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Is the common shrew (Sorex araneus) really a common forest species?

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Abstract

The data collected during nine vegetation seasons were analysed to reveal abundance of the common shrew in fir-beech forests of the Kremnické vrchy Mts. (Western Carpathians, central Slovakia). Live trapping in three quadratic study plots and five lines representing different age categories of fir-beech and beech forests was carried out using wooden live traps and pitfalls. A very low abundance of the common shrew was found. During the whole period, the absolute overall trapping efficiency of the species comprised only 0.07% and mean density 0.08–0.52 ind./ha. The analysis revealed significant differences in neither trapping efficiency nor density among the study plots. Pitfalls and Chmela live traps reached similar values of the trapping efficiency (0.06 vs. 0.07%). The regression model showed a significant relationship (r = 0.55, p < 0.05) between the number of trap nights and the number of trapped individuals of the common shrew, but the overall number of trapped individuals remained very low also on the level of high trapping intensity. Some causes of the very low abundance of the common shrew were discussed; the fact remains a real rarity of the species in the given area and time.

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Acknowledgements

This contribution is the result of implementing the projects “Centre of Excellence: Adaptive Forest Ecosystems” (ITMS 26220120006) and “Completing the Centre of Excellence: Adaptive Forest Ecosystems” (ITMS 26220120049) supported by the Operational Programme Research and Development within the European Regional Development Fund. This work was also supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under the Contract No. APVV-14-0637. We thank to the Forestry School Enterprise of the Technical University in Zvolen for providing the field station, Pavel Gibas for his help in the field, Jana Luptáková for revising English, and anonymous reviewers for improving the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Applied Zoology and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Forestry, Technical University in Zvolen, 96053, Zvolen, Slovak Republic

    Peter Lešo & Rudolf Kropil

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  1. Peter Lešo
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  2. Rudolf Kropil
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Correspondence to Peter Lešo.

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Lešo, P., Kropil, R. Is the common shrew (Sorex araneus) really a common forest species?. Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei 28, 183–189 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-016-0590-y

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