3. RESULTS
The mean, minimum and maximum ln transformed values of the bacterial loads in the entrance hole and the interior bacterial loads of the nest box in the parkland and forest, occupied for breeding and empty in the previous year, are given in Tables 1 and 2.
The mean entrance hole bacterial load differed significantly between the study areas and was higher in the forest study area (Table 1, Table 3, Fig.1). Similarly, the interior bacterial load of the nest box differed significantly between the nest boxes occupied and unoccupied in the previous year (which was higher in the nest boxes occupied in the previous season), but the difference was significant only in the forest study area (Table 2, Table 3, Fig.2).
The correlation between the entrance bacterial load and the interior bacterial load was non-significant in the parkland study area and in the forest study area (r = 0.41, p = 0.075 and r = -0.43, p = 0.129, respectively).
FIGURE 1. Mean (± standard errors) entrance hole bacterial load in the nest boxes occupied and unoccupied in the previous season in two study areas
FIGURE 2. Mean (± standard errors) nest box interior bacterial load in the nest boxes occupied and unoccupied in the previous season in two study areas