Fluctuations in some small rodent populations in Norway 1971–1979

• Published in: Ecography
• Main Author: Christiansen, Erik
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1983
• Subjects: Lemmus lemmus
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0587.1983.tb01061.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1600-0587.1983.tb01061.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1600-0587.1983.tb01061.x

Small rodent populations were monitored by autumn snap trapping in 22 localities of Norway during the years 1971–979. A total of 105528 trap days yielded 7987 small mammals, out of which the bank vole Clethrionomys glareolus and the short‐tailed vole Microtus agrestis made up 52.3 and 29.0%, respectively. Third in abundance was the wood mouse Apodemus sylvaticus . Both M. agrestis and C. glareolus fluctuated fairly regularly, with general peak years of abundance in 1973 and 1977. Other Microtidae, such as M. oeconomus, C. rutilus and Lemmus lemmus apparently also exhibited cyclic fluctuations. In Arvicola terrestris, Apodemus , and in Sorex shrews, regular fluctuations could not be demonstrated, although the abundance varied considerably. The body weights of sub‐adult C. glareolus cycled in accordance with the fluctuations in abundance; the highest weights being recorded in peak years. In M. agrestis , this correlation was less obvious.