Woodland small mammal population ecology in Britain: a preliminary review of the Mammal Society survey of Wood Mice Apodemus sylvaticus and Bank Voles Clethrionomys glareolus, 1982–87

The Mammal Society has co-ordinated a population survey of Wood Mice Apodemus sylvaticus and Bank Voles Clethrionomys glareolus in 13 0.81 -hectare sites in Britain. Numbers of mice and voles live-trapped using standard methods were collated every May/June and November/December from 1982 to 1987. The data were analysed with results from four independent studies in England and the corresponding assessments of tree seed crop size. Wood Mouse numbers are usually higher in winter than in summer but Bank Vole fluctuations are less regular. In deciduous woodland, Wood Mouse mean relative densities are significantly greater in the winter and the following summer after a good seed crop than after a poor one; rates of population change from summer to winter are significantly higher when a good seed crop falls. Bank Vole relative densities are significantly greater in the summer following a good seed crop than after a poor one, and rates of change from winter to summer are significantly higher. In Wood Mouse populations, tests for density dependence suggest that it is strong from summer to winter but absent from winter to summer; in Bank Voles weaker density dependence is present in both halves of the year. Thus, Wood Mouse numbers are regulated in autumn but are also influenced by seed crop size in winter and the following summer; Bank Vole numbers are less strongly regulated during both autumn and spring and are influenced by seed crop size in the following summer. Evidence is presented suggesting that populations of each species in deciduous woodlands are synchronized over the country in summer and that Wood Mice are also synchronized in winter; highs and lows tend to coincide between different sites. The yield of tree seed is shown to vary significantly from year to year and may be the cause of the synchrony, but weather effects may also be involved.