ESTONIAN ACADEMY
PUBLISHERS
eesti teaduste
akadeemia kirjastus
cover
Estonian Journal of Ecology
The influence of habitat and landscape on small mammals in Estonian coastal wetlands; pp. 279–295
PDF | doi: 10.3176/eco.2008.4.05

Authors
Dawn M. Scott, Chris B. Joyce, Niall G. Burnside
Abstract
We investigated the influence of habitat type and landscape composition on small mammal relative abundance and diversity in coastal wetlands in western Estonia. Seventy live-trap lines in eight representative habitats, across six wetlands revealed seven species. The most diverse habitats were reed bed and scrub woodland, whereas tall grasslands had the highest biomass. Short grass was low in species richness and relative abundance. Small mammal relative abundance, richness, and biomass were positively correlated with tall grass and mosaic habitats and negatively correlated with lower shore habitats and bare ground. Our study indicates potential nature conservation conflicts between small mammals and other biodiversity priorities in wetlands.
References

Andreassen, H. P. & Ims, R. A. 1998. The effects of experimental habitat destruction and patch isolation on space use and fitness parameters in female root vole, Microtus oeconomus.
J. Anim. Ecol., 67, 941–952.
doi:10.1046/j.1365-2656.1998.6760941.x

Amori, G. 1996. Micromys minutus. In IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. http://www.iucnredlist.org (visited 2008-04-06).

Beauvais, G. P. & Buskirk, S. W. 1999. Modifying estimates of sampling effort to account for sprung traps. Wildl. Soc. Bull., 27, 39–43.

Bowland, J. M. & Perrin, M. R. 1993. Wetlands as reservoirs of small mammal populations in the Natal Drakensberg. S. Afr. J. Wildl. Res., 23, 39–43.

Brown, J. H. & Heske, E. J. 1990. Control of a desert–grassland transition by a keystone rodent guild. Science, 250, 1705–1707.
doi:10.1126/science.250.4988.1705

Burnside, N. G., Joyce, C. B., Puurmann, E. & Scott, D. M. 2007. Use of vegetation classification and plant indicators to assess grazing abandonment in Estonian coastal wetlands. J. Veg. Sci., 18, 645–654.
doi:10.1658/1100-9233(2007)18[645:UOVCAP]2.0.CO;2

Butler, S. J., Bradbury, R. B. & Whittingham, M. J. 2005. Stubble height affects the use of stubble fields by farmland birds. J. Appl. Ecol., 42, 469–476.
doi:10.1111/j.1365-2664.2005.01027.x

Chętnicki, W. & Mazurkiewicz, M. 1994. Dispersion of the bank vole in fine- and coarse-grained mosaics of deciduous and mixed coniferous forests. Acta Theriol., 39, 127–142.

Churchfield, S., Barber, J. & Quinn, C. 2000. A new survey method for water shrews (Neomys fodiens) using baited tubes. Mamm. Rev., 30, 249–254.
doi:10.1046/j.1365-2907.2000.00074.x

Eccard, J. A., Walther, R. B. & Milton, S. J. 2000. How livestock grazing affects vegetation structures and small mammal distribution in the semi-arid Karoo. J. Arid Environ., 46, 103–106.
doi:10.1006/jare.2000.0659

Ecke, F., Löfgren, O. & Sörlin, D. 2002. Population dynamics of small mammals in relation to forest age and structural habitat factors in northern Sweden. J. Appl. Ecol., 39, 781–792.
doi:10.1046/j.1365-2664.2002.00759.x

Farina, A. 1998. Principles and Methods in Landscape Ecology. Chapman and Hall, London.

Fitzgibbon, C. 1997. Small mammals in farm woodlands: the effects of habitat, isolation and surrounding land-use patterns. J. Appl. Ecol., 34, 530–539.
doi:10.2307/2404895

Forman, R. T. T. 1997. Land Mosaics: The Ecology of Landscapes and Regions. Cambridge University Press.

Francl, K. E., Ford, W. M. & Castleberry, S. B. 2002. Relative efficiency of three small    mammal traps in central Appalachian wetlands. Georgia J. Sci., 60, 194–200.

