WILDLIFE DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Vulpes vulpes | Red Fox 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Red foxes are the most widely distributed carnivore in the world.  They
occur throughout most of North America (except in the Great Plains and
the extreme Southeast and Southwest), Europe, and Asia, and are found in
parts of northern Africa.  They have spread throughout much of
Australia, where they were introduced in the late 1800's [30,36].

There is some question whether red foxes are native to North America.
Churcher [6] hypothesized that red foxes were native to North America north
of latitude 40 degrees North, but were scarce or absent in most of the
vast hardwood forests where common gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus)
were abundant. Others believe that the North American red fox originated
from the European red fox, which was introduced into the southeastern
section of the United States around 1750.  It may have interbred with
the scarce indigenous population to produce a hybrid population [10].
The distribution of the ten subspecies of red fox is as follows [5]:

V. v. abietorum - Occurs throughout western Canada
V. v. alascensis - Occurs in Alaska, and Yukon Territory, and the
  Northwest Territories
V. v. cascadensis - Occurs along the northwest coast of the
  United States and British Columbia
V. v. fulva - Occurs in the eastern United States
V. v. harrimani - Occurs on Kodiak Island, Alaska
V. v. kenaiensis - Occurs on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
V. v. macroura - Occurs throughout the Rocky Mountains
V. v. necator - Occurs in California and Nevada
V. v. regalis - Ranges from north-central Canada south to
  Nebraska and Missouri
V. v. rubricosa - Occurs in southern Quebec and Nova Scotia


ECOSYSTEMS : 
FRES10 White-red-jack pine
FRES11 Spruce-fir
FRES12 Longleaf-slash pine
FRES13 Loblolly-shortleaf pine
FRES14 Oak-pine
FRES15 Oak-hickory
FRES16 Oak-gum-cypress
FRES17 Elm-ash-cottonwood
FRES18 Maple-beech-birch
FRES19 Aspen-birch
FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES22 Western white pine
FRES23 Fir-spruce
FRES24 Hemlock-Sitka spruce
FRES25 Larch
FRES26 Lodgepole pine
FRES27 Redwood
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES29 Sagebrush
FRES30 Desert shrub
FRES31 Shinnery
FRES32 Texas savanna
FRES33 Southwestern shrubsteppe
FRES34 Chaparral-mountain shrub
FRES35 Pinyon-juniper
FRES36 Mountain grasslands
FRES37 Mountain meadows
FRES38 Plains grasslands
FRES39 Prairie
FRES40 Desert grasslands
FRES41 Wet grasslands
FRES42 Annual grasslands
FRES44 Alpine


STATES : 


    
AL
    
AK
    
AZ
    
AR
    
CA
    
CO
    
CT
    
DE
    
FL
    
GA


    
ID
    
IL
    
IN
    
KS
    
KY
    
LA
    
ME
    
MD
    
MA
    
MI


    
MN
    
MS
    
MT
    
NE
    
NV
    
NH
    
NJ
    
NM
    
NY
    
NC


    
ND
    
OH
    
OK
    
OR
    
PA
    
RI
    
SC
    
SD
    
TN
    
TX


    
UT
    
VT
    
VA
    
WA
    
WV
    
WI
    
WY






    
AB
    
BC
    
MB
    
NB
    
NF
    
NT
    
NS
    
ON
    
PE
    
PQ


    
SK
    
YK
    

    

    

    

    

    

    

    







    
MEXICO




BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    1  Northern Pacific Border
    2  Cascade Mountains
    3  Southern Pacific Border
    4  Sierra Mountains
    5  Columbia Plateau
    6  Upper Basin and Range
    7  Lower Basin and Range
    8  Northern Rocky Mountains
    9  Middle Rocky Mountains
   10  Wyoming Basin
   11  Southern Rocky Mountains
   12  Colorado Plateau
   13  Rocky Mountain Piedmont
   15  Black Hills Uplift
   16  Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   Red foxes probably occur in most Kuchler plant associations.


SAF COVER TYPES : 
   Red foxes probably occur in most SAF cover types.


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
   Red foxes probably occur in most SRM (rangeland) cover types.


PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Although red foxes can survive in many habitats ranging from arctic
barren areas to temperate deserts, they prefer areas with a mixture of
plant communities [1,5,30,36].  Red foxes are commonly associated with
grasslands, boreal forests, coniferous forests, deciduous forests, and
tundra [30].  In developed regions, red foxes are generally associated
with agricultural areas where woodlots are interspersed with cropland
and pastureland [36].

Schofield [27] found that red foxes in Michigan preferred lowland brush
and oak (Quercus spp.) woodlands but avoided swamps.  In the Sierra
Nevada, California, red foxes are found primarily in upper elevation
forests associated with the Sierra Nevada Crest.  During the summer they
prefer meadows interspersed with mature Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi),
lodgepole pine (P. contorta), or Shasta red fir (Abies magnifica var.
shastensis) forests.  In winter red foxes prefer mixed-conifer and
ponderosa pine (P. ponderosa) forests [35].  In British Columbia red
foxes are most common in mixed forests that are interspersed with
meadows.  Iowa red foxes are most numerous in hilly, wooded regions, but
they are also common in the flatter prairie corn belt.  One of the
densest populations of red foxes in North America is in southwestern
Wisconsin where they inhabit areas which contain a mosaic of woodlots,
croplands, pasturelands, and stream bottoms [1].


REFERENCES : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Vulpes vulpes | Red Fox