Are there differences in the morphology of communal mounds of overwintering mound-building mice (Mus spicilegus Petényi, 1882) in Slovakia?

Abstract

To describe variations in overwintering mounds and nest sizes of the mound-building mouse (Mus spicilegus), mounds were measured and excavated in 16 locations in southeastern and south-western Slovakia in autumn and/or winter between 2002 and 2011. The study was carried out in fields where crops had been harvested before the investigations. All evaluated mounds were located in agroecosystems with sunflower, maize and wheat crops as well as on field margins. Comparisons were made by basis of their dimensions (length, width, height, volume, nest depth) and the plant material collected. Data between the sampling groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis H test. Spearman's correlation (r s ) was used to examine the relation between mound and nest size (dependent variables) and four independent variables (season, geomorphological, soil and field types). We found habitat and soil-related variation in mound size which also diminished by season. Mounds vary in size among geographical populations, i.e. mounds from south-eastern Slovakia (basin and lowland) had larger dimensions than those from south-western Slovakia (upland). In contrast, we didn't confirm a correlation between the sizes of the mounds and the nests.

Comparative study on the social and reproductive behavior of the mound building and the house mice

“…Plant fill does not serve as a food storage, the mound itself work as an insulating umbrella over the nest which is 0,6-0,25 m deep in the soil under the mound, therefore helps the overwintering of the inhabitants of in the nest (Szenczi et al 2011;Szenczi, Kopcsó, et al 2012). Previous studies found only subadult young animals in the nest (Canady et al 2009;Garza et al 1997;Poteaux et al 2008;Simeonovska-Nikolova 2007), and it is unclear what happens with adult animals during winter. These overwintering subadult animals delay their dispersal until next spring (Muntyanu 1990;Sokolov et al 1998).…”