixed stands with hornbeam, sycamore, beech and birch, and in areas with rowan undergrowth. In coniferous woods, where it is much less frequent, it is found only on the edges adjoining glades or paths, or near single beech trees.
The forest dormouse was found only in three sites, within 4, 7 and 10 km of each other; all the sites were located in spruce woods. The western distribution limit of the forest dormouse crosses Poland, and the sites in the Stołowe Mts are the westernmost locations for this species.
In the Stołowe Mts dormice do not hibernate in bird boxes, as shown by late autumn and winter inspections in 1995 and 1996. After hibernation, the first signs of using the boxes (replacing last-year’s nest with new material) were observed in the second half of June.