Population dynamics and ecology of yellow-cheeked voles (Microtus xanthognathus) in early post-fire seres of interior Alaska

Abstract

Yellow-cheeked voles occupy early successional habitats in boreal regions, but specific factors influencing the species' distribution and population dynamics are not well known. Yellow-cheeked voles were studied in three early post-fire habitats in interior Alaska to relate population parameters to habitat characteristics. Voles were live-trapped during June, July, and August of 1997 and 1998, and habitat components were measured withing trapping grids. Capture data were analyzed using the robust design to estimate vole abundance, density, survival, and recruitment. Yellow-cheeked voles were most abundant in the floodplain white spruce, where survival was stable and recruitment was high. The white spruce habitat had the greatest cover of preferred forage species, while grasses, large diameter logs and snags provided escape cover. Observed differences in habitat quality may be related to unique successional processes in black and white spruces communities.