Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Living on the verge: are roads a more suitable refuge for small mammals than streams in Mediterranean pastureland?

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Ecological Research

Abstract

The retention of natural habitat corridors is a useful and practical conservation tool that can attenuate the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on wildlife. Linear structures may contribute to the conservation of biodiversity by providing additional habitats for small fauna living in highly modified environments. We assessed the importance of road verges as refuge areas for small mammals, in highly intensified grazed pastures, within a Mediterranean landscape and compared the role of road verges as refuges with that of riparian galleries, which have been described as important shelter locations for small fauna. For this purpose, a small mammal trapping study was undertaken on two road verges and beside two small streams in southern Portugal. We captured 457 individuals of five different species, with Mus spretus the most common species captured, followed by Crocidura russula. Captures were 4.6-fold higher immediately beside both roads and streams than 12 m away in the surrounding matrix. Individuals captured in the matrix presented a smaller body size and lower body condition, suggesting that this suboptimal habitat is occupied mainly by subadults. M. spretus was 46% more abundant by roads than by streams, while C. russula was present in similar numbers in both habitats. M. spretus individuals were larger near streams but exhibited no difference in body condition between habitats. C. russula had a better body condition and slightly higher body lengths at roadsides. Our results show that roadside verges in intensively grazed Mediterranean landscapes act as important refuges and constitute equally vital habitats for small mammals as do riparian vegetation strips in landscapes where other suitable habitats are scarce.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bellamy PE, Shore F, Ardeshir D, Treweek JR, Sparks TH (2000) Road verges as habitat for small mammals in Britain. Mammal Rev 30:131–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bennett AF (2003) Linkages in the landscape: the role of corridors and connectivity in wildlife conservation. International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Gland

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bissonette JA, Rosa SA (2009) Road zone effects in small-mammal communities. Ecol Soc 14:27. Available at http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol14/iss1/art27/

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowers MA, Dooley JL (1993) Predation hazard and seed removal by small mammals: microhabitat versus patch scale effects. Oecologia 94:247–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowler DE, Benton TG (2005) Causes and consequences of animal dispersal strategies: relating individual behaviour to spatial dynamics. Biol Rev 80:205–225. doi:10.1017/S1464793104006645

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brock RE, Kelt DA (2004) Influence of roads on the endangered Stephens’ kangaroo rat (Dipodomys stephensi): are dirt and gravel roads different? Biol Conserv 118:633–640. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2003.10.012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapman EW, Ribic CA (2002) The impact of buffer strips and stream-side grazing on small mammals in southwestern Wisconsin. Agric Ecosyst Environ 88:49–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cockle KL, Richardson JS (2003) Do riparian buffer strips mitigate the impacts of clearcutting on small mammals? Biol Conserv 113:133–140. doi:10.1016/S0006-3207(02)00357-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coffin AW (2007) From roadkill to road ecology: a review of the ecological effects of roads. J Transp Geogr 15:396–406. doi:10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2006.11.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cook WM, Anderson RM, Schweiger EW (2004) Is the matrix really inhospitable? Vole runway distribution in an experimentally fragmented landscape. Oikos 104:5–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corp N, Gorman ML, Speakman JR (1997) Ranging behaviour and time budgets of male wood mice Apodemus sylvaticus in different habitats and seasons. Oecologia 109:242–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Alba JM, Carbonell R, Alonso CL, Garcia FJ, Díaz M, Santos T, Tellería L (2001) Distribución invernal de los micromamíferos en bosques fragmentados de llanura del centro de España. Galemys 13:63–78

    Google Scholar 

  • Díaz M, Torre I, Peris A, Tena L (2005) Foraging behaviour of wood mice as related to presence and activity of genets. J Mammal 86:1178–1185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Downes SJ, Handasyde KA, Elgar MA (1997) Variation in the use of corridors by introduced and native rodents in south-eastern Australia. Biol Conserv 82:379–383

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eccard JA, Walther RB, Milton SJ (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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fahrig L, Rytwinski T (2009) Effects of roads on animal abundance: an empirical review and synthesis. Ecol Soc 14:21. Available at http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol14/iss1/art21/

    Google Scholar 

  • Forman RTT, Alexander LE (1998) Roads and their major ecological effects. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 29:207–231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forman RTT, Sperling D, Bissonette JA, Clevenger AP, Cutshall CD, Dale VH, Fahrig L, France R, Goldman CR, Heanue K, Jones JA, Swanson FJ, Turrentine T, Winter TC (2003) Road ecology. Island Press, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Galantinho A, Mira A (2009) The influence of human, livestock, and ecological features on the occurrence of genet (Genetta genetta): a case study on Mediterranean farmland. Ecol Res 24:671–685. doi:10.1007/s11284-008-0538-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gelling M, MacDonald DW, Mathews F (2007) Are hedgerows the route to increased farmland small mammal density? Use of hedgerows in British pastoral habitats. Landsc Ecol 22:1019–1032. doi:10.1007/s10980-007-9088-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gomez DM, Anthony RG (1998) Small mammal abundance in riparian and upland areas of five seral stages in Western Oregon. Northwest Sci 72:293–302