Gotelli, N. J. & Colwell, R. K. 2001. Quantifying biodiversity: procedures and pitfalls in the measurement and comparison of species richness. Ecol. Lett., 4, 379–391.
doi:10.1046/j.1461-0248.2001.00230.x

Grant, W. E., Birney, E. C., French, N. R. & Swift, D. M. 1982. Structure and productivity of grassland small mammal communities related to grazing-induced changes in vegetation cover. J. Mammal., 63, 248–260.
doi:10.2307/1380634

Gurnell, J. & Flowerdew, J. R. 2006. Live Trapping Small Mammals: A Practical Guide. 2nd edn. Occasional publication No. 3, Mammal Society, London.

Haberl, W. & Kryštufek, B. 2003. Spatial distribution and population density of harvest mouse Micromys minutus in a habitat mosaic at lake Neusiedl, Austria. Mammalia, 57, 355–365.

Huitu, O., Norrdahl, K. & Korpimäki, E. 2003. Landscape effects on temporal and spatial properties of vole population fluctuations. Oecologia, 135, 209–220.

Jacob, J. 2003. The response of small mammal populations to flooding. Mamm. Biol., 68, 102–111.
doi:10.1078/1616-5047-00068

Joyce, C. B. & Wade, P. M. (eds) 1998. European Wet Grasslands: Biodiversity, Management and Restoration. John Wiley and Sons, Chichester.

Kent, M. & Coker, P. 1992. Vegetation Description and Analysis. A Practical Approach. CRC Press, Boca Raton.

Kotler, B. P. 1997. Patch use by gerbils in a risky environment: manipulating food and safety to test four models. Oikos, 78, 274–282.
doi:10.2307/3546294

Kozakiewicz, M. 1993. Habitat isolation and ecological barriers – the effect on small mammal populations and communities. Acta Theriol., 38, 1–30.

Krištofík, J. 2001. Small mammal communities in reed stands. Biologia, 56, 557–563.

Kupfer, J. A., Malanson, G. P. & Franklin, S. B. 2006. Not seeing the ocean for the islands: the mediating influence of matrix-based processes on forest fragmentation effects. Global Ecol. Biogeogr., 15, 8–20.
doi:10.1111/j.1466-822X.2006.00204.x

Kuresoo, A. & Mägi, E. 2004. Changes of bird communities in relation to management of coastal meadows in Estonia. In Coastal Meadow Management. Best Practice Guidelines, pp. 52–61. Ministry of the Environment of the Republic of Estonia.

Leibak, E. & Lutsar, L. (eds) 1996. Estonian Coastal and Floodplain Meadows. Kirjameeste Kirjastus, Tallinn.

Luhamaa, H., Ikonen, I. & Kukk, T. 2001. Semi-natural Communities of Läänemaa County, Estonia. Pärandkoosluste kaitse ühing, Tartu–Turku.

MacDonald, D. & Barrett, P. 1993. Collins Field Guide. Mammals of Britain and Europe. Harper Collins Publishers, London, U.K.

Marsh, A. C. W., Poulton, S. & Harris, S. 2001. The yellow-necked mouse Apodemus flavicollis in Britain: status and analysis of factors affecting distribution. Mamm. Rev., 31, 203–227.
doi:10.1046/j.1365-2907.2001.00089.x

Masing, M. 1987. Kahepaiksete, roomajate ja imetajate jälgimisest Matsalu looduskaitsealal. Loodusvaatlusi, 1, 31–45.

Mazerolle, M. J. & Villard, M. 1999. Patch characteristics and landscapes context as predictors of species presence and abundance: a review. Ecoscience, 6, 117–124.

McGarigal, K. & Marks, B. J. 1994. Fragstats Spatial Pattern Analysis Program for Quantifying Landscape Structure, Version 2. Forest Science Department, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR USA.

Norusis, M. J. 1998. SPSS 8.0 Guide to Data Analysis. Prentice Hall.

Paal, J. 1998. Rare and threatened plant communities of Estonia. Biodivers. Conserv., 7, 1027–1049.
doi:10.1023/A:1008857014648

Peterson, K. 1994. Nature Conservation in Estonia: General Data and Protected Areas. Huma Publishers, Estonia.

