The paper summarises current knowledge on the distribution of the European ground squirrel in Slovakia gained by mapping of the species since 1996. We used literature data as well as unpublished information from other scientific projects (for example epidemiological) to map and detect the present…

The first transfer of European ground squirrels (Spermophilus citellus) in Slovakia was carried out in 1992–1993. Until now, restitution of ground squirrel populations has been successful at two localities (Kuchyňa and Biele Vody). The following prerequisites have to be met for successful…

While the European ground squirrel in Austria is sometimes near to extinction in its natural habitat, aggregations in altered habitats often achieve exceptional densities. In an effort to clarify this phenomenon, we compared demographic and life-history variations of five focal populations exposed…

The European ground squirrel (Spermophilus citellus) is an endangered species and typically inhabits steppes and open woodland of Central Europe and the Balkans. Knowledge about its distribution and status in the southern part of its range is scanty. Distribution of the species in Bulgaria over two…

The study is focused on demography and space use in an isolated population of European ground squirrel (Spermophilus citellus) living on the periphery of its distribution range. Data were collected during the three year period using standard mark-recapture method combined with frequent observations…

In 2002–2008, occurrence of the European ground squirrel was recorded at or reported from 45 sites in the Czech Republic. However, only 35 sites were verified to host ground squirrel colonies in 2008. Most of the colonies (91%) were found in some kind of artificial habitat with high anthropogenic…

While the closer vocal similarity between mothers and their offspring compared to other conspecifics has been reported in many mammals, e.g. whales, bats and primates, no evidence is available that vocalizations of closely related kin encode relatedness in rodents. In the yellow ground squirrel…

In this study we compared timing of the active season and body mass in a colony of European ground squirrels (Spermophilus citellus) in years with high and low population density. Data were collected in a suburban area near Vienna, Austria, over a decade. Ground squirrels were live-trapped and…

The speckled ground squirrel, Spermophilus suslicus (Güldenstead, 1770) was formerly a widely distributed species in eastern Europe, and it was even considered a pest species. The distribution range of the speckled ground squirrel is now fragmented, most of its settlements are small and separated…

Because of habitat loss and alteration, European ground squirrel populations in Austria are increasingly restricted to isolated fragments, where, however, they can reach conspicuous densities. To investigate potential effects of habitat alteration and population density on space use, we…

While the environmental effects on animal vocalizations have been studied in many birds, mammals and in particular in the ground-dwelling sciurids, the influence of social surrounding on the call structure is poorly understood. The main idea we test here is that in the animals using alarm calls to…

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