Habitat
Root Voles, in general, inhabit a variety of open herbaceous- dominant habitats at various elevations (Banfield 1974, Lance and Cook 1998b), occurring most abundantly in wet sedge and grass-forb meadows and bogs (MacDonald and Cook 2009). Associated with early successional habitats when grasses and woody perennials dominate. Also found in wet muskegs, subalpine meadows and from shoreline to alpine, including forests. May move to higher elevations in winter where live subnivean (Heller 1910, Wetzel 1958, Rose and Birney 1985, Hanley and Rose 1987, Weintraub and Cook 1992, Lance 2002).
References
Banfield, A. W. F. 1974. The mammals of Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada. 438 pp.
Hanley, T. A., and C. L. Rose. 1987. Influence of overstory on snow depth and density in hemlock-spruce stands: Implications for management of deer habitat in southeastern Alaska. Res. Note PNW-RN-459. Portland, OR: USDA,USFS, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 11p.
Heller, E. 1910. Mammals of the 1908 Alexander Alaska Expedition, with descriptions of the localities visited and notes on the flora of the Prince William Sound region. Univ. Calif. Publ. Zool. 5(11):321-360.
Lance, E. W. 2002. Montague Island vole: a conservation assessment. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-542. Portland, OR: USDA, USFS, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 14 p.
Lance, E. W. and J. A. Cook. 1998b. Microtus oeconomus (Pallas 1776), tundra vole. Pp. 97-99, in North American rodents: Status survey and conservation action plan (D. J. Hafner, E. Yensen, and G. L. Kirkland, Jr., eds.). IUCN/SSC Rodent Specialist Group. Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, UK.
MacDonald, S. O. and J. A. Cook. 2009. Recent Mammals of Alaska. University of Alaska Press, Fairbanks, AK.
Rose, R. K., and E. C. Birney. 1985. Community ecology. In: Tamarin, R. H., ed. Biology of New World Microtus. Special Publication No. 8. Shippensburg, PA: The American Society of Mammalogists: 310-339.
Weintraub, E. and J. A. Cook. 1992. Taxonomic status and ecology of the Montague Island vole (Microtus oeconomus elymocetes). Cordova, AK: Chugach National Forest, Cordova Ranger District.
Wetzel, R. M. 1958. Mammalian succession in midwestern floodplains. Ecology. 39: 262-271.
