Habitat use and demography of Mus musculus in a rural landscape of Argentina

LEÓN V; FRASCHINA J; GUIDOBONO JS; BUSCH M

Integrative Zoology

Blackwell

Lugar: Tokyo; Año: 2013 vol. S1 p. 18 - 29

1749 4877

The main goal was to determine the distribution of house mice Mus musculus(Linnaeus, 1758) within a rural landscape of Buenos Aires Province (Argentina). Wealso studied the seasonal variation in abundance and reproductive activity. The habitatsstudied were poultry farms, human houses in a small village, cropfields, pastures,cropfield and pasture edges, riparian habitats, railway embankments and woodlots. Wecaptured 817 M. musculus and 690 individuals of five native rodent species. M.musculus was captured in poultry farms, houses, riparian habitats, cropfield and borders.M. musculus showed a significant higher abundance in poultry farms with respect to theother habitats. The mean TSI of M. musculus did not show significant variationsbetween periods, but the proportion of active males was significantly higher in theSpring Summer period with respect to the Autumn Winter period. All captures of M.musculus in cropfields, borders and riparian habitats occurred in the Spring Summerperiod. Our data suggest that M. musculus can disperse outside peridomestic habitatsand that movements may be along riparian habitats.