Publication details
Small mammals communities and their parasites in managed lowland forest stands during forest cycle - preliminary results
| Authors | |
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| Year of publication | 2015 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | Small mammal's communities are an integral part of ecosystems that protect their stability (Sieg 1987). State of small mammal communities is an important characteristic of the forest because mammals are very responsive to any changes in the composition of stand (e.g. tree species, structure, age) (Suchomel et al. 2012). Modern managed forests are usually monocultures with trees of the same age, but small mammals inhabit these forests, adapting to their less diversified structure (Suchomel et al. 2012). For studies of population density and species composition of small mammals 15 monitoring plots in managed oak forest in five age classes (I. - 0 - 2 years, II. - 5 - 10, III. - 15 - 20, IV. - 50 - 60 V. - 90 - 130) and two control plots in habitats of native forest and forest steppe open habitat were selected. Moreover, studied small mammals were also dissected on presence of parasites to survey the composition of their helminth fauna. Up to now, some species of cestodes and nematodes were identified to the species or genus level (e.g. Heligmosomoides polygyrus, Syphacia spp., Aonchotheca cf. murissylvatici). Data on prevalence and intensity of infection will be performed. |