Forest areas for the forest dormouse

Overview

You can tell by its name: The forest dormouse (Dryomys nitedula) is a characteristic species for deciduous and mixed forests. It belongs to the dormouse family and its survival is inextricably linked with forest habitats. The forest dormouse is protected throughout Europe, but data on its distribution is largely still missing. So where in Austria can it be found?

Have you ever seen a forest dormouse? With its black eye mask, it reminds us of a superhero in action, but in fact it spends a large part of the year in hibernation – a very typical behavior for a dormouse. Even during its activity period, it is a quite cryptic species that lives a hidden life between the branches of the trees. The forest dormouse is seldom seen, and it is not easy to prove its presence in an area. The forest dormouse is almost unknown even among foresters and regular forest guests. 

Therefore, we are searching for the forest dormouse nationwide - beginning from the Danube floodplains, down to the mountains of the Alps. We want to find out more about this cryptic little climber and its habitat preferences and are counting on the help of numerous citizen scientists! There are many ways to take part in the “task force forest dormouse”. Become a citizen scientist and help us to find the forest dormouse!

Our project goals:

• Where does it live? – Improve the knowledge about the distribution of the forest dormouse in Austria.
• How can we preserve the habitats of the forest dormouse? – Develop a schedule of measures to protect the species.

What´s happening now:

• We installed 600 nesting boxes to monitor the forest dormouse populations. 
• We use camera traps and footprint tunnels to detect our native dormice.
• We collect reports from citizen scientist. 
• We provide information material and educational documents.
• We develop a protection concept and guidelines for forest managers.
• We share our knowledge at events.

Citizen Science Seminar

In 2022, poject coordinator Birgit Rotter held a lecture about "Forest areas for the forest dormouse" (in German) as part of the lecture series "Citizen Science Seminar" at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU). At the end of this page you can watch the video recording of the lecture.

Image gallery

• Forest dormouse climbing in the branches (c) Lubomir Hlasek Forest dormouse climbing in the branches (c) Lubomir Hlasek
• Forest dormouse sitting on a branch (c) Lubomir Hlasek Forest dormouse sitting on a branch (c) Lubomir Hlasek
• Forest dormouse found in a nesting box (c) apodemus Forest dormouse found in a nesting box (c) apodemus
• Nesting box (c) Birgit Rotter Nesting box (c) Birgit Rotter
•