Habitat quality of wildflower strips for common voles (Microtus arvalis) and its relevance for agriculture |
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| Institution: | 1. Museu de Ciències Naturals de Granollers (MCNG), 08402 Granollers, Barcelona, Spain;2. Parc Natural de la Serra de Collserola, ctra. de l’Església 92, 08017 Barcelona, Spain;3. Department of Biogeography and Global Change (BGC-MNCN), Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), c/Serrano 115 bis, E-28006 Madrid, Spain;1. Fondazione Ethoikos, Convento dell’Osservanza, 53030 Radicondoli, Siena, Italy;2. U.R. Ecologia comportamentale, Etologia e Gestione della fauna, Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università degli Studi di Siena, Via P.A. Mattioli 4, 53100 Siena, Italy;3. Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology, University of Maine, 5755 Nutting Hall, Orono, ME 04469, USA;1. Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, 550 Stadium Mall Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA;2. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Tulane University, 101 Blessey Hall, New Orleans, LA 70118, USA;3. Department of Physics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA |
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| Abstract: | Ecological compensation areas have been widely promoted in agriculture in the last decade. Besides their positive effects on biological diversity they also bear a risk of sheltering potential pest species such as common voles (Microtus arvalis). To assess the influence of wildflower strips on the spatio-temporal behavior of voles and their impact on adjacent crop fields, a common vole population living in a wildflower strip was monitored from May to October 2000 and from March to September 2001. A new system for automatic radio tracking was used which allowed tracking at 1 min intervals and up to 1000 bearings per vole per day. Voles showed small home ranges with a median size of 125 m2 (minimum convex polygon) and 30 m2 (Kernel), respectively. Home ranges were stable with a median overlap of 90% for consecutive days, were almost exclusively within the wildflower strip and contained several core areas per range. A polyphasic activity pattern with a phase length of 1.7 h was found during summer with a trend towards diurnal activity. Overall wildflower strips were high-quality habitats for voles and sustained high population densities without increased risk of voles dispersing into adjacent fields. |
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