Poulin, B., Lefebvre, G. & Mauchamp, A. 2002. Habitat requirements of passerines and reed bed management in southern France. Biol. Conserv., 107, 315–325.
doi:10.1016/S0006-3207(02)00070-8

Puurmann, E. & Ratas, U. 1998. The formation, vegetation and management of sea-shore grasslands in West Estonia. In European Wet Grasslands: Biodiversity, Management and Restoration (Joyce, C. B. & Wade, P. M., eds), pp. 97–110. John Wiley and Sons, Chichester.

Rannap, R., Briggs, L., Lotman, K., Lepik, I. & Rannap, V. 2004. Coastal Meadow Management: Best Practice Guidelines. Ministry of the Environment of the Republic of Estonia, Tallinn, Estonia.

Raoul, F., Defaut, R., Michelat, D., Montadert, M., Pépin, D., Quéré, J. P., Tissot, B., Delattre, P. & Giraudoux, P. 2001. Landscape effects on the population dynamics of small mammal communities: a preliminary analysis of prey–resource variations. Rev. Ecol.-Terre Vie, 56, 339–352.

Read, V. T., Malafant, K. W. J. & Myers, K. 1988. A comparison of grid and index-line trapping methods for small mammal surveys. Aust. Wildlife Res., 15, 673–687.
doi:10.1071/WR9880673

Schmidt, N. M., Hűbertz, H. & Olsen, H. 2002. Diet of Kestrels Falco tinnunculus on grazed coastal meadows. Dansk Ornitol. Foren. Tidsskr., 96, 171–175.

Schmidt, N. M., Olsen, H., Bildsøe, M., Sluydts, V. & Leirs, H. 2005. Effects of grazing intensity on small mammal population ecology in wet meadows. Basic Appl. Ecol., 6, 57–66.
doi:10.1016/j.baae.2004.09.009

Silva, M., Hartling, L. & Opps, S. B. 2005. Small mammals in agricultural landscapes of Prince Edward Island (Canada): effects of habitat characteristics at three spatial scales. Biol. Conserv., 126, 556–568.
doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2005.07.007

Strijker, D. 2005 Marginal lands in Europe – causes of decline. Basic Appl. Ecol., 6, 99–106.
doi:10.1016/j.baae.2005.01.001

Sundell, J., Huitu, O., Henttonen, H., Kaikusalo, A., Korpimäki, E., Pietiainen, H., Saurola, P. & Hanski, I. 2004. Large-scale spatial dynamics of vole populations in Finland revealed by the breeding success of vole-eating avian predators. J. Anim. Ecol., 73, 167–178.
doi:10.1111/j.1365-2656.2004.00795.x

Szacki, J., Babińska-Werka, J. & Liro, A. 1993. The influence of landscape spatial structure on small mammal movements. Acta Theriol., 38, 113–123.

Tattersall, F. H., Macdonald, D. W., Hart, B. J., Manly, W. J. & Feber, R. E. 2001. Habitat use by wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) in a changeable arable landscape. J. Zool. (London), 255, 487–494.
doi:10.1017/S095283690100156X

Unwin, T. 1997. Agricultural restructuring and integrated rural development in Estonia. J. Rural Stud., 13, 93–112.
doi:10.1016/S0743-0167(96)00053-8

Van Apeldoorn, R. C., Oostenbrink, A., Van Winden, F. & Van der Zee, F. 1992. Effects of habitat fragmentation on the bank vole, Clethrionomys glareolus, in an agricultural landscape. Oikos, 65, 265–274.
doi:10.2307/3545018

Waite, S. 2000. Statistical Ecology in Practice. A Guide to Analysing Environmental and Ecological Field Data. Pearson Education.

Wilkinson, S. A. J., Craze, P. G. & Harris, S. 2004. Monitoring field vole (Microtus agrestis) in lowland Britain. The Mammal Society Research Report No. 4. The Mammal Society, London.

Witt, W. C. & Huntly, N. 2001. Effects of isolation on red-backed voles (Clethrionomys gapperi) and deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) in a sage-steppe matrix. Can. J. Zool., 79, 1597–1603.
doi:10.1139/cjz-79-9-1597

Back to Issue

Back issues