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Vol. 49 No. 6, 2010
Seasonal, Sexual, and Age-Related Variations in the
Live-Trapping Success of Woodland Dormice Graphiurus murinus
Zimkitha
J. K. Madikiza1,*, Sandro Bertolino2, Roderick M.
Baxter1,3, and Emmanuel Do Linh San1
1Department
of Zoology and Entomology, School of Biological and Environmental
Sciences, Univ. of Fort Hare, Private Bag X1314, Alice 5700, South
Africa
2DIVAPRA, Entomology and Zoology, Via L. da Vinci 44,
10095 Grugliasco, Torino, Italy
3Department
of Ecology and Resource Management, School of Environmental Sciences,
Univ. of Venda, Private Bag X5050, Thohoyandou 0950, South Africa
Zimkitha
J. K. Madikiza, Sandro Bertolino, Roderick M. Baxter, and Emmanuel Do
Linh San (2010)
Live trapping often constitutes the simplest field technique to obtain
biological information on small, nocturnal mammals. However, to
be reliable, live-trapping studies require efficient traps that allow
the capturing of all functional categories of the targeted
population. Herein, we present the results of a live-trapping
study of the woodland dormouse Graphiurus
murinus
(Gliridae), a species for which limited scientific data are
available. Our aim was to evaluate the efficiency of smallmammal
traps (Sherman and PVC), and investigate potential seasonal-, sexual-,
age-, and microhabitatrelated differences in trapping success. We
conducted 12 trapping sessions and deployed 2051 trapping units between
Feb. 2006 and Mar. 2007, in a riverine forest of the Great Fish River
Reserve, South Africa. Only arboreal trapping with Sherman traps
proved to be successful. No dormouse was ever caught on the
ground with PVC traps, either inside or outside the riverine
forest. We made 234 captures of 48 different dormice: 9 adult
males, 17 adult females, 3 unsexed adults, and 19 juveniles.
Overall, 64% of the dormice known to occur in the area during the study
period were caught with Sherman traps. Individual dormice were
caught on average 4.9 (range, 1-17) times. Trapping success
averaged 13.3% (range, 3.0%-33.3%). It was lowest during winter
(5.1%) and peaked in summer (19.0%) and autumn (16.7%). More
adult males were caught in spring during the mating season, whereas
more adult females were trapped in summer during the lactating
period. The trapping success of juveniles peaked in summer and
autumn, when they were progressively becoming independent and were
probably exploring large areas in and possibly outside of the maternal
home range. We conclude that arboreal live-trapping with Sherman
traps would constitute an effective technique to study the population
dynamics and spatial distribution of the woodland dormouse, but suggest
that a nest box monitoring program (preferably running concurrently)
would provide useful complementary information.
Key words: Capture-mark-recapture,
Gliridae, Live trapping, Sherman trap, Trapping success.
*Correspondence: Tel: 27-40-6022339.
E-mail:kim.madikiza@gmail.com; zmadikiza@ufh.ac.za
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