Monitoring of Alpine Marmot (Marmota marmota latirostris) colonies in the West Tatra Mountains - III.

Résumé

This paper presents the results of the third year (2006) of a four-year research programme on the occurrence of the Tatra sub-species of the Alpine marmot (Marmota marmota latirostris) in the Slovak part of the Western Tatra Mts. The coordinates of all the found burrows were obtained by using the highly-accurate GPS data mapper Leica GS20. All of the coordinates were put into digital maps. The area between Mt. Ostrý Roháč and Mt. Bystrá was studied. In total 3,197 burrows were found in the studied area. They form 46 colonies (family groups), 36 of which are inhabited and 10 of which are uninhabited. The largest inhabited colony consisted of 190 burrows, the smallest one consisted of 32 burrows. The horizontal amplitude of the occurrence of marmots in the studied area is 7,240 m and vertical amplitude is 383 m. Three quarters of the whole West Tatra Mts. region have been monitored so far. A total of 12,479 burrows have been found forming 117 inhabited colonies.