Why do the mounds of Mus spicilegus vary so much in size and composition?

Mound-building mice (Mus spicilegus) construct large and often enormous mounds, which may have several functions, including food storage, thermoregulation, and protection from predators. We examined variation in mound size and composition to help determine their adaptive significance. Like previous studies, we found much variation in mound size within and between geographic populations, and the main differences were between habitats: we found up to a 700-fold variation in mound size between corn fields and harvested grain fields. Mice mainly utilized three plants (Amaranthus spp., Chenopdium spp. and Setaria spp.) as building materials, and the availability of these may affect mound size. We found a positive correlation between the availability of plant material in the surrounding of the mound and mound size. Surprisingly, mound size was independent of the number of inhabitants within the mounds, which indicates that larger mounds are not constructed to shelter more individuals. Future studies need to examine how variation in mound size and composition affects overwinter survival, and also which individuals contribute to mound construction.