Assessment of Small Mammal Communities in Forested Areas of the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park (Portugal)

For this project, we surveyed small mammal communities in protected forest habitats of the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, Portugal, to establish a robust baseline for conservation planning. Our study provides a dataset and accompanying information to support an empirical framework for assessing the environmental determinants of small mammal occurrence across diverse habitats. These habitats encompass the park’s main forested areas within the UNESCO-designated landscape of the Sintra Mountain Range. Field sampling was conducted in two periods (2018 and 2024–2025) across six areas, comprising a total of 43 sites representative of the dominant habitat types within each location. A combination of live trapping, hair sampling, and camera trapping was employed, which enabled the detection of ten small mammal species, four Eulipotyphla and six Rodentia. The final dataset, derived from an extensive sampling effort of 8820 trap-nights, comprises a total of 792 specimen records. The complementary sampling approaches contributed differently to species detection, with live trapping recording the highest species richness and camera trapping generating the greatest number of detections. Obtained data provide critical support to inform the design and implementation of integrated, evidence-based conservation actions to sustain stable small mammal populations over the long term.