Factors affecting woodland rodent growth

Very little information exists on the growth rates of woodland rodents and the drivers of body size dynamics that are observed in British populations. In this study, we use mark–recapture data collected on two species living in sympatry, wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) and bank voles (Myodes glareolus). A third species of rodent, the yellow‐necked mouse (Apodemus flavicollis) was also caught occasionally. We found the density of this third species negatively impacted the growth rate of both wood mice and bank voles. No impact of conspecific population density on growth for either species was found. Previous studies have suggested high conspecific population density can impact growth for some individuals of the population, but our populations may have not reached the densities required to elucidate these effects during the study. Very little information exists on the growth rates of woodland rodents and the drivers of body size dynamics that are observed in British populations. Using mark‐recapture data, it was found that the growth of two native British woodland rodents, the wood mouse and the bank vole, was negatively impacted by the increasing density of a third species, the yellow necked mouse.