This dataset describes 35 years of 6-monthly population sampling of adult and juvenile bank voles Myodes glareolus and wood mice Apodemus sylvaticus in a Derbyshire Ash Fraxinus excelsior woodland, together with annual and seasonal ash fruit-fall and a measure of winter severity. Additional data describe a 4 year experiment on a nearby study area where in two winters supplementary ash fruit were supplied and population data collected in parallel to the main study area. Woodland small mammal population dynamics are commonly influenced by variable food supplies (due to masting), climate and population density. However, the effects of precise environmental variables are poorly understood. To explain between-year variations in bank vole and wood mouse reproductive/population growth rates, we applied a state-space model to 33 years of live-trapping data. Experimental additions of ash fruit in winter aided interpretation. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/80ee4e00-7301-4c40-9dba-12dd0d21b7c7

Data comprise results of systematic live-trapping surveys of small mammals on three types of arable field margin at 30 locations on the Hillesden Estate, Buckinghamshire (UK), for four autumn and four spring periods between 2005 and 2011. Trapping was conducted on standard (cross compliance) field margins, and also on conservation margins (Entry Level Scheme). Data include 3172 trap records of animal captures, including breeding condition, mass (g), and recaptures. Dominant species are Wood Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), Bank Vole (Myodes glareolus), Field Vole (Microtus agrestis) and Common Shrew (Sorex araneus), with smaller numbers of Pygmy Shrew (Sorex minutus), Water Shrew (Neomys fodiens) and Harvest Mouse (Micromys minutus). The research was funded by Defra. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/5a0eaccc-446b-4854-b717-efaec6b83b86

This data set is a combination of trapping data, tracking data, vegetation/habitat data and data on the gut microbiome composition of wild rodents caught in 4 ha study site in Holly Hill in Wytham Woods, Oxford, UK, from November 2018 to November 2019. Three species of rodents were trapped with Sherman live-traps fortnightly for 12 months: wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), yellow-necked mouse (Apodemus flavicollis) and bank vole (Myodes glareolus). Upon capture, they were measured, weighted, sexed, aged and a faecal sample was collected from all rodent individuals for microbiome analyses. All rodents were released to their location of capture. First time each individual was captured, they were injected with a permanent subcutaneous Radio-Frequency Identification(RFID)-tag (Passive Integrated Transponder-tag). The tagged rodents were subsequently tracked from February to November 2019 with a set of 120 custom-made tracking devices (loggers). Loggers recorded to time-stamped presence of any tagged individual that passed near it, producing occurrence data suitable for inferring spatiotemporal activity patterns of rodents, such as temporal niches, home ranges and social networks. Bacterial DNA extracted from faecal samples were used to profile their gut microbiome composition. The study area was surveyed for vegetation and microhabitat variation by gathering habitat data of each 10 x 10 m grid square across the 4 ha plot. Data included list of plant species (visible in late May), coverage by the main ground cover types, canopy openness and amount of dead wood in each grid square. This work was funded by a NC3Rs Fellowship to Sarah Knowles, and NERC independent Research Fellowship to Sarah Knowles (NE/L011867/1) Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/043513e5-406c-4477-89aa-c96059acb232