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Spatial behaviour of yellow-necked wood mouse Apodemus flavicollis in two sub-Mediterranean oak coppice stands

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Abstract

Strong mutual relationships exist between rodents and ecosystems. By modifying the structure and functioning of ecosystems, human activity can affect rodent behaviour and ecology. The yellow-necked mouse Apodemus flavicollis is widespread in Europe, and its spatial ecology has been studied in various habitats, but studies are lacking for Mediterranean forests often altered by forest management practices. We investigated the spatial behaviour of A. flavicollis in a sub-Mediterranean deciduous oak forest of central Italy subject to forest management. We radio-tracked 27 individuals in two different coppice stands, i.e. a recently cut area and a high forest, differing in terms of species-specific habitat quality and rodent population density. We analysed the size of home ranges in relation to habitat type and sex. Our results revealed that home range and core area size did not differ between habitat types or sexes. The spatial behaviour of A. flavicollis thus did not appear to be influenced by population density and habitat quality. The lack of sex-related differences confirms the current knowledge on the species’ spatial ecology. Our findings provide the first useful information on the spatial behaviour of A. flavicollis in sub-Mediterranean deciduous oak forests, whose ecological processes may be markedly influenced by this key species at several trophic levels.

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Fig. 1

Data availability

The datasets used and analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Fabiola Iannarilli for help during fieldwork and Zea Walton for her advice during the preparation of the manuscript. We also wish to thank the two anonymous reviewers whose comments helped us to improve the article.

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Funding

This research was supported by Fondazione Ethoikos and did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fondazione Ethoikos, Convento dell’Osservanza, 53030, Radicondoli, Siena, Italy

    Andrea Bonacchi, Paola Bartolommei, Cristina Bencini, Carlo Cinque, Stefania Gasperini, Emiliano Manzo & Roberto Cozzolino

  2. U.R. Ecologia comportamentale, Etologia e Gestione della Fauna, Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università degli Studi di Siena, Via P.A. Mattioli 4, 53100, Siena, Italy

    Andrea Bonacchi

  3. Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Applied Ecology, Agricultural Sciences and Biotechnology, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Campus Evenstad, N-2480, Koppang, Norway

    Olivier Devineau

Authors
  1. Andrea Bonacchi
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  2. Olivier Devineau
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  3. Paola Bartolommei
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  4. Cristina Bencini
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  5. Carlo Cinque
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  6. Stefania Gasperini
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  7. Emiliano Manzo
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  8. Roberto Cozzolino
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrea Bonacchi.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethics approval

All the procedures undertaken on small mammals took place in compliance with the European Council Directive 92/43EEC (Italian law D. Lgs 157/92 and LR 3/1994) and with the European Council Directive 86/609/EEC (Italian law D. Lgs 116/92).

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Communicated by: Magdalena Niedziałkowska

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Bonacchi, A., Devineau, O., Bartolommei, P. et al. Spatial behaviour of yellow-necked wood mouse Apodemus flavicollis in two sub-Mediterranean oak coppice stands. Mamm Res 66, 173–179 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-020-00538-3

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