DISTRIBUTION AND POPULATION DENSITY FOREST DORMOUSE (DRYOMYS NITEDULA, RODENTIA, GLIRIDAE) IN A REGION OF THE MIDDLE VOLGA, RUSSIAAlexey AndreychevAbstract Populations of the forest dormouse (Dryomys nitedula, Pallas 1778) are widespread across Europe and southwestern Asia, but their population density near human homes has is insufficient, and extremely scarce in the Russia. We studied population density of the forest dormouse in the Middle Volga, where forest dormice in 2013-2019 were recorded in 30% of investigated biotopes, being 4â70 ha in size. In Mordovia, the average densities of the local population were 2.4 ind./ha. The abundance of the local population was stable, and the sex ratio was approaching 1:1 among all individuals. One-year-old dormice comprised more than 50% of the population. Our data indicate that the home area of forest dormouse near human houses is within a radius of less than 100 m from the houses. This data is less than for the forest. This indicates that the animals next to humans artificially reduce their home area, as they are fully provided with food resources. |