Cavity resources for Siberian flying squirrel, Pteromys volans orii, in two different habitats in Hokkaido, Japan

Marugame M., Izumi I., Matsui M., Okahira T., Oshida T., Hayashi Y.

P. 39-43

The Siberian flying squirrel (Pteromys volans) is arboreal and usually nests in cavities in trunks. The population on Hokkaido Island, Japan, is considered an endemic subspecies (P. volans orii). In mountainous areas of Hokkaido, P. volans orii mainly inhabits mixed forests dominated by Picea jezoensis or Abies sachalinensis. To understand these usefulness as P. volans orii habitat, we made a preliminary comparison of cavity resources in two different forests common in Hokkaido. Inner space of cavities in A. sachalinensis-dominated habitat was significantly larger than that in P. jezoensis-dominated habitat. This may mean that A. sachalinensis-dominated habitat provides more useful cavity nests for P. volans orii. Abies sachalinensis is only distributed in Hokkaido and Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands of Russia. Pteromys volans orii might have adapted itself into the unique A. sachalinensis-dominated forests located on the periphery of P. volans distribution.DOI: 10.15298/rusjtheriol.9.1.06

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