Landscape structure and the long-term decline of cyclic grey-sided voles in Fennoscandia |
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Authors: | Frauke Ecke Pernilla Christensen Ralf Rentz Mats Nilsson Per Sandström Birger Hörnfeldt |
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Institution: | 1.Division of Geosciences,Lule? University of Technology,Lule?,Sweden;2.Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment,Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences,Uppsala,Sweden;3.Vindelfj?llens forskningsstation,Ammarn?s,Sweden;4.Department of Forest Resource Management and Geomatics,Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences,Ume?,Sweden;5.Department of Ecology and Environmental Science,Ume? University,Ume?,Sweden;6.Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies,Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences,Ume?,Sweden |
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Abstract: | Changes in forest landscape structure have been suggested as a likely contributing factor behind the long-term decline in
the numbers of cyclic grey-sided voles (Clethrionomys rufocanus) in northern Fennoscandian lowland regions in contrast to mountain regions due to the absence of forest management in the
mountains. This study, for the first time, formally explored landscape structure in 29 lowland (LF) and 14 mountain forest
(MF) landscapes (each 2.5 × 2.5 km) in northern Sweden, and related the results to the cumulated spring trapping index of
the grey-sided vole in 2002–2006. The grey-sided vole showed striking contrasts in dynamics close in space and time. The MF
landscapes were characterized by larger patches and less fragmentation of preferred forest types. The grey-sided vole was
trapped in all of 14 analyzed MF landscapes but only in three out of 29 of the LF landscapes. MF and LF landscapes with grey-sided
vole occurrence were characterized by similar focal forest patch size (mean 357 ha, minimum 82 ha and mean 360 ha, minimum
79 ha, respectively). In contrast, these MF compared to the LF landscapes were characterized by larger patches of preferred
forest types and less fragmented preferred forest types and by a lower proportion of clear-cut areas. The present results
suggest that landscape structure is important for the abundance of grey-sided voles in both regions. However, in the mountains
the change from more or less seasonal dynamics to high-amplitude cycles between the mid 1990s and 2000s cannot be explained
by changes in landscape structure. |
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