NEST-SITE SELECTION BY THE DORMOUSE MUSCARDINUS-AVELLANARIUS IN 2 DIFFERENT LANDSCAPES

Nest site selection of dormice was studied in two different landscapes in southern Sweden: a forest-dominated landscape and an open landscap e dominated by farmland, pastures and apple orchards. Randomly selecte d plots (10 x 10 m) were searched for dormouse nests and habitat chara cteristics of plots with and without nests were compared with logistic regression. Number of shrub species, cover of different shrub species and distance to closest forest edge were the main factors that were r elated to occurrence of dormice. Dormice have earlier been shown to ne st in tree hollows, and thus such nests could be overlooked with our m ethod. However, natural cavities are scarce in the habitats investigat ed here, and it is argued that the observed preferences for shrubby ar eas close to forests are real, and different shrub species are suggest ed to be important as sheltered and predator-safe nest sites and as fo od sources.