Nest site selection by the hazel dormouse Muscardinus avellanarius: is safety more important than food?

Zoological Studies

Table 3 Comparison of some vegetation parameters around nestboxes used by Muscardinus avellanarius

Vegetation parameter	Nestboxes used for breeding, mean ± SD	Nestboxes not used for breeding, mean ± SD	t value	p
Cover of pedunculate oaks	56.00 ± 80.77	129.14 ± 174.13	-1.79	0.08
Number of grey alder trees	12.29 ± 22.28	4.45 ± 6.72	1.79	0.08
Number of Norway spruce trees in canopy	17.95 ± 15.61	33.52 ± 24.12	-2.59	0.01
Number of bird cherry trees	49.86 ± 56.46	22.59 ± 27.11	2.27	0.03
Number of common hornbeam trees	7.38 ± 23.45	0.48 ± 1.27	1.59	0.12
Connectivity of nestbox tree with its surroundings^a	6.71 ± 2.53	5.48 ± 2.95	1.54	0.13
Number of shrub species	5.71 ± 0.90	5.17 ± 1.14	1.81	0.08

Nestboxes used for breeding and not used for breeding at study site in Lithuania are compared (Student’s t test, d.f. = 48). ^aThe number of trees and shrubs which had a crown or a trunk connected to the crown of the nestbox tree.