Effects of landscape structure on the distribution of harvest mice, Micromys minutus.

Abstract

Distribution of harvest mice, Micromys minutus, inhabiting in tall grasslands must be affected by the landscape structure around their habitat not only its grassland quality. In order to reveal the effective landscape factors in several scale, we developed GLM by using local and landscape data. In July and August 2006, we surveyed presence or absence of their nests and local habitat characteristics of 47 grasslands in Sakai city, Osaka prefecture. We found nests at 14 points out of 47. The area of grassland and paddy fields in the radius of 500 m from the study point were selected as explanatory variables to estimate the distribution of the nests. In addition, the less disturbed and perennial grasses dominant sites were preferred as the nest site.