FIRE EFFECTS AND USE
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Microtus pennsylvanicus | Meadow Vole 



DIRECT FIRE EFFECTS ON ANIMALS : 
Kelleyhouse [33] suggested that most small mammals were killed by
intense wildfire but offered no direct evidence.  It appears likely that
mortality rates are affected by season and timing of fire, fire
intensity, and rate of fire spread.  In Wisconsin Ver Steeg [63] found
57 dead meadow voles following an early spring prescribed fire.

No dead meadow voles were found following a prescribed fire in a
Minnesota prairie even though meadow voles were abundant [10].  In
Illinois tallgrass prairie no direct mortality was observed during
prescribed spring fire.  Most meadow voles survived heat and flames by
moving into or remaining in their burrows.  A few were observed escaping
ahead of the fire.  No dead meadow voles were found after the fire on
the surface or in burrows [49].  In Nebraska tallgrass prairie plots
burned in spring were searched for evidence of mortality.  Both prairie
voles and meadow voles occurred on the plots.  Of the 24 nests (both
species) found, only one dead meadow vole was found next to a nest; an
additional casualty, a charred adult prairie vole, was found in an area
devoid of nests [13].  There were no dead voles found on burned areas
after spring prescribed fire in Nebraska prairie [62].

Meadow voles that were tagged with radio transmitters were monitored
during a prescribed fire in mixed-grass prairie in south-central
Nebraska.  One individual went down an old badger hole that was near her
location when the fire was started.  The vole was apparently emigrating
from the burned area when she was captured in a firelane.  Another
meadow vole ran 50 feet and took refuge in an old burrow with a 1-inch
(2.54 cm) opening; the burrow was probably that of a vole, but not the
home burrow of the individual.  This meadow vole was later eaten by a
yellow-bellied racer.  It was speculated that the vole did not return to
its home burrow and was at a disadvantage in a "foreign" burrow which
led to its capture by the snake [59].

Emigration Following Fire:  Postfire emigration is probably due to lack
of cover (including litter) rather than lack of food.  Prescribed spring
fire in Nebraska prairie consumed all aboveground cover but left food
available on burned plots [49].  Even though few if any meadow voles
were killed by fire, there was a significant and immediate drop in the
numbers of resident meadow voles on prairie plots that were prescribed
burned in May 1979.  Meadow vole numbers remained low until May 1980.
By September 1980, meadow vole numbers were similar on burned and
control plots.  Meadow vole numbers did not recover until litter
accumulation was sufficient for cover.  Food was plentiful for 90 days
before meadow voles immigrated into the burned area [62].


HABITAT RELATED FIRE EFFECTS : 
Vegetative recovery increases the available biomass on burned areas.
Fire usually benefits small mammals or causes only temporary declines in
populations [33].

Grassland/Prairie/Agricultural Areas:  In western Illinois tallgrass
prairie, meadow voles were most abundant on prairie that had burned 2
years previously, and next most abundant on 3-postfire-year prairie.
They were least abundant on freshly burned prairie; prescribed fires
were conducted in April and burns were sampled from May through August
[51].  In a central Wisconsin marsh meadow vole populations were not
significantly different on postfire and unburned plots that were sampled
in August following prescribed fire in mid-March to late April [28].  In
south-central Nebraska mixed-grass prairie, meadow voles reached peak
abundance 2 years following prescribed fire, remained at about the same
abundance the third year, and began to decline the fourth year.  Annual
or biennial burning is too frequent to maintain peak densities of meadow
voles.  In Manitoba agricultural areas within a mosaic of wetlands,
aspen (Populus spp.) groves, and oak groves, prescribed fire is used
frequently in agricultural fields to control litter, plant diseases, and
pests.  No meadow voles were caught in burned areas immediately
following burning.  Only 50 were taken in unburned areas; their absence
from burned areas was attributed to lack of cover and residual
vegetation for runway construction [19].

In north-central Nebraska there were more meadow voles on unburned plots
than on burned plots by midsummer, 3 months after prescribed fire in
mixed-grass prairie [49].  Meadow voles were not present on big
bluestem-dominated plots immediately following prescribed spring fire;
adjacent unburned areas exhibited increased populations right after the
fire which suggested that the population of meadow voles on the burned
area had moved to the unburned area [42].

Forested Sites:  Meadow voles in woodlands need cover after fire.  In
Saskatchewan quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) parklands, prescribed
fire is used to maintain grass cover and control quaking aspen.  Meadow
voles are often the most abundant small mammal in this habitat; their
abundance is affected by fire frequency and concomitant habitat
structure.  From 1975 to 1982, meadow voles were significantly reduced
(compared to unburned plots) on plots that had been burned three times
in the fall and on plots that had been burned four times in the spring.
The low number of meadow voles on the two plot types was attributed to a
sparse litter layer.  Meadow vole abundance was similar on burned and
control plots in areas of ecotone in 1983 [61].  In Minnesota 2 years
after a severe wildfire in jack pine (Pinus banksiana) woodlands, meadow
voles were trapped on burned areas.  Vegetation, dominated by ferns,
forbs, shrubs, and jack pine seedlings, was lush on the burned areas
[8].  Meadow voles were the third most abundant small mammal on jack
pine sites in Manitoba; they were slightly more predominant on unburned
areas for the 3 years following prescribed fire treatment.  Meadow vole
numbers were fairly constant on large burned areas over the 3 years
suggesting that there was sufficient cover and food to maintain the
population but not support any increase [56].  In north-central
Pennsylvania mixed-oak stands that were clearcut and burned in spring of
1973, meadow vole numbers were very low on the burned area immediately
after the fire, but were similar on burned and unburned areas by August
1974 [16].


FIRE USE : 
NO-ENTRY


REFERENCES : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Microtus pennsylvanicus | Meadow Vole