Analysis of animal spatial patterns on the basis of marking on transects: An example of red-toothed shrews

The spatial patterns of individually marked juveniles of red-toothed shrews—the masked shrew (Sorex caecutiens), common shrew (S. araneus), and pygmy shrew (S. minutus)—have been determined by comparing the ratio of traps visited by different numbers of animals (0, 1, 2, 3, etc.) with the Poisson distribution and by using the index of relative variance σ2/m. These tests characterize both the distribution of animal load over different points of the study area and the spatial pattern of individual home ranges. A random type of spatial pattern within relatively uniform biotopes prevails in juveniles of all three red-toothed shrew species, regardless of their properties, abundance, and factors accounting for it. This facilitates the formation of a system of non-overlapping home ranges of adult females after wintering. The stability of spatial patterns contributes to the efficiency of population self-regulation.