Water vole (Arvicola amphibius) abundance in grassland habitats of Glasgow

Abstract

Water vole (Arvicola amphibius) populations have undergone a serious decline throughout the UK, and yet a stronghold of these small mammals is found in the greater Easterhouse area of Glasgow. The water voles in this location are mostly fossorial, living a largely subterranean existence in grasslands, rather than the more typical semi-aquatic lifestyle in riparian habitats. In this study, we carried out capture-mark-recapture surveys on water voles at two sites: Cranhill Park and Tillycairn Drive. We made a total of 62 captures including retraps, and the resulting population estimates were 78 individuals (95% confidence interval 41-197) for Cranhill Park and 42 individuals (20-141) for Tillycairn Drive. From these figures we estimated a population density of water voles, which appeared to be higher than other reports from the UK. Despite the difficulties of sampling in urban environments that resulted in relatively low capture rates, our data suggest that the greater Easterhouse area of Glasgow holds water voles at relatively high population densities. These results will inform future conservation in the City of Glasgow and surrounding areas, as well as raise awareness of important water vole populations in urban environments.

Predicting habitat suitability and connectivity for management and conservation of urban wildlife: A real‐time web application for grassland water voles

“…In these cases, we randomly generated pseudo‐presence points within the polygons' boundaries. The number of these points was proportional to the size of the polygons, with a density of 93 points/ha, according to the estimated average density of water voles in the same area (Stewart et al, 2019). The final dataset consisted of 799 records (182 sightings, 159 burrows, 10 latrines, 448 pseudo‐presence); of these, 185 came from surveys of sites marked from development, 263 from surveys in other areas not directly affected by development, 65 from the Stewart et al (2017) systematic survey and the rest from the other sources previously mentioned (see also Acknowledgements).…”

“…In these cases, we randomly generated pseudo-presence points within the polygons' boundaries. The number of these points was proportional to the size of the polygons, with a density of 93 points/ ha, according to the estimated average density of water voles in the same area (Stewart et al, 2019) No animal has been captured or manipulated for this study.…”

Expansion in recorded range of fossorial water voles in Glasgow, Scotland

“…The water vole (Arvicola amphibius) is a rare mammal throughout Scotland and the U.K. with numbers suffering dramatic declines due to changes in agricultural practices and through predation by introduced American minks (Neovison vison) (Rushton et al, 2000;Aars et al, 2001;Telfer et al, 2003;Strachan, 2004;Dean et al, 2016). Thus the colonies in east Glasgow, where large numbers are found, are of national importance, and are unusual in being present in urban grasslands far from water with the voles having a fossorial lifestyle, digging holes and living underground (Stewart et al, 2017;McInerny, 2018;Stewart et al, 2019).…”

“…1). Their presence during the surveys was also established by the detection of holes, diggings, pellets and clipped grass, indicative of the species (Stewart et al, 2019). Water voles engage in much digging and excavation in early spring and leave half-consumed grass, making their detection straightforward (Fig.…”

“…This distribution was similar to that noted by others (Stewart et al, 2017;Wijas et al, 2019), although in many areas higher densities were detected and new sites were found. A common feature of the locations of animals and burrows was the absence of management of the ground, with grass always uncut (Stewart et al, 2019). Many such unmanaged areas are found throughout east Glasgow (Fig.…”