    Google Scholar 

  • Highland Statistics (2009) Software package for multivariate analysis and multivariate time series analysis. Highland Statistics, Newburgh. Available at http://www.brodgar.com/

  • Huijser MP, Clevenger AP (2006) Habitat and corridor function of rights-of-way. In: Davenport J, Davenport JL (eds) The ecology of transportation: managing mobility for the environment. Springer SBS, Dordrecht, pp 233–254

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Karels TJ, Byrom AE, Boonstra R, Krebs CJ (2000) The interactive effects of food and predators on reproduction and overwinter survival of arctic ground squirrels. J Anim Ecol 69:235–247

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maisonneuve C, Rioux S (2001) Importance of riparian habitats for small mammal and herpetofaunal communities in agricultural landscapes of southern Québec. Agric Ecosyst Environ 83:165–175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matos HM, Santos MJ, Palomares F, Santos-Reis M (2009) Does riparian habitat condition influence mammalian carnivore abundance in Mediterranean ecosystems? Biodivers Conserv 18:373–386. doi:10.1007/s10531-008-9493-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGregor RL, Bender DJ, Fahrig L (2008) Do small mammals avoid roads because of the traffic? J Appl Ecol 45:117–123. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2664.2007.01403.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meunier FD, Corbin J, Verheyden C, Jouventin P (1999) Effects of landscape type and extensive management on use of motorway roadsides by small mammals. Can J Zool 77:108–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michel N, Burel F, Legendre P, Butet A (2007) Role of habitat and landscape in structuring small mammal assemblages in hedgerow networks of contrasted farming landscapes in Brittany, France. Landsc Ecol 22:1241–1253. doi:10.1007/s10980-007-9103-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Naiman RJ, Décamps H (1997) The ecology of interfaces: riparian zones. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 28:621–658

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norrdahl K, Heinilä H, Klemola T, Korpimäki E (2004) Predator-induced changes in population structure and individual quality of Microtus voles: a large-scale field experiment. Oikos 105:312–324

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Connell MA, Hallett JG, West SD (1993) Wildlife use of riparian habitats: a literature review. Timber, Fish and Wildlife report no. TFW-WL1-93-001. Washington State Department of Natural Resources, Olympia

  • Palomo LJ, Justo ER, Vargas JM (2009) Mus spretus (Rodentia: Muridae). Mamm Species 840:1–10. doi:10.1644/840.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pita R, Mira A, Mathias ML (2003) Small mammal community structure in two successional stages of a Mediterranean ecosystem. Galemys 15:67–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Rico A, Kindlmann P, Sedláček F (2007) Barrier effects of roads on movements of small mammals. Folia Zool 56:1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Santos-Reis M, Santos MJ, Lourenço S, Marques JT, Pereira I, Pinto B (2004) Relationships between stone martens, genets and cork oak woodlands in Portugal. In: Harrison DJ, Fuller AK, Proulx G (eds) Marten and fishers (Martes) in human-altered environments: an international perspective. Springer SBS, New York, pp 147–172

    Google Scholar 

  • SNIRH (Sistema Nacional de Informação de Recursos Hídricos) (2007) Boletim de precipitação. SNIRH, Lisbon. Available at: http://snirh.pt

  • SPSS (2006) SPSS Base 15.0 user’s guide. SPSS, Chicago

  • Torre I, Arrizabalaga A, Díaz M (2002) Ratón de campo (Apodemus sylvaticus Linnaeus, 1758). Galemys 14:1–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Torre I, Díaz M, Martínez-Padilla J, Bonal R, Viñuela J, Fargallo JA (2007) Cattle grazing, raptor abundance and small mammal communities in Mediterranean grasslands. Basic Appl Ecol 8:565–575. doi:10.1016/j.baae.2006.09.016

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trombulak SC, Frissell CA (2000) Review of ecological effects of roads on terrestrial and aquatic communities. Conserv Biol 14:18–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Underwood AJ (1997) Environmental decision-making and the precautionary principle: what does this principle mean in environmental sampling practice? Landscape Urban Plan 37:137–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zar JH (1996) Biostatistical analysis. Prentice-Hall

    Google Scholar 

  • Zuur AF, Ieno EN, Smith GM (2007) Analysing ecological data. Springer SBS, New York

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Edgar Gomes, Vânia Neves, Carmo Silva and Nelson Varela for assistance in field data collection, and to the landowners who allowed assed to their properties. We are also grateful to J. Tiago Marques for his valuable and constructive comments on earlier versions of the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unidade de Biologia da Conservação, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de Évora, Pólo da Mitra, 7002-554, Évora, Portugal

    Helena Sabino-Marques & António Mira

  2. Grupo de Investigação em Ecossistemas e Paisagens Mediterrânicas, Instituto de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais Mediterrânicas, Universidade de Évora, Pólo da Mitra, 7002-554, Évora, Portugal

    Helena Sabino-Marques & António Mira

Authors
  1. Helena Sabino-Marques
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. António Mira
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Helena Sabino-Marques.

About this article

Cite this article

Sabino-Marques, H., Mira, A. Living on the verge: are roads a more suitable refuge for small mammals than streams in Mediterranean pastureland?. Ecol Res 26, 277–287 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-010-0781-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-010-0781-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation