Open AccessLocal variation in rodent communities of Sitka spruce plantations: the interplay of successional stage and site‐specific habitat parameters
Author(s) -
Fernandez Fernando A. S.,
Evans Peter R.,
Dunstone Nigel
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
ecography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.973
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1600-0587
pISSN - 0906-7590
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0587.1994.tb00107.x
Subject(s) - microtus , detrended correspondence analysis , ecology , wood mouse , ecological succession , chronosequence , bank vole , biology , secondary succession , vegetation (pathology) , woodland , habitat , geography , apodemus , population , medicine , demography , pathology , sociology
Habitat associations of wood mouse Apodemus svlvaticus, bank vole Clethrionomvs glareolus and field vole Microtus agrestis were analysed during a chronosequence study of succession in Sitka spruce Picea stichensis plantations in Hamsterley Forest, northeast England In mature plantations (ca 40 yr after planting), A svlvaticus and C glareolus were both abundant, in clear‐felled areas the former was usually dominant, in young plantations (5‐8 yr after planting) either of the three species was dominant at different sites Pooling all sites, in young plantations rodent communities were most diverse, because of an inter‐site component (β‐diversity), although within sites, young plantations and mature plantations had similar diversities Clear‐felled areas showed least rodent diversity Detrended Correspondence Analysis was used to describe the taxonomic and structural changes in vegetation during succession Canonical Correspondence Analysis showed that in young plantations C glareolus was associated with dense ground cover, provided mostly by heather Microtus agrestis was most commonly associated with Deschampsia flexuosa, whereas A svlvaticus was not strongly associated with any plant species Spatial heterogeneity in soils explained much of the inter‐site variation in vegetation winch in turn explained much of the β‐diversity of rodent communities in young plantations