Distribution and habitats of the edible dormouse (Glis glis L., 1766)

The distributional range of the edible dormouse mirrors the close relation of its biology with the community of broad-leaved tree species, mainly beech and oak, providing fattening forages and shelters. Biotopes with beech are more peculiar for the western part of the area, in eastern parts various broad-leaved forests with oak species are common, but they considerably overlap. This transition of habitats is obvious in longitudinal directions over Europe and vertical directions in mountainous areas. In a row of places, the species can live in secondary or anthropogenic communities. The main factors of the species distribution are nutrition and the protective properties of biotopes; additional factors are revealed in several local niche-modeling studies. Now the species range consists of three plots, different by climate and plant composition. The largest European plot embracing the territory from Great Britain and Spain on the west to the Vladimir, Ryazan, and Tambov Oblasts of Russia on the east includes mostly broad-leaved and mixed coniferous-broad-leaved forests with beech and oak. The Volga plot includes broad-leaved and mixed forests with oak along the Volga and its inflows and plots of other communities. The third Caucasian-Asian plot includes the territory of Russia, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, and Iran. This is mainly mountainous areas of the Caucasus, Talysh, and Thrace mountains and adjacent territories, providing habitats with the most various tree composition and many nut-bearing and fruit trees including from the Fagaceae family. Most of the distributional area is fragmented because of anthropogenic activity and phylogenetic history