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Ecology of the hazel dormouse

Ecology of the hazel dormouse. Cheeky Chappie Makes An Appearance In A Fenland Garden Helping Himself To Food!. Wood mouse Yellow neck mouse Harvest mouse House mouse Field vole Bank vole Pygmy shrew Common shrew Water shrew Hazel dormouse. November 2009. Class: Mammalia.

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Ecology of the hazel dormouse

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  1. Ecology of the hazel dormouse

  2. Cheeky Chappie Makes An Appearance In A Fenland Garden Helping Himself To Food! • Wood mouse • Yellow neck mouse • Harvest mouse • House mouse • Field vole • Bank vole • Pygmy shrew • Common shrew • Water shrew • Hazel dormouse November 2009

  3. Class: Mammalia Order: Rodentia Family Muridae Over 700 species including mice, rats and gerbils Family Gliridae 28 species of dormice • Furred tails • Generally arboreal • Nocturnal • Omnivores; lack a caecum • Breed once or twice a year • Average litter of 4 • Long lived • Hibernate • Scaled tails • Hop, climb or run • Either herbivores or omnivores • Breed frequently • Large litters • Short-lived

  4. European Species • Hazel dormouse – Muscardinusavellanarius • European status: Least concern, Pop. trend: unknown • Fat dormouse – Glisglis • European status: Least concern, Pop. trend: unknown • Garden dormouse – Eliomysquercinus • European status: Near threatened, Pop. trend: decreasing • Forest dormouse - Dryomysnitedula • European status: Least concern, Pop. trend: stable • Mouse tailed dormouse - Myomimusroachi • European status: Endangered, Pop. trend: decreasing www.iucnredlist.org (2011)

  5. What’s in a name? • Common or Hazel dormouse Muscardinusavellanarius Mus – small brown animal Scardinus – young edible dormouse avellanarius – from hazel Dormir – from french ‘to sleep’ • Fat or Edible dormouse Glisglis Glisere – latin ‘to grow’

  6. Fat dormouse • Non native • Released 1902 • Size of small squirrel • Life cycle linked to beech • ‘Seven sleeper’

  7. Hazel dormouse • Native species • Adult size: 50mm body, wt 18-30+ g • Furry tail • Sandy coat develops • Large black eyes • Pads on feet • Double-jointed hind ankles

  8. June May July Apr Aug Sept Mar Oct Feb Nov Jan Dec The hazel dormouse year Breeding Young born Fully active Young foraging Short periods of activity Second brood? Fattening up for winter Frequent arousals Hibernating? Occasional arousals Hibernating

  9. The hazel dormouse year Occasional arousals Frequent arousals Hibernating Short periods of activity Hibernating? Fully active Fattening up for winter Second brood? Breeding Young foraging Young born

  10. 2010 Dormouse weight distribution by month, adjusted by number of NDMP sites, where dormice were recorded.

  11. Torpor and hibernation • Latin – hiberna for winter • Hibernation – longer than 24hrs • Torpor – less than 24hrs • Hibernate due to lack of food in winter • Torpor due to inclement weather

  12. Hibernation • Minimum weight 15-18g • November – April • Hibernate in nests on ground; moist, even temperature • Coppice stools, log piles, leaf litter • May wake/move

  13. Torpor • Occurs in active period • In nest boxes – with and without nests • Once disturbed will wake • 20mins to full activity

  14. Hazel dormouse diet • Sequential feeders • Lack caecum • Nectar, pollen, seeds, fruit, nuts, invertebrates • Food diversity needs to be within home range

  15. Dormouse food requirements

  16. Nests and breeding • Range of distinctive nests • Breeding nest woven covered with green leaves • Honeysuckle strips and other local material • Usually more than one nest

  17. Dormouse breeding • Males solitary • First litters late May • 4-6 young with distinctive stages • Occasional crèches • May have second litter • Population ‘boom’ in Sept/Oct

  18. The ages of Hazel dormice

  19. Dormouse home range • Adult male home range about 0.75 ha Adult female range smaller • Distance travelled a from nest • Male 70m (Bright and Morris 1994) • Female 50m (Bright and Morris 1991) • Dispersing juvenile 376m (Wilder Wych 2011)

  20. Dormouse population density

  21. Dormouse predators • Owls • Grey squirrel • Stoats, weasels • Badger • Wild boar • Cats Between 40 – 70% of dormice die in hibernation (Juskaitis 1977)

  22. Dormouse activity • Adapted for arboreal lifestyle • Use aerial pathways in tree/shrub canopy • Hazel – lax growth • Bramble – scrub banks • Reluctant to cross open ground (Bright and Morris 1992) • But non-corridor habitat not complete barrier to movement (Bright 1988, Buchner 1997, 2008)

  23. Hazel dormouse distribution (records from 1990-2013

  24. Dormouse habitats • Deciduous woodland with vigorous understory • managed woodland • managed coppice woodland • Oak wood with hazel • derelict coppice • Scrub (connected?) • Conifer wood • Hedgerow Dormice may be present in any wood or scrub habitat within their range

  25. Dormouse Ecology Summary • Hibernate in nests at ground level • Arboreal when active • Exhibit torpor in inclement weather • Sequential specialist feeders • Live at low densities • Small home range • Low fecundity • Long lived

  26. Why are dormice good? • Key species • Plant diversity • Shrub structure • Woodlands • Hedgerows • Scrub • Responsibility What’s good for dormice is good for many other species

  27. People’s Trust for Endangered Species, 3 Cloisters House, 8 Battersea Park Road, London SW8 4BG Registered charity no 274206

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