Annual weight variation and reproductive cycle of the wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) in a Mediterranean environment
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Ines T. Rosário
This paper describes the weight variation and reproductive seasonal patterns of the wood mouse in a Mediterranean scrubland in southern Portugal. A total of 156 individuals were marked and followed up to 242 days. Summer corresponded to the non-breeding period in the study area, instead of winter, such as in other areas of central and northern Europe. As a consequence, a displacement of the annual density and weight cycles were observed. The higher densities, usually recorded before the non-reproductive period, were recorded during spring instead of summer. In addition, the typical weight depression of the non-reproductive period was reported in summer. Reproductive individuals were consistently heavier than non-reproductive, except in summer when a significant weight decrease was observed and in autumn when there were few subadults in the population. Juvenile males grew faster than juvenile females. However, there was little evidence of differences on growth of juveniles born at different times of the year.
Copyright 2004, Walter de Gruyter
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Population dynamics of four marsupials and its relation to resource production in the Atlantic forest in southeastern Brazil
- Factors affecting the use of space by two rodent species in Brazilian Atlantic forest
- Annual weight variation and reproductive cycle of the wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) in a Mediterranean environment
- Gaur (Bos gaurus) and Banteng (B. javanicus) in the lowland forest mosaic of Xe Pian Protected Area, Lao PDR: abundance, habitat use, and conservation
- Diet of European mink (Mustela lutreola) in Northern Spain
- Muridae (Rodentia) from the Khammouan Limestone and Xe Piane National Biodiversity Conservation Areas, Lao PDR
- Development of tusks and associated structures in Mesoplodon bidens (Cetaceae, Mammalia)
- Skull size and shape of Dasymys (Rodentia, Muridae) from sub-Saharan Africa
- Underwater behaviors of short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) off Tenerife
- Do leopards kill forest elephants? Evidence from northern Congo
- On Konya wild sheep, Ovis orientalis anatolica, in the Bozdag protected area
- Distributional extension of Molossops neglectus (Chiroptera, Molossidae) into southeastern Brazil
