Habitat preference and structure of silvicolous small mammal zoocoenoses [Habitatpraferenz und Struktur silvicoler Theriozonosen]

Abstract

For the small mammal fauna of 5 forest communities in Central Europe, highest diversity is found in alder communities. Here, rodents as well as shrews, are very numerous. In beech and birch forests, rodents dominate. In spruce forests the shrews are diverse. In the small mammal communities there is a structure: most individuals belong to only a few species, the principal species (p-species). They have to be subsumed under different families. Accompanying species (a-species) are added which are in the same families as the p-species, but with fewer individuals. Finally, there are external species which are not silvicolous. When p-species and a-species are ranked by their body size the first is bigger than the second. -from English